The University of Oregon in Eugene and Oregon State University in Corvallis are the two biggest colleges in Oregon and the destination of many Wilsonville High School seniors. I sat down with three seniors (Alaina Bekebrede, Zoe Lyons, and Athena Lackides) to talk about why they chose to apply to one of the two over the other.  

OSU is a much more science-focused school than the U of O and that influenced the decisions of those who applied to both schools. Lyons sees this as a negative saying  “U of O has a lot more not science related programs that i’m interested in like history, which is better at U of O.”

Likewise, Lackides cities science as a factor in choosing which college to apply to, however she cities the sciences as a positive of OSO, if the only positive. “The U of O sounds like a better school and it sounds like people have more fun there, but sadly OSU has the better science program and I have to go where the science is better. My sister went to OSU which makes me not want to go but, again sadly I must go,” bemoans Lackides.

While Alaina Bekebrede appreciates the sciences like Lackides, she is going to U of O because of their range of Courses “I chose to apply to U of O because they have a lot more diverse programs then OSU, they have the school of journalism, a lot of science departments, and for me they had a better premedical course than OSU. It was more renowned for premedical than OSU,” she says, “and plus I hate orange and black together.”

Disdain for Corvalis is a common between all three  Seniors “also I don’t like Corvallis,” adds Lyons to the list of her reason to apply to U of O. Bekebrede also makes a point to diss the college town. “Corvalis is nasty and gross and Eugene is nice and has better coffee shops,” she says.

Lackides’ description of her experience in Corvallis is comical, but her trip was less enjoyable. “I went there to visit my sister and she was supposed to give me a school tour she was supposed to show me the library and like all the facilities but she just ended up taking me to three frat parties. That was the only part of the school that I saw and I hated it, says Lackides.