<p>Does anyone have first hand knowledge of Scripps? How is it respected when applying to graduate and professional schools? My D has been invited to attend the campus event for merit scholarship candidates and she will attend. She is well qualified and is applying to top LACs and Ivys along with Rice and UChicago. How does Scripps compare to Amherst, Smith, Wellesley, etc for academics and culture.</p>
<p>Bandit, when did you hear on the merit scholarships? I'm still waiting for notification... I guess that means "No." Oh well...</p>
<p>I have to go somewhere, will respond more later. I am a ED Scripps acceptee, and can tell you what I know of Scripps from my visit and research, but I can't compare it to the other colleges. What drew your daughter to Scripps?</p>
<p>Scripps was not on her radar screen until they contacted her and invited her to apply. They said she would be a strong candidate for their 4 year merit scholarships, so she sent in an application. She was aware of Pomona, but really wasn't interested in being in California. Her vision of college is ivy covered walls and trees that turn in the fall, hence the northeast LACs and Ivys. We have visited many of the New England schools and Rice, but nothing west. Her invite to an expense paid 3 day visit came this week.</p>
<p>Before I launch into a long winded description of my visit, I'd better ask if you have been there. Let me know if you want me to elaborate on my experience.</p>
<p>I have to admit that Scripps is not as well known as the other names you have mentioned. However, it is in a consortium with more famous LAC's such as Pomona and Claremont McKenna. </p>
<p>Here is a link with statistics for Scripps graduates, including universities they have been accepted to:
<a href="http://www.scrippscol.edu/dept/careers/about/wherestudentsgo.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.scrippscol.edu/dept/careers/about/wherestudentsgo.html</a></p>
<p>I'm not sure what you mean by academics and culture. Could you explain? What are you looking for? What academic areas are your daughter interested in? In my opinion, Scripps has excellent academics, with small classes and skilled professors.</p>
<p>We have not visited Scripps, but D will be there in Feb. I am familiar with the LA area, but not Claremont. D will likely study humanities, linguistics, Spanish, anthropolgy. Longer term will likely be med school or other graduate program. Political science could also be of interest. </p>
<p>As to culture, Smith is very politically active. It has a 'strong women' type of feel to it. Holyoke had a more laid back feel, cultured. Amherst was somewhat preppy, but strongly academic.</p>
<p>Oops, I missed your post ahead of mine. Congrats on the scholarship!</p>
<p>Scripps has beautiful ivy covered walls, deciduous trees that I'm sure change color in the falls, and wonderful architecture. But since she'll be visiting, she'll see all that herself.</p>
<p>Okay, I seem to keep missing your posts--we're always on at the same time! :)</p>
<p>Scripps has a very strong humanites focus. They have a CORE curriculum, which lasts for your first three semesters, emphasizing an interdiscipinary approach to humanities.</p>
<p>From what I've heard, each college in the consortium has a different feel and focus. Pomona is the most prestigeous of the five, but I'm not sure that it has any academic speciality. Claremont McKenna, or CMC for short, has a political science emphasis, while Harvey Mudd has a mathmatics focus. Pitzer is the most politically active, and centered on the social sciences. Cross-registration is easily done, so your D could take classes at any. </p>
<p>When I was there, the students told me that the 5c's have the largest Young Democrats club in California. It seems more comperable to Smith, in terms of political leanings, than to the others you've listed. </p>
<p>The campus had a very self-contained feel--as though it would be your world for the next four years. When I asked if people left the campus for the weekend, the response was: "Why would you want to?" All the colleges are right next to eachother--a vistor couldn't tell where one started and the other stopped. </p>
<p>Anything else you want to know?</p>
<p>how far, in miles, is scripps from the airport in ontario, and how long did it take you to travel from that airport to the school? my daughter also has been invited to 'scholar's weekend'. does anyone know if the purpose of the weekend is to sell the candidates on scripps or to evaluate the candidates and their interest in scripps?</p>
<p>15-20 min depending on traffic. It is nice as students carpool on holidays/school vacations. My son has even bumbed into friends there when planning to take a taxi back to school from the airport and gotten rides.</p>
<p>As a current student at Scripps (and a student assistant in the Office of Admission), I believe that the purpose of Scholar's Weekend is to both interview the potential receipients and "sell" them on the school, as they are viewed as some of the college's top applicants (only some because not everyone qualified to receive the scholarships submit their application before the Nov. 1 deadline). If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!</p>
<p>"How does Scripps compare to Amherst, Smith, Wellesley, etc for academics and culture."</p>
<p>I think the main difference is that Scripps has a bigger focus on the humanities and fine arts, whereas the others are more well rounded. Of course, as a Scrippsie you can take classes at the other 4 colleges, so if you want good science courses or whatever, you can get them.</p>
<p>The campus is absolutely gorgeous, and the food is good too. </p>
<p>In my opinion, all of the Claremont schools are underrated-- a lot of people have never heard of them, but it is getting better. I graduated from Pomona a year and a half ago, and I say that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who have never heard of Pomona, and those who think it's wonderful. The same could be said of Scripps.</p>
<p>ursdad -- ~9 miles, of which is 6+ on a freeway</p>
<p>Scripps is a gorgeous campus. My D could not get past the all girl's part but she was very impressed with the core classes she visited and loved the dorms, fountains, grass and beautiful trees everywhere, very peaceful , soothing feel to it, and being part of the 5 colleges is a huge plus. Also the food at Scripps is amazing.</p>
<p>I always allow 30 minutes from the Ontario airport, except for rush hour when traffic can go 5 miles per hour. I have only seen Scripps from the outside and it is strikingly beautiful with lovely vintage Cal/Med architecture and beautiful landscaping. The other Claremont colleges are just on the next block, either way. All the blocks where the colleges are on are adjacent and don't have large thru streets, so if you are just driving around Claremont, as I've done for a few years, you'd never see them. I had to make an effort to find them one day when I had some extra time to kill. They were only 2 blocks away from the Village, where I go all the time. Although Claremont is an LA County municipality, it is a little different. It still has a small downtown village with really fantastic vintage homes from 1920's to 1940's. There are lovely large homes and small Craftsman bungalow's with veranda's in the center of town, which are highly prized. The rest of the town is usual suburban type places but lots of trees and some people do really fantastic colorful desert-type landscaping. There are hillside homes. There are lots of transplant people with tons of money, so they are also experiencing the MacMansion phenom. Overall it is a conservative suburban town, but a bit different. Lots of unusual people. You are really close to the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, so skiiing is very close, like 30 minutes. The beaches are really close too. Pasadena has some good food and the greater LA attractions should not be missed. But without a car, you will see very little of this.</p>
<p>You can check the published statistics on grad and prof school rates, but I think they do fine. </p>
<p>Scripps was on my daughters final list as part of a mix of reach/match/safety. She would have been happy to go there except it lacked geographical diversity, since she goes to high school in Claremont and wanted an 'away' experience for college if possible. Full merit would override these fine points though, so maybe we ought to have thought about this more.</p>
<p>She liked the very small size at Scripps, coupled with the resources of the Claremont Colleges. But she took a hard look at her list after getting EA to UChicago and chopped down all but a couple other schools, sadly. We are sorry now, that we have an eye-opener about financial aid.</p>
<p>We didn't look at Scripps in comparison with UChicago or top LAC's, but more as a strong candidate in a mix of reach/match/safeties that she would be pleased to attend and might get a nice offer from. If she wanted a top school, she could have gone for Pomona, but she already had that level of 'reach' filled. We could see a merit offer overriding a more prestigious name brand school, so she was serious. We were wanting to have, in the mix, an option for a very personal small school where she would be a very attractive applicant and possibly be a very high performer.</p>
<p>If this will represent an 'away' experience different than you dd's usual experience then you should consider it over a more local school, imho. But do realize that most kids that get turned down from the schools that your's is applying to are also well qualified.</p>
<p>I hopw this helps a bit and pm or post if I can help you any more.</p>
<p>My D is also going to the Scripps Weekend. She is looking forward to it and it really is a dream school for her. From the little research I have done it seems that they only give 3 or 5 full ride scholarships so she is trying to keep her dreams realistic. That would be the only way she could attend.</p>
<p>The other scholarships seem to be tuition free scholarships.</p>
<p>If you want to know more about Scripps from a student there go to the Scripps forum on CC. Student615 has done a very good job of describing the life of a Scripps student.</p>
<p>Just to clarify-</p>
<p>Scripps generally gives 1-2 full ride (New Generation) scholarships and upwards of 40 James E. Scripps scholarships (I don't know the exact number, but for the Class of 2008 there are between 30 and 40 JES scholars attending), which are for half tuition. However, if you are eligible for financial aid AND you receive a JES scholarship it is much easier to get more aid (if Scripps didn't meet your EFC) - or so the rumors say...</p>
<p>what kind of prestige would you say scripps has? I have been posting on the Scripps Board for Individual Schools too! I applied EDII to Scripps and the notifications are coming up in Feb! I have a 1240 SAT, 3.6GPA UW, 5.4/6.9W, 170/528 rank, 2 APs 2 Honors, play ice hockey, etc. I am not sure if I will get in, but who knows since I am from NJ. I have all my questions answered by Student615 <em>THANKS! hehe</em> but just wondering what kind of prestige reputation it has considering I am on the East Coast and don't hear much about it. Would many say more prestigous then Kenyon? Just wondering because I have a very "influential" friend who works for Kenyon who can not only pretty much guarentee me acceptance, but also give me a small scholarship that he gives every year. I was just thinking about what I would do if I got defered from Scripps and then RD getting into Kenyon and Scripps. Which do you think would be better (I like foreign languages/humanities/classics/spanish/english)? Kenyon doesn't have a CORE like Scripps but has requirements. They both seem pretty good in the areas I listed. It is mostly a change in location and rural vs suburb. By the way zeusviolin...how did Scripps do financially for you? I have an estimated EFC of around 5,915...what do you think Scripps would give? What do you think of the CORE/Work load? Do you think it will prepare you for grad school?</p>
<p>Scripps has a great reputation. I would have been thrilled if my D applied and went, was disappointed it did not make the final cut .It is well known by grad schools-check their records for admittance. You could not go wrong there. They are supposed to be quite good with finaid as is CMC and Pomona.</p>
<p>thanks AZmom, any1 else?</p>
<p>I'd say it's pretty safe to say that Kenyon and Scripps are on par in terms of academic quality. Both are excellent schools with growing reputations. I'd say Kenyon is probably ahead on the reputation front simply because it is co-ed and larger so more folks nationally tend to hear of it. But really, as Arizonamom says, you can't go wrong with either school academically so you will have to weigh other factors in your decision. Good luck!!!</p>