I’ve seen this question posed before but either the responses are outdated or the poster’s criteria was different from mine. I’m currently in the position of choosing between Pitzer College and Scripps College. Throughout my college process I’ve always imagined myself in the consortium so I’m truly happy to have this decision to make. Also throughout the process I had always thought that I would basically immediately choose Pitzer given the chance.
Since getting in though, I’ve had some reservations, the main one being academic rigor. I want to be at a school where I am challenged by my classes and where I’m surrounded by others who are excited to learn. I want to feel intellectual vitality from both my peers and my professors, inside and outside of the classroom. Based on what I’ve been reading recently it seems like this would make Scripps a better fit for me since I’ve heard that Pitzer’s classes are generally on the easy side (I know this is a blanket statement that can’t apply to everything and please correct if I’m wrong). Meanwhile, though I would be fine going to a women’s school, I would prefer to be in a co-ed environment which would lead me to Pitzer. Both of these pros/cons I imagine would be offset by the fact that both schools are in the consortium (ie I would be able to take more challenging classes at the other 5Cs if I went to Pitzer and I would essentially be in a co-ed environment in most of my classes if I chose Scripps).
The last thing is that in addition to wanting intellectual vitality I also want to be surrounded by people who truly feel committed to making change. Activism and social justice is really important to me and a big part of my life and I definitely feel like I could find that culture at Pitzer. I don’t question that I could also find that at Scripps but it really seems like Pitzer truly lives it a little bit more.
Anyway, I definitely plan to visit each school and get a feel for the culture in addition to talking with current students. I would appreciate any insight any of you guys have and if you are in a similar predicament let me know! I’d love to talk about it. Thanks so much!