<p>Hi all, I was accepted to Lewis & Clark on Friday (the admissions director called my cell phone, which I thought was insanely cool), and I have been stalking the website and youtube page constantly since then. I applied almost as an afterthought, because I never (really, never) wanted to be on the West Coast, but Portland drew me in so I went for it. Now, the more I read about it, the more I feel as though it may be full of West Coast stereotypes (i.e. dreadlocks and bare feet and lots of weed). I am totally down for living with people like that, but is the entire community like it? I am very used to the East Coast, I live in D.C. and frequent New York, so I'm used to rushing around and piling on jackets and scarves. I'm wondering what the overall attitude is of LC. I have never been to that side of the country, so any feedback would help!</p>
<p>Hiya–I grew up in Portland and now live in Seattle. D also accepted at L&C–she’s into Portland for the artsy and music scene. Your stereotype is funny. We usually wear shoes because it gets cold and wet in the winter. Then our feet are too tender to go bare in summer. But really, I lived in western mass and there are as many dreads there as Portland–more. The cultural difference is real though. People on west coast are more relaxed (read–less uptight) than people–especially white people–on east coast. It’s lovely. You might have a hard time going back! And the mountains! Nothing to compare on east coast. You’d have fun and from our visit to L&C, also a good education. Great faculty. I was much more impressed than I expected to be. People on east coast seem to have some idea of the wild, hippy west. Cracks us up. Come west!</p>
<p>Oh – and I forgot to add–we got our share of conservatives, fundamentalists, and plenty of suits. But you won’t find them much on the L&C campus. (Though I’m sure some of them do smoke weed too. I don’t think substances are limited to the barefeet among us.)</p>
<p>^ Agreed. Your stereotype is pretty funny. Portland is actually a very polished, professional, forward thinking city. But there are a lot of sides to it too. It can be youthful, businesslike, fun, serious, sunny, rainy, whatever. You’ll be fine here. There’s so much to do and see in this area of the country…the coast, mountains, forests, great shopping and entertainment. BTW…this isn’t the stereotypical “west coast”, either. The majority of the time you WILL be piling on jackets and scarves. And rainboots. And rainjackets. Not sure if this is a downside or an upside, but be prepared for rain and wind.</p>
<p>Haha, thank you both so much! I’m glad those stereotypes are laughable–I was a bit worried when I heard about them! Rain is wonderful, so I have no problem with that! Your descriptions sound just like what I’m looking for, so thank you again! I’m very excited to visit!</p>
<p>Glad to help! I think it’s great you are going to try something different. Wish I could convince D to try the Southeast where she got a full ride. Nothing like expanding one’s horizons. Portland is a great city–and you can visit Seattle and even Vancouver BC for another great international city. Have fun and congrats!</p>
<p>I’m an East coaster through and through, but went to law school at Lewis & Clark. I encouraged my son to apply there for ug last year. He was accepted EA, but ended up at Davidson. I was secretly hoping he might go to L & C, because I think Portland is one of the best places on earth and would have loved to have an excuse to visit. My daughter was born there but has never seen it - she still considers herself a West coast native ;-). We moved back to New England after law school - 15 years later I still miss the Northwest.</p>
<p>I’m not a L&C expert – I did visit and my D has been accepted for next year. My answer is about the cities and general area.</p>
<p>I am a New England native, living in Seattle for 20 years, with family in Portland. I love it out here. Yes, there are more Birkenstocks (with socks no less) and fewer business suits, but the difference isn’t that dramatic. Neighborhoods vary – urban vs. suburban in any of the big cities is a bigger difference IMO. I do love the more laid back and friendly attitude in the Northwest. Lots of scarves here so you should feel right at home. :)</p>
<p>I used to live in Boston and we visited Portland for the 1st time when we toured L&C. Portland is a very cool city- sort of reminds me of a miniature Boston- small city blocks, very walkable, great stores and restaurants. I was ready to move! I’m not sure how much time you spend in Portland as a student at L&C. I think it’s about a 15 minute drive to L&C. L&C is nothing like Boston- it’s more like camp- beautiful, natural…probably one of the prettiest campuses I’ve ever seen. I don’t think it’s a west coast/east coast thing. I’m not sure that everyone from the west coast would feel comfortable at L&C. I found it to be very intellectual, so I think you have to be passionate about learning and open to new ideas to feel completely at home there.</p>
<p>I’m a fellow accepted student leaning towards LC and I’m from the Seattle are but most of the other schools I applied to and visited were on the east coast.</p>
<p>The biggest West Coast stereotype that I saw at Lewis & Clark was the general laid-back feel and the friendliness. LC was by far the nicest student body I experienced as a visiting prospective student, people went out of their way to talk to me and my mom and ask if we had any questions or needed to be shown around. That didn’t happen at any of the other 8 schools I visited over the course of my college search. If you are used to the more uptight rush of the east coast, this will be a little bit different but personally I think it’s an improvement :)</p>