Students react to independent website’s grading of Willamette

Polls and graphs showing Willamette's popularity on the website Niche. Art by Addie Martin.

Every year, millions of high school students have the opportunity to decide where they’ll learn for the next (give or take) four years. Websites like Niche, which grade universities around the country on various subjects, could be one such example.

Willamette, rated a B overall and 583rd of 1,613 colleges in the U.S., shines in terms of academics and professors. Other important categories, like dorms, student life, campus and food, all earned C’s, giving Willamette a 2.5 grade-point average.

When asked if Niche was a source in college decisions, Velibor Mladenovic (’26) stated Willamette’s academics and professors rating played a key role. The categories of professors, academics and diversity were the only to achieve an A or A- rating. 

In college, though, what many remember most, and what many take with them after they graduate, are the friends they’ve made. Much of student life revolves around their social scene.

For Derec Gregory (’27), it’s easy to make friends in one’s department, but venturing outside of that is tricky. Gregory admitted, “It’s hard to know [the social scene] unless you know the right people. It can be hard to break the bubble.” After all, Willamette has a relatively small student body, lending itself to close-knit groups and activities. 

Emilia Hahn (’26) noticed a similar problem; the smallness could make for drama and gossip. Those that know the “Willamette 360” might relate. 

Hahn, Gregory and Mladenovic agreed that professors and academics are the highlight of the school, but most disagreed with Niche’s grading of campus location and were deeply divided on the student life score.

But as these problems were pointed out, they also had some solutions. Hahn and Gregory both agreed that finding some of the nearly 100 clubs Willamette has to offer is a great place to start. 

Though there were lots of clubs she thought might be fun to join, Nerf Club found its way to Vanessa Conde (’28). Coming to Willamette, she expected college to be a lot more party-crazy, as the movies stereotype, but Willamette’s “party scene” scored a C. Conde, a homebody, was excited to find Willamette offered lots of chill activities, like a puzzle competition her dorm recently hosted. She placed fourth.

“Get a job, even if you don’t need it. Force yourself to stay out of your dorm, walk around when it’s nice out,” suggested Hahn. “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Meet many different people.” 

While Niche didn’t influence many of the students The Collegian spoke with in their college decision, it might speak on a college’s environment. Students’ experiences are varied, but ultimately, the college experience is foremost shaped by its students. As Hahn suggests simply, “Involve yourself!”