Occidental College
- 4 Year
- LOS ANGELES, CA
CollegeGrad School
Occidental College Reviews
Rating 3.68 out of 5 509 reviews
If your student is focused on humanities and you don't mind the 80k/year it could be a good fit. If STEM, consider another option. Every school is a party school and Oxy is as well which makes sense as the surrounding area is a suburb of Los Angeles which does not offer much to do.
The academics at the school are top-tier. I have been able to be prepared for further graduate school coursework and have developed very positive relationships with my professors. I have been able to get 4 internships with the College.
Like everything, there are ups and downs and days where I wish I were back home with my dogs, but I love Occidental College, and I've had such a great experience so far. I am only a sophomore and have already taken a wide diversity of courses with phenomenal professors, met incredible friends, and have had many opportunities to help professors with their research. I have an environmental science concentration with my major and have worked in my biology professor's lab since the first semester of my first year! Being at Oxy, a small school, enables me to build a great network of mentors and participate in undergraduate research throughout the school year and independent paid research over the summer. Ultimately, I have loved the experiences of being at Oxy and being able to take a comprehensive arrangement of courses and do stem research.
The bonds I have formed are like no other. I feel valued at Occidental and my views are respected and appreciated.
Overall oxy is a great school with great professors who are extremely kind and helpful! We are a small school, but that fosters a great community! There are always things to do in terms of school events! Plus the food is good!
My top priority entering college was to receive a strong education, build community, and measure personal and academic growth by the end of my 4 years here. I absolutely adore the classes Occidental has to offer, I find the small classes engaging, they make me work harder and I am always able to rely on professors and other outside resources for support. Socially, I find the school to be quite cliquey, when making friends I direct my effort towards individual relationships rather than group circles. Oxy students are very engaged with admin, they often have to advocate for their needs that should have already been addressed by admin, but due to the small school, students are able to connect with admin more easily than at a larger institution.
Occidental College was my number one pick for college. Coming to this campus and learning how such a small student population can have such an impact on you. You are able to get that one-on-one experience in classes with not only your peers but your professors. Building those relationships was essential for me, and Occidental provided that. Another perk of being here in Los Angeles is how you are surrounded by so much culture and life. Being able to travel around the city and explore has also been something so important here at Occidental. I would love to see more improvement in helping workers here on campus and as well not seeing tuition rise every year.
Oxy is a college with a strong history and focus on social justice and inclusion. Although it offers non liberal arts majors, with further investigation, students can find that options are limited. STEM for example is arguably not a strength and you will not likely find religious or conservative clubs that are attended. Athletics are available yet the more competitive programs at the Claremont schools or Chapman can lure some of the stronger athletes away. From a party perspective, the school can be lively similar to a University of Arizona.
Oxy is a good school academically, especially the Econ, DWA, and CSLC departments. Econ specially was excellent, teachers were really smart and always willing to help and meet with you anytime. Class sizes are small so this enables students to really get involved in class with peers and teachers. I’d say if you want something at Oxy (opportunity, internship, research) it’s probably easier to figure that out here than at other schools. Campus is beautiful and quaint, I really loved the location in LA as well. Downsides were some of the student body was extremely extremely liberal and certain viewpoints were definitely shunned and certain teachers hopped on this as well. Also it was kinda cliquey because of the small size..
I think one thing that sets Oxy apart from other schools is the relationship you will build with your professors and peers in a class setting. My professors are always really accessible and encourage everyone to go to office hours and ask questions. Because of the small class size and collaborative setting where I am able to talk to my classmates, I've met some of my closest friends in my classes at Oxy. Everyone here is super involved and passionate about something they do on campus. This creates a really fun and supportive culture where we all go to everyone's club events, music performances, and sports games. Oxy really takes advantage of its location in Los Angeles. I've had field trips to Downtown LA and City Hall, and there are lots of opportunities to get off campus like free tickets to the Kings game last week! I chose Oxy because I wanted to be a part of a community that cares about what they are doing and that is exactly what I've found here.
Choosing Oxy for my college experience was one of the best decisions I have ever made. My college choice process was during 2020 so I was unable to visit any campuses. Oxy had such a strong sense of community that came through even on the internet. When I was able to move on campus at the start of my sophomore year, I had all of the reassurance I needed that I made the right decision. Oxy has a beautiful campus with a buzzing student life and there is always something to do on campus or even just a short walk away. There are so many student events and fun clubs for students to join so you will never be bored as an Oxy student. The academic and mental support resources are phenomenal here as well. It is really easy for students to get access to academic accommodations for courses and professors are extremely understanding if you ever are having a few days where you aren't feeling into it. The financial aid program here is also insanely good and the reason I am even able to attend.
I'm currently a sophomore at Occidental College, and I have nothing but positive things to say about Oxy. I chose this school because I felt that a small liberal arts college in a big city setting would make it easy for me to find my people and figure out my interests without feeling too lost or too tied down. My intuition proved correct: what's great about Oxy is that you have a personal relationship with every professor, and you also find the people who share some of your character and opinions very easily here by just walking around the 120-acre campus. However, if you avail yourself of all that is waiting for an Oxy student in the greater LA area, this tight-knit community will also never make you feel constrained. If I ever feel like I need to escape campus and just be a small fish in a big pond, I can rent out a bike, take the metro, or grab a ride from a friend and I'm suddenly in the vastness of Los Angeles within minutes, for free. I can't wait for the rest of my time here.
Totally underrated college. Like other reviews mention, you will truly get an unparalleled education here that challenges you to think deeper, write and communicate better, and just be a better individual overall. The community is small and tight-knit, collaborative, and the students and professors are super friendly. Even if you get tired of the smallness of the school, you are right in LA where you can take advantage of anything from delicious food, art, fashion, architecture, culture, and so much more. The campus food is so good and I still dream about the huevos rancheros on Sundays and the drinks from the Green Bean. Be ready to get deep both academically and through extracurriculars and you will be rewarded richly.
While I cannot speak for everyone, I absolutely found my home at Oxy. I had a transformative experience over the course of four years with professors in small classes, professors that not only cared deeply about the subject matter and students' understanding of it and engagement with it, but in me and my peers as people as well. I went through several very difficult periods during my time at Oxy, and felt that there were ample resources provided by the school to help support me through them, caring people in all offices. I had friends who felt the college was less receptive to their struggles, and others who had difficulty with changes made during their career at Oxy to their financial aid that made it very difficult for them to complete their studies that made me look on the school differently. The administration could do with some adjustment. But for myself and my personal experience, I felt that the school, the education, the campus culture, the resources were all tremendous.
As with anywhere, there are particular professors or people that, separate from the institution, are great. They challenge you to think even outside of the limiting confines of institutional schooling. I have been fortunate to interact and engage with these incredible people. However, it is also important to note that despite what the institution may advertise, it has the same shortcomings as any other Western institution (consider the meaning of "Occidental"). You may get so far as critiquing systemic socioeconomic injustices or other systemic issues, but the bottom line is that ultimately the school serves as a business and submits to these same problems (anti-Blackness, poor sexual assault prevention, failure to support marginalized groups on campus) that serve its capitalist agenda under a veil of "diversity, inclusion, and equity." These are prevalent throughout society, but it poignantly stings at an institution which portrays itself as being immune to these issues.
The small class sizes allows you to foster closer relationships with your teachers and peers, and when you're struggling with anything this makes it a lot easier to reach out for help. It's a very nice community the small size means you can meet and develop relationships with people easily, unlike a larger school where you might only see a classmate once a week you can see people in class or on the quad or in the dining hall. There's a lot of support for students.
Occidental College is a great school for undergraduate students looking for a small liberal arts college experience. Oxy provides many resources for students to help in our success, from small teacher to student ratios to our well-equipped career planning center. Oxy also has many opportunities for research, internships, and study abroad programs to suit a wide range of student goals. I have sincerely enjoyed my time so far at Oxy and would recommend this school to other undergraduates.
I can't speak highly enough on my time at Oxy. There is a lot of good that happens at liberal arts colleges, but nothing stood out to me more than the time I spent connecting with professors. The small class sizes and lack of TAs invited me to really be accountable and present with my teachers and I would show up to office hours not because I felt I was struggling, but because I wanted to connect with them and expand on what we learned in class. With these connections, I gained an amazing amount of wisdom, felt comfortable challenging myself in my courses, and got into a great grad school. The campus is gorgeous, the people are incredibly kind, and the food is sooo yummy.
I graduated Oxy in 2022 with a Bachelors in Biology. The Biology program is a cut above the rest, The professors possess a deep understanding of their course material and carry an impressive body of work. The small size of the department makes creating connections with professors and participating in undergraduate research accessible. I credit the Oxy Bio department with my hiring to a prominent environmental services organization within weeks of graduating. I participated in varsity sports during all 4 years, which connected me with new, lifelong friends. Students tend to complain about the party scene at Oxy but this should be expected at a small school. You’ll be living in LA, you won’t have a hard time finding things to do. The only big asterisk I would mention is the cost. Oxy is a small school, it doesn’t have the billion dollar endowment that UC schools have. Your financial aid will be limited without some legitimate financial hindrance in your life.
Oxy is everything you'd expect from a small, liberal arts college in an urban area; what makes the college special is the community and environment of care that the students bring. I have felt extremely supported in my time at Oxy and have found different communities for my hobbies, cultural affinity spaces, and other interests. Oxy can sometimes feel small with only about 2000 students, but I really liked that aspect since no one on campus feels like a stranger. Academics are pretty rigorous but professors are lovely and truly want to work with individual students. Highly recommend taking any courses in the Education department! One downside is the campus is full of hills, so not very accessible for physically disabled students.