<p>Both in terms of the programs in and of themselves, and with regards to graduate school placement, is Swarthmore's or CMC's better?</p>
<p>They're both great.</p>
<p>I believe the difference is that Claremont's program is geared towards being more practical. It's less academic/theory which I believe Swarthmore's is. I have a feeling that Claremont's students tend to go to law school and business school more often than pursuing their PhD's which I think is the direction Swarthmore's students tend to go.</p>
<p>But, ultimately, which school is better? I know Swarthmore is much more academically challenging and focused, but only in terms of their economics programs, which school is better? Say for instance that I want to end up a good business school (Stanford?). I like CMC's weather and Swarthmore's community and atmosphere. To me, these two factors cancel each other. So, with this in mind, which school is better for me?</p>
<p>Whatever difference there is in economics programs is not going to make or break your chances of getting into a good business school.</p>
<p>the main difference will be lie in the student body and the geography.
Pre-professional, work hard, play hard kids at CMC vs. the more academic, "high brow" nature of those at Swat.
Philly suburb vs. Claremont
Philly is more accessible from Swat than L.A. is from Claremont via public transport and traffic issues.</p>
<p>I've already taken environmental factors - geography, weather, etc- and student body/atmosphere into consideration... To me, these benefits and drawbacks are approximately equal for each school</p>
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more often than pursuing their PhD's which I think is the direction Swarthmore's students tend to go.
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Yep. In fact, Swarthmore heads the list of per capita PhD production in economics.</p>
<p>well, the number of PhD candidate per capita is only one measure of a program's overall quality, isn't it?</p>
<p>Admission to Stanford MBA would have much more to do with the career path you take after college and propose to pursue in the application than any difference between Swarthmore and Claremont McKenna.</p>
<p>Maybe neither? The number of in-term business internships at either school that might in turn lead to the best possible placements post graduation (and then, later, to the best MBA programs), is close to zero. Both schools have fine economics programs. But whether or not you get into the best MBA programs will be based primarily on what you do after graduation. </p>
<p>I doubt Swarthmore's academic program is significantly more challenging (if at all) than CMCs.</p>
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business internships at either school that might in turn lead to the best possible placements post graduation (and then, later, to the best MBA programs), is close to zero.
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</p>
<p>I thought that CMC had a very strong internship program?</p>
<p>In term?...(could be - I just don't know about it.) As far as I am aware, there is only the Robert Day Scholars program, which takes a very small number of seniors only in the economics-finance department, and then a subset of whom have internships. This would be an extraordinarily small number relative to other schools - and if you are good enough to get into the program to begin with, it is unlikely you are going to have difficulty finding a good job leading later to an MBA program.</p>
<p>Swarthmore>Claremont</p>
<p>@ mini</p>
<p>missed the part about "in term". My mistake.
Looks like the internships are for the summer, with the exception of the Washington semester and research opportunities at their various institutes.</p>
<p>There are probably more freshmen business internships in-term at my d's dorm at American than they are at all of CMC and Swarthmore combined for all four years. Of course, that's not why one goes to CMC or Swarthmore, where one will get an extraordinary economics education. But for most, it will take several years of experience following that before they can go on for a first-rate MBA.</p>
<p>Have you visited each school? They have two very different student bodies--which is not to say there may not be some overlap, but they are pretty different in terms of "fit". You can't go wrong academically at either school, but you really may be happier at one versus the other.</p>
<p>I honestly feel that based on your needs/wants for the future Claremont might suit you better that is, if you wanna go do the MBA thing. I can bet there will be a lot more kids at claremont wanting to get their MBA than at Swarthmore. </p>
<p>However if you want a school similar to swarthmore and be in cali, look at Pomona college, which is right next to claremont mc kenna. Don't go off of rankings, because the difference between swarthmore and claremont is NOT SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH to assume that if you go to one over the other, you'll have better chances. If you look at student reviews like those on <strong><em>.com (</em></strong>) you'll see how claremont is so different than swarthmore in student body. one person notes how they're known be the school to "kill for an internship and beer"(or something like that)</p>
<p>btw i'm pretty sure because of its reputation there are a ton of companies that come to recruit at claremont specifically because of their econ. princeton review even ranks it as i think top 5 in job placement.</p>
<p>Also, if you're concerned about internships and job prospects, you may want to look at USC's business or econ major. yes they are no small LAC, but I can bet they get as much attention from major companies simply because of the trojan network, and having a top MBA program in so cal, i think even more so than claremont and swarthmore combined.</p>
<p>I be perfectly honest, graduate school placement is not that important to me - I just find it as a helpful indicator of a program's strength. It's hardly perfect, but at least it's better than using PhD candidates per capita. Job placement is even less important to me since the graduate school I'll go to will determine my ultimate career prospects.</p>
<p>Even though it's not the case, let's assume, for simplicity's sake, that my main goal in college is getting into a good business school. </p>
<p>I'll be closer to home in CMC and prefer its weather. I like Swarthmore's academically focused atmosphere, and the quality of its students and professors. In my mind, these factors basically cancel each other out.</p>
<p>Which school would be better for me?</p>
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Job placement is even less important to me since the graduate school I'll go to will determine my ultimate career prospects.
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</p>
<p>Except that if the type of graduate school you're shooting for is MBA, then the job placement you get out of UG will go a long way in determining your graduate school.</p>
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Also, if you're concerned about internships and job prospects, you may want to look at USC's business or econ major. yes they are no small LAC, but I can bet they get as much attention from major companies simply because of the trojan network, and having a top MBA program in so cal, i think even more so than claremont and swarthmore combined.
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<p>I feel it's a common misconception that a larger alumni network is necessarily a better or more effective one. Grads of CMC or Swat share a much more unique bond than those from USC and many times this is more important than just sheer size.</p>