<p>I'm researching schools for someone who's going to apply next year so please help me answer the question!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>*outstanding government program
*more pragmatic, hands on vs. traditional academic liberal arts while at the same time being excellent in that area
*5C consortium
*full of active, socially engaged people
*the weather of course
*college town feel but not too far from the big city</p>
<p>My D just started, but that is just a few things</p>
<p>-100% of the students on the pre-med track got into their top 2 choices for med school.
-paid internships over the summer, if the organization you’re interning for doesn’t pay you
-the weather is amazing
-people are ridiculously nice at CMC… there’s none of that “I am not going to help you because you will set the curve” mentality going on
-the quality of life… people study really, really hard, but they know how to have fun and relax
-small class size and the accessibility of professors
-taking classes across the 5-C campuses… I take yoga at Pomona and my roommate takes calc at Harvey Mudd
-it’s so easy to get around campus… no matter where you live on campus, you can get to the dining hall (and you can go to any of the 7 5-C dining halls)/classes/registrar/gym within a 5-minute walk
-the quality of your fellow peers… I came from a really competitive high school, and it still amazes me how MORE assertive/proactive people are at CMC. Everyone participates in class and gets excited over discussions.</p>
<p>Personally, I think that CMC is underrated… it is the 11th LAC on college rankings, but keep in mind that it’s the YOUNGEST school on the list… other schools have been around for 100+ years, but CMC is considerably a young school (it was established after WWII) and still growing. While prestige is important (CMC has a good share of that as well), ultimately it falls upon whether the student will be happy at his/her school… CMC is ranked 3rd in happiest students/best quality of life and a ton of other rankings on Princeton Review’s list – the balance between excellent academics/great quality of life is perhaps the biggest selling point for CMC.</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>How do I tell if someone is suited to CMC? In addition, how is the international relations program at CMC?</p>
<p>I personally think that you have to visit to get a feel of how you like the school – it is really hard to categorize a certain type of people to “fit” into CMC. The student population is really diverse, and you will always find a group of people who are just like you.
To say that the IR program at CMC is amazing would be an understatement. We have a Washington Scholars program and basically, you go abroad and work in DC for one semester (Pentagon, the Hill, NGOs, etc.), and you take night classes twice a week. A lot of students take this opportunity to intern for internationally renowned organizations. And… the Ath hosts a LOT of speakers who are well known (i.e. the Bahrain ambassador to US is coming to speak to us tomorrow) in all fields… the professors are really good at what they do and they are really friendly 
I hope this answers your questions!</p>
<p>As an econ major, I must admit it somewhat irks me that our outstanding economics program has yet to be mentioned… it’s probably as good, if not better than, the IR and gov programs.
Also, something I’ve really liked so far here is the Arabic program (for which the Bahrani ambassador came, btw). It’s only in its second year so it’s still starting up, but the professors are really good and put in a lot of extra effort to get students involved outside of class (my class went on a field trip to Little Arabia, for example).
Other reasons why CMC is awesome:
- the weather (of course) - it was 79 degrees today!! (I’m from CT so that’s a big deal lol) and it’s always sunny…
- the Athenaeum. I got to see Steven Levitt (my personal hero!! -insert fangirl scream here-) and Fareed Zakaria, among others.
- the people. Even though CMCers tend to be typecast as the stereotypical “jock”, there are so many interesting/different people here. And they’re all pretty laid back and friendly (yet incredibly hardworking and ambitious. Go figure.)
- Afternoon tea. Free rice krispies, anyone? xD
- Access to the other 5Cs. Pitzer, for example, has an amazing dining hall, and Scripps’ gym is really nice.
- Last but not least the academics. As mentioned beforehand, CMC tends to take a more pragmatic approach to education but maintains the liberal arts tradition. What I like is that the classes are intellectually stimulating, but not so competitive and challenging that you lose all sleep and sanity trying to outdo the person sitting next to you in class. Not to mention the professors are great too.</p>
<p>If you’re ambitious but not cutthroat, CMC is probably a good place for you. If you’re an incredibly artsy person, you would probably not be satisfied here. If you’re generally a politically/current events inclined person, you will probably also enjoy it here. Beyond that, though, you probably just have to figure it out yourself by visiting. Which, by the way, I highly recommend, since it’s absolutely GORGEOUS out here and you’re not that far from LA/beaches. You’ll never want to leave! =)</p>
<p>one thing to note though in my own personal experience CMC is a very work hard play hard school. The school becomes party central on the weekends. There isn’t pressure to drink, but it definitely can be socially isolating if that is not your scene.</p>
<p>I read this thread in 2012 and I don’t whether these facts has changed. Can anyone help me?</p>