Occidental Biology Major

The fact that Oxy is a small liberal arts college means that a lot of people haven't even heard of it. At the Neuroscience Conference in San Diego we got a lot of suprised glances at our name tags. One of the sterotypes about Occidental is that it is a dental school. Changes are if you someone is familiar with Occidental, our students are well known as excellent communicators.

The dental school stereotype is absolutely untrue, Occidental prides itself on its nearly exclusive focus on undergraduate education. The stereotype that Occidental students are excellent communicators is absolutely true, as evidenced through the many conferences that Oxy students excell in.

Occidental is a small, prestigeous, liberal arts college. I know it sounds silly, but this says so much about Oxy. At Occidental, you get a rigorous, well-tempered inter disciplinary education in an intimate setting. When people hear that I go to Occidental, most people assume it is a dental school, or have never heard of it. For those that do know, they are usually impressed. Occidental is located in Eagle Rock, just within the boarder of the city of Los Angeles. Eagle Rock is a nice part of Los Angeles, California located in between the upscale Pasadena and Glendale. Occidental really is a sanctuary within the huge and diverse metropolis that is LA.

Occidental has a great environment; a friendly, supportive atmosphere exudes from the students and faculty. The real power is that within this clam environment, Occidental has all the fuel and intimate interactions needed to empower you to stand out among your peers on a national level. Occidental consistently has an excellent record for students recieivng national awards (e.g. Fullbright and Goldwater) and sending students to fantastic graduate schools.

Occidental's administration is perhaps its weakest link. There are so many excellent scholars that are Occidental degree holders, and professors with incredible CVs. Yet many times it seems that Occidentals professors and students achieve in spite of the administration that exemplifies many of the worst part of bureacracies. To that end, we have been through three presidents in the past half decade. Most recently, our president, Susan Prager resigned out of the blue this winter break after only 1 year and a half as President. Despite this one of the things that really attracted me was how much pride alumni have in their school. I have yet to meet one alumni who is not estatic about their time spent at Occidental, and proud of their degree.

Academically, Occidental is a dream school for those motivated and dedicated to education. I have yet to be in a class of more than 20 people and I have one class with only 9,; most of my classes contain 15 students. Because of the small class size, class participation is not only encouraged, it's pretty much mandatory. The professors expect that each student come to class prepared to articulate their ideas and defend their positions. The professors know everyone's name within a week, and will remember you for many semesters past. All professors have office hours where they are requried to stay in their office and be available to you. I have never waited to meet with a professor, and had more than enough opportunities for indiviudal attention. Professors are extremely nice and flexible, they respond to email roughly any time a day (or night) and are happy to help you whenever or however they can. I recently met with my Chemistry professor out of class for 3 hours to review a laboratory procedure.

I am a Biochemistry major, which is really a hybrid department between Biology and Chemistry (it has no physical location). As a liberal arts College, Occidental ensures that you are well prepared for a modern carreer spanning multipile fields and requiring many cross-disciplinary skills. Everyone has to take a substantial amount of art/history/english classes as well as science/math/logic classes in order to graduate. It's really fantastic. Although I'm a die-hard science major, I still develop excellent writting and critical reading skills from my Imperial China history class.

Occidental also ensures that you have a high degree of competency in your own subject area of expertise. In Biochemistry, there is a set of senior requirements called comprehensives. These consist of a series of rigorous standarized tests that must be passed (in our case the ACS Biochemistry Exam) and an hour presentation on a research topic in which fellow students and professor's cross-examine you afterwards. A poor preformance will result in failure to matriculate from the college. Although very stressful, Oxy seniors become students with graduate level depth knowledge and intuition to boot. While both the major requeirements (especially in the sciences where many classes are very sequential) and the general college requirements can seem a bit onerous, especially for the courses outside of my comfort zone (art/history/english) I feel confident in my ability to think critically in any field and articulate myself effectively.

One of the best things about being a science major at Occidental is the Undergraduate Research. The college places a huge emphasis on research at Oxy; at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research the way we are represented you would think that Occidental is the size of a UC. Nearly every science major is engaged in research during the school year and/ro the summer. It is truely a priviledge to get to work several hours a week one on one with my professor outside of class. The professors really become more than just advisors, they become friends and mentors. I honestly look forward to asking my professors for letters of reccomendation because I feel that they know me well. The other unique component of our research is that it is primarily student driven. Research isn't just work as minions of the Professors' project; we come up with our own projects, write our own proposals, and research what we're interested in!

Education at Occidental is divergent from many larger research universities in that I view Occidental as a prep-Graduate school. If you're only planning on going to college for four years and then going on to a job, Occidental may not be for you. The environment is geared towards learning for its own sake with a strong emphasis on continuing higher eduation. One of the things that drew me towards Occidental, is that students are much more about teamwork than they are about competition. Everyone really works to help everyone succeed. In my chemistry class, for example, everyone gets together before a problem set and we go over the problems together, correct and help each other, and learn (and the Professors encourage collaboration!). I don't think I've yet had a class where I am not frequently engaged in intellectual discussions with my classmates. Although the academic environment may seem relaxed, Professors hold students to high standards. Occidental is known to have grade deflation, or a higher proportion of B's and C's than is the norm.

One of the things that really stands out about Occidental is how diverse the student body really is. It wasn't a major factor for me when applying, but I sure see it now. Half of my friends are students who have spent a significant part of their life abroad; even within the faculty there is a considerable amount of variation in terms of their backgrounds, gender, and race. Most students wear what they would even if they weren't going to class: California Casual (T-shirts & Jeans). Occidental is certainly diverse in socio-economic terms as well. Even within my circle of friends there is everyone from the god daughter of Warren Buffet to students who make just as much money as their parents, and many in between. Occidental consistently dedicates a large portion of their budget to student aid so that they can sustain a diverse student body. In terms of geography, a large block of Occidental students seem to come from Northern/Central California, and an unusually high proportion of Hawaiians (relative to their population representation in the US). However, there are many international students from around the world, and students from nearly every state in the US. Because Oxy students are so diverse, you're bound to interact or even become close friends with someone who comes from a significantly bacground from yourself. That being said, many students are very politically active and the school is definitely strongly predisposed towards the left politically.
Occidental is a small school. I know everyone in my major, and nearly all of the students in the sciences (in every class year). Although I don't know everyone on a first name basis, I really don't come across an unfamilliar face frequently.

There is a significant variety of extra curricular clubs/teams/groups on campus. What is nice though is that anyone can easily set up a club, get funding, and get started to explore any niche not yet met. The fact that I started up a parliamentary debate club this year is proof that you don't need an in depth knowledge of the inner workings of Student Government to get things done. The administration makes it clear and easy for any group/club to schedule, plan events, advertise, and get funded. One group that I'm involved with, which I think really reflects Occidental is SSAP (Scientific Scholars Achievement Program). Here I tutor/mentor students who are struggling in the Math and Sciences. Our program was created to help encourage those students (especially minorities) who are otherwise often intimidated in entry level courses into leaving the sciences entirely. We try to help brige the gap between professors and students to create a real community among the sciences. Occidental also has several large community outreach education programs in which many students go out and help high school and elementary students at local schools.

One of the most popular traditions at Occidental is Dance Production.
A large and diverse group of the student body gets together every year to put together a series of original as well as traditional dacnes to music. Nearly everyone in the school is involved as either spectators or dancers. Another Oxy tradition is the Sex on the Beach Party. Although toned down in recent years, it encourages all students to let loose in their best swim wear near the end of term.
Nearly all students live on campus in the residence halls, and the environment in each hall varies considerably. Some halls are almost like a sanitarium, all the doors are closed and its silent (great for studying). Other halls seem as if there is only communal space as all doors are open and students are constantly mingling in and out of rooms and chatting in the hallways. Occidental is built into a hill, with most of the facillities near the bottom, so there is a significant geographic barrier between students who live in the upper campus versus the lower one.
The Occidental Football Team consistently does well in SCIAC (our athletic league) and games draw a fair number of crowds. Our Water Polo team is also a large presence on campus academically as well as athletically. The volume of Guest speakers on campus is excellent as we have access to a large number of professionals being just inside the city limits of LA. Nearly every week each department hosts guest speakers (experts in their field); given the volume of speakers on campus, student participation in these events is high.

In terms of dating, there is an old proverb that still holds true: 8 out of 10 girls are foxy, the rest go to Oxy. The Oxy dating scene (at least form the male perspective) is significantly less than ideal. There are still of plenty of ways to have fun though. There aren't frequently large parties on campus, but there are lots of small parties that go on in the dorms among groups of friends. Greek Life at Oxy is small. There are only a handful of fraternities and sororities at Occidental today (although there was a significant amount in the past). The nice thing though (especially if you have a car, or a friend that has one) is that you have LA at your feet. Although in a nice neighborhood, Occidental allows you access to the myriad of entertainment options that only LA can provide.

I have so much pride in my school. That being said, there are some reservations that I have about Occidental. One of the biggest challenges to my perceptions about Occidental regards classes. I asssumed that because I went to a small school, I would be able to take whatever classes I want. However, due to Occidental's size, many upper division classes are only offered every other year for one semester. It makes scheduling a real problem, especially as you progress in your major.

I also want to say this: If a school "brand name" is what you're concerned about, Oxy it not for you; If you are seeking an excellent eduation, and an environment where you can stand out and succeed, Oxy is exactly what you're looking for.

For example: One of the fellow researchers in my laboratory group is currently working at the National Institutes of Health. Because of his/her intense preparation at Occidental he/she is thriving there (they just can't stop giving him/her new projects and funding). He/Sheis blowing students from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and many of the other Ivies out of the water.