Update: DD graduated in 2015 cum laude and is now in her second job post-graduation, and loving it. Scripps was a great fit and great experience overall for her. I wanted to add a couple of updates, three major and a couple minor.
(1) As is widely publicized, Scripps is building a large, gorgeous new dorm, so the housing crunch should be alleviated.
(2) Career Services is an outstanding facet of the school! DD wanted to work for a couple of years before going to grad school, although she took her GREs and got her recommends nailed down before graduation. Career Services, in my opinion, does a fantastic job helping students prepare resumes, conduct a job search, network and do informational interviews, build a linkedin profile, and provides ongoing support and counseling (at least for recent grads.) This is so much more than my undergraduate school or even my business school did for me. Getting the tools to start and manage a career and independent job search is so much more valuable than the on-campus recruiting (which did not yield an offer for my daughter before graduation.) I think the excellence in this service helps immensely in translating the strong academic training to meaningful occupations and should be considered by parents like myself who shudder at our special snowflake’s chances in the world with “only” a (hideously expensive) liberal arts degree,
(3) The Scripps alumnae network has been helpful and supportive far beyond its relatively small numbers! Another unexpectedly big plus for the school. Based on her work experience thus far, my daughter is now considering a PhD in organizational design, rather than a traditional PhD in psych leading to counseling. Without the help she’s gotten in her fledgling career she wouldn’t have discovered this.
Minor (4) For those considering professional schools post-grad, you may want to be aware that to its credit, Scripps is very restrained in awarding academic honors (as compared to some Ivies where more than half the class graduates with honors.) So, first, I was very pleased with my daughter’s cum laude, very few achieve magna and only a handful win summa. But, if such things are important for a CV, just be aware.
Minor(5) Never did get that CMC Econ class but she did take CS at Harvey Mudd spring semester senior year. She found it very challenging; I’m sure the typical Mudder would find it much less so. So the policy of reserving spring semester for non-Mudders is sound even if it is the same curriculum.