Lewis & Clark College | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Brittany

Class: Freshman
Major: Pre-Medical
Gender: F

High School: Blake School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

I think the best thing about this school is probably the campus aesthetics and the location. Disregarding November - February, L&C is gorgeous and seems like a summer camp type atmosphere. Otherwise it is extremely wet, rainy, and cold all winter. I would say if you don't like rain this place is not for you. Portland is a great city and there are several free school shuttles that run every hour. It is a school that is a bit "different" for me at least but I am from the midwest, so it may be completely normal here. One of the great things is that everyone here is very "real," none of the superficial types I had in high school. There is a hippie presence that can be a bit weird at first but you get used to it. I think that a lot of students aren't happy with the administration... I personally don't pay attention to it and haven't anything really to fight with them about. Sports are almost non existent here, although there are a lot of teams just not any spirit to go with it. I think that the school is a great place to learn if you are interested in being well rounded and have a variety of things you want to learn. Personally, I am not so much one of these people which is one of the reasons I detested my freshmen course schedule.

Academic Life

All professors will get to know you, although in large lecture classes there are some times when they don't always get it right. My favorite class this year was probably International Affairs, it just opens your eyes up to the world and it feels like you're talking about things that actually matter every day. Students are all pretty laid back and will work together well, there is no cutthroat competition really. I am on the pre-med track, however, I will say that this school, like any liberal arts school really is not the best for pre-med as there are a lot of requirements outside of your major you have to fulfill. If you are good at planning however you can do it fine. I spend a lot of time going to office hours and my teachers are very very helpful, and I always come out feeling much more confident about what I'm doing. Nobody likes the freshmen year requirement, Exploration and Discovery. It is tolerable but I'm fairly certain if given the choice no one would take it for fun. The education here is much more about learning and becoming a well rounded individual than getting a good job to make money.

Student Body

LC is very tolerant of minority groups, LGBT... etc. The only types that would feel out of place may be big football jocks or something, but even then there are some of those types here who get on fine. Most students are very vintage/boho... although there are some people who I actually cannot classify because I don't know what category they would fall into. Pretty much all students interact with each other, there are no social limitations. Most students are probably from California, but there are plenty of people I know from the East coast and the midwest. Everyone is pretty politically aware and active, predominately left. I doubt you'd find any republicans here. No one is really anal about academics, they are just here to learn and have fun.