Apply to ALL of the Claremont Colleges?

Applying to College
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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/421478-claremont-schools.html?highlight=differences+claremont%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/421478-claremont-schools.html?highlight=differences+claremont&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Because of their cross-enrollment policies, I'm not sure I understand why it would be better to attend Pomona than say Claremont McKenna or Pitzer- or why you wouldn't apply to all of them if you wanted to attend a Claremont college. </p>

<p>And what would happen if you went to Pomona, and while there decided that you wanted to switch majors from econ to engineering? Would you be transfered over to Mudd? I have a friend at Pomona who takes slews of classes at the "other" schools (seems so relative to refer to them as different entities... they really DO seem like different "colleges" within the same "university").</p>

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<p>Well, you CAN'T apply to all unless you are a female, 'cause Scripps is for girls only. You can take classes at other colleges in the consortium IF the college you matriculated at does not offer the same classes. And Claremont is where you should apply to if you are interested in an Economics major. Pomona is more of a true Liberal Arts college [and is harder to get into]. I don't believe you can major in an area not offered by the college you are accepted at. And each college operates their own admissions office, so there is nothing simple or "automatic" about transfering between colleges in the consortium. The consortium operates like other groups of colleges elsewhere in the country that have relatively small student bodies - they let students in other nearby colleges take some classes when they don't offer them themselves.
I suggest you take a look at this link to all the colleges
Welcome</a> to Claremont.EDU</p>

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<p>Scripps is actually the woman college.</p>

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<p>I think you receive a Pomona degree vs Claremont McKenna.</p>

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<p>"...I don't believe you can major in an area not offered by the college you are accepted at..."</p>

<p>In the past you could, but perhaps things have changed.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
The Claremont Colleges is a consortium of five undergraduate colleges and two graduate institutions and a central organization that provides services shared by all students, faculty, and staff. The eight institutions support and strengthen each other to become more than the sum of their parts, and all but one are located on adjacent campuses. The Colleges are nationally and internationally renowned for academic excellence. Students at The Claremont Colleges enjoy the individualized academic attention of a small college and the resources of a major university. The Colleges not only share a library system, athletic facilities, and extra-curricular activities, but also offer joint academic programs and cross-registration in courses. Currently the consortium has over 6000 students and a combined faculty and staff of over 3,300 members. More than 2500 courses are available to students in Claremont.

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Welcome</a> to Claremont.EDU</p>

<p>
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Claremont University Consortium (CUC) is the central coordinating and support organization for a highly regarded cluster of seven independent colleges known as The Claremont Colleges located in Southern California.

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CUC</a> Overview</p>

<p>Truthfully--and I say this as a Claremont grad--the consortium is very hard to understand without really spending time around it. Even if the set-up can be made clear, the extent to which it influences students' experiences, and the subtle ways in which it's different than, say, the east coast LAC consortiums, Oxbridge, or the six colleges of UCSD, is still something I have a lot of difficulty articulating!</p>

<p>It's true that the schools seem like different colleges within a university, and in many ways, that's a fair characterization. But the schools really are distinct and unique. Each has its own history, its own founders, its own mission, its own GE's, its own majors, its own atmosphere and architectural style, its own "type" of student, its own admissions offices & standards, its own administration/president/board, and most of its own facilities. Where the picture gets confusing is that the schools allow a good deal of "sharing" in order to make up for the weaknesses that could plague similarly small or young institutions--to become 'greater than the sum of their parts.'</p>

<p>Pomona, CMC, and Pitzer attract different students for the same reason that Bowdoin, Oberlin, and Skidmore do. They're different schools, plain and simple. It's better to attend Pomona than CMC if you're happier in Pomona's environment, if you don't have an interest in CMC's particular GE requirements, or whatever. Depending on a student's preferences, it could be "better" to attend any one of the colleges.</p>

<p>Why wouldn't you apply to all of the schools? Again, because they're incredibly different places. There's a lot of overlap--a lot of opportunities to observe, share in, and benefit from the other colleges--but they're still separate and unique. It's very common for students to apply to more than one of the schools, but the five are so different that it's hard to imagine a student who would be equally interested in all of them. Harvey Mudd, to offer the most obvious example, offers nine math, science, and engineering related majors. Students must complete one degree (major or minor) from the list, and must also take a core that includes four semesters of math, three semesters of physics, two semesters of chem, and a bunch of other classes that just won't attract your average French, English, or Studio Art major. I'm over-simplifying this picture, but hopefully the point still comes through. In most cases, this isn't like Oxford (another easy example), where you want to go to Oxford, and you'll take whatever college you might get. Students want to go to Pomona or Pitzer or whatever, and the consortium is icing on the cake. I don't think I would've gone to Scripps if it weren't part of Claremont...it would have felt too small, and it wouldn't have been able to offer me the flexibility that I needed as an undeclared, humanities-and-engineering loving 18 year old. But I also wouldn't have chosen to go to Claremont if Scripps hadn't been an option. I wouldn't have found my "niche."</p>

<p>If you went to Pomona and decided that you wanted to switch majors to engineering, then you could look into Pomona's 3-2 engineering program, or you could look at transferring. This particular example is a bit odd, as engineering is usually tricky at LAC's, and often tricky to switch into in general. Let's say that you went to Scripps, though, as an English major, and decided to switch your major to Geology. Sure. You wouldn't have to transfer. You'd still be a Scripps student, you'd live on Scripps campus, you'd fulfill Scripps GE's, and you would graduate with a degree from Scripps. But you would have an "Off-Campus Major" through, in this case, Pomona, and you would fulfill the *major requirements<a href="not%20GE's,%20not%20other%20graduation%20requirements">/i</a> for a Pomona geology degree. In the end, your diploma would say Scripps, and your transcript would indicate the details of your off-campus major. If you wanted to transfer from one Claremont school to another, it wouldn't be anything like transferring between the "College of Arts & Letters" and the "College of Engineering" within one university. You would go through a full transfer process (and occasionally, for students who really feel that they're at the wrong college within the consortium, this happens). To muddle this situation even more, each of the colleges has its own policies regarding cross-registration, off-campus majors, etc. :p</p>

<p>I could go on forever trying to describe this set-up, but I wouldn't know if I was really answering your questions. I keep trying to write a general summary, but it seems like a lost cause. So if you have any other specific questions (what would happen, why, why not, what's shared, what's the difference...), then feel free to ask. In the meantime, I just hope I haven't made anything even more confusing than it already was!</p>

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<p>Yes, the Claremont Colleges does have cross enrollment. However, I don't think you can earn a degree from any of the schools except for the one you attend. This is excluding special programs like the Economics-Engineering one where 2 degrees are earned in 5 years. For example, if you attend CMC, you can't get a BA in computer science from HMC, but you can take computer science courses at HMC for credit, though cross enrollment is limited.</p>

<p>If your looking to decide between which of the Claremont Colleges to go to, base it off of your planned major. If you want to study economics, government, etc, go to CMC. They're really superb in that area. HMC is great for technology-related majors. It really just depends on what you want to do.</p>

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<p>Just some clarifications and elaborations...</p>

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You can take classes at other colleges in the consortium IF the college you matriculated at does not offer the same classes.

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</p>

<p>Policies may vary, so I can only speak with certainty re: Scripps. Technically, there are rules about the number of off-campus courses that can be taken, and why/when, but these policies are pretty flexible. Basically, you can't go to one college and arbitrarily choose to take all of your classes somewhere else. But if you need a math class that your college isn't offering in a particular semester, you can take it somewhere else (even if your school will offer it the next semester). If you want to take choir but you have a schedule conflict with Scripps', it's possible to get special permission to sing with Pomona. Some programs are "joint" between certain campuses, so even a course that's physically located on another campus might count as "on-campus." And of course, students might also cross-register to supplement their own school's department offerings, to fulfill an off-campus degree, or simply to take an interesting elective. Once, I took a CMC philosophy course that met on Scripps, counted as on-campus and had no CMC students in it (though it did have Scripps, Pitzer, Mudd, and Claremont School of Theology students) :p</p>

<p>
[quote]
And Claremont is where you should apply to if you are interested in an Economics major.

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</p>

<p>Scripps, Pitzer, and Pomona also have their own economics departments, and offer economics majors. Claremont is where you should apply if it's the campus that best suits the majority of your needs (personal and social as well as academic). It is known for emphasizing econ and for having a strong program, but it doesn't monopolize. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I don't believe you can major in an area not offered by the college you are accepted at.

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</p>

<p>Again, policies vary. Scripps allows off-campus majors. I've heard that Pomona doesn't, but I'm not positive...if it's important, do more research. Mudd students must complete one on-campus degree (major or minor), but with the right permission, can pursue another off-campus. I don't know Pitzer or CMC's policies, but all will be outlined on their respective websites. we<em>tard</em>it is correct in that whatever your major (and whatever campus it's from), your degree will come from your own college.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The consortium operates like other groups of colleges elsewhere in the country that have relatively small student bodies - they let students in other nearby colleges take some classes when they don't offer them themselves.

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</p>

<p>Actually, the confusing part is that the consortium really isn't comparable to most others in the country, mostly because its effects are so much further-reaching. The rough idea is certainly the same, but because the Claremont campuses are all adjacent, it's difficult to truly overstate the ease/commonness of cross-registering/majoring, or the other ways that the set-up impacts campus life. In Claremont, cross-registration is taken completely for granted (one registration period, one shared course catalog, rarely a need for special permission, etc.)...it's not just something that can be arranged if necessary. And it's not only classes that are shared. In a typical day, a student might wake up on Scripps, have breakfast at Mudd, take classes on Scripps and CMC, go to lunch at Pitzer, take class at Pomona, have dinner at Scripps, go to a rehearsal at Mudd, sneak into snack at Pomona, and come back to go to sleep on Scripps. That's not an exaggeration...that was literally what many of my days were like. (If Claremont operated very similarly to other college clusters--all of which are unique and wonderful for reasons of their own--I think it'd be easier to explain :p).</p>

<p>
[quote]
If your looking to decide between which of the Claremont Colleges to go to, base it off of your planned major. If you want to study economics, government, etc, go to CMC. They're really superb in that area. HMC is great for technology-related majors.

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<p>All that's really important is that your prospective major will be available to you at whatever school you're looking at. In other words, check out the college's majors + their policies re: off-campus or self-designed majors, and make sure that what you want is available somewhere in the consortium (if you're not restricted to an on-campus, pre-existing degree). CMC is known as the "economics, government, etc." school of the group, and HMC is known for the tech-related fields, but these really aren't limiting factors (at least not in most cases). At least four of the schools have econ departments, there are numerous gov and politics departments/programs, all of the schools offer math and sciences. I do think that HMC offers the only 4-year engineering major (though I believe all of the other schools offer 3-2 programs). Major is a factor, certainly, but the consortium still allows for a good deal of flexibility, attention to "fit," whatever. My personal opinion is that it depends less on "what you want to do," and more on where you want to be (provided, as I said, that you know your chosen major will somehow be open to you), but that's totally subjective.</p>

<p>ETA: My last post was cross-posted with menloparkmom...sorry for the extra URL. And I apologize if I seem super picky and corrective. The set-up can be strange to understand, and a lot of important details (like cross-majoring) do get lost, confused, or overly-generalized. Plus, the consortium functions quite differently (much more smoothly & extensively, IMO) in practice than any of the schools' literature really suggests. Even as a graduate, I have to look up some of the details (who has what department, who allows what type of majors, etc.), so I just like to clear up misconceptions wherever possible, however minor and common they are. I definitely don't intend to be or to sound critical.</p>

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<p>In case other students come looking for the info, I just wanted to link threads:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/464545-why-one-claremont-over-other.html?highlight=claremont%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/464545-why-one-claremont-over-other.html?highlight=claremont&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>(I assume I'm allowed to link between these...)</p>

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<p>I have been told by admissions counselors of all colleges that up to a third of your classes/courses can be from other schools, but it is rare that a student needs classes that are over that amount.</p>

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<p>And again, to add to catsushi's claim, policies are flexible, and may "bend" for need (or desire, as the case may sometimes be). </p>

<p>To illustrate directly, I took 36 courses, 19 of them (all for credit) technically offered "outside" of Scripps. Of these 19, four definitely counted as "on campus": one through the Joint Science program and three for my major, which was cooperative with HMC, CMC, and CGU (meaning that any HMC/CMC/CGU/Scripps courses in the department counted as "on campus"..."on" and "off" designations aren't always as straightforward as they sound).</p>

<p>I definitely took more off-campus courses than most students, but I never made any special goal of it. My major and minor were both on-campus, and I never had any hassle (I didn't ever actually count up my off-campus courses until just now, when, just for the record, I had a transcript in front of me :p). Just my own experience. Some colleges or advisors may be more strict (on another day, maybe Scripps would have been). </p>

<p>The point is, don't head into Claremont expecting to live on one campus and take all your classes elsewhere. There are plenty of reasons that it's just not a good plan. But if you're concerned about being stifled or limited by cross-registration policies, figure out the specific nature of your worries, talk to the school, talk to students...there's a good chance it'll be a non-issue.</p>

<p>ETA: The reason I'm picky about this is because I've occasionally come across prospective students' claims that cross-registration is (or sounds like) 'more talk than action,' and that there are actually strict caps and limits in place. There are some tighter policies--the HMC on-campus hum requirement comes to mind--and special permission is occasionally required, but cross-registration is very much alive and well in Claremont. Limitations shouldn't really affect any reasonable schedule. I just like to include experience alongside official policy. Hopefully some other students will weigh in.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your indepth post Student615!. I was going on memory from 2 years ago, but your post is more current and detailed.</p>