Lewis & Clark College

Date: Mar 04 2009
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
LC is a beautiful campus, everyone is very friendly, and Portland is an amazing city to live in. People exaggerate the rain: it drizzles in the winter, but no where near the monsoon-scale downpour I was led to expect. Overall, academics are good quality, especially in the upper-level classes. The professors really know and love their material, and it comes across in their teaching. Even in the entry-level lecture classes there are only 50 people instead of 500, so you can actually make a personal connection with the professor. That connection is what you pay for at a small college like this.

The student body is rather homogeneous, despite admissions efforts to inject some diversity. The vast majority of students are upper-middle class white kids who lean towards the left of the political spectrum. Despite this, the student body tends to dress in thrift store pseudo-hippie clothing, with flannel being the fabric of choice. They are genuinely friendly and approachable, and making friends is not a problem.

LC's greatest strength, in my opinion, is its extensive overseas program. Something like 60% of students spend a semester overseas in places like Africa, St. Petersburg, and Cuba. As opposed to other colleges, the gen-ed requirements are designed to make spending a semester abroad incredibly easy, so you don't have to worry about not having time to take all your classes.

The dorms are decent quality, but the 4 semester residency requirement kind of sucks.

Advice: Portland and LC are both politically liberal, and you'll be happier if you are too. If you are vegetarian or vegan, the school food service will cater to your every whim. Ultimately, your experience here, both academically and socially, will be what you make it: there are opportunities to party, but if you don't, that's totally cool too. If you're picking a residence hall and you don't want to get stuck in the jock/sport dorm, than stay away from Copeland. Seriously. Try Forest or Platt/Howard instead.