Living at WU

Residence Life

As a student at WU you can either live on or off campus, though many exchange agreements make it necessary for the exchange students to live on campus. Contact Christine Andresen at candrese@willamette.edu if you are not sure about your case.

For living on campus the Office of Residence Life can assist you in finding the right accommodations, whereas if you choose to look off campus for accommodation they cannot help you. To get an overview of the offered housing possibilities and their respective prices, visit the Residence Life website. The Willamette map provides an overview of the locations of the dorms.

Meal Plans

When living on campus you are required to also have a meal plan; information on meal plans is also available through Residence Life. The meal plans allow you to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner at any of the three dining halls on campus.

From personal experience I can recommend that you choose meal plan C or D if you prefer to have breakfast, and lunch, because they are the meals that will cost you the most meal plan points. Dinner is considered an "All You Can Eat" (AYCE) meal and is the same set amount of points every evening. Also if you like to snack on cookies and have a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon, meal plans C and D will be the perfect choice for you. Personally, I found that the points were getting a little on the low side by the end of October with a little close to two months to go, it is better to have too much than too little, when it comes to meal plan points. At least you can deposit money on your own to the card and buy food with that, but it is much nicer to not have to worry about something like that.

Compass Card

As a student, you will receive a Compass Card which enables you to pay for your meals with the points you purchase through your meal plan.

You can also deposit cash onto your card and use it for laundry, snacks, soda, and tea/coffee and food at the Bistro.

Campus Hangouts

The Bistro, our little cozy café, is where you can either just hang out or study. In the evenings there are often entertainment at the Bistro of some sort, keep your eyes open and find out what's going to happen next at the Bistro. Other activities on campus are the movies shown at the Smith Auditorium, it's free and it is reasonably current movies. The University Store is the place to go if you need any school-associated things, like pencils, paper, time managers, WU souvenirs, or even birthday cards.

Another place you can go to study is the library study area - also called "the fishbowl" - which is open 24 hours a day. You can bring your laptop and hook it up, or you can use one of the computers at the Hatfield Library. At the library or at the Montag Center you can rent DVDs or videos if you would rather sit in your room or the TV lounge and watch movies with your friends.

Other Activities

There are other activities to participate in such as soccer, swimming, or just a good round of work out at Sparks fitness center, or a run around or outside campus. Whatever you feel like doing, talk to either your fellow international students or some of your American friends and ask if they want to join you.

Last October, WISA arranged a day trip to the Coast; it only cost $3 per person. We left at 9:30 a.m. and arrived at the beach about an hour later. After walking along the beach and taking an excellent group shot, we went to lunch at Mo's, which is said to have an excellent clam chowder. After lunch we drove to the outlet mall, and went shopping for a couple of hours. When we met up again by the vans we were all really exhausted and ready to go home with all of our newly acquired stuff. It was a wonderful trip, and I warmly recommend to future students to go along on these arranged trips if you get the chance. It is a great way to get to know new people, and get closer to the students you already know!

Also, at Halloween the people living in the WISH house arranged a haunted house, which was excellent! Tere was also a trip to the corn maze and pumpkin patch for those who had the time and felt the urge to go see what that was all about.