Comparing Wesleyan, Claremont McKenna (and maybe Pomona)

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello, the friendly folks on CC!</p>

<p>I am a senior from northern California who's accepted to Claremont McKenna College (CMC) and waitlisted at Wesleyan and Pomona College. When I applied to colleges, Wesleyan was nearly my top choice school, while Claremont McKenna and Pomona were right behind Wesleyan in my mind in terms of where I wanted to end up in the fall.</p>

<p>I have taken quite a liking to CMC, especially since I was able to stay at CMC on admit day. But I am figuring out whether I would prefer Wesleyan over CMC. My school counselor advised me that I should write a letter to Wesleyan's admissions stating that Wesleyan's my first choice if that is the case, and make it clear that I will enroll for sure if Wes admits me. I want to really mean it if I write that in my letter. I can imagine myself as a student at either campus, though I know, and most people have told me, that the vibe at each place is "really different" In my mind, Pomona's kind of out of the picture, because I imagine its atmosphere to be very similar to Wesleyan, and in that case, I would prefer Wesleyan over Pomona. But feel free to sway me into looking more closely at Pomona. </p>

<p>Any input on which school might be a better fit for me? Let me know if this post should belong to another CC forum instead.</p>

<p>Top things I value most in a college, in that order: Quality of classes in my intended major, Outside-of-class academic opportunities (research with a faculty, independent study, extra help, if needed..etc), Options for social life, and Preparation for life after college (may it be a certain career, grad school, or something really unusual).</p>

<p><em>Sorry about my wordiness. Below is a quick character sketch of myself, if that helps. Or you can just skip that</em></p>

<ul>
<li>plan to major in government, international relations, or history.
-Was not the most hardworking or most brilliant in my high school class. (Was over-involved in extracurriculars.) But plan to really focus on academics in college, and hope that I can find a rigorous place that’ll be worth the effort.</li>
<li>I am attracted to Wes's College of Social Studies program. Pomona and CMC has a similar major program titled Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE). Both are competitive to get in; so I guess that's a draw? Or do their qualities differ?</li>
<li>A small part of why I was attracted to Wesleyan’s academics is because of fame of the film studies’ department. I am somewhat interested in the field, and would like to keep my options open.
-Socially, I would rather watch a movie and chat with friends, or read in a cafe than party with a large group of people. I don’t make friends quickly, in part because I usually play nice and am shy (read “boring”) when I am with new people. I don’t plan on drinking or partying on a regular basis, if at all, in college, though I would prefer if the student body is very integrated and that non-partiers and partiers, and other social cliques mix more than well. CMC seems to party harder than Wes does, no?</li>
</ul>

<p>-Academics: My impression is that the government and history departments/ academics in general at Wes and CMC are probably on par. So are Wes’s CCS and Claremont McKenna’s PPE. Claremont McKenna might have more IR-related courses than Wes do, simply because it’s a major at CMC. While CMC can’t beat the quality of Wes’s film studies program, entrance to CMC’s media studies minor is non-competitive and probably less demanding. What do you think?</p>

<p>-It might come down to personality fit. (Or does it?) Maybe I am being overly romantic, but I feel that while my personality profile fits better with the CMC stereotype (interest in IR and govt, goal-oriented, think pragmatically, lots of leadership experience in HS), I wanna be more like the stereotypical Wes student: someone who seems to have a diversified interest (esp. in the arts), is not afraid to be off-kilter, and cares more about pursuing their personal passion than about financial success post college.</p>

<p>In HS, I have a group of really over-achieving, rather uptight friends who are serious about their studies. I am pretty self-conscious myself. While I do enjoy my time with them, I am also drawn to the artsy, more or less spontaneous kids who are into photography, dance, theater etc and don’t care to be mainstream. Some of the most fascinating discussions I’ve had are with them. I know college is not a magical place where transformations just happen, but the just-do-what-you-feel-is-right vibe of Wes’s student body seems to have is what really attracts me.</p>

<p>So what do you think? Can I really fit into Wesleyan? Any caution/ word of advice? Other factors that I should really taken into consideration? I would love any bits of information or pointers. Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>They’re all great schools, but honestly, be in love with CMC. If you get off a waitlist, let it be a nice surprise but I would not do an analysis that assumes that will happen. These schools have huge waitlists this year.</p>

3

<p>First of all, congratulations…you have great options.</p>

<p>Honestly, it sounds like you have done your research and know everything you need to about these schools to make a good decision (you really nailed some of the personality differences between Wes and CMC). I’m struggling to think of what advice to give you because you’ve already done a thorough analysis and you are clearly introspective enough to know what you want from a college.</p>

<p>Ultimately, I think you can have everything you want (based on what you said above) at either CMC or Wes. CMC’s pragmatism and focus on leadership would not preclude you from being off-kilter and developing your interest in the arts. In fact, it sounds like the set up of the Claremont Colleges would be ideal for someone like you who can move between different peer groups easily. Stay on the Wes waiting list if you think you want to leave yourself that option, but in the meantime it sounds like you have found a great fit in CMC and hmom5’s advice seems sound to me.</p>

4

<p>Highly doubt Wes is like Pomona. Being in CA and part of a Consortium makes life at Pomona inherently different.</p>

5

<p>Hey guys, thanks for all the great input. I really, really appreciate them.
I do start to think that I was probably overthinking the situation, esp. since it sounds like the waitlists are especially long this year. </p>

<p>I am staying on both waitlists and waiting to see what happens. Thanks again!!</p>

<p>Of course, any afterthought is welcome.</p>