Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & Clark College – Portland, OR
Lewis and Clark is a very unusual small liberal arts school with less than 10% of their students coming from the state of Oregon, so they can claim that their average student travels more than 500 miles to attend the school. They are risk takers whose motto is “Think Globally, Act Locally,” – they are sustainable, green, quirky, and also act in a very collaborative nature with their fellow students. Students come from 60 foreign nations imparting a heavy international feeling and everyone needs to study a second language. The location gives students access to deserts, rivers, mountains and beaches – everything that you could ever want. Lewis and Clark went test-optional in 1991. It offers the “Portfolio Path for Admission” as an alternative to standardized testing that includes two teacher recs, one writing sample and one math or science sample. So all learning styles are accepted. The campus is incredibly beautiful, being set on the old Frank estate of the Meier and Frank department stores in Portland. The main Frank house is the site of Admissions and the formal gardens are still there with Mt. Hood in the background on a clear day. At one point as you traverse the campus, you are crossing a bridge through a heavily wooded area and you almost feel as if you are in a rain forest and the seclusion is overwhelming. It is hard to believe you are in the middle of a city of 603,000 people!