Claremont McKenna vs Pomona

<p>I'm just a wannabe, not an is. :'( (fingers crossed)</p>

<p>Getting back to the original discussion of CMC vs. Pomona, as the title of this thread states, I'm going to say CMC is better. What's my reasoning? I'll be a student at CMC this fall and I'd like to think that I'll be attending the better of the two schools. It's that simple.</p>

<p>Yes, back to Claremont vs Pomona would be nice - but thanks very much to all those who have contributed so far. If anyone else would like to weigh in (or weigh in more), I would be excited.</p>

<p>When comparing CMC and Pomona in an attempt to determine which school is better, I think it comes down to each individual's personal considerations. Many people think Pomona is better because it has a higher ranking and its departments are more balanced in terms of quality. I, however, really appreciate the practicality of an education from Claremont and the preparation one can receive for the real world. I also plan on majoring in economics and I know CMC has an excellent - best among LACs - econ department. In terms of learning for the sake of learning, Pomona is probably better. That said, CMC is much better in terms of the usefulness and pragmaticality of what is learned.</p>

<p>CMC students resent Pomona students</p>

<p>Hi Everyone, I know this thread has died down, but I just wanted to add my two cents.</p>

<p>Santino's interest in the history of our school is commendable, but it is important to remember that institutions, just like people, do change. CMC was founded in 1946, before the parents of most of its current students were born. It was all-male, had a very conservative orientation, was focused strictly on gov and econ, and had a very structured academic program. None of these are true today. Some students might wish they were (most don’t, that’s why they go here), but they are not. Just as you shouldn’t judge Harvard by what it was in the 17th century (a divinity school) don’t judge CMC by what it was 60 years ago. Now with that said, we still have great departments in gov and econ and more ideological diversity, especially among our faculty than most other elite colleges. As many other posters have said, students from all political persuasions can definitely fit in at CMC. This is a school where your beliefs will be also welcomed and respected, but also challenged.</p>

<p>Returning to the original topic of this thread, I believe the following equation is true.</p>

<p>Lim<a href="Pomona">/size</a> = Claremont McKenna
[size=-1]Awesomeness-->∞</p>

<p>CMC is great for government, econ, etc. both academically and in terms of prestige and getting opportunities like internships.
How is it for sciences (particularly bio/premed) in all of these respects? How does it compare to Pomona for sciences?</p>

<p>Pomona has a stronger program.</p>

<p>Santino, you got way off topic. Do you hate Pomona? “Pomona is basically your preppy East coast liberal arts college with all its pretension and left-leaning student body/faculty. If you are a flaming liberal who seeks academic success, Pomona is perfect, and so is any ivy league. PO does have a few advantages here, with the class size, community, location etc.”</p>

<p>So suddenly, my flip flop and shorts wearing self am now a flaming liberal with all the pretension in the world who only cares about academic success. Thanks, pal. You’re really helping CMC’s reputation here, as I should remind you, the Consortium exists so that everyone works together. CMC wouldn’t have been founded without a lot of help from Pomona; same goes for Scripps, Pitzer and Mudd. Harvey Mudd went to Pomona. So did Mr. Pitzer. If one school’s name suffers, I really think it affects that of other schools. Bottom line is, the schools have differing missions, and they’re meant to work together.</p>

<p>As for the Original Poster, CMC offers a lot, as does Pomona. Pomona’s not as specialized in the fields of econ, finance and government. The Ath is a great resource. My understanding is that a higher % of Pomona students are interested in PhD programs. So take it for what you will. </p>

<p>And whether or not CMC is a better choice for you comes down to your individual circumstances. Look at the differences in culture.</p>

<p>Pomona’s better known for pre med; CMC’s still right up there. The Claremont Colleges are a true Consortium of learning and achievement. Academically, they can compete with and beat anyone in the country. Best of luck.</p>

<p>I’m waitlisted at Pomona, accepted to CMC. I loved both schools when I visited, but after looking at each school individually I think i like the practicality of CMC more --the Ath was also a huge bonus. I talked to Pomona students who themselves are moderately liberal --they felt that the lack of diverse opinions was too stifling. I love debate, even when it’s with viewpoints I highly disagree on, and I think CMC will provide that. I’m not a fan of partying/drinking,etc, but I’m hoping that won’t be a problem… from many of the CMCers I talked to from the admitted student group, many of us don’t party/drink either!</p>

<p>Hi, I’m actually in sort of the same situation as you. I got into Pomona and CMC this year and have decided to go to Pomona. I saw there were several advantages that Pomona has over it’s neighbour when I visited; more beautiful campus, better name recognition/more prestigous, more academic (I’m actually going to major in Econ/Pol Sci (which is CMC’s strong suit) but I learn’t I can take most of my classes at CMC anyway, and I’ll still get a degree from Pomona). </p>

<p>To put it in context, I also turned down Berkeley, Duke, Columbia and Princeton for Pomona.</p>

<p>Gosh, as a parent of a HS grad class of '09, I have learned plenty since joining CC less than a year ago. Frankly, before joining CC, I’d never heard of any of the 5 Consortium colleges, because of my lack of familiarity with the West Coast. I’ve enjoyed reading the different posts. This has been quite the debate/discussion. Out of all of it, one thing stands out for me: Santino dislikes anything “liberal.” He references the word “liberal” as if it were a pejorative, over and over again. </p>

<p>I think most of the country is liberal, or at least center-left, unlike the “center-right” meme the Republicans continue to regurgitate. If America is not center-left, how could the country have elected a center-left POTUS and a center-left VPOTUS and a center-left Congress?</p>

<p>To bring this back to the original question, as a center-left country, between CMC and Pomona then, I say Pomona should be the pick. :)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>This argument seems to be missing a step… How do you get from “we live in a center-left country” to “Pomona should be the pick.”</p>

<p>Maybe you mean that we should go to a school that matches the political leanings of the country. But that seems like an odd criterion for picking a college-- what if the political leanings of the country were different? </p>

<p>Or maybe you mean we should go to a school that matches the “correct” political ideology. In that case, maybe we should all go to UC Santa Cruz or Pitzer since they have a reputation for being more liberal than even Pomona.</p>

<p>I honestly don’t know what you mean. I really don’t think the last election is any reason to go to Pomona over CMC. As a liberal CMC student, I enjoy the political awareness and diversity of opinions on campus. Being exposed to different points of view is how you learn.</p>

<p>Plainsman:</p>

<p>" If America is not center-left, how could the country have elected a center-left POTUS and a center-left VPOTUS and a center-left Congress?"</p>

<p>Do a little research, and you’ll find that Republicans have controlled the House, Senate and Presidency for a much longer period than the Democrats over the last 30 years. Not all at the same time necessarily, but looking at the most obvious benchmark, I think 20 years of Republican presidents in the last 28 years argues forcefully against simply basing your estimate of the country’s political leanings on the last election.</p>

<p>Obama was elected thanks to a perfect storm of events. First “black” candidate with a chance to win, 8-yr Bush incumbency, national war fatigue, the natural cycle of election swings, a complacent and biased media, and finally a weighty financial crisis in the last months before the election. And he’s far from being “center-left”, by the way…he’s the most extreme-left President the country has ever seen – a fact that was carefully hidden from the voting public.</p>

<p>Finally, I agree with “the boneyking” that, independent of the validity of your conjecture, it has little to do with one’s choice of school. In fact, if one were to be contrarian, any student wishing to explore the world of academics and philosophy to the fullest extent would not wish to immerse him or herself in facile and intellectually lazy groupthink.</p>

<p>The red-water-in-the-fountain event was an Athenaeum talk by Karl Rove, not the enlightening and well-received Thum talk. A number of Pitzer students were disciplined by Pitzer for the Rove event as I remember. I was present at the Thum talk but not at the Rove event, which was limited to students.</p>

<p>Just gonna say, nobody knows Pitzer on the east coast. Literally nobody. CMC and Pomona are about equal. Pitzer probably isn’t known because the school lags so far behind other east coast LAC’s nobody considers it.</p>