My son has been accepted to Occidental for the 2016/17 year. We initially were very excited about it because he was interested in doing the double program with Cal tech. We have read a lot of disturbing info about the administration and also sexual misconduct on campus. That coupled with student protests recently has sent several red flags up for us. We are not local ( NYC residents) and want to know if anyone has insight on what’s been done to address these issues? Also how does the double program work,as it seems there is a large body of mandated classes for freshman, but do they then begin to choose what specialty they wish to pursue?
Hi! I’m also very interested in the 3/2 combined engineering program with Cal Tech/Columbia. Thank you for raising the red flag on such issues at Oxy because I would’ve been unaware of those issues since I’m also out of state…Maybe I need to get something to defend myself before settling in. I know for sure that a BA from Oxy and a BS from Columbia/Cal Tech would be awarded by the end of this program. I know it’s highly competitive because on oxy’s website it stated that only a few actually goes into Columbia/Tech because most people either choose to stay at Oxy or drop out sometime during the program. Since it’s a LAC, freshman has core classes that we need to take like English and others to enhance our understanding of arts, humanities, philosophies, and social studies. And I think the minimum GPA requirement to be able to go to Columbia/Cal Tech is 3.5 or higher. Hope that answered part of your inquiry! I’ll be very happy to be classmates with your son at Oxy!
hi 2020collegebound:
Thanks for the info. My son is also out of state (NY) so we found all the info about the issues via news media and online, and via students comments on college prowler and the like. It seems that they are doing something about the issues although as recent as last December, the students were calling tot he President of the college for answers and a call to action for change. Overall, we are going to see it during the accepted student event on the 15th April and see first hand how things are. He’s got other options so we’ll weigh in after that visit. Hope all goes well for you and perhaps you’ll meet if he chooses Oxy.
Hi.
Thought I’d weigh in with a parent’s perspective on a number of posts. We are also out-of-state. Our daughter is a junior at Oxy (Occidental), after choosing it over a number of other colleges. She has loved it and we feel she has gotten a great education. Yes, Oxy has been in the news about sexual assault, but they have received a lot of media attention. There are lots of “other sides” to these stories. This is a major issue on most college campuses. As a parent, I do feel that the administration has done a lot of education with both students, faculty, and parents. In fact, it has been more transparent than most schools. I do not believe the president is going anyway and the protests last fall were not unique and were present on many college campuses, particularly Southern Cali. That being said, historically Oxy is a politically active campus. The students there are interested in engaging in dialogue around many issues. Dean Gonzalez is leaving because he became President of Kalamazoo College, a natural progression for him.
Athletics are quite doable at Oxy, as it is D-III and academics come first. Our daughter has been on the swim team all three years, although she is currently studying abroad. She has also been on the student government and in a sorority (Greek Life is a very small part of Oxy life). College athletics can be a jump, depending on your high school experience. Here is a video about athletics at Oxy: http://www.oxyathletics.com/video/ifyoucanplayyoucanplay?list=/video/index
Oxy is one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges in the country. Our daughter receives both merit/need based financial aid. I don’t know really know anything about ED/2 and financial aid. There are a lot of wealthy families at most of the significant LAC…Oxy has a wide range of students…definitely not a place of primarily “well-off” families.
Graduate school. Our daughter started as premed and is now majoring in psychology and neuroscience. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in neuropsychology. Oxy has a great admission rate to graduate and particularly, pre-med. This summer she will be on campus doing independent research with a professor. The summer fellowship is fully funded by Oxy. Oxy also boasts one of the highest yearly numbers of Fulbrights at LACs in the country. I think they do well graduate school-wise. I don’t know anything about the 3/2 programs.
I hope I have answered a lot of the questions. Please feel free to privately message me. On another note, we have a rising high school senior. Although she is looking across the country, after spending a few days at Oxy and going to class, Oxy is high on her list. Hope this helps.
Our daughter is a sophomore at Oxy and so far it has been an amazing experience for her. We actually felt that our DD would be safer on campus due to the media attention that Oxy has received in the past for its handling of sexual assaults. We too, are OOS. As @swimsoc2013 mentioned, Oxy is a very politically active campus. Our daughter loves that about Oxy. The protests were handled fairly well by the administration (although the media did a poor job imo about conveying what the real issues are) and the students feel like it was a necessary step to move the administration in the proper direction. What you didn’t hear is that they had quite a bit of support from the faculty.
I don’t know much about the engineering department but will say that the physics program is very demanding and highly regarded. DD’s class started with more than 50 students and it’s now down to 8. Our daughter has had paid internship opportunities beginning last summer after her freshman year. She just landed a National Science Foundation internship for this summer on another campus and was chosen for a second (which she declined).
One of the things she loved about Oxy when she toured was that Greek life isn’t huge as she just wasn’t interested. She did however, end up pledging, and is loving her sorority. There are tons of clubs and activities for those who don’t choose to pledge.
Like @swimsoc2013 , we have a rising senior. Oxy is very high on his list. Feel free to pm me with any questions.