Linfield College--Portland Campus

pscheee · Nov 2, 2004

I live in Oregon and almost attended Linfield also. To my knowledge it is an excellent school. The campus I am familiar with is located in a really nice (read- gentrified) area of Portland where there are many cool old apt. buildings very close by for students to live in. You could certainly get by w/o a car if you so wished.

Linfield's main campus is located outside of Portland, though, so I don't know exactly which one you were thinking of attending. I would certainly go for the Metro location though, if you have a choice.

I have heard many good things about this school (good prof's, small classes), but I chose another excellent Portland University because it was ultimately more convienant for me personally. Feel free to contact me about any general PDX info, though. I moved here four years ago from Fl. and LOVE it!

smk1, LPN · Nov 3, 2004

ive heard excellent things about the program...but almost no one can afford to go there! anyway the campus is beautiful and portland is a great place to live, again though the cost of living is getting pretty high in the city and linfield will cost mucho dinero! OHSU is an excellent school with medical dental and nursing schools and a national reputation for excellence. They are much cheaper also.

JKiwi · Nov 3, 2004

I started Linfield's nursing program in September as junior transfer. So far everything is going well. I really like my professors and have some great classmates. The nursing program is located at the Portland campus. Very central location, easy to get by without a car. The streetcar/lightrail system can take you just about anywhere you need to go and stops right in front of campus. There are lots of places to live close by. You could probably car pool to clinicals since they are all over the place, but I don't see that as a problem. Heather in student services would be a good person to talk to if you have any other specific questions. Her email is [email protected]

The main Linfield campus is in McMinnville, about 50 miles away. The only thing you would need to go there for is graduation ceremony.

Good luck, hope you come to Portland! Aside from the rain, it's a great city. I grew up there (but live across the river in Washington now!)

Jenn

JKiwi · Nov 3, 2004

OHSU is not much cheaper if you are out of state! $5200 per term for out of state vs. $2800 in state. I believe they are on the quarter system so that's $15600 per school year at OHSU.

Linfield offers good transfer scholarships. My financial aid package from Linfield was very generous. That's why I can afford to go there ~I'm far from being made of money!! :uhoh3:

Besides, classes are full and they received just as many applications as OHSU, so there are lots of people who are able to swing tuition.

michellemybelle · Nov 9, 2004

Thanks for all your input!! This is so helpful since I've never been to Portland, but hope to go this spring break. Linfield sounds like a good school with a good academic atmosphere. This definately makes the decision process easier!

Thanks again,

Michelle

P.S. Anyone have any questions about Southern California? I'd be happy to answer them, I've lived here all my life!

smk1, LPN · Nov 9, 2004

OHSU is not much cheaper if you are out of state! $5200 per term for out of state vs. $2800 in state. I believe they are on the quarter system so that's $15600 per school year at OHSU.
Linfield offers good transfer scholarships. My financial aid package from Linfield was very generous. That's why I can afford to go there ~I'm far from being made of money!!
Besides, classes are full and they received just as many applications as OHSU, so there are lots of people who are able to swing tuition.

yikes i hope my comment about it being expensive didn't offend you! :imbar

i know its a great school and many people DO go there, i just meant that a lot of people that i know won't apply because they are spendy. Ohsu is cheaper for many and an excellent school as well that is all i meant...

JKiwi · Nov 11, 2004

yikes i hope my comment about it being expensive didn't offend you! :imbar
i know its a great school and many people DO go there, i just meant that a lot of people that i know won't apply because they are spendy. Ohsu is cheaper for many and an excellent school as well that is all i meant...

I was probably a little quick to post my reply! :imbar I wasn't offended, just feeling a little defensive that day! I had just run into somebody I had in a class at PCC. She just went on and on about how EXPENSIVE Linfield was, and why would ANYONE in their right mind spend THAT much money when you can just go to community college! Well, she didn't seem to care that it was my choice and what I felt was best for me!

I do agree that OHSU is an excellent school! ~And if you qualify for in-state tuition, it makes it even better!!

Sorry...I didn't mean to sound offended! :uhoh3:

Jenn

Zen.RN · Nov 19, 2004

I was wondering if you could help me with some advice? I am considering moving to Seattle or Portland and was wondering what you thought of each. What is the cost of living like in Portland? I hope to make a trip out this summer could you recommend areas of town to look at as far as housing? Thanks for your help

Tim

EmilyCCRN · Nov 20, 2004

I was wondering if you could help me with some advice? I am considering moving to Seattle or Portland and was wondering what you thought of each. What is the cost of living like in Portland? I hope to make a trip out this summer could you recommend areas of town to look at as far as housing? Thanks for your help
Tim

Generally speaking, the cost of living is much lower in Portland than it is in Seattle. To my surprise, though, it seems that new RN grads in Seattle make the same or LESS than we do here in Portland. I have a friend who was hired at a hospital in Seattle (as a new grad) for $21/hr. She has worked there for a year and now makes $22/hr, but all of the jobs and interships that I'm looking at here in Portland usually start around $23/hr and go up from there.

So...if you're going to be working as an RN, I guess Portland is probably the better choice. I've lived in the Portland area my whole life except for a 18 months when I went to school in Seattle, and the two areas are pretty similar, except for the cost of living!

As far as housing goes, it's really hard to say what area to look in with respect to finding "reasonable" prices. The tiny, OLD bungalows in the heart of Portland (where the crime rate is nothing to be excited about, mind you) are going for $300,000 or more, but you can still find nice houses in good neighborhoods in the surrounding areas for $200,000 or less (like my little house!). :) But you can also find horribly expensive cookie-cutter houses on postage stamp lots in the surrounding areas that are way overpriced, and I'm sure there are some reasonably-priced homes in the heart of Portland, too.

I guess I'm not much help, huh?!?! Feel free to PM me if there's any way for me to "confuse" you further. :)

curleysue · Dec 20, 2004

I'm getting ready to transfer to a BSN progam (entry in Summer/Fall 2005) and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions about Linfield--anything is appreciated. Looking at a previous post, it seems like its a pretty good school with a solid program. My real question is about the atmosphere and student life--do most students live on campus and do they like it? As an out of state student, I would definately have to live either on campus or nearby. What do you think? How would you rate the school?
Thanks so much,
Michelle

Hi Michelle-

I went to Linfield Nursing school about a year and a half ago after completing pre-requisites at the main campus in McMinnville, I did it that way cause at first I was pre-med then changed my mind my junior year and decided to go to the Portland Campus. I was a CNA-EMT working in the ER at OHSU and got talked into becoming a nurse. They had the most fun, it seemed.

I liked the nursing school, the teachers were pretty good, and most of them would help you do anything to pass the class and succeed. Some of the teachers were pretty hard but that is to be expected.

Living in the dorms was alright. I kinda got lonely a lot cause I lived on the top floor in my own dorm. If I had it another way I would of had a roomie. The kitchen kinda sucks in the dorm cause everyone crams their food into these two small frigerators and sometimes people eat your food. And don't even thing about buying frozen foods cause when I was there, there was never any room in the freezer! Some people picked up after themselves but others would leave the kitchen a huge mess, it got to be really bad sometimes. Oh well, I guess thats the bad part. The good part of the dorm is that you can like wake up 1 min before your class starts, go down the elevator and into your classroom in seconds. And you can always tell when someone does this cause they will be in their pjs. Plus parking is so bad around the school. If your lucky you can get to park in the school lot but if not good luck not getting a parking ticket. I had my fair share.

I like portland a lot, there are a lot of really nice hospitals there and clincals turn out to be pretty awsome. I had my Peds clincals at Emanuel CHildrens hospital Peds Clinc while other students had to go to Head Start. I guess I got lucky. And my OB clinicals were at Southwest Washington Med Center where we all got to see births every clinical. It was pretty neat too.

The really bad downside to this school is tuition. If you get lucky and get scholarships and grants, thats awsome. I got a grant and lots of loans and now I am $30,000 in debt!!! If I could go back in time I would just go get my Associates Nursing Degree at a Community College cause this debt is going to take me years to pay off. And the worst part is....... I haven't finished the program. Unfortunetely I got meningitis while going to school there at had to come home. I am now working as a CNA until I can get back into school, but not Linfield, I can't afford it. Hopefully I can just use the classes and clinicals I have now to go to a community college in Portland.

Anyways, just thought I would let you know my story at Linfield. Don't get me wrong its an awsome school. Its just the money is my problem. Take care, any other questions feel free to ask me. CurleySue

michellemybelle · Dec 29, 2004

Hi CurleySue,

Thanks so much for your input...I was a pre-med major too!! It was definately the thought of taking a whole year of physics, another semester of organic chemistry and school for possibly another decade of my life. So, I hopped on the nursing background and have really realized it is career for me.

Hmm the living situations at Linfield are a little scary. I didn't realize that there was a communal kitchen...that's horrible. But, from what others (and you) have said, the academics and relationships with teachers are wonderful.

I will have to plan a visit to the Portland area soon. Best luck to you in continuing your nursing education!

Thanks so much,

Michelle in CA