Lewis & Clark College Top Questions

I have experienced two different kinds of schools. I transferred to Lewis & Clark from American University and can say without a doubt that I like Lewis & Clark academics more than AU's. Lewis & Clark is small school (about 2,000 undergrad) which makes the classes very small. In my experience, most professors prefer to be called by their first name. This gives the classroom a more relaxed feeling, and makes student more comfortable engaging in conversations and debates with the professors. In the International Affairs department there are so many students that are extremely engaged in the subject, and do a fair amount of their own researching outside of class. This has made conversations in and out of class illuminating. I am on the steering committee for the International Affairs symposium and this means that I spend some time with the faculty advisor, who happens to be my academic advisor. All of the faculty members are extremely helpful and encourage you to come to their office any time to discuss your interests and topics from the class. This invitation is not intimidating, because the professors make a huge effort to learn your name. You are not just a number on their roster, you are more like a partner in the learning environment. We are encouraged to develop our own opinions and ideas, not just absorb what the professor's is. My favorite class thus far, has been "Studies of Diplomacy". The professor that teaches that class was a diplomat, which made the class even more interesting because he could connect readings to anecdotes from his career. This is how most classes are. The professors are able to connect theory and boring readings, to exciting real work experiences.

I have experienced two different kinds of schools. I transferred to Lewis & Clark from American University and can say without a doubt that I like Lewis & Clark academics more than AU's. Lewis & Clark is small school (about 2,000 undergrad) which makes the classes very small. In my experience, most professors prefer to be called by their first name. This gives the classroom a more relaxed feeling, and makes student more comfortable engaging in conversations and debates with the professors. In the International Affairs department there are so many students that are extremely engaged in the subject, and do a fair amount of their own researching outside of class. This has made conversations in and out of class illuminating. I am on the steering committee for the International Affairs symposium and this means that I spend some time with the faculty advisor, who happens to be my academic advisor. All of the faculty members are extremely helpful and encourage you to come to their office any time to discuss your interests and topics from the class. This invitation is not intimidating, because the professors make a huge effort to learn your name. You are not just a number on their roster, you are more like a partner in the learning environment. We are encouraged to develop our own opinions and ideas, not just absorb what the professor's is. My favorite class thus far, has been "Studies of Diplomacy". The professor that teaches that class was a diplomat, which made the class even more interesting because he could connect readings to anecdotes from his career. This is how most classes are. The professors are able to connect theory and boring readings, to exciting real work experiences.

The academics are awesome. Great teachers, challenging classes, a wonderful 24 hour library on weekdays for studying. The professors are very approachable. There's really not much competitive academics here which is both good and bad. It's good that there isn't any judgement based on GPA but I wish there was more of an academic spirit. It's rare to find people discussing issues they talk about in class at lunch. That's all about who you hang out with though, really. There are A LOT of general education requirements, which might get obnoxious for those who have one thing they do well and don't want to bother with anything else. If you're interested in a Liberal Arts education though, that's what you get; a well rounded worldly education. On that note, one thing Lewis and Clark does better than most schools is they have a really great study abroad program which almost all students take advantage of.

The class sizes are small. With the exception of core science classes, like Chem 101 and Bio 101, the average size is around 20 students. This is excellent for one-on-one participation with the professor, but it's impossible to fly under the radar. The teachers expect a lot out of their students and aren't afraid to be tough with them. The downside to such a small college is the course selection, or lack thereof, of college courses.

Yes, Professors know my name! I live in the Math Department, and I have been to four of my professors' houses. But even if I didn't live in the department, my professors would still know my name because they really make an effort to know everyone in their classes. I can go talk to my professors whenever I need to, whether it be about homework or stress or just for fun! Students study enough to get good grades, but we're not insane about it. Almost everyone is involved in something extracurricular, whether it be the Juggling Club, a cappella, Jewish Student Union, or the Soccer Team. I have never seen students be competitive in a bad way. In pick-up soccer games, of course they are competitive! Students only compete against themselves to get good grades. I spend lots of time with professors outside of class. In fact, one of the math professors (whom I'm never had in class) invited me over to meet his 3 month old grandson once!

Professors are wonderful, especially the upper level ones. Favorite classes: in the art history department, with Benjamin David; in the religious studies department with Rob Kugler Students seem to study quite a bit as far as I could tell. You don't do very well at L&C if you don't put your time in. Class participation is fairly common, especially in the upper level classes. Students are competitive, but not excessively. It depends on the department. For example, the PoliSci department is competitive, but the art history department isn't. The most unique class: The Apocalyptic Imagination with Professor Kugler. My major was International Affairs: I had a problem with the departmental politics that went on, however there were a few teachers that I really enjoyed Thee academic requirements seem fair, but they are NOT fair with transfer students. I transferred from a private liberal arts college and the registrar didn't give me many credits which forced me to take summer school for two summers in order to graduate on time. The education is most definitely geared for learning for its own sake. Despite having a career center (which wasn't very helpful) there is not much talk on how to realistically get a job that has anything to do with your major.

L&C has some really great teachers (as well as some really awful ones). I had the most amazing teacher one time who, in a class of over 70, had everyone's name and face memorized by the second class. Once in a while I would take a class that completely changed my world view. The teachers were inspirational and really had an excellent way of presenting their ideas. I don't know how to describe them any better than that, but at the end of the semester (or even each class) I felt like I was a better person. Those few engaging, deep classes are what you'll remember forever. I'm sort of biased and I don't have experience with other college corriculum, but I think that academically, L&C is pretty top notch. I sort of regret going into East Asian Studies as my major. I'm not sure if everyone has this experience, but I got tired of it. Originally I became an EAS major because I already had some of the key classes early on and it seemed fairly simple to complete the major, but the department is interdisciplinary and the staff is divided up between different departments, and each department likes to do things differently. Economics and sociology don't see eye-to-eye. So the department itself felt very divided. So, I would recommend picking a major that has it's own department vs interdisciplinary.

All of my professors, and even teachers I haven't taken classes from know my name. Lots of classes are discussion based. I would definitely consider LC and academic campus, there is lots of discussion outside the classroom.

For the most part classes are wonderful. The class sizes are small enough that teachers get to know not only your name, but you as a person and student. LC brings many department and student organized lecturers to campus; going to the lectures are a great way to expand your knowledge. Many professors are willing to take extra time out of there schedules to help you study, understand the material, or guide you in extracurricular planning.

Professors do know the name of some of the students. Mostly the student that talked a lot in their classes. Sometimes when I would go to a professor's office hours, I felt like they didn't want students to come around, like it was a big bother to them. At the beginning of the semester, my least favorite class was E&D which is basically a freshman composition class. I didn't enjoy the reading and I didn't understand what the teacher wanted from us. But as the semester went on, I really enjoyed some of the readings and enjoyed the in class discussions. I also really like philosophy 101. It was a good class. Students don't seem to study too often. I met a lot of student who crammed the night before the final exam. It's kind of hard not to. Class participation is common in some classes. I had a lot more lecture classes though, but it was okay to ask questions. I didn't hear a lot of intellectual conversations going on outside of classes. I had no problem with the academic requirements at LC. They are pretty standard. Although, I think there are probably fewer options of what you can take at LC because of how small it is. So one should take that into consideration when deciding on schools. You might have more options at a bigger school. The LC education is geared toward learning for its own sake which I liked, but apparently LC has a really low percent of students who get jobs in their field after graduation. So maybe that isn't such a good thing. I've heard horror stories about people who are five years out of LC and still don't have work.