<p>I'm a current CMC freshman dual majoring in Government and International Relations, and I'm happy to answer any and all questions you may have. I know that the college decision process can be daunting and extremely difficult, and talking to students was extremely helpful when I was making my college decisions. Ask away!</p>
<p>I read somewhere that CMC is like one big frat, which seems good because everyone is inclusive in terms of partying and social life. I also read somewhere, that CMC has kind of “seperate” frats where for instances people that play lacrosse only socialize with other lacrosse players. Are cliques prevalent at CMC? Also, are job fairs and campus interviews available to all the 5C’s or just CMC?</p>
<p>Do you have any pre-med friends or friends with the interdisciplinary science scholarship that wouldn’t mind emailing me or chatting on Facebook?</p>
<p>CMC definitely isn’t a cliquey school; sports teams will hang out together but not in an exclusive manner, and there isn’t a real divide between athletes and non-athletes. We’re a small school which makes for a really inclusive and welcoming social life/community. I think that for a small, private school we’re frat-like in the sense that we have great parties and a fantastic social scene, but we don’t have to deal with the negative aspects of Greek life. Remember that we don’t have an actual Greek life on campus. I have a lot of friends in Greek systems at other schools and have experienced Greek life on their campuses, and I honestly prefer CMC.
Most of career services’ resources are available only to CMC students. Occasionally recruiters will come to one of the five campuses and the event will be open to 5C students, but CMC’s resources are generally only for CMC students.</p>
<p>128769: I have a couple friends who are pre-med as well as a couple friends with ISS; I’m not sure that I know anyone with both, but I can message you email addresses to contact them.</p>
<p>thank you so much :)</p>
<p>Can you talk a little about the different dorms?</p>
<p>This talks about housing: [Residential</a> Life, Dean of Students, Claremont McKenna College](<a href=“http://cmc.edu/dos/rezlife/]Residential”>http://cmc.edu/dos/rezlife/)</p>
<p>We have three main residential areas on campus: North Quad (Appleby, Green, Boswell, & Wohlford), Mid Quad (Beckett, Phillips, Berger, & Claremont), and South Quad (Benson, Marks, Stark, Auen, & Fawcett). North Quad dorms are suite style, non-traditional dorms. Instead of central hallways, all rooms open to the outdoors, and suites are four doubles surrounding a central bathroom. The buildings are coed, generally by floor, and suites are always single-gender. Mid Quad dorms are more traditional, as they all include central hallways with central bathrooms. Claremont Hall is the exception; built in 2008, it’s the newest dorm on campus and is hall-style but floors are coed with two bathrooms for each gender on each floor. Claremont Hall is also the only dorm in Mid Quad with air conditioning, with the remaining air conditioned dorms all being in South Quad. South Quad includes Marks and Benson, also with traditional hall-style set ups, and the towers (Auen, Fawcett, and Stark) which have central elevators with four doubles and four singles on each floor. Stark is our substance free dorm, while Claremont Hall is smoke-free. If you have any specific questions let me know; our campus is so small that regardless of where you live you’re never more than a five minute walk from any other dorm.</p>
<p>Are any of the buildings freshman heavy? I liked Claremont Hall but heard it only has about 12 freshman, which I’m afraid will prevent me from meeting people my first year. Are the bathrooms generally clean in the mid and south quads? I like the quietness but I’m not sure how I feel about sharing a bathroom with so many people.</p>
<p>I actually live in Claremont Hall and love it. Phillips and Berger, both in Mid Quad, are freshman-heavy and people love them, but they’re freshman-heavy for a reason. Even though all of our dorms are really nice and we’re always on Princeton Review’s ‘Dorms Like Palaces’ list, so regardless of where you live you’ll be living comfortably, there are certain dorms, such as Phillips and Berger, that are less desirable than others. Freshmen who live in the freshman-heavy absolutely love it and often bond a lot with their dorm-mates, but that’s not to say that you can’t meet freshmen if you don’t live in them. I actually lived in Claremont Hall as a freshman and had absolutely no trouble; the school makes a really conscious effort during orientation to ensure that freshmen are bonding and meeting each other. If meeting people is of concern to you, definitely go on WOA!, the optional outdoor trips before actual freshman orientation. Groups of around 20 freshmen and 3 upperclassmen who act as leaders go to various sites all over Southern California, and a lot of people remain close with people from their trips throughout their four years at CMC.
In terms of bathrooms, they’re obviously not going to be sparkling clean 24/7, but they’re definitely fine. Claremont Hall and the towers will generally have the cleanest bathrooms in Mid/South Quad, but all bathrooms on campus are kept in good shape. Every building has a dorm attendant who comes through every weekday and cleans common areas like lounges and bathrooms, and every two weeks they’ll come through and vacuum your room if the floor’s clean.</p>
<p>Can you say more about the orientation and wilderness trips. My family is trying to plan our summer vacation and I need to figure out now, before they send out the information, whether I want to do one of the trips. Do you know what percentage of students do these trips? I’m sure I’d have fun, but if I missed the trips would I feel left out, like I’d missed something “everyone else” did? Also, is it just the party line that people make life long friends on these trips, or are they really that special?! Thanks!</p>
<p>Why should i go here</p>
<p>cbcbsj: So it sounds like you have a basic idea of what WOA! is like; trips vary every year but this year they included Santa Barbara Surfing, Sequoia Backpacking, Grand Canyon Camping, Colorado River Canoeing, and more. I think that if your family can make it work you should definitely go on WOA!. I didn’t get to go because of family conflicts and really wish I had been able to for a few reasons. I think the general statistic is that around 60-75 percent of the incoming class goes on WOA! (though I could be slightly off), so a large portion of freshman go on the trips. You definitely wouldn’t feel ‘left out’ if you didn’t go, but it’s a fantastic experience for everyone involved and is a really great way to have a group of people you’re more familiar with and can rely on when you start the year back on campus. The access to upperclassmen that WOA! provides is great as well; a lot of my friends look to their WOA! leaders for advice and really appreciate having upperclassmen to turn to. And yes, people really do develop close friendships through WOA!. A lot of my friends were actually on the same couple WOA! trips in August and are still close now, and WOA! leaders organize trip reunions throughout freshman year to kind of bring the group back together.
In the end you’re not going to be socially secluded if you don’t go on WOA!; CMC is a very social school and just by leaving your dorm for ten minutes you can very easily meet people and develop friendships. However, everyone who goes on the trips have fantastic experiences and I strongly recommend going if you can.</p>
<p>Thanks for your thorough answer and taking the time to do this. I’m not worried about meeting people. I’m a pretty social person and am going to be on a sports team that will definitely give me a group from the start. That said, I think I’m going to try to get my family to work around this. I know I’d like the trips. </p>
<p>another question I have is tips for coming to CMC from across the country. Any suggestions on what not to bring, what I can buy easily in Claremont, what storage there is from year to year and any other suggestions on things I can’t even see as an issue would be appreciated.</p>
<p>how easy is it to make friends and socialize at CMC if say you chose another 5C college. Does CMC look down on other colleges, (particularly Pitzer.) Also, (although I love CMC) what really attracts me to Pitzer is its chill, laid back atmosphere where essentially you can be/act however you want to without to much preocupation of what others will think (as opposed to high school, where people generally judge others.) Also, with the conservative stereotype, is it just political conservatism, or conservative socially(which I don’t really get because of the partying/drinking?) Thanks.</p>
<p>Does Claremont Hall host a lot of parties or is quiet?</p>
<p>cardshark2319: When it comes to the other 5C’s, CMC has a good relationship with the majority of the consortium’s students. We sort of act as a social center for the 5C’s; the majority of 5C parties will be at CMC and a lot of clubs/club sports are hosted at CMC. I was looking for the same type of thing; I went to a really competitive high school and didn’t want to deal with it in college. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to CMC when I realized that people here aren’t trying to compete with each other. The competitive nature of CMC students manifests itself as self-competition of sorts; people strive to work their hardest and do their best, but not at the cost of those around them. People do their own things and everyone respects them for it.
In terms of the conservative stereotype, it definitely does not manifest itself socially. Also, just to clarify, I think our conservative stereotype is incredibly exaggerated because when compared to other liberal arts schools we have a higher politically conservative population In reality, the student body is relatively evenly split politically, and I even think there’s a slightly more liberal tendency than there is a conservative one. I went to an incredibly liberal high school in an incredibly liberal city and I was concerned about the adjustment before arriving on campus, but it hasn’t been a problem at all. In fact, it’s been an incredible learning opportunity for me. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>128769: Every dorm on campus, with the exception of Stark, which is our substance free dorm, will host at least a couple parties over the course of the year. The majority of parties will be in a select few dorms, but regardless of where you live you’ll have a party near you at some point. Claremont Hall has hosted 3-4 parties so far this year (I think) but otherwise it’s pretty quiet and calm. South Quad is definitely your best bet if you’re looking for a really peaceful atmosphere, but a couple of the Mid Quad dorms (Claremont Hall, Beckett Hall) are generally calm. This isn’t to say that it’s impossible to get anything done if you live in North Quad or in the other Mid Quad dorms, it just means that your weekends are more likely to be loud than if you live farther south.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a lot of discussion on CMC’s leadership essay and its significance. Is the common app essay even considered then, or is much more weight put on the leadership essay? Also, Government and IR are seperate departments?</p>
<p>The common app essay is DEFINITELY considered. We have a leadership emphasis here hence the importance of the leadership essay, but the common app essay is a really good way for them to get to know you on your terms, plus to evaluate your critical thinking/writing skills. Don’t discount the common app.
Gov and IR are separate majors, but IR is technically part of the Gov Department. Here’s a link describing all of that stuff:
<a href=“http://claremontmckenna.edu/academic/programs.php[/url]”>http://claremontmckenna.edu/academic/programs.php</a>
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[Departments</a>, Programs, Majors - CMC](<a href=“http://claremontmckenna.edu/academic/departments.php]Departments”>http://claremontmckenna.edu/academic/departments.php)</p>