<p>As I have been accepted to my top 2 schools, William & Mary and CMC, I've been awfully confused about which one to chose. They're both great academically, but I'm just not sure which one is better for what I'm doing (accounting) or simply a better fit for me. One concern I have about CMC is its size, which is smaller than my current high school. I know the consortium lessens that problem a bit, but still, I don't like the idea of everyone hearing about every little thing I do, if that makes sense. I also live in VA, so W&M is a whole lot closer and more convenient, although not necessarily cheaper (CMC offered me great aid, haven't heard back from W&M yet). I love Cali & the sunshine & and the weather there, but knowing that I could really go to college all the way across the country seems a bit scary! Another concern is that even though CMC has a great reputation among those who know it, everyone I mention the school to has never heard of it. I guess I just need some extra opinions, considering both schools have their ups and downs. I feel like having been accepted to CMC gives me such a great opportunity, and from what I've heard, it's an amazing school, so I don't want to make a bad decision.</p>
<p>I have a kid who is an economics-accounting major at CMC, and I can tell you unequivocally that the professors and the courses are first-rate. Everyone who graduates from this program gets amazing jobs. Have you joined the facebook group for your class. I would think your fellow admittees may be able to help you.</p>
<p>Lookup on facebook: Claremont Mckenna College new Admits Entering 2011</p>
<p>Yes I have, I have read what they have told other students & they are extremely persuasive, thank you!</p>
<p>Hi confused girl-</p>
<p>Another CMC parent here. Let me say, first of all, there is no bad decision to be made!</p>
<p>This time last year our D was doing her final two visits…to W&M and CMC. She was admitted OOS to W&M as a Monroe scholar and she wanted to study Gov/IR so both places were excellent academically for her as well. </p>
<p>parent57, as usual, gives great advice. Econ/accounting would be top notch at CMC (as well as at W&M ). </p>
<p>I think fit and money would be the issues. We let D apply to W&M from out of state but told her that she probably wouldn’t get in and even if she did, it would likely be unaffordable. Well, we were wrong about getting in and, to our surprise the money was doable. (They actually met full need for her.) But Claremont was better…no loans etc. Plus, you have to figure in all of the extras, from the snacks, to retreats and other opportunities that are free/very low cost. The atheneum is wonderful! D really likes Williamsburg, but loves being able to walk to the village in Claremont, rent a zip car or go out to the LA area on occasion with friends. Also, the airport is very convenient.</p>
<p>Another big sell for her was the consortium. She was like you about the size issue. She ended up with only one other lac on her list, other than CMC and Pomona and that was her major concern. She really wanted a mid-sized school and has found the best of both worlds at CMC. The small classes (19, 17, 17 and 7 students this semester) cannot be beat. Still she has the resources of the 5cs. She has friends at all five colleges and has taken classes off campus as well. A couple of her ecs are shared (students from all campuses) and you never know where she will be eating her next meal. She has not found CMC to be insular or gossipy, like hs. She says your community can be as large or as small as you want it to be.</p>
<p>California and the weather are, as she constantly says, “fabulous”. She is enjoying that even more than she thought she would. She really likes the Southeast and applied to several schools there, but in the end CMC totally won her over. She says she always tells people that home doesn’t really seem far away when you have a cell phone, computer etc. She calls us most days when she is walking from one place to another in the sunshine to tell us how happy and excited she is about whatever it is at the moment…she can’t believe her first year is almost over. It has flown by! It will just be a longer commute for you, but even instate can be a long drive, depending on how close you are to the college.</p>
<p>As far as reputation, well, liberal arts schools in general are not well known. They are small, with fewer alumni and no big time sports. CMC is very young (and in that way very different from W&M) but has accomplished amazing things in a very short time. The people that matter (employers and grad schools) are very familiar with CMC. It is also a huge plus to be able to get to know your professors so well and to have so much support from the career center etc. We have been nothing but impressed. Have you visited?</p>
<p>Generally, I like to hit the positives, but since time is running short I will add one more thing. For my D at least, she was not especially pleased with her admitted student’s visit at W&M. She loved the academics opportunities and the history of the place. She likes that part of the country and the proximity to other resources. What concerned her in the end was the state school issue (larger class sizes, maintenance, finances) and to be honest the large % from Virginia (coming in with groups of hs friends…she thought that it might make for a rehash of hs for many) plus the makeup of the OOS kids. Now there are a lot of CA students at Claremont, no doubt but CA is a huge state and there is certainly less than 2/3 of the population from the host state. She had not realized how many OOS students at W&M came from NY, NJ, MD…but it was apparent at that last visit! Good or bad? That depends on your point of view. She wanted more diversity.</p>
<p>Anyway, don’t be nervous. If you choose CMC it will be your home too. If you want to branch out, it will be a very secure environment to do so. In our experience, you can’t beat the academics, the people or the prospects at CMC. I can’t imagine that it won’t be a better financial value. Now you just have to figure out what kind of experience would be the best fit for you. Again, there is no bad choice here!</p>
<p>Let us know if you have any other specific questions. (D has admissions ties…she actually may have already talked to you on Facebook as well.)</p>
<p>Congratulations and good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you sooo much for your informative and thorough response, it really helped reassure both myself and my mother about CMC. I visited this past summer, and will be visiting once more on Friday. I’m so excited! Once again, I really appreciate all of the advice, so thank you parent57 and critter!</p>
<p>Happy to help, confused girl. So many folks here helped us and I know how your Mom feels…we parents want our kids to get a good education but we want you to have a great overall experience as well. It can be hard to get all of the questions answered, especially from a distance.</p>
<p>Glad to hear you are attending admitted student’s day on Friday. Maybe you will see D there. (She will be involved with tours/panels etc.) Last year, getting to meet her potential peers and talk with them and their families over lunch and throughout the weekend was illuminating for both of us. It was after she attended her academic visits that I asked her if she knew how long she thought she would need to make up her mind. (She went to the second weekend too, so not much time left!) She just smiled and said that she knew by the time she had listened to the first amazing professor that CMC was the place for her. So then, a trip to the bookstore to get CMC gear to take home to everyone was in order! Later, I dropped her off at the admissions office to meet her overnight host and she was chatting away with the other prospective students before I got out the door. </p>
<p>Will you be doing an overnight? She went to the Mr Stag competition last year…it may going on this Friday. She said it was a blast. This ought to be a really fun time for you, especially if you visited in the summer before. It will be livelier, even though it is getting toward the end of the year now, so the students are busy.</p>
<p>Oh, and D said to tell you that there is a book in the career center just full of alumni contacts around the country that you can follow up with to find internships and job leads. She said that not only do they consistently rank very high in the ‘happiest students’ surveys (like princeton review) but also in career services.</p>
<p>[The</a> 100 Happiest Colleges - Galleries - The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/1515/1/]The”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/1515/1/)</p>
<p>Enjoy your visit and hopefully you will have one of those moments and just know where you belong.</p>
<p>After a lot of thinking (and checking out cmcforum’s pics on flickr, although that may seem silly, everyone just seems to be having SO much fun!) I am 90% set on CMC, as long as the 2nd visit goes well. I’m pretty sure it will. I am so excited to get some CMC gear! 
I wanted to have an overnight visit, but I had complications with fin aid so I didn’t recieve my package until last week, and I had to register at last minute. As a result, all the overnight slots were taken by then. Oh well! I’m just glad I was still able to come out (tickets were expensive this last minute!) But I told my parents it was an investment in my future :p</p>
<p>Thank you for you and your daughter’s help, critter :]</p>
<p>confusedgirl-</p>
<p>You are welcome!</p>
<p>I am sending you a private message…I hope you see this. Are you flying out tomorrow?</p>
<p>D is hosting on Friday night. She said that there are more admitted students visiting this weekend than last.</p>