07-03-2012, 08:33 AM
As much as I appreciate Stanford, and this board, and am not a big fan of UO, I find this denigration of UO annoying.
UO, for all of it's short comings, performs a role. As an Oregonian, there is much I loathe about UO. Still there are many good reasons to go to UO.
As one of the two major private universities in Oregon, if your child is liberal arts inclined and you are not able to afford the 40k tuition of most private schools, UO is probably the best choice for you (as a parent, i would love the 8k tuition). Is it a Stanford, or one of the more prestigious state school like the UC schools or UDub, of course not.
Will you get a good education?
It depends on what effort you put into your education.
In my career as a software engineer, I have worked with some very bright engineers from UO, as well as from Stanford, Princeton, etc. I am not saying that UO is as good as those schools, of course it is not, but the elite schools do not have a monopoly on bright folks.
There are many good reasons to trash UO, but its lack exclusivity is not among them.
By the way, one thing I appreciate about Portland over the silicon valley is I find this city much more literate. There is a reason the Portland supports one of the best book stores in the country ( Powell's ), where the as valley can barely support Keplers ).
UO, for all of it's short comings, performs a role. As an Oregonian, there is much I loathe about UO. Still there are many good reasons to go to UO.
As one of the two major private universities in Oregon, if your child is liberal arts inclined and you are not able to afford the 40k tuition of most private schools, UO is probably the best choice for you (as a parent, i would love the 8k tuition). Is it a Stanford, or one of the more prestigious state school like the UC schools or UDub, of course not.
Will you get a good education?
It depends on what effort you put into your education.
In my career as a software engineer, I have worked with some very bright engineers from UO, as well as from Stanford, Princeton, etc. I am not saying that UO is as good as those schools, of course it is not, but the elite schools do not have a monopoly on bright folks.
There are many good reasons to trash UO, but its lack exclusivity is not among them.
By the way, one thing I appreciate about Portland over the silicon valley is I find this city much more literate. There is a reason the Portland supports one of the best book stores in the country ( Powell's ), where the as valley can barely support Keplers ).