<p>Hi everyone! I'm doing my rankings for Questbridge and I have no idea which one I should rank first.</p>
<p>I wanted to know people's opinions on both of these colleges and what they can say about things like the theatre and english majors, importance of feminism/lgtbq activism, queer community, academic rigor, traditions, sense of community, racial and social economic diversity, campus and dorms, classroom emphasis on discussion, internships/opportunities, etc.
If you have attended either of the two, why did you pick it and why did you stay? And how have either of them shaped you to be a better person? Any things that you didn't like, even if you looked past them?</p>
<p>...Phew. That was long. Sorry for all of the questions!
I love both institutions, and will rank both, but I'm not sure which I should rank first. I love that Scripps is a women's college but I also love Wesleyan's seemingly happy and supportive community. Any comments will be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>As an individual college, Wesleyan may carry more prestige (especially on the East Coast), but Scripps might offer you the best of all worlds. It is a women’s college, but shares many activities and opportunities with the other four colleges in the Claremont Consortium. Each of the five colleges is small, but the entire undergraduate population totals around 5000. Each of the five has a distinctive “flavor.” To over-generalize, Pomona is ultra-cerebral, Mudd is techie, Pitzer is iconoclastic-hippie, Claremont-McKenna is pre-professional, and Scripps a woman’s college in the tradition of the East Coast “Seven Sisters.” The colleges all abut one another, and students may take classes at any of them (up to a point), live at any of the campuses after their first year, eat at any dining halls, etc. The colleges share athletics, social and athletic activities, and a common library. Wesleyan, on the other hand, will provide the classic New England college setting. </p>
Just from your questions, I think Wesleyan is suited for you. I do not think Pitzer is ‘better and more prestigious’ than Wesleyan at all. And to pretend that the Claremont Colleges don’t have partying is ridic. However Scripps is a good choice too. It may be more diverse simply having a larger general population in the Claremont as a whole.
Posting in College Search exposes you mostly to other HS student applying. Sometimes there are current and past students posting in the individual college forums.
@robbietoy, you have made several slams regarding Wesleyan recently. Yes, EVERYONE on here knows that they had a problem with a dozen students ODing recently. Believe it or not, it STILL might be the best fit for some students. Not everyone at Wes uses drugs, and not all future students will use drugs. Many other colleges have at least some drug use as well. And Wes has some very good good qualities as a school. I have no specific tie to Wesleyan other than having visited with one of my kids, but I think you should give it a rest.
Also, one of my kids goes to one of the other Claremont colleges (not Pitzer), and in no way would I say that Pitzer is more prestigious than Wes in spite of Wes’s recent bad publicity.
OP, I honestly think either could be great for you. I personally like the power of the Claremont consortium, giving you the chance to take classes on the other campuses very easily. It really expands the course catalog for you as a student. You get a lot of the benefits of a 5,000 students campus while still having your own smaller LAC experience as well.
This is incorrect. ALL other colleges have at least some drug use, at least any over about 200 total students. I say this with zero fear of being wrong.
@robbietoy - If you think you are going to get away from drug use by attending Pitzer, you are sadly mistaken. According to the 5C newspaper article quoted below, there were 39 drug related referrals from Pitzer to the campus authorities in 2013. That’s for a college community approximately one third the size of Wesleyan, meaning, that on a per capita basis the rate of occurrence was nearly the same.
Moreover, the Pitzer referrals were strictly as a result of student complaints of suspicious activity. It certainly appears as if the 5C colleges have a far more passive approach toward drug enforcement than Wesleyan: