<p>Does anyone have an idea of the academic rigor at Lewis & Clark College? My daughter was recently admitted and seems like a good fit for the school. Plus she likes Portland. But she is a pretty serious, capable student (also got into Berkeley and Occidental) and has a bit of a concern about the level of academics at LC. She is planning on majoring in English and minoring in Art. Any input would help.</p>
<p>My daughter is an English major. She was her high school salutatorian, with tons of AP and honors classes, so she was a bit worried about the academic rigor at LC before she started there. She has been pleasantly surprised at LC. Yes, there are some “slackers” who don’t take academics as seriously as my daughter, but most of the students she encounters are both bright and dedicated. She has had amazing discussions in her classes, a process aided by the small class size. She has also been challenged by her professors, most of whom she both respects and admires. One of the things she comments about is how accessible the professors are, and how she can just sit down with them and have long conversations about everything from arcane literary facts to movies and current events. </p>
<p>It is true that LC may not have the same percentage of overachievers that you might find at an ivy league school, but that just makes the top students stand out a bit more!</p>
<p>DD2 is also a very serious student who looked at schools with a high “geek factor”. She is now a math major at L&C and also finds the professors challenging and very supportive. She has also run into students who are smarter than her which is nice.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. My D has actually just returned from a day and a half at Lewis & Clark as an admitted student. For a number of reasons, academic rigor is no longer a concern. Now my D has a new worry. She is not a big party person but based on her one and only overnight in the dorms, she found the campus pretty dead…not much going on. Any opinions on about social life and stimulating activities at L&C?</p>
<p>Hard to believe she couldn’t find something going in with all the student clubs. [Registered</a> & Recognized Student Organizations](<a href=“http://www.lclark.edu/college/student_life/student_organizations/]Registered”>http://www.lclark.edu/college/student_life/student_organizations/) I know DD2 is in Anime club but I think that is Friday night, Fencing club (Thursday), PIO Log (not sure of the day there), Japanese club (not sure of day), and Math club (whenever the weekly math question comes out). I know they had a big Lu’au on Saturday for the campus (since it was Easter weekend). And Friday they had Open Math Night with bad jokes done in Math style. [YouTube</a> - open math night](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=open+math+night&aq=f]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=open+math+night&aq=f) I was warned by DD2 that math nerds generally can’t sing so you may want to turn down the speakers…</p>
<p>As a parent, one thing I liked about the campus is that it’s tucked away in a residential area, thus the dead campus and no distractions for studying. I believe the school encourages the students to explore Portland by offering a shuttle service to downtown and utilizing the bus/light rail system.</p>
<p>I will say that my son informed us that he will have a car next year. He also told his friends too. His only problem is that it’s our car and we haven’t agreed to it yet. His reasoning was that the shuttle wasn’t convenient (he missed the shuttle several times and had to wait for the next round trip), and he’d like to go to the coast on some weekends and breaks. I’m sure some of his friends would enjoy tagging along too.</p>
<p>Akck, DD2 (and I) agree with you. Studying should be first.
Good thing I wasn’t drinking anything when I read that! DD2 is OK with the shuttle and doesn’t want to drive anyway. My 2 cents, if you miss the shuttle then it’s good you are made to wait; maybe you’ll be more timely in the future.</p>
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<p>He was at Fred Meyers and the long checkout lines caused him to miss it a couple of times. While my wife is saying she hasn’t decided about the car, the fact she is considering it means he’ll likely get to take it. It then falls on me to figure out how to get it there. It wouldn’t bother me for him to have a car during his last two years, so I think he should go another year without. But, I’m just the dad and have little say about it (that is, if mom says okay, he gets to take it). So I’m planning on a long road trip in August.</p>
<p>Coming from AK that would be a long road trip! And I fully understand the sway you have. I frequently get asked my opinion. As to whether it really matters…</p>
<p>Holmes49,</p>
<p>My best friend is a senior at L&C, and I know she really struggled her freshman year with a lack of things to do other than party/drink, and to some extent, it still gets to her even as a senior. She did find things to do and made her peace with L&C (it wasn’t a completely horrible experience for her), but I think it definitely impacted her adjustment to and enjoyment of the school.</p>
<p>YMMV, as Erin’sDad post illustrates.</p>