“Exploration and Discovery” is a big theme at Lewis & Clark College, one of the few small, liberal arts colleges based in a major city. L&C is in a beautiful residential area about 6 miles from downtown Portland, and students take advantage of the job and internship opportunities, as well as cultural activities, that are just a quick 15 minute bus ride away.
The largest major at Lewis & Clark is psychology, but strong programs include Foreign Languages (students can become conversant in several languages in this major), English, International Affairs, Biology, Environmental Sciences, Economics, Philosophy and Sociology. There is a fairly new Entrepreneurship program which encourages students to come up with new business ideas and gives them funding to launch those concepts. The Math department is also strong, and all Lewis & Clark students are required to take at least one math course during their time here.
The hallmark of the Lewis & Clark education is the close interaction with faculty, who truly care about providing a well-rounded education for their students. Faculty help students take their liberal arts core and apply it to the real world. I had dinner with Prof. Naiomi Cameron, who teaches in the math department. Cameron is an inspiration and would make a fabulous mentor for any student who has even a fleeting interest in math.
We love the campus and the vibe at Lewis & Clark. The students we met were engaging and very happy with their college choice. The professors were absolutely devoted to giving their students the best college experience imaginable. Sixty-five percent of all students have an overseas/study abroad opportunity. Freshmen and sophomores all live on campus; sixty percent of juniors and seniors stay on campus. Students are very involved and about 40% participate in varsity, club or intramural sports.
Lewis & Clark is known for professors teaching undergraduate courses; you won’t have graduate or teaching assistants lecturing or instructing here. And all majors require a level 200 language. Lewis & Clark also has a 3:3 Law program, which allows students to receive their JD in six years.
Lewis & Clark is fully test-optional, and has been for several decades. Successful applicants are generally very high-performing in the classroom, with a 3.7 GPA or higher, and are ready for rigorous college-level work.
Lewis & Clark may be a great option for students who do not want to declare a major right away. Students declare their majors declared towards the end of sophomore year. Students each have a minimum of two advisors; one faculty advisor and one major advisor. Pre-health students will have an additional pre-health advisor.
Lewis & Clark’s campus is stunning, with Mt. Hood visible from several locations on this hilly and wooded campus. Magellan’s counselors visited in spring, 2022, and we loved our tour of Lewis & Clark! With her permission, we took a quick video of our tour guide Megan; you can see that in this post.
A number of our counselors have visited Lewis & Clark College and you can see all of our photos from multiple visits below.