Chance at Pitzer?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pitzer College
1

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I don't have many volunteer hours, but that is due to my devotion to wrestling--in addition to the season in which I am either practicing 2 hours every day during the week, at a dual, or at an all day tournament every day, I also attend a wrestling school in the fall and lift during the spring and summer; however, I am not going to wrestle in college. This summer I also volunteered for 6 weeks in Paraguay--best experience of my life!! Anyways, here are my stats. I recently retook the ACT and am expecting at least a 32, if not a 33--I will update when I get the score.My schedule is also most rigorous, with 4 APs and 2 honors classes this year. If you need any further information, don't hesitate to ask!</p>

<p>Student:</p>

<p>User Name: WiscoKid
Gender: M
Location: Madison, WI
College Class Year: 2015
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.98
Class Rank: top 5%
Class Size: 500</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 690
SAT I Critical Reading: 690
SAT I Writing: 670
ACT: 31</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars: -NHS
-Spanish Honors Society President
-Worked over the summer at Pizza Hut
-Worked for a month in the summer at the UW-Madison physics department as a student assistant
-Sports reporter for school newspaper
Leadership positions: -Captain of the wrestling team
-President of Spanish Honors Society
Athletic Status - list sport and your level: -Wrestling V
-Track & field JV
Volunteer/Service Work: -Amigos de las Americas (Volunteer program which sends high school/college aged students to poor rural communities in latin america for 6-8 weeks during the summer Welcome — AMIGOS).
-30 hours at a Jewish preschool
-30 hours at Jewish Social Services
Honors and Awards: -Honor Roll every semester
-Most dedicated freshman wrestler
-2X (hopefully 3)Most dedicated overall wrestler
-5th place wrestling conference
-Captain of the wrestling team
WiscoKid is online now</p>

2

<p>I think you have a very good chance. Just curious - why Pitzer? There probably aren’t too many ex-wrestling types there. BTW, smart decision to give up wrestling after high school - too time consuming as I’m sure you know.</p>

3

<p>While I admit that I have not done a LOT of research, from what I have seen, it appears like there is a “change the world” mentality at Pitzer, which really appeals to me. My current interest is development economics and I feel that with the high percent of students studying abroad and the overall vibe of Pitzer, it would fit me better than Claremont McKenna, with their “leadership vibe.” I am visiting them both in October, so I will see which one truly fits me better</p>

4

<p>I think you have a pretty good handle on one of the differences between Pitzer and CMC. My daughter and I went on a tour of Pitzer last year. I have to admit that I used to think Pitzer was the C5 safety. In fact, I told my daughter that we should check it out if she really wants to go to C5, in case the other two she is applying to turn her down. She reluctantly agreed. Well, we both loved it. It has a wonderful feeling to it, and mostly that is because of the change the world mentality. This is what impressed me - the leaf blowers were plug in! They actually mean the whole green thing. I also had a lot of trouble stopping myself from taking clippings from their gorgeous succulents, but that is another issue…</p>

5

<p>My son, a football and lax player in high school, loves Pitzer. He planned to continue sports at Pitz, but ended up deciding to move on, having found collegiate athletics much more competitive than his high school experience. Because cooperative fits his personality much better than competitive, he is happy at Pitz and is put off by CMC and its students. That said, my take is that CMC is a much better choice if you want a business career.</p>

<p>My reading of your post is that yopu could be very happy at Pitz and would be in the runnning to get in. Know that demonstrating interest in the school was possibly very important in my son’s being accepted there. Good luck on finding your perfect match!</p>

6

<p>Your stats are too good for Pitzer. Avoid it. You can do much better.</p>

7

<p>Why do you say that Kio888? My d has fallen in love with the place, even though her stats are 2380 SAT, 4.49 weighted gpa, 9 AP classes before her senior year (3,4, and seven 5s). She has done well in Latin and mathematic competitions.</p>

8

<p>If that is true then your daughter could have gone to a much better school without a problem and at Pitzer she is the exception rather than the rule. Generally speaking, (from my experience, and I have a number of friends from Pitzer as I spent much time there my senior year) the students are freewheeling potheads with sub-par academic credentials. Unfortunately your daughter will be associated with that quality despite her superior academic performance. An A from Pitzer will be viewed as a B at Pomona (and a C at an Ivy) in her post-Claremont experiences unless she sticks very closely to high-level academia. Sorry if this doesn’t correlate with your experience but I can assure you from a non-Pitzer perspective this is how the school is viewed.</p>

9

<p>It looks like you maybe started at the c5 about 10 years ago? Know anything about now? It has really improved in rankings in the past 10 years.</p>

10

<p>Actually, I graduated in May. My observations are very much recent. Realistically, #24 on the liberal arts list is not top notch, especially for a student of the caliber that your daughter’s stats indicate. If you live near the school I strongly recommend you go walk around campus on any thursday, friday, or saturday night. You will see exactly what I mean. Granted, I am a bit of a prude when it comes to drugs (I don’t do them), however Pitzer simply has much much more “stuff” floating around than I’ve ever seen on any other campus visiting friends at large universities and other LACs.</p>

<p>Additionally, students generally call the colleges “the 5C’s” not the c5.</p>

11

<p>Sorry, kio, I have to disagree. My daughter - 2170 SAT, 3.98 UGPA - loves Pitzer. Now in her third year there, she knows that of all the 5C’s Pitzer was the right choice for her. She’s glad she chose it over UC Berkeley and the other eight schools to which she was accepted.</p>

12

<p>What are you disagreeing with? Statistics? If what you are saying is true, your daughter made a mistake and went to a school populated by less intelligent people. This data is directly from Pitzer’s most recent common data set</p>

<p>SAT Critical Reading 580 690
SAT Math 580 680
ACT Composite 24.5 30</p>

<p>Percent in top tenth of high school graduating class<br>
51%
Percent in top quarter of high school graduating class<br>
80%
Percent in top half of high school graduating class
99%</p>

<p>GPA’s are irrelevant becuase different schools calculate and weight them differently. Bragging about that is meaningless.</p>

<p>If she went to Pitzer over Berkeley she made a serious mistake unless she intends to become a housewife or professor or you have the money to support her through professional school (law, medical, etc…) and she manages to get in (which the Pitzer name will not help with)</p>

13

<p>kio888,</p>

<p>You are, in my opinion, simply fulfilling old, tired stereotypes at this point.</p>

<p>As much as I would like to rely on statistics alone, let’s examine a couple of issues with the very statistics you have presented: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>It is true that the SAT and ACT scores are significantly lower at Pitzer, but you have also failed to note that ONLY students with below a 3.5 high school GPA must submit standardized testing scores. In fact, during this past admission cycle only 38% of applicants submitted standardized test scores. </p></li>
<li><p>Ranking is absolutely irrelevant in that much of student body at liberal arts colleges (and at the 5Cs, as you should well know) comes from small private schools which do not rank their students). </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Although I understand that you, as I can only assume a former CMC or Pomona student, have taken hold in the stereotypes of Pitzer, this is simply not the case on the national level. </p>

<p>Let us also address a particular concern I have with your statement that </p>

<p>"An A from Pitzer will be viewed as a B at Pomona (and a C at an Ivy) in her post-Claremont experiences unless she sticks very closely to high-level academia.”</p>

<p>In fact, this could not be less true. In a recent self-study at Pomona College, it was found that Pomona in fact has the highest rate of grade inflation in the consortium; over 60% of all of the final grades given at Pomona are As. Beyond that, as you already know, any student can take any class at any college in the consortium, so why spend so much time comparing? </p>

<p>Your quantification of intelligence also signifies that you seem to have a misunderstanding of success in higher education. As a graduate of this past may, </p>

<p>Your assumptions about the nature of higher education are equally skewed; although “name recognition" certainly helps, in this economy it is about the opportunities taken by students at the collegiate level. Pitzer, and all of the 5Cs, offer great opportunities. Simply being granted a degree from one of the schools is a fairly equal accomplishment. </p>

<p>Let us encourage students to pick academic institutions by fit, not by some tangled, meritocratic, and elitist system that forgoes what education is really about.</p>

14

<p>Thank you, Erdnase - well stated.
Furthermore, my daughter does not feel for one second that she made a “serious mistake” by choosing Pitzer over UCB or any other school; her decision was carefully though out. We visited UCB in the summer before her senior year as well as during her spring break (after she received her acceptance) when all the students were on campus. She simply felt that UCB, and other schools like it, were too big for her liking and she felt much more comfortable on Pitzer’s campus.
With the financial aid from Pitzer the cost of attendance is roughly the same as it would have been to attend UCB. No, we are not rich - I am a high school teacher and my wife is a stay-at-home mom. Private colleges make allowances for this (i.e., need-based aid) and we are grateful that Pitzer has made it possible for our daughter to attend there.
Rankings are not everything - it’s all about fit.</p>

15

<p>Erdnase808-</p>

<p>kio888 is a recent Pomona grad who is going from one 5C forum to the next making friends and influencing people.</p>

<p>I have a D at CMC and she would want me to make that very clear, as she has several very close friends at Pitzer.</p>

16

<p>I’m a recent Pomona grad who becuase of his experiences has had everything he knows and is saying about the 5C’s borne out in his own college career. It is very nice that you have a daughter in CMC with friends at Pitzer as I do as well. What was your post intended to do? Discredit me in some way? That is what your tone implies but you don’t really say anything.</p>

17

<p>

</p>

<p>Unfortunately, it appears that your chosen tone speaks volumes about you and a few others who have seemed to miss the greatest positive attribute of the Claremont Consortium. </p>

<p>It was never about which school is the best, but how the five schools bring out the best out of … everyone. Of course, discovering that every one of the five schools contributes to making the consortium more than the sum of its parts requires to come down from the top of the ivory tower.</p>

<p>It is a sad spectacle to see someone who spent four years of his existence in Claremont having the need to degrade a school to elevate his own. </p>

<p>More should be expected from an alumnus of the oldest and more prestigious member of the 5Cs (or C5 to others.) Think about it!</p>

18

<p>Kio,</p>

<p>As a Pitzer grad who originally intended to go to CMC, I could not disagree with your assessment more. I graduated from Pitzer before you were a freshman at Pomona. I was an economics major, not exactly Pitzer’s forte. From day one, I was intent on getting a career on Wall Street. My decision to attend Pitzer, over CMC, did not in any way adversely impact my career prospects. At most interviews, I beat out CMC students for investment banking internships and jobs. At the high risk of divulging my identity, as a junior I interned for Credit Suisse and then went on to work for UBS and now am working for a private equity fund. </p>

<p>Based on my personal experience working on Wall Street, nobody differentiates between the 5C’s. If anything, to the extent that people are familiar with the intricate peculiarities of the 5C’s student population, CMC has the best reputation. However, comparing my career progression so far with my friends from CMC and Pomona, my decision to attend Pitzer as opposed to CMC did not hinder my career progress in the least bit. I have received a great deal of help in securing internships and job opportunities from both CMC and Pomona alumni. They never discriminated against me for being a Pitzer grad. Also, contrary to your claims, I got into a Top 3 Business School without much pain as further evidence that my Pitzer grades were not viewed as somehow subpar. </p>

<p>Now, I do not mean to imply that the 5C’s are equal because they are not. However, I think your comments betray a certain immaturity that I can attribute to your young age. When it comes down to it, the 5C’s have different core competencies. It is important for anyone considering them to understand each school’s culture in making his/her decision.</p>