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Pitzer is one of the 5 undergraduate schools in the Claremont consortium of schools, located east of Los Angeles. The consortium includes Pitzer, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and Pomona), each with its own personality and strengths. Pitzer arguably has the most diverse and socially conscious student body. You should be aware that Pitzer had only a 12% admit rate last year.
Other test optional schools you might want to consider are Bryn Mawr, Bard, and Sarah Lawrence. Here’s a list from the fairtest.org website:
@LoveTheBard I realize they have a very small acceptance rate. But how do my stats stack up? I read an article that at one point over half or something like that of those admitted did not submit test scores. 
Bowdoin and Wesleyan are much more selective than Pitzer. The low acceptance rate like many California schools is partly fiction.
@TurnerT haha why?
It has to do with application habits in California, the population and relative lack of private schools there and surrounding states. They get lots of applications that are low outliers. People in the Northeast have different habits and there are more schools relative to the population. What I mean by habits is that here people will apply to schools they have a realistic chance at. It’s very different in California.
For those that submitted SATs the average is 1950 at Pitzer, at Bowdoin its close to 2200. Bowdoin has a higher acceptance rate, so what does that tell you?
@TurnerT makes sense!
@TurnerT, it tells me that Bowdoin is in rainy Maine, while Pitzer is in sunny Southern California :D.
Seriously, though, Pitzer’s acceptance rate has been going down every year and its ranking has been going up. I’m not sure when Pitzer went test-optional – nor do I know how that has affected its ranking.
Interestingly, though, most schools – even the ivies – have an overwhelming majority of their students coming from the region in which they are located (e.g. NE, West, South). That is probably particularly true of LACs. Somebody a while back posted a chart showing where different schools’ student bodies hailed from, and it was quite interesting. “National” schools are not as national as one might imagine.
@LoveTheBard That is true, but for many eastern schools California will be very high on the list. Middlebury reports California in the top 5 for students. My point is that acceptance rates have causes not related to selectivity.
BTW there is nothing in the world like Summer and Fall in New England or Upstate NY.
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@TurnerT - Fall is indeed lovely. Too bad it’s followed by winter. (I’m an ex-NYer and don’t miss the changing seasons for a minute).
It would be interesting to see stats on admission and yield rates for west coast students going east and east coast students heading west in both Early and Regular Decision rounds. From what I’ve heard, some schools (e.g., Williams) are more inclined to take students from CA only if they apply Early Decision, as oftentimes, when push comes to shove, students decide not to go because it’s just too darn far (and too darn cold). Schools like Cornell and Williams back east and Whitman out west are just plain hard to get to for people coming from the opposite coast.
@LoveTheBard That would be interesting. My guess is that eastern kids are less likely to pull the trigger and go west. Much less of a need.