<p>Hi, I'm a junior from Upstate NY and CC has been near the top of my list ever since I've started my college search, but now I'm starting to have some doubts. </p>
<p>I am liberal in tolerance but moderate to conservative in my political leaning. I know, college guide has rated CC as a 'green light school', but does that really mean anything? </p>
<p>Is the drug scene really any worse than comparable LACs (Pomona, Whitman, Grinnell)?</p>
<p>CC has been at the top of my list with Pomona, but thats juxtaposed with my interest in....West Point and Annapolis. Seeing as CC is in the same town as USAFA and their is a pretty strained town/college relationship(so I've heard), would I be ostracized for even considering attending WP/USNA at some point in time?</p>
<p>Oh the block plan....
I love the idea of experimental learning. The block plan seemed so rogue, and yet so productive. Now I'm reading student's talking about reading these echoic pieces of literature in 3 days. Does that really deem clarity? But a better question...would students better grasp the literature in a semester schedule???</p>
<p>There is drug/alcohol use at almost every college/university. I can not speak to Pomona or Whitman but on pretty good authority I can say that the pot use is much more
prevelant and obvious at Grinnelll than it is at Colorado College.</p>
<p>“prevelant and obvious at Grinnelll than it is at Colorado College.”</p>
<p>Why do you say that? Just curious. Do you attend either of those? I have visited both and did not notice a big difference. Both tend to be left leaning schools. Grinnell definitely has what some would label their hippies, but I did not notice a difference. I think Whitman had less though than lets say Grinnell or CC.</p>
<p>CollegeXC1993 do you play a sport(cross country)? There will be different pockets of students that participate in alcohol and pot at both schools. Depending on who you hang out with will make all the difference. I/e at Grinnell there are a bunch of students that don’t party. They even have special events just for those students. </p>
<p>As far as being conservative. CC is a liberal college. I think the big thing is finding a school where you will be accepted and feel comfortable. Pomona is very liberal and Whitman is liberal but not as much as the others. We visited all of them. Whitman seemed very wholesome and not much diversity.</p>
<p>There are some schools that are yellow light schools like Grinnell,but they are very accepting of everyone there. You will be challenged in your viewpoints though, but accepted just the same. If you can’t handle being challenged i/e if you bring something up, it will be challenged. If you don’t bring it up, it won’t.</p>
<p>Ok, so my worries about drugs being more prevalent at CC are quelled.
To be honest, I really don’t mind my views being challenged and I love political debate. My two best friends are raging liberals and I don’t mind it one bit. What I am worried about is going to a school filled with kids that judge someone solely because they are moderate/right leaning. There are a lot of otherwise smart kids at my school that claim all conservatives are ‘red neck idiots.’ They are liberal politically, but conservative in tolerance of non liberals (as ironic as it may seem). I don’t think I’ll have a problem with that at Grinnell, Whitman, Pomona, but was wondering if CC students are actually tolerant. </p>
<p>And I still am iffy on the Block plan for English courses…</p>
<p>Nope, I live pretty far away so visiting before I’m accepted is nearly impossible. Unfortunately, its also nearly impossible to get that ‘feel’ for tolerance without actually being on the campus.</p>
<p>I know a little bit more about the other schools because I visited Whitman on a vacation to see family in Washington (basically luck of the draw) and I know a student from both other schools.</p>
<p>Once you get accepted I would go visit. You should visit Grinnelll as well. My son got accepted to Grinnell and will be attending this fall. We also looked at CC too. My husband works for a company based out of Denver so we were able to visit there. You are correct, you can’t get a true feel until you visit. </p>
<p>I can answer a lot of questions about Grinnell if you like. Also, my son did an overnight to Whitman and was being looked at by a coach at Pomona. We live in California.</p>
<p>You should also check out priceline for great price breaks on airline fares. In fact a lot of schools will even arrange to pick you up from the airport.</p>
<p>For schools like Pomona and Grinnell the ‘visit after I’m accepted’ thing is ok. But not counting CC, I currently have 12 schools on my list and thats sort of my limit. I have plenty of time to think about it, but right now CC’s future on my list is lookin…grim.</p>
<p>Well, if you have 12 schools perhaps you should take CC off and focus on the others. We found that we had to narrow it down. It sounds like you are doing that. I would highly recommend doing that earlier. Once it gets really close, things have a way of speeding up.</p>
<p>We were looking at Grinnell, Whitman, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Swarthmore, Occidental(big scholarship opportunity), CC, Carleton, Williams, and Weslyan.</p>
<p>So my list is pretty ‘safe’ since I have all my merit aid schools right now
I might decide to eventually toss one of those in favor of another reach
Prospective Major: Cog sci/Neurosci
If the school doesnt have it: psych, Econ, environmental sci, english…who knows</p>
<p>West Point
Annapolis
Pomona
Grinnell
Whitman (tie)
CMU NROTC* (tie)
U of Rochester (hometown school) NROTC</p>
<p>Franklin and Marshall
Rhodes
Willamette
SUNY Geneseo
Kalamazoo</p>
<p>*CMU is probably a match for me, but I most likely won’t attend unless I get one of the incredibly competitive NROTC scholarships</p>
<p>Did you know that Grinnell has a neuro sci concentrarion. They just built the most incredible science facility. I don’t mean to push Grinnell, but since you mentioned Cog sci/Neurosci… They have a very high placement into med school. They are a liberal school(not as much as Oberlin or Macalester)</p>
<p>I like Whitman, Pomona. Good scholarships at Kalamazoo. </p>
<p>For us merit aid was important. Most of the best LAC’s don’t have merit aid and that is one thing that attracted us to Grinnell, being ranked 14 USWNR and having merit aid was great. Whitman has some good merit aid as well. Pomona has virtually none or it’s so competitive that the likely hood is nil. Obviously if you get in to Annapolis or West Point you will be taken care of.</p>
<p>I think too much is made of the strained town gown relationship. I also doubt there is too much difference in the left/right balance among Pomona, CC, Whitman and Grinnell. Claremont McKenna (one of Pomona’s consortium partners) does have a relatively conservative reputation, so maybe you’d find more kindred spirits there.</p>
<p>Sports are a great American bonding experience. In that respect, having an outdoorsy, athletic student body might be an advantage at Whitman or CC. But your own attitude and sense of humor will matter most, wherever you go.</p>
<p>It seems to me that the most important issue with CC should be the block plan, followed by quality of life and “fit” issues other than politics. My own college was on a quarter system and we would get massive reading assignments with just days to complete them. As I recall, we covered War and Peace in about a week. All the schools you mention are going to be rigorous, but you are right to think about whether the Block Plan will work for you. The Admissions office at any of them should be able to put you in touch with students or faculty to help address specific concerns. In 2009, 8% of CC’s graduating class were English majors (compared to 6.7% at Grinnell and 5.2% at Pomona)</p>
<p>d’smom- my husband is a Grinnell grad and I know several people who currently attend or have graduated from Grinnell. My S who attends CC has several friends who attend Grinnell and he seriously considered attending (doing an accepted students overnight visit) but decided it was too close to home. My husband even questioned his decision to pick CC over Grinnell. You can’t beat their facilities or the quality of the education. After visiting with both my boys, my husband definitly thinks Grinnell attracts a much more mainstream student than it did in 1973. My CC S found some of the east coast LACs too preppy and Grinnell too “hippie”. For him CC was right in the middle --a perfect fit. My younger S will look at Grinnell but also thinks it is too close to home. Pot is at every college but I have heard it is just more open and the administration is more accepting than at other schools.</p>
<p>Michiyo, thanks for the offer. My questions have been discussed somewhat in other threads, but I always appreciate more perspectives, especially those of current CC students:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How is the block plan for double majors, say, for English/Biology?</p></li>
<li><p>Is CC’s relative lack of racial/ethnic diversity (compared to most of its peer schools) an issue on campus? Do kids tend to hang out with their own racial/ethnic groups? Any racial/ethnic tensions at CC?</p></li>
<li><p>Skiing, understandably, is a big draw for many to CC, by my son has never skied in his life (though he does like the outdoors). What is the experience at CC for those students who don’t ski, particularly during the block breaks? Do many students stay on campus? Is there stuff to do?</p></li>
<li><p>What is social life like at CC for students on a tight budget? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Anything you can add on one or more of these questions would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>