campus life, etc.
Look through some of the threads on this forum for general impressions. Then post back with more specific questions.
I visited a couple days ago with the l.e.a.d. program, and for me the campus seemed a bit closed off(maybe it was like this because it was a monday/tuesday, finals are right around the corner and the weather got pretty cold last week), in the type of way where the people didn’t seem as approachable. When I did approach students they were nice though.
The food was really good. I only ate the vegan food even though I’m pescetarian and I did not regret it. It’s probably one of the most tasteful of the colleges I have visted.
One thing I didn’t like was it seemed like the people who I talked to(mostly my host) seemed to put too much emphasis on substance use, and it made me feel out of place because I don’t plan to take part in the drug scene. They also told me that there aren’t as many parties that go on during the weekend, but when there are they usually involve marijuana(not my thing). Of course downtown has a lot to do, but like a lot of people have iterated in the past most venues are only open to 21+ students.
The dorm I stayed in was a forced triple in Odell, which was kind of small. It wasn’t too bad though. The bathrooms were coed, which was weird for the two days I visited, but it’s something you have to get used to over time.
The overall campus is beautiful though, and it’s nice if you like the outdoors, it’s easy to just take a walk in the woods if you want.
I hope this helped, even though my visit was short I tried to hit the main points if my stay.
Sorry you got that host. My D never felt pressured to use anything or drink.
We had a visit during fall break with an informative tour and panels with some impressive faculty and students. My daughter was inspired to apply early action. She preferred it to Willamette for reasons unclear to me–in part the forested feel of the campus. The remarks about partying and drug use are worrisome. Reed is not on her list in part because of a perception of a drug problem on campus. An older daughter turned down Grinnell after overnight hosts gave her a sense not so much that marijuana was around campus, which is surely not unusual, but that there was a social split between stoners and straights that she felt would make for an unhealthy social environment. So if anyone can expand on this regarding L & C, we’d appreciate it. She’ll visit overnight if admitted. Colleges should pay more attention to what host students are modeling for prospective students about drugs and alcohol.
I partook in the L.E.A.D. program as well and I honestly really liked Lewis and Clark College during my three-day stay (if you’ll be a senior next year and you’re interested in LC, I encourage you to apply!). It was my first time in Portland (and Oregon), and what really struck me was how green the campus was (Californian resident here, haha). It was a small environment campus-wise and class-wise, which I really enjoyed since I’ve attended small, Catholic schools for my whole life.
All of the classes that I “shadowed” were strongly discussion-based (according to the director of the camp, most classes at LC are like this). I sat in a general class for all freshmen, Exploration and Discovery, and a class for prospective anthropology majors, Spatial Analysis. Both teachers were very engaging and encouraged students to participate in discussions.
In the L.E.A.D. program, I was placed with a “host” in one of the dorms. Another L.E.A.D. program member and I were placed in a small, triple dorm in Copeland, which I wasn’t too fond with (five people in a cluttered room made me a bit claustrophobic). My host wasn’t that great since she didn’t really communicate with me and my roommate, but my host’s roommates were very welcoming and asked the questions that we had about LC. The dorm rooms themselves were pretty old, but bathroom facilities seemed to be kept clean by custodians and students that use them. My dorm was co-ed and each floor shared one bathroom. I was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that males and females shared the same public bathroom, but I guess you just have to go at the right time to avoid any people coming in, haha.
There’s a lot of female representation on campus from what I’ve seen (woo!), and the school is very welcoming to all groups. When we toured the campus, we noticed that there were clubs and programs for things such as the LGBT+ community, Asian-Americans, African-Americans, etc.
While I was at LC, I noticed that a few students in the program were interested in the college simply for the “dorm parties”, drugs, and all that. Our tour guide did explain that there were occasionally dorm parties, and my friend’s dorm host mentioned using drugs to stay up and finish a paper for one of his classes. I don’t want to stereotype LC to be a “druggie” community, but, as in every college, there will typically be a few people that partake in those types of activities (there really isn’t any escape from that). It didn’t bother me too much since I knew every college would have it, so I wouldn’t have this discourage you from touring/applying to Lewis and Clark.
One of my favorite parts of LC was that there was a transportation system (the Pioneer Express) that allowed students (and L.E.A.D. program members!) to commute to Downtown Portland in ~20 minutes. It was a great way for me to bond with the people in the program and to simply get a taste of the city life! It was definitely an awesome experience for me since I’ve lived in the country for the majority of my life (if you do go to LC, make sure to stop by Voodoo Donuts and Powell’s Bookstore in Downtown Portland!).
So overall, I liked the campus a lot. My first choice college still remains to be the University of Chicago, but LC has definitely moved up on the list of colleges that I would like to apply to. I encourage you to take an overnight stay or tour of the college just to get the gist of it and see if it’s the right college for you 
I’ve seen a lot of negative posts about the “vibe” of Lewis & Clark, however, most of them appear to be extremely outdated (much like their acceptance rate listed when searching Google). I just visited the school recently and, for me personally, after having visited a multitude of colleges, Lewis & Clark stood out to me as the clear first choice. The campus is beautiful, the food is top rated, our tour guide was chipper and interesting, professors walking around campus would say hello to him by name and smile at us. Lewis & Clark somehow managed to pull off the most accepting, pleasant atmosphere of any school I had visited. As a former student ambassador, I know what it looks and feels like to put on a fake smile, and this was not what I witnessed on this visit. The dorm options they have are standard for underclassmen and above standard for upperclassmen, their newest dorms look like upper mid scale apartments. Long story long, I personally really recommend this school and will be very willing to write another review when I’m actually there as a student next fall, as it seems like most of these reviews were written by (me included) people who have never actually attended the school. Best wishes on your college search and an apology for the overly formal writing, I get in a mode when talking about college and by the time I realized it had kicked in I was too lazy to go back and change it haha
^ this is what we noticed as well. LC seemed to have a friendly and genuine “vibe.” Beautiful campus too!
Any sense or real knowledge of the caliber of student and academia. LC obviously popular and good choice for many reasons including campus beauty, great city, v good food, green mantra etc…The few available resources to search all rank LC around 70-80 from a list greater than 100 amongst small liberal arts colleges that are competitive…I know it’s only objective but SAT and ACT numbers are more avg than most …
IMO (as a parent of a graduated L&C student) the academics and students are quite good. My D got an internship at a local college in the math dept and a summer program with an REU for math while at L&C. A Bio student in her class ended up being admitted directly into a PhD program at UCB. The most recent L&C Magazine has an article in it about two young ladies who are finalists for both Rhodes and Marshall scholarships for advanced studies. Only two LACs have more Rhodes’ scholarship winners in the past 20 years (L&C has had two).
Thank you ED and congratulations to your D…! We were sent the magazine only last week …I now look forward to reading it … The more we read about LC … The more we like… Except the weed use and what seems to be high prevalence. Certainly its up to the individual but I find that distraction disappointing and a challenge to most any entering freshman …Your thoughts …?
I think you can find distractions anywhere. It’s up to the kids to reign them in. You can find parties at all schools, just be judicious in attendance. I do know the prevalence of MJ seems to higher at Reed.
Appreciate the reply and shared thoughts. Thank you…