Here to Answer Questions

<p>I'm a current PZ student who's pretty involved, and not that far removed from the admissions process. Happy to answer any questions about anything as the acceptances roll in : )</p>

<p>Parent of junior IB guy (waaay too busy, unfortunately, to do initial research so I'm paring down his requests/requirements). My question: is this the type of school where a more introverted/circumspect person could find happiness? My son has an extraordinarily short list of ec's - mainly because he's super independent minded, doesn't believe that he should participate in activities just because "they say you have to". What interests him (film, mixed martial arts) interests him, and what doesn't, doesn't. Do you think he'd match up with the student body there? His academics are super solid, so I'm not concerned about that part. Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>First, kudos to you for knowing your son well and looking out for him. </p>

<p>It's interesting that you would focus on EC's, because bluntly put, your description doesn't exactly jive with the Pitzer culture of community involvement, participating, being outgoing, etc. (There's no activities requirement or anything like that, but participating is a key way to make friends other than the kids who live immediately around you.)</p>

<p>That said, if you think there's a change your son might want to get involved for its own sake in college, Pitzer is a great chance to do it. Our media studies is very strong, arguably the best in Claremont, and there are constantly films being shown around campus, and often people involved in the film come to discuss their work. I have no personal knowledge of what sort of martial arts opportunities we have but it's very very easy to start a club if he wanted to.<br>
If your son is interested mostly in focusing on academics at the exclusion of most other things, he'd find a smaller number of kids who share that MO, and it actually may be difficult for him to gain admission to Pitzer even despite what I imagine is a stellar academic record because they do look for community involvement in the application.
My suggestion would be to have your son take a look at the college himself (maybe over the summer) and see if his vision of college corresponds with Pitzer. If not, maybe try some liberal arts colleges in the midwest where they're shut indoors all day and study 24/7 ; ) </p>

<p>Happy to clarify this post or answer any further questions.</p>

<p>how is the science department at pitzer? how about placement into med school? my cousin applied and is really curious.</p>

<p>is the curriculum rigorous? how would you describe it?</p>

<p>so i applied to pitzer regular decision, and it is by far my first choice! i'm getting nervous, and i was just curious what you thought pitzer was really looking for in their applicants. also, i hate to ask this question, but do you know, very generally, what an "average" high school gpa would be for pitzer admits (though I know they look at a lot more than gpa)?</p>

<p>also, what is the social scene like at pitzer? what do people do for fun, and do people generally venture off campus or do they stay within the claremont consortium for parties, concerts, things like that?</p>

<p>what are the clubs/organizations like? is it true that social action is huge and that the students are very passionate about what they are involved in?
thank you :)</p>

<p>I've never taken a science class in college (yay for sparse GE reqs at Pitzer!) but I do know that Pitzer's science departments are combined with those of Scripps and CMC to form what we call the Joint Science Department (jsd.claremont.edu), which is widely considered to be very high quality and rigorous. It's housed in a beautiful modern building in the middle of the 5C's called the Keck Science center. Also, Pitzer has a larger number than you might think of science kids, especially neuroscience majors and premeds. For med school questions you might look at <a href="http://www.jsd.claremont.edu/MedSchoolHandbook/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.jsd.claremont.edu/MedSchoolHandbook/&lt;/a> and maybe email a faculty member.
Of the 16 classes I've taken at the 5C's, all but 4 have been at Pitzer, and I would say that Pitzer classes on the whole require slightly more preparation for each class since participation is graded much more often at Pitzer. When I'm keeping up my end, I spend 3-5 each weekday reading/doing work and then several hours each weekend mostly writing papers or preparing for larger evaluations. Across the board, professors in Claremont are extremely intelligent and capable people. (Unlike in high school) I've NEVER had a clueless, or stupid, or uncommitted professor at any college. I would say that if you really engage, a Pitzer education is quite rigorous. It's also really enjoyable since you are free to take what you want to take without a lot of GE's.</p>

<p>
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My suggestion would be to have your son take a look at the college himself (maybe over the summer) and see if his vision of college corresponds with Pitzer.

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</p>

<p>^ I always agree that a visit is important. If summer's the only time to make one, then so be it. But if there's any flexibility, then I think it's much more productive to visit while school is in progress, esp at a school like Pitzer, which has a very distinct campus culture/atmosphere (much of which would go unseen during the summer, even though a small number of summer courses will be in session).</p>

<p>
[quote]
also, i hate to ask this question, but do you know, very generally, what an "average" high school gpa would be for pitzer admits (though I know they look at a lot more than gpa)?

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</p>

<p>Pitzer's First Year Profile: <a href="http://www.pitzer.edu/admission/firstyearprofile.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.pitzer.edu/admission/firstyearprofile.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>"Average High School GPA: 3.72</p>

<p>Standardized tests are optional in the admission process at Pitzer College. For those students who chose to submit them, the average SAT Verbal was 636 and the average SAT Math was 616."</p>

<p>^ This is the info for enrolled students (vs. accepted), but gives you a rough idea, still.</p>

<p>It seems that Pitzer is looking for community involvement in addition to solid GPA/SATs. I don't work in the admissions office like some of my friends do but I do know that the unweighted gpa of the incoming freshmen was around 3.7, and the acceptance rate was about 26%. The thing about Pitzer is that nobody gets in because they stayed inside and got straight A's all through high school- the admissions people are looking for leadership, participation, intellectual curiosity, etc. When applying/interviewing, spare no detail about the stuff you're really passionate about and let them know what you would add to the community here. (It doesn't have to be classically "prestigious" stuff either, I know a girl here who spent a lot of her time in high school taking care of abandoned cats and nursing them back to health.) The PZ admission office is amazing, and they totally get the fact that kids make choices to go out and DO things at the expense of having 4.0/2400s. </p>

<p>The social scene is kind of whatever you want it to be- you could go to a 5C party 6 nights a week, stay in every night, hang out with friends all the time, go into LA all the time, go to the beach every weekend, see a movie every day, go see famous speakers twice a day, etc. Obviously, most people do a mixture of some or all of those things. People venture off campus a lot in Claremont to go to sports games, go to the village for meals, etc. I'd say that if you do go off campus, Pitzer kids are slightly more likely to go on outdoor trips to the beach, camping, hiking, skiing, etc. Going to parties off campus is much rarer in Claremont than at most other colleges/universities, simply because most kids live on campus.</p>

<p>There are TONS of clubs/orgs in Claremont; there is a 5C club fair at the beginning of each semester where each club has a table with kids who talk about what the club does, and you basically just go down the (very long) line of tables and see what's out there, and get involved from there. Social action is huge at Pitzer (seems like Scripps, especially, too), and some aspect of social justice/activism is a central focus of nearly every student's education. It's a very, very exciting place to go to college.</p>

<p>Overall, the admissions office is looking for strong academics, but they realize that is not everything a student is. They are looking for involvement and passion and how a students fits into the community. While being active is important, what types of things was a student doing? Keep in mind that Pitzer is all about social responsibility and intercultural understanding. Yet, they know that HS students don't always have a chance to be as involved as they would like, so potential is big.</p>

<p>And yes, last year the acceptance rate was 26%. However, this year, applications were up over 7%, which will drop the acceptance rate once again.</p>

<p>After reviewing dataset, I understand your point about the importance of involvement. I was thinking my son would be attracted to the more flexible academic requirements (being individualistic and independent), but I could see where his more limited ec's would not be as attractive to Pitzer as folks who are more involved. I was thinking in terms of whether a student who was more introverted than extroverted could find happiness on the Pitzer campus. It sounds like a slight misfit.</p>

<p>Probably. Good luck to you both :)</p>

<p>investorscooter:</p>

<p>If your only description of your son was "more introverted than extroverted," then I don't know what I'd say re: the likelihood of his being happy at Pitzer. It's just not much info to go on. Given what else you've said though..</p>

<ul>
<li><p>"He's super independent minded, doesn't believe that he should participate in activities just because 'they say you have to.'"</p></li>
<li><p>"What interests him (film, mixed martial arts) interests him, and what doesn't, doesn't.</p></li>
<li><p>Individualistic (?) and independent</p></li>
</ul>

<p>...I see no reason to believe he couldn't be happy at the school. Individuality, independent thinking, forging one's own path (rather than doing things because 'you have to' or 'everybody does') are all right in line with what Pitzer seems to look for in students. The reason for my (?) is that I wonder if, when you say that your son is individualistic, you mean it more in the sense of "he's a real individual" or "he's really only concerned with himself"? If the latter, it's true that that Pitzer might not be the place for him...students tend to emphasize global-mindedness, service, etc. If the former, though, I still don't see an issue.</p>

<p>Now, whether your son's short list of EC's would hurt him in the admissions process (personally, I don't see independence/individuality and EC involvement as being mutually exclusive) is a different question altogether. I think it would depend on how he framed the issue, and on what he's done with things that have interested him. </p>

<p>Basically, your son may or may not fit in with the Pitzer/Claremont community...I don't know. But, depending on what exactly you mean by 'individualistic,' I'm not sure I see anything <em>in your description</em> that indicates a likely misfit. I suggest looking around Pitzer's website to get a feel for the types of student that they attract (and if the school still sounds interesting, a visit would be wise).</p>

<p>ETA: There have been a number of CC posts re: schools that don't require GE's or any sort of academic core. I suggest searching for these for more ideas of schools that might appeal to a free-thinker. I'll post links if I can find them!</p>

<p>Great thread cantsaythatIdo. I learned alot about pz. Do you know anything about financial aid packages offered? Our EFC is around $32,000, so we're wondering if our D will be able to afford it (if she's accepted). Another question, she never interviewed. Will that hurt her chances?</p>

<p>Unfortunately I don't know ANYTHING about the finaid at Pitzer (we took out loans ourselves). You should call the Office yourself, I know they are very nice people.
On the second point, I do know that if you live in SoCal, they strongly prefer that you interview, but do not require it. (I live within a few hours away and didn't interview, but still got in, and I've talked to a handful of other people in the same situation.) Still, you can definitely show your interest in other ways, by attending info sessions near you or doing a phone interview.</p>

<p>Student615, thanks for the very thoughtful post. And you are analyzing the fit in a manner reminiscent of my son's thought processes. Since my son was quite an enigma to me (still waters type of guy), I asked him to take a Myers-Briggs test and he came up as an INFJ - supposedly 1% of the population or so. And as I read info on his temperament type (such an interesting, insightful exercise I highly recommend that everyone should do - it makes relationships SO much richer), everything became so much clearer. Now if only the colleges had a "campus personality type" so adcoms/applicants could use that factor to attain either a sense of community, or actually for a recruiting tool! Maybe some campuses would like multiples of the same types in order to create a certain student dynamic, or maybe others would like many different types of students and would look to round out their student body. In any event, with your help I seem to have discovered another possible tool for screening colleges. As to visiting, I think the easiest thing to do would be to forceably send my Oxy frosh daughter over to Claremont on a "field trip", since we're in S FL...er not too close. I'm laughing though, because she fiercely rations her "car priveleges" - bumming rides from friends. This could be the ultimate test of how much she loves her bro. Thanks!</p>

<p>
[quote]
Student615, thanks for the very thoughtful post. And you are analyzing the fit in a manner reminiscent of my son's thought processes. Since my son was quite an enigma to me (still waters type of guy), I asked him to take a Myers-Briggs test and he came up as an INFJ - supposedly 1% of the population or so.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm an INFJ, too ;)</p>

<p>It'd be great if your daughter could get to Claremont for a Pitzer tour. Perhaps she could bribe a car-owning friend with a trip to nearby Ontario Mills outlet mall, downtown Pasadena, Victoria Gardens mall (which has puppies), or something else of that nature. If she's anywhere near a Metrolink station, that will also get her relatively close (walking distance) to campus. Good luck!</p>

<p>As they get more applications, they are looking to see a student's interest. While interviews are best, going to a high school visit, or even starting an e-mail conversation with the admission counselor is great. They remember those students (just don't annoy them).</p>

<p>Does your daughter have the same type of personality as your son? I think before you 'force' (lol) your daughter out to Claremont, I would 'force' your son to take 15 minutes and look at the Pitzer website, or a college guidebook, or, heck, PM me with some questions, to see if anything about the college immediately disqualifies it for him, or really excites him.</p>

<p>Funny you should ask about their personalities. Their personalities are waaay different, but their "college requirements" look about the same. Those are 2 very different things, aren't they? I actually didn't realize that until he told me his "ideal school requirements". I'm actually semi-joking about forcing her out to see the Claremont schools, because I had really wanted her to consider Scripps, but since she's sooooo bullheaded, she didn't. And it turned out okay cuz she just loves Oxy (so far). I just think what you guys have out there in Claremont has got to be pretty nifty, with a tight consortium. Maybe I'm thinking of it incorrectly, but to me it's like a 5 scoop ice cream sundae - gives you some serious options. And I also thought that since she's got pretty good radar, that she could gauge the fit.</p>

<p>He'll be doing his college research over spring break (after some heavy-duty projects he's up to his neck in). My "job" was to put together a group of schools which we would be willing to pay for and that we thought he should consider, and he'll take it from there in April. We'll see if Pitzer is of interest, and he may get in touch. I really appreciate your responsiveness.</p>

<p>Testing 1, 2, 3</p>