Engaged Students

Few Whittier students would fit stereotypes; fewer still would want to...

Scholars and Success

• While few colleges offer a design-your-own-curriculum option, Whittier College offers the Whittier Scholars Program. This unique option provides students an opportunity to construct a personalized educational program. In addition to seminars with other Whittier Scholars students and classes with professors from across the academic spectrum, the Whittier Scholars program also incorporates off-campus learning opportunities. The goal is the creation of unique and specialized educational programs that succeed in challenging students to become critical thinkers and researchers with specific post-Whittier career skills. Marc Beylerian, class of 1996, designed his own major in international business and now uses his skills to import fabric from Vietnam and China. Oswaldo Rodriguez, class of 1991, used the Whittier Scholars Program to research a particular protein’s involvement with Alzheimer’s disease, before going on to earn his MD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

• Whittier College offers a number of study-abroad opportunities for students. Traditionally, nearly two-thirds of Whittier students have taken advantage of semester-long programs as part of their four-year curriculum. Study abroad is encouraged for students in a number of majors, and many students choose to participate in the Denmark International Studies International Business Program in Copenhagen, Denmark. Students have also taken advantage of programs in Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, England, France, Germany, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and more.
  
  

• California has always been considered on the edge of social change and innovation, and Whittier College is a vital part of those advances. At the intersection of Los Angeles and Orange counties in Southern California, Whittier is minutes away from the heart of the most dynamic city in the nation, a center of art, commerce, and ideas. Internship options are abundant for Whittier students. Students have interned with New Line Cinema, the J. Paul Getty Museum, Martin Sound Studio, Disneyland Resort College Program, Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy, Merrill Lynch, Yamaha Instruments, Growthink Research, the American Red Cross, and Valvoline, just to name a few.

Great Teaching

Would you rather study biology through the pages of a textbook or gain hands-on experience by conducting research on mutations in frogs and parasites? At Whittier, you can do both...

Professors and Partnerships

• Offering personalized attention for students, Whittier boasts faculty whose commitment to education is paramount. Professors at Whittier are like explorers, leading students on expeditions to discover new worlds each and every day. The student to faculty ratio is thirteen to one, while the average class size is nineteen. Perhaps it is because of these small classes, or Whittier’s tradition of fostering personal growth in the classroom, or maybe it’s a function of who they are, but professors at Whittier College are driven to facilitate the discussion and dissection of ideas. Beyond the classroom, professors are part of the environment in which students live. Some professors supervise living-learning communities—residence halls where students with similar academic interests live together on campus. Others may live at Faculty Masters’ houses, where resident professors regularly host one-of-a-kind educational experiences that complement classroom learning. Recent examples of events at Faculty Masters’ houses include a visit by Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú Tum, a Young Hollywood lecture series, henna tattooing, board game and movie nights, a Valentine’s Day card-making party, and more.

• Collaborative teaching is common at Whittier. The Whittier experience is rooted in the liberal arts tradition, embracing interdisciplinary understanding at every level. By providing broad educational exposure, Whittier students gain the skills necessary to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world in which disciplines and ideas intersect.

The freshman writing courses offer dynamic classroom discussions on subjects across the academic spectrum. These courses provide fodder both for improving writing skills and creating engaging papers while exposing students to the individual attention and personalized instruction that form the core of the Whittier experience. In Whittier’s paired courses, the curriculum links classes from different departments in order to more fully explore a range of thoughts and study, facilitating the application of ideas in new and interesting directions. For example, a biology course and sociology course merge to create a pair called globalization and the environment. Not all classes are paired, but those that are stem from a commitment to look beyond a narrow view—to instead see the wider picture.

Academic Programs
Anthropology, Art- History Track, Art- Studio Track, Biochemistry, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Child Development, Chinese, Comparative Cultures, Economics, English, English- Creative Writing Emphasis, Environmental Science, Film Studies, French, Global and Cultural Studies, History, Japanese, Kinesiology & Nutrition Science, Mathematics, Mathematics/Business Administration, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science; Pre-Professional Studies: Athletic Training, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Social Work, Veterinary Science; Psychology, Religious Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Spanish, Theatre and Communication Arts, Whittier Scholars Program, Gender and Women's Studies.

Vibrant Community

You’ll find plenty of waves to ride at Whittier – waves of activity...

Competition and Community

• Since its founding in 1887, Whittier College has been a place of academic integrity as well as educational innovation, a community where the exchange of ideas is rigorous and challenging, and where students are given an intellectual grounding that will serve them throughout their lives, as scholars, as professionals, and as responsible world citizens. While Whittier College no longer has a formal affiliation with the Quakers (Whittier became an independent college in the 1930s), many of the traditions and values are evident within the community. The long academic tradition—grounded in the Quaker quest for knowledge and personal growth—aims to foster in students an appreciation for the complexities of the modern world and workplace, while never losing sight of the importance of social responsibility.

• With social clubs and service organizations spanning a wide spectrum of interests and pursuits, Whittier students don’t just read about places and ideas, they engage at every level. Including athletes and academics, from the city and country, hailing from every part of the country, Whittier is a community of individuals. Numerous clubs and organizations offer an academic outlet, including Whittier’s own brand of fraternities and sororities called societies, as well as intramural sports, Division III athletics, and more.

• Near to the College, Uptown Whittier offers a historic district full of coffeehouses, boutique shops, restaurants, and a movie theatre. For those students who want to escape suburban and city life, the hills behind the College are among the few remaining undeveloped strips of land in Southern California. A corresponding nature corridor runs from campus to the famous beaches that line the Pacific Ocean.

Successful Outcomes

Among our graduates are Rhodes Scholars, NCAA Scholar Athletes, and Marshall, Fulbright, and Mellon scholarship candidates; our graduate’s medical school acceptance rate is double the national average...

A Record That Speaks for Itself

• If you want to know the real value of a Whittier education, look to their graduates. Four Whittier students have won Rhodes Scholarships; many others have been state and regional finalists for the prestigious award. Many Whittier graduates continue their studies at prestigious institutions, such as the medical schools of Boston University, Cornell University, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, UCLA and Yale, or the law schools of Georgetown University, UC Berkeley, and Vanderbilt. Whittier grads have also been admitted to a wide range of outstanding graduate schools such as Boston College, Carnegie-Mellon University, Columbia University, Duke University, New York University, Northwestern University, Oxford, Princeton University, Rutgers University, and Stanford University

• The name “Whittier College” opens doors for students. More than 300 Whittier alumni are living and working in countries like Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Switzerland, Thailand, and Turkey. Others stay right here in the U.S.A., where they work for such outstanding companies as American Airlines, Apple Computer, Associated Press, Bank of America, the Environmental Protection Agency, Hewlett Packard, Levi Strauss and Company, MCA Music and Entertainment, New Line Cinema, 3M and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

• Notable Whittier alumni include Richard Nixon ’34 (U.S. President), Ann Daley ’67 (Assistant Treasurer for the State of Washington), Fred Anderson ’62 (Chief Financial Officer, Apple Computers), Darrell Walker ’76 (Vice President for Business Affairs, Columbia Studios), Robert Zemsky ’62 (Founding Director of the Institute For Higher Research in Education), and Roy “RJ” Clason ’84 (Vice-President for Corporate Communications, Dell Computer Corporation).