<p>I'm not looking for someone I don't know to answer this question definitively for me, I just have some free time and am looking to explore options. I've yet to find someone who knows something about both of these schools, so I've decided to cast a net on another board. I'm interested in Environmental Biology and Enviromental Policy. I am a transfer. I like outdoorsy things, but also access to various social options. I want research opportunities that will get me in to a top grad school, if I have the grades to match. I prefer warm weather. I like challenging academics. I like boys. I like a fair amount of diversity of opinion an experience among the student body, but I also get along primarily with very liberal people. That's about it: anyone have opinions?</p>
<p>Ummmm, Bowdoin is about as cold as you can get short of appying to U Alaska. These 2 schools are in different classes. Bowdoin is a way better school.</p>
<p>Bowodin is a great school</p>
<p>Scripps, i never heard of in my life, and i have done some extensive research on colleges</p>
<p>go to bowdoin</p>
<p>bball:</p>
<p>ever heard of the Claremont colleges in your "extensive" research?????</p>
<p>u yea, Clairmont, Pomona, great schoolls</p>
<p>just b/c something is in the clairmont corsotium or w.e. it is called, doesn't mean it is prestigious</p>
<p>Clairmont and Pomona are great, scripps, i don't know anyhin about it</p>
<p>Claremont Mckenna- Harvey Mudd- Pomona- Pitzer -Scripps make up the CLaremont consortium
I would seriously question any research which did not unearth these schools- Harvey Mudd is frequently mentioned to students who are also researching MIT and Caltech, and Pomona is easily on the same level as Swarthmore and Amherst. - just because a school is on the west coast doesn't mean it is uncharted ;)</p>
<p>Scripps is a womens college which may be why it isn't as well known- </p>
<p>
[quote]
SCRIPPS NAMED "HOTTEST WOMEN'S COLLEGE" IN NATION</p>
<p>Kaplan/Newsweek's "America's Hottest Colleges" gives its top 25 picks for "the places that everyone's talking about for 2006." The publication names Scripps as the "Hottest Women's College," remarking positively on Scripps' academic strengths as well as its physical location and campus amenities. In the same issue listing the "367 Most Interesting Schools," Scripps' Core program is described as "one of the most progressive, interesting, and rigorous programs at the Claremont Colleges." Other quotes include: "The Scripps campus... is absolutely one of the most beautiful college campuses around, and it breeds a sense of friendliness and serenity"; "As part of the Claremont system, Scripps students have the advantages of an all-women's school, but can cross-register at Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and Claremont McKenna"; "The college recently completed a five-year-long fundraising campaign, so many new and ambitious projects are in the works."</p>
<p>Other national rankings:</p>
<p>In U.S. News & World Report rankings of America's best colleges, Scripps remained in the top tier among national liberal arts colleges, in 27 th place out of 215. Key criteria in the judging are acceptance rate, graduation rate, and highest proportion of classes under 20. Within the issue, Scripps' signature Core Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities is highlighted in a feature story "Back to Classics," with quotes from Professor Marc Katz and Scripps sophomore Sarah Sullivan. Along with Columbia University and St. Johns College, Scripps is noted as a college that fosters an intellectual community by giving students a shared, broad base of knowledge and skills. The full "Back to Classics" article can be accessed at <a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/brief/06core_brief.php%5B/url%5D%5B/quote%5D">http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/articles/brief/06core_brief.php
[/quote]
</a></p>
<p>If you prefer warm weather then I would definitely suggest Scripps as it is in Southern Cali and all. It's an all womens' college yes but it's only a minute's walk from Harvey Mudd (which is predominantly male), Pomona, McKenna, Pitzer, and the graduate university (which are all co-ed)...so finding some boy time and various social opitons definitely won't be a problem. The majority of the Claremont Colleges are considerably liberal with the exception of McKenna (but even then, they're pretty moderate). Academics are challenging but you won't find many cutthroat people there as the majority of the students tend to be smart but very mellow about their intelligence. Graduate school placement is from what I hear, very nice and supportive.</p>
<p>Bowdoin has a much better reputation.</p>
<p>i could never go to a single sex college.</p>
<p>Bowdoin, especially if you want to work in the northeast</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess where I want to work could be really important here. I'm thinking I might want to work in Washington DC for awhile with an NGO - Yale for Masters at their environmental and forestry school would be ideal (only a dream at this point, I must admit). Eventually I would like to see the west coast for awhile, maybe get a PhD. But finally I hope to work on environmental issues in Africa. (Obviously this could all change a lot, this is a barely-20 yr old's dream)</p>
<p>Well, for those of you citing "reputation." Just out of curiosity, how do you think of Bowdoin's reputation comparing to Pomona or Swarthmore, for instance? I'm still at a loss to understanding what precisely "reputation" means, and how much it matters...</p>
<p>Reputation matter in that certain schools have "national" reputations and others do not. 90% of people who go to top 25 schools will know Bowdoin is a top school - this helps you throughout your life. As for Pomona and Swat, Swat is the highest here (say a 97), Pomona slightly lower (say a 95), Bowdoin slightly lower (say a 91) and Scripps maybe like a 78.</p>
<h2>"I prefer warm weather." "I like boys."</h2>
<p>So naturally out of the thousands of colleges in the country, you apply to a women's school and one in Maine. Scripps, like Barnard, suffers from the Hilary Clinton syndrome--female latching on to Alpha Male and pretending to be just as capable. If it weren't for Pomona, Harvey Mudd, and McKenna, even people on the West Coast would never have heard of Scripps. The only reason to go to Scripps is to be warm. Go to Bowdoin, buy a warm coat, find a warm guy, and live happily ever after.</p>
<p>Well, I <em>did</em> apply to Pomona, but they rejected me. I plan to spend the following years being such an awesome student that they will regret their decision. I really can't think of another top-notch coed school that would be particularly warm, and Bowdoin seemed to offer the academics I wanted.</p>
<p>"buy a warm coat, find a warm guy, and live happily ever after."</p>
<p>you know this is one of my milder fantasies hehe</p>
<p>However, I have always been under the impression that Barnard is quite a prestigious school, and its graduates are often quite successful.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Scripps, like Barnard, suffers from the Hilary Clinton syndrome--female latching on to Alpha Male and pretending to be just as capable.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>yeah, i dont know what that wellesley valedictorian and yale law grad was thinking... capable... bah!</p>
<p>Of the five Claremont consortium colleges, I would say the only one not up to the standards of the others is Pitzer. Scripps is very much well-regarded.</p>
<p>ecape, you and i have very similar career goals. id love to chat.</p>
<p>Well, while slipper's magical ranking system might or may not be valid for the majority of people, it's easy on the mind to be able to look at things in a hierarchical fashion. Anybody else have a feeling for how those schools would be regarded by employers and grad schools, enough that they feel they could assign numbers?</p>
<p>Also, if you are like, a high school student, or an undergraduate that has never dealt with the internship or job market, would you plz state that...</p>
<p>escape, Bowdoin is a great school, it has excellen grad opportunities, but Scripps, i am sorr, i don't think provides the same opportunities, and it isn't a well known school</p>
<p>most ppl on average won't even know of amherst, swartmore, or williams, which are the golden 3, this is the gen pop i mean</p>
<p>ppl in the know will know them, but i mean...like 98 percent of the entire pop prob will not know of scripps, before this convo, i had no idea it was in that clairmont group.......and i am not an authority on this issue, but i do know a lot</p>
<p>Yeah, it's just I live in the vacuum where, like you said, no one has heard of these schools, so it's difficult for me have a sense of what commands a "wow, if she got a 3.6+ GPA there she must be good" among those "in the know" and which don't and to what degree. My parents (both law school grads) were downright unimpressed I was going to Smith. My parents were not terribly impressed when I got into Swat. And before I met a grad this summer (very cool dude, btw) I had never ever heard of Bowdoin. I had only really known about AWS, Pomona, McKenna, Reed, Carleton, Oberlin, Grinnell (prob a midwest thing), and the 7 sisters. And of those only thought of AWS, Pomona, McKenna, and Carleton as commanding a level of respect comparable to some of the ivy leagues.</p>