Ryan Clavin ’20 Discusses Why He Transferred to Westminster College

Ryan Clavin, ’20, of St. Louis, MO, spent one year at a four-year public university in Missouri before transferring to Westminster College. He says the decision to transfer was life altering.

“The whole community here — from faculty to staff  —  wants to see you succeed, which was so different from where I was before,” Clavin says enthusiastically.

Today Clavin is successful academically, double majoring in business management and business communication. He also is professionally prepared earlier than many of his peers at his previous university, because Westminster helped him secure two internships: Center St. Louis and Rawlings Sporting Goods, where he is working this summer.

“Westminster has truly helped me find my purpose,” he says. “I am using the skills I learn in the classroom out in the working world.”

Clavin’s experience illustrates what can be found at a “professional” liberal arts college. Experiential learning such as internships, independent research, professional presentations, and community service are interwoven into the student experience. Westminster also boasts the following:

• Personal attention: A 10:1 student-faculty ratio that guarantees personal attention.
• More than dusty textbooks: Digital Blue, a campus-wide tech initiative, places iPads in the hands of every student and instructor beginning this fall.
• Hirability: Westminster graduates have a 98 percent job placement rate six months after graduation.
• High salaries: Graduate earnings of Westminster graduates rank in the top 15 percent of all graduate salaries nationwide, according to Payscale.com, making the College a significant return on investment for students and their families.

Ultimately, Clavin says Westminster is about relationships, resulting in networking opportunities with alumni and lifelong friendships with peers and faculty members.

“Here, you develop key relationships with professors, and these relationships allow you to have success in the classroom and in the working world,” Clavin muses about his recent transfer experience. “They truly want you to succeed, and they often have key relationships with corporations. They recommend you to them and help you get your foot in the door.”

For more information about transferring to Westminster College, or about the College in general, please contact Enrollment Services [email protected], or go to our website here.

To learn more about internship opportunities through Westminster College, please contact Mandy Plybon, Assistant Director and Internship Coordinator with the Center for Career Development, at 573-592-5382 or visit our site here.