<p>Lewis & Clark</p>
<p>The minute we walked onto L&C's beautiful campus, my daughter's friend looked at her and said "I could SO see you here!" LC has 1800 students. A law school and graduate school of education are part of the school but both are on their own adjoining campuses so undergrads don't come into contact with the grads. All undergrad classes are taught by full professors.</p>
<p>L&C's campus is very different than most colleges. The land it sits on was a former estate which was donated to the school about 30 years ago. In the center sits a fabulous, castle-like tudor style mansion. Surrounding the mansion are the estate's gardens and thick pine woods. One one side of the "mansion/garden" are the dorms and student center. On the other, are the classroom buildings and library. You can not see one side from the other - getting from the dorms to the classroom side you walk through the woods (over a bridge crossing a lush ravine) or through the estate gardens. On the academic side, there is no "quad" in the traditional sense - the buildings are lined up on either side of a road. The walkways throughout campus are cobblestone. The mansion gives the school a feeling of age even though all of the buildings are fairly new and rather modern in feel.</p>
<p>L&C is about 20 minutes from downtown Portland but on campus it feels as though you are a million miles away in a primeval forest. The immediate area is residential and very upscale --- houses on huge lots with more forest. The school runs regular buses to a small local shopping center and on into portland. Based on the size of the buses we saw leaving campus, many students take advantage of this service to enjoy the city.</p>
<p>Academically, LC has some very interesting and strong programs. Particular strengths are the sciences (especially enviro. science and bio), international affairs (a wonderful program), English (good creative writing options), and the social sciences. Languages are also strong for a small school - five are taught regularly including chinese, japanese, russian, french, german, spanish. The art program is very strong and has its own building. There is also an art gallery on campus. </p>
<p>The focus at LC is on global education --- the school runs approximately 20 study abroad programs annually, all led by LC faculty. On average, about 65-70% of students study abroad at least once. (This is something my daughter wants very much). Students have to take three semesters of a language plus meet global studies requirements (either through study abroad or through taking classes on campus). A large chunk of offered classes have a "Global" context of one sort or another. Additionally, all freshman take a two semester "Inventing America" symposium that focuses on U.S. history, political thought and culture. </p>
<p>The school has about 100 international students (according to the adcom, used to be higher but Visa restrictions have had an effect since 9/11). LC also has a large proportion of what they call "TCK's" for Third Culture Kids - students who are American citizens but have grown up overseas for one reason or another. (Cheers, I thought of you).</p>
<p>Dorms are mainly doubles with a new apartment style dorm for upperclass students. Several of the dorms have co-ed bathrooms.</p>
<p>Probably the reason my daughter's friend said she could see her at LC, however, was the student body. It is definitely "quirky" --- just watching the variety of clothing, piercings and hair styles in the student cafeteria was entertaining. We saw many students who looked like they had rummaged through my daughter's closet as well as many who were more "out there" Daughter loved it. (Mom admittedly had a momentary pause at some of the more outlandish costumes). Eavesdropping on conversations, I also got the feeling that students are academically engaged and rather intellectual.</p>
<p>We had a lot of opportunity to talk to students on campus - they seemed very friendly and willing to share their thoughts with a prospie. They also seemed very accepting and welcoming of differences. My daughter was really happy when she sat down at a table in the cafeteria and two students immediately asked if they could share her table. General consensus was that for the right person LC was a "terrific" place - lots of faculty interaction, lots of stimulating classes. Hanging out with friends and going into Portland were the two main past times mentioned. Several students however pointed out that the academics are quite strenuous and studying was pretty time consuming (the library is open 24 hours a day). The 40/60 male female ratio keeps relationships low key or non-existent, according to students. </p>
<p>LC has a reputation as being a "pot head" school so daughter asked several of the students about that -- all agreed that pot is definitely there, as is drinking, but that there wasn't pressure to do either. Again, the students we asked mentioned that LC students tend to be pretty laid back and accept differences.</p>
<p>Overall, my daughter LOVED LC. Unfortunately, it is a definite reach for her - median SAT scores are 1260-1380, average GPA is 3.6-3.8. However, when she talked to the adcom, she was very familiar with daughter's high school and said that a slightly lower GPA from that school would be viewed favorably, so maybe it is not entirely out of reach. Percentage accepted last year was 65% but that number is expected to drop this year due to a rise in applications. There's an EA (non binding) option but the adcom stressed that numbers for accepted students during EA tend to be the same or even slightly above for EA students. </p>
<p>Lewis & Clark is the type of school that's not for everyone. Preppy types would probably run for the hills. But, for the right type of person - someone who is intense about their interests, interested in studying abroad, liberal, and looking for a campus where how you look isn't important, LC would be a good fit. As I said, my daughter LOVED Lewis & Clark.</p>