Occidental College
- Academics

Teachers Are Engaged

The registration process is very hard to manage but it usually works out for most students. The workload is quite heavy though! At least for most students. But, the teachers are engaged with the material they teach and you can tell that they truly enjoy their subjects.

Depends on Your Major

The professors that teach certain subjects can be quite iffy; however, I am lucky enough that my major has very good professors that are engaged with students and the material.

A Diverse Curriculum

A liberal arts school, Occidental College, has a Core Program in order for students to become well-rounded when they graduate from their respected major. The program involves students to take at least one science course, one math course, fine arts courses, CSP courses (equivalent to English classes), courses about different regions (such as Asia and the Middle East, Latin America, Europe). The courses available are incredibly interesting. One of my CSP courses was called Criminal Dreams, and the professor, who's also the head of the English department, used Freudian analysis on the Sherlock Holmes stories in order to psychoanalyze the stories' author, Arthur Conan Doyle. Other interesting courses include Music and Trance, Bioethics, and the Russian Experience, a History.

Most people at Occidental College seem to be involved with the humanities majors, especially Politics and Diplomacy and World Affairs (a highly recognized major). These are majors that involve community awareness, and the people at Occidental generally are active with the community. The hard science majors are rigorous, and the people in them are very likely to join a professor's lab for research.

For me, I'm a physics major, and I want to do a the 3-2 Engineering Program that Occidental provides, so that if I keep up my GPA and take the required program courses, I am guaranteed admission to Columbia University after three years at Occidental. I will receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from Occidental and a Bachelor of Science degree from Columbia University after completing the program.

The professors at Occidental often impress me not only with their passion for their subject but for their ability to teach and to respond to students' needs. Many of the professors really force you to think for yourself, forcing you to be analytical and critical thinkers. If you ask a direct question, they won't answer it for you, they'll help you to think out the answer to your own question yourself.