What are we looking for?

5,553 students applied for admission to Lewis & Clark for the fall of 2008. Fifty-eight percent of those students were admitted. What made them successful?

When admitting new students, our admissions staff look for individuals from diverse backgrounds, with diverse talents and interests – students who will not only meet the rigorous academic challenges of a Lewis & Clark education, but will also take full advantage of the opportunities for individual achievement and growth offered here.

Academic Preparation

Your high school course load (grades 9-12) should include a minimum of:

4 years of English

4 years of Mathematics

3-4 years of history and social sciences

2-3 years of a foreign language

3 years of lab sciences

1 year of creative arts

Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or honors courses are viewed as further evidence of serious preparation for college-level studies. Successful candidates have taken some of these advanced courses if they are offered at their schools. Transfer applicants are expected to have further demonstrated their ability to succeed in college-level studies with appropriate course selection and grades. Click here for more details about transfer admission. The best predictor of academic success at Lewis & Clark is a student's record in their core academic courses. Grades for such courses taken in years 11 and 12 are very important.

Admission Criteria

We look not only at your performance in a challenging curriculum, but at the following criteria as well:

SAT or ACT scores (unless applying through the Portfolio Path)

Counselor Report (first-year students only)

Teacher Recommendation

Personal Essay

Leadership, community service and work experience, and extracurricular involvements

Expressed interest in the College or personal interview (Personal interviews are optional, not required)

Interviews may be more helpful for students who have a circumstance best explained in a personal conversation, or who have specific questions. Interviews may take place on campus or as admissions staff travel around the country. Click here for the admissions staff travel schedule.

The committee weighs all of these factors to make a prediction about an applicant’s potential for academic success at Lewis & Clark. We want to make sure that any student who has the opportunity to enroll at the College will have the tools they need to flourish in and enjoy our academic program. The committee also looks for students who will contribute to our community – as musicians, or leaders, or athletes, or community service participants, just to name a few – while they are succeeding academically. You can get a good idea of where you might fit in “by the numbers” by comparing your own performance with our student profile. Click here for facts & figures about Lewis & Clark, including our admitted student profile.