<p>We were very impressed during our visit - the campus was beautiful, the facilities were great, the students looked enthusiastic and engaged, the dining hall food was good, and son says the class he attended was exciting. S will definitely apply. </p>
<p>Was wondering, though, if anyone could comment on some of the "negatives" that usually get thrown around about Lewis and Clark: freshman retention rate is usually 83%, graduation rate around 75%, that the school attracts more than its share of stoners, that there's a division between the athletes and non-athletes on campus, that students are generally dissatisfied with the administration... </p>
<p>Mind you, most of these I got from reading student comments on another website (which also contained tons of positive comments), but I'd like to get an idea as to what, if anything, is behind these comments, how much is fiction, how much reality. Any informed comments would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>DD2 attends there now and loves it. According to US News the latest retention rate is 85% which puts it among the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the country. Is that bad? I think some loss in the retention and graduation rates are due to costs - some students just can’t afford 4 years at a private school. DD2 has never mentioned any problems with drugs (that tends to be something attributed to their cross river rivals - Reed). Haven’t heard any problem related to athletes. That would be hard to envision since L&C athletics aren’t known much. As far as the admin, we haven’t had a problem as parents. I think the only problem DD2 has is getting her classes scheduled but that is a problem at all schools. It can be more of a problem at LACs because there are fewer classes offered.</p>
<p>While I agree with Erin’s Dad on everything he said, thought I would add that my son is an athlete at L&C and he does describe it as almost like being in a different college… little or no mixing between athletes and non athletes outside of the class room. This may be true at other schools as well - but I know he isn’t thrilled with this aspect of student life. He has tried to reach across - but says non athlete students are somewhat snobby about his being an athlete.</p>
<p>Please do - I’ll be curious how things look from the non-athlete perspective as well as from the perspective of the other gender. Obviously we are dealing with a sample size of two so not exactly scientific. :)</p>
<p>Unfortunately my sample size of 1 is not super outgoing. I checked with her and she didn’t know of anything glaringly obvious in people moving in different packs, but she has a small group that she hangs with. At the same time she is not afraid to do what she wants: fencing club, anime club, attends the different musical and theater events on campus, goes to the big sporting events. She just does what she wants and she gets along.</p>
<p>When we toured I believe the guide told us that the athletes were housed in a separate dorm. And we ate lunch, you could easily identify who the athletes were vs the other students. My son (not an athlete) perceived that as a negative- sort of like the popular kids at high school. But I think it is interesting that the athlete mentioned above also saw it as a negative- maybe someone should suggest that (if I am right on the housing) they mix it up a little!</p>
<p>I did find out at some of DD2’s fencing buddies are on school teams - no issues there. The perception of athletes keeping to themselves may just be a function of who you room with and who you work out with more than anything else.</p>
<p>I don’t think DS was in a separate dorm - but the section he was in was 10 students sharing a bathroom - and 9 were athletes. He has since moved off campus - as most Juniors and Seniors do given that it is much cheaper - and is in a house with another athlete. Housing tends to look for matches - and that seems to mean same sport living together. </p>
<p>DS’s sport is a reasonably full time job and is also a year around activity. So the amount of time that he spends with the guys on the team may be a variable here as well.</p>
<p>There is a divide between athletes and non-athletes, but that isn’t a forced thing. They don’t have a specific dorm either- most just end up picking Copeland because they hear the stereotypes about how it’s the athlete dorm and so they go where they will find people in common. The athletes get to campus weeks ahead of everyone else, they have practice with each other for several hours a day, they have a mandatory athlete study hall together for a year or two, they practice together, they compete together- like any team with so much community, they are going to grow much closer than friends with passing interests and classes will. I will admit it’s harder than normal in order to bridge the gap between being a regular student and being friends with the athletes (at least it was for me for the first year or so) but once you get to know them, they are just as friendly as everyone else, though they do have a very distinctive vibe versus the hipsters and poets and artists which dominate the campus. Comparing the divide to high school though- L&C has no popular crowd.</p>
<p>The 85% retention rate thing- that sounds really high to me, actually. I just graduated in May, but the main reasons I see people leaving L&C were that something happened and the cost was too much, people had discovered what they wanted to do with their lives and moved out to Canada or New York to chase their dreams, or some other personal problem came up which made them unable to stay. </p>
<p>L&C does have its share of stoner kids, but what school doesn’t? I don’t think it’s any more or less than other schools. The stereotype is way, way higher than the actual number, I know that for sure. I also know that if people don’t want to participate, they don’t have to- I don’t smoke or do any form of drug. Someone asked if I wanted to smoke with them /once/ my freshman year. I told my friends I don’t smoke and I never saw a joint once in four years. L&C is a live and let live campus- if you want to do something, you can. If you don’t, it’s not forced on you and you’re not peer pressured into anything.</p>