<p>I've posted on the Pitzer forum, but have gotten no responses, so I'm trying again here. We're trying to figure out if one of the Claremont schools would be a good fit for my daughter. We are from the East Coast, and can only visit if accepted. D has very high SAT scores, but not really the stats otherwise to get into Pomona. She does not want an all-girls school (and not a core curriculum), so Scripps is out. I've heard that Pitzer has more of the "hippy" vibe, which would suit her fine. </p>
<p>I'm trying to figure out what life would be like if she enrolled at Pitzer, but majored at Pomona, since theater is her likely interest. Also, the fact that her SATs are way above Pitzer's 75th percentile, gives me pause. (maybe it shouldn't though...)</p>
<p>If anyone can shed light on whether there's a possible fit for her at the Claremont consortium, that would be appreciated!</p>
<p>I would send an app to Pomona just to see You never know
If she plans on cross registering quite a bit, she could do Pitzer which is super Hippie. Even though her stats are high, keep in mind Pitzer is SAT-optional</p>
<p>Also, if she’s bright, she could try Harvey Mudd(especially if she likes math) or she could always try Claremont McKenna-an awesome school.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t throw out Scripps just because it’s all girls. The consortium is literally within a mile, so it’s not your typical all girls experience</p>
<p>at least from what I read in the guidebooks, CM doesn’t sound like a good fit. I can’t get a sense, really, how important it is what school you pick if there’s so much cross-registering for classes and such. We probably will send an application to Pomona, but just trying to be realistic…</p>
<p>Even though students can, and will, cross register, each college has its own clear identity. They are definitely different from each other - even if students intermingle freely. I do think she should consider Scripps - the girls part is insignificant - boys are within tossing distance in every direction, and even in the classes. However, there is a core curriculum for sure. And there is at Pomona, as well. Pitzer has the loosest distribution requirements of the bunch. I would not recommend being solely a theater major at CMC - although it is absolutely possible to do - only because the students with whom she would be spending most of her time outside of class & theater would be more pre-professionally oriented, and less artsy. On the other hand, if she were interested in double majoring in theater and a major on the CMC campus - which could be literature, history, philosophy, psychology (all strong departments and not the standard gov, econ, IR) then she might find a better fit within the student body.</p>
<p>Pitzer students will tend to be less traditionally academic than the other schools. That doesn’t mean they’re slouches - but often their interests have been focused on things other than grades and tests. On the other hand, I don’t think it’s the most intellectual of the five colleges. There is an interesting multi-year thread on the Scripps forum where at one point a Scripps grad Student615 describes classes she’s taken at all the colleges - and how they often defied the preconceptions. There is a lot of information about all the Claremont colleges on the thread, and about Pitzer and Scripps in particular. Student615’s posts are really useful.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/scripps-college/146588-current-scripps-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/scripps-college/146588-current-scripps-student.html</a></p>
<p>My D who is now a senior at Lewis & Clark in Portland, OR applied to many schools including Santa Clara University, University of Portland and St. Mary’s. She also applied to Pitzer and that was the only school she did not get in. Lewis & Clark is fairly selective. Pitzer may be the lease selective of the Claremont schools but it has been getting more selective and the students accepted have pretty high stats. Whe we visited we noticed that the 5 schools are all right next to each other. It really is like one big campus. My younger D goes to UCLA and you could fit all 5 Claremont Colleges into less than half of the UCLA campus. I would apply to Pitzer, Scripps, and either Claremont M or Pomona.</p>
<p>Have you considered Occidental or USC? I wouldn’t look at the stats of Pitzer as an indication of quality. As stated above, Pitzer is on the rise and has become more selective over the years. The reason for low stats, I think has to do with Pitzer still having an optional SAT policy and being more holistic and forgiving(with some aspects of a candidate’s weaknesses). </p>
<p>In regards to Occidental, I believe they have a strong theater department, and they are a school that tends to be very generous with financial aid for applicants with schools that have higher stats. The only down side to the school, compared to the Claremont colleges is the lack of consortium which I believe adds to the school.
USC is USC. I imagine their Theater department, or community of students are there own niche, who are able to take advantage of the resources of a large school while still feeling like they are at a Claremont school within their own department.</p>
<p>I’d recommend still applying to both Pomona and Pitzer. If during the first year at pitzer, your daughter is able to make strong relationships with Pomona professors and does really well, she might be able to transfer in the following school year at Pomona. But with Pitzer’s declining acceptance rate each year, I don’t think Pitzer is anyone’s safety anymore. It’s not all about stats for Pitzer.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me if I’m a fit for Scripps or Pitzer? I’m not really sure. I like both schools but for different reasons. I like the fact that Scripps is really supportive and has a humanity centered curriculum (and the fact that their campus is beautiful) but I like Pitzer’s hippie, liberal vibe and their flexible curriculum. Ways I would describe myself are pretty outgoing, definitely loud with people I know, i’m interested in psychology, I love music, I’m a moderate-liberal person but I am truly not afraid to speak my mind, and I learn through discussions. Does this stick out to you as Scripps or Pitzer student? I feel like I would fit in more at Scripps only because I have the feeling that Pitzer is too radical and activist-ish for me but I really don’t know for sure. Thanks!</p>
You never know