<p>I'm in between Davidson and Claremont for my top choice school. I plan on applying ED to one of them but can't decide between the two. I'm from Northeast Ohio and haven't been able to visit either one of them but am visiting Davidson in October for the Discover Davidson program. I feel like i have a similar chance of getting into both maybe slightly higher at Davidson but I'm not quite sure. I could really use some feedback from people who have been to either one of the (especially CMC) as into the feel of the school. Thanks a bunch</p>
<p>I think Davidson is much easier to get into than Claremont McKenna. Look at the numbers of kids who are admitted as a percent of applicants. I think Claremont McKenna is not just looking for smart kids, they are looking for kids who are movers and shakers–in a really big way. I think on some level CMK is also less “pure liberal arts” in the traditional sense. If you want pure liberal arts apply to Pomona. You need to have a lot of real examples of leadership on your app to get into CMK. Just being the captain of the baseball team is not going to cut it, and probably being president of your class once won’t either. If you are the captain of the water polo team it would help to get into CMK, but you really need a hook if you don’t have an amazing CV of leadership.</p>
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How does this even make sense? Being the Captain of the baseball team (a sport) won’t help you but being the Captain of the water polo team (another sport) does?</p>
<p>From the high school my kids go to (in California) the kids who are really good water polo players get into pretty much whatever school they want–Cal Berkeley even though they have a 3.0 average, etc. I think every year Claremont McKenna take about 2-3 of our kids from our San Francisco Bay area public high school because they are good water polo players, whereas if they were not water polo players they would no doubt have been rejected by the school. Good water polo players are hard to come by in the USA (most high schools Texas don’t even field teams). They play baseball EVERYWHERE. Now does it make sense? The baseball players from our school do not get in, the water polo players do.</p>
<p>For truely great recruiting results you need to be a great water polo player, but the level of play in California Water Polo is a level (or 2 or 3) up from everywhere else, so yes, I must agree that if you are considered a really good water polo player in California, you are going judged amazing by National standards and will have some great options.</p>
<p>I think it’s really about fit. They’re ranked about the same, although Davidson is known for a slightly more difficult curriculum (and D1 athletics) while CMC is in beautiful Claremont and anything you can’t do at CMC, you can surely do at one of the other colleges in the consortium.</p>
<p>A friend’s brother is at Davidson and isn’t too happy there. He says the workload is absolutely unbearable. But then again, awful time-management skills run in the family…</p>
<p>Claremont schools feel very liberal, Davidson more conservative. Claremont campus is more modern/boxy, Davidson is traditional brick.</p>