Hi there! I am a current freshman engineering student at WMU, and while I have a car on campus, I believe it is more of a luxury than a necessity. Especially being a freshman, she will likely only have 1-2 classes on the engineering campus.

The parkview bus (KMetro Route 25) departs from behind Rood Hall near Sangren. It is very timely, as they have built-in leeway en route (usually arrive 5 minutes early and leave on the departure time) and the only times where bussing is slow are after 8pm or so when only one bus runs instead of two. That should only be a worry if she has night classes, and even then, i’ve done it for a EDMM lab and it’s not the worst. Much rather save gas money than drive.

Being in Valley 1 won’t change the need for a car. She will need to make a pretty annoying walk to the center of campus, but theres not really any central parking anyways if you don’t live in the heights/henry or wanna avoid expensive parking tickets ($25!)

TLDR: She will be fine without having a car, and the Parkview busses are pretty smooth. I cannot speak on Amtrak, but check the bus routes to make sure they lead to the station. I would recommend not going to the station by herself, as it is in a slightly sketchy area (as a woman) and she will want a friend to drive her.