<p>I have recently become interested in western LACs, but my knowledge does not extend much past what I have read in the Princeton Review about Reed, Lewis and Clark, and the Claremont Colleges. Could anyone with knowledge about a specific school give me some information about it? I live on the east coast, so I probably will not get to visit before I apply to colleges. I am interested in colleges with liberal and artsy atmospheres and strong biology programs. Thanks!</p>
<p>Take a look at Occidental and Redlands.</p>
<p>Yemaya, My daughter and I just visited Lewis & Clark and right now it is near the top of her list. I wrote a full trip report on the parents board, so if you do a search for "Oregon trip visits" you will find out what my daughter's thoughts were on L&C as well as two other Oregon schools.</p>
<p>I second Momofwildchild's recommendations of Occidental and Redlands. I would add Whitman College in Washington state to your list to look into - it is one of the best LAC's on the west coast, in my opinion, and has a warm, welcoming community.</p>
<p>Thanks, MomofWildChild and Carolyn. I will look into the schools tht you suggested. Carolyn, it was actually your post about Lewis and Clark that made me interested in west coast LACs</p>
<p>Yemaya, Based on my sense of you, I think you'd like Lewis & Clark too. And possibly Whitman as well. Don't overlook the schools in the midwest either!</p>
<p>Before I found CC, I was not interested in west coast colleges or women's colleges. I tried to avoid the midwest, too. My list went from being centered around the coed and most prestigious NE LACs to a much more expanded group including Smith, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Carleton, Oberlin, Beloit, Lewis and Clark, Reed, Claremount McKenna, and Scripps.</p>
<p>I think you could be happy at Lewis and Clark. Also I think Redlands could be good</p>
<p>Since you live on the East Coast, have you identified a particular reason to attend college on the West Coast? There are, of course, some excellent LACs on the West Coast (although not that many). But, keep in mind that the logistics and cost of travel will be significant. </p>
<p>For example, unless you get a direct flight, air travel from the major east coast cities to LA, San Fran, or the Pacific Northwest can be an all day affair -- probably not feasible for short school vacations. It is also difficult to get super cheap fares, such as the $29 to $79 one-way fares between east coast cities. And, of course, driving you and your stuff back and forth to college is impractical. </p>
<p>Just some things to think about. I told my daughter that she was welcome to consider West Coast schools if she felt there was something they offered that was not available in a location that was logistically more convenient -- such as within a day's drive or an easy direct flight.</p>
<p>With that out of the way, the Claremont Colleges are totally unique. They started as Pomona College -- an LA version of a classic east coast LAC. As Pomona grew, it could easily have become a university, adding graduate schools and becoming a Stanford or an Emory. Instead, they made a decision to add additional LACs, occuping adjacent land and sharing infrastructure such as libararies, food services, security, etc. So, now you have five small colleges each with a portion of a larger campus. Pomona is the co-ed all-purpose LAC. Scripps is the all-female LAC. Harvey Mudd is the tiny tech/engineering school. Claremont-McKenna is the small poli sci/government oriented school with a bit of a convervative slant. Pfitzer is the psych/social science oriented school with a bit of a "loosey-goosey" Birkenstock feel. I believe that Pfitzer, Claremont, and maybe Scripps share a common science department, whereas Pomona is self-contained and HarveyMudd is hardcore science/tech.</p>
<p>It's an interesting concept -- a bit of hybrid between a mid-size university and an LAC. Economically (for the colleges), it is very attractive model, i.e. they can save a ton of dough on basic services by achieving economies of scale.</p>
<p>OCcidental is absolutely fantastic. Also look at Saint Mary's--it's really a gem</p>
<p>If you're looking at Pomona, make sure to look at Scripps. In some areas, it is better.</p>
<p>Son loves Redlands. One nice thing if you are out of state. They have dorms you can stay at over break. There is a nominal charge if you live less than 200 miles, otherwise you just check into the open dorms. Son spent his overnight with a pre med major who was very satisfied with his science classes. I think it is liberal and artsy.</p>
<p>Maybe you should check out Whitman</p>
<p>I second triple and quadruple the Whitman option. Tis my first choice and an excellent VERY highly regarded school... or, at least... its highly regarded in WA. XP But, I've heard excellent things about the school.</p>
<p>So... yeah. Whitmannnn!</p>
<p>Some other western LAC options: Willamette, Whittier, Linfield, Mills College.</p>
<p>Of all the West Coast LACs, Pomona is probably the most highly regarded and is often compared with AWS. Others include Claremont McKenna, followed by Reed and Whitman. Then consider Chapman, Pitzer, Occidental, Whittier, Lewis & Clark and Willamette. For women's schools, Mills and Scripps.</p>
<p>My son attends Lewis & Clark and I would be happy to answer questions about it. He also applied to Willamette and University of Puget Sound.</p>
<p>The travel concern is real. Some colleges are easily accessed by air, but others (Whitman for example) will not be a direct flight from anyplace on the east coast. I would think you have to fly to Seattle or Portland, Oregon and then shuttle someplace about an hour from the school. Has someone made this trip yet, that can talk about it. It could easily become a two day trip from NJ by air.</p>
<p>whiiter, willamette and linfield are not technically LACs.. but i would reccomend willamette. Whittier isnt highly regarded out here in Cali. If you're looking at california colleges, dont forget to look at the catholic schools... theyre very highly regarded here, my top recommendations are Santa Clara, St. Mary's and USF. Of them, St Marys has the most feel of an LAC, and I believe its program is underrated.
I also recommend whitman, L&C, and Reed. I almost applied to Whitman and L&C, i visited L&C, and its a beautiful campus. I did apply to Reed (hopefully got in, find out in a couple days)... they all have tremendous prestige and great programs.</p>
<p>For something completely different, look at Thoman Aquinas. Its in the SoCal wilderness, a catholic great books school, similar to teh St. John's programs in Annapolis and Santa Fe. I considered it for a long time until tehy sent me a brochure which had a review of teh college written by William F. Buckley Jr.... that really turned me off, but i guess if your republican, itd be nice?</p>
<p>Uh? Whittier, Willamette and Linfield are definitely liberal arts colleges TheCity.</p>
<p>there is also an airport in Walla walla- it isn't really the back of beyond
Spokane international airport could hook you up</p>
<p>While a friend of my daughters who is from Redlands hates it- the kids I know who attend school there love it.</p>