<p>I have heard that Pitzer is the least rigorous out of the 5-C's. Is this true? I mean I understand that you can take a certain percentage of your classes (I've heard everywhere from 33% to 50%) at the other colleges.</p>
<p>Lack of academic rigor has not been my daughter’s experience. This semester she feels that her sociology prof at Pitzer is the most demanding. Even though she’s a freshman, that’s the only class she’s taking at Pitzer. The language she’s studying is available only at Pomona, so taking two classes there doesn’t count against the maximum at other colleges. (That’s true of classes in all the 5C majors, the ones that are housed at one college but shared by all.) Her fourth class is at Claremont-McKenna. She is living at Pitzer, which she loves (great people, quieter party scene), and studying at the 5Cs. The perceived hierarchy is, IMO, based more on SAT scores, since so much of the academic experience is a shared one. For example, all the sciences are shared by CMC, Scripps and Pitzer–they are one in the same. Some people assume that a test-optional school can’t be as rigorous. Tell that to Bowdoin, Bates, Smith, etc.</p>