Hey all, I’m a rising senior trying to craft a college list and recently came across California’s Claremont Colleges. I’ve been really interested in the whole LAC vibe and I love California, so I decided I wanted to apply to one and just one, to keep my college list short and concise. I’m an Asian female interested in the humanities (think English/Creative Writing/Comparative Lit/International Relations, or a social science like Psychology or Anthropology) and enrolling in the premed track. I’m looking for a diverse and friendly student body. Which Claremont College (Pomona, Harvey Mudd, CMC, Pitzer, Scripps) do you think would best fit me?
I’d suggest you get s copy of the Fiske Giuide to colleges and read up on them. It won’t be Mudd… But the vibe and admissions criteria for the other 4 vary widely. Probably Pomona, Scripps, or Pitzer. Look online at their degree offerings and course catalogs, too.
Just went and read a couple of your other threads. You really should get s copy of Fiske and read carefully for all the schools you are considering, since it sounds like you are not doing much visiting. Which honestly confuses me… you say you are full pay, but don’t seem to be taking the time and expense for much visiting. What is up with that? Setting yourself up for a very stressful spring, IMHO.
@intparent Thanks, I will look into the Fiske Guide. And if it were up to me, I would be visiting a lot of schools, but unfortunately my parents think it’s a waste of time and I have no means to go by myself 
But I will buy that book and try my best to work it out. I’ve already visited five or so schools, so it’s not like I’m taking no time to visit.
Claremont McKenna, despite its reputation for economics, international relations, and government also has a very strong psychology department and a surprisingly good English department. So I wouldn’t cross that one off your list. As for premed - Scripps, Pitzer and Claremont McKenna all share the same science center so the courses are equal among them all - and they have a very good record for medical school admission. My son’s roommate - at CMC, had no trouble getting into med school - but he did work hard!
As for diversity - you can find the breakdown of students on the respective websites. I think all the 5C’s work hard to support diversity in their student body. And they’re all friendly.
So your parents are willing to pony up a quarter of a million dollars for a school they have not seen? Or do they expect you to visit after acceptances? That is stressful – the window is short (pretty much the month of April), tickets are expensive on short notice, and most students & parents are too busy to fit more than maybe 3 visits. You could very well be putting in apps to schools that aren’t even a good fit for you, too.
I think you mentioned in another thread that you get a discount at NYU; do your parents really just expect you to attend there?
Since you’ve expressed an interest in urban schools, keep in mind that the Claremonts are pretty suburban. They’re about an hour’s drive from the interesting parts of LA, and the commute can take much longer if you’re going by train / bus – public transit in LA is not the best.
Although they’re less warm and sunny, you might want to take a look at Reed and Lewis & Clark in Portland.
@intparent It’s not just a discount, it’s basically an entire tuition break (not including room and board, though). So it is a great deal and hard to pass up, so I’m only going to a different college from NYU if i get in somewhere 1) vastly academically superior and 2) I really love. So I understand where they’re coming from, but I don’t want to limit myself to NYU (esp when we can afford another school) and wonder “what-if.” As for visits, I think if I get accepted then they will consider visiting. It’s not ideal, but seeing as I’m applying to a bunch of top schools, my acceptances will probably be quite scarce anyway. Thanks for your concern.
@warblersrule That’s true, I hadn’t thought of that! I was under the impression that the Claremonts were relatively close to LA. That’s something I’ll definitely consider when applying. If it’s a great environment and they are good learning centers, I may be able to sacrifice a bustling urban life!
If you want something more urban near LA, try Occidental. Hugely underrated LAC. You would almost certainly get merit (I had a 3.9 uw and a 2230 and I got 17k/year; you would probably get more as a URM for LACs and as a standardized testing superstar).
Otherwise I would say either Scripps or Pomona, depending on whether you want a low reach or a high one.
I agree that either Scripps or Pomona sound like the best choices for you out of the 5 Claremont schools. Scripps if you’d like a women’s college (though it should be noted that Scripps isn’t quite as all-women-all-the-time as most other women’s colleges, because of the nearby presence of the other schools). Pomona will be harder to get into than Scripps. Both have a reputation for very happy students and high quality of life. One thing’s for sure: it will be a very different campus experience than NYU!
I know you said you want to keep your list short, but why not apply to both Pomona and Scripps? Pomona will definitely be the tougher admit.
D2, who attends Pitzer, was utterly uninterested in women’s colleges when choosing her list. But she now says that in retrospect she would’ve considered Scripps. Has a lot of friends there, says the grounds are gorgeous (they are).
I second looking at Oxy, with the caveat that it is a much smaller school. The Claremont consortium gives you the resources of a much larger campus, since total undergrad population is around 5k and you can easily enroll in classes on any of the 5C campuses.
Thanks everyone for your responses!! Scripps sounds like a great school but I’m not sure if I want to be in an all-girls school, even if you still interact a lot with males from other campuses. It’s just not an environment I’d opt for, but I wouldn’t completely rule it out (as I am considering Barnard in NY too).
I think Pomona might be a personal favorite but I do realize it’s probably the hardest to get in.
A question though – which college do you think has the prettiest/nicest campus? I’m a big sucker for pretty campuses. I’ve google imaged all of them, but which college do you personally think is the most beautiful? 
Scripps is generally considered to be the most beautiful. It has whitewashed buildings with cool grassy courtyards surrounded by while pillared colonnades. Pomona is also very nice, and Pitzer has a kind of retro cool that I personally like, with bonus cacti and aloes. I’ve never heard anyone say anything about Claremont McKenna, but Harvey Mudd is supposed to be pretty aesthetically unappealing.
The campuses of the Consortium “blend” into one another. Some share athletic facilities. You’re likely to take some of your courses in colleges other than the one you attend. The town of Claremont is very much a college town and a short walk from the campuses. It’s clearly shared. The way I would think of the consortium from an aesthetic perspective is holistically, not one college but all 5.
The campuses are right next to each other, but each has a distinct look. And each has a distinct culture, of course.
Mudd is, to my eyes, rather spartan. D2 really likes their dining hall (students can eat at any of the 5C dining facilities). Pitzer’s beauty/ugliness seems to be very much in the eye of the beholder–folks seem to love it or hate it. The landscaping is less lush than Pomona and Scripps, though Pitzer does have one big lawn area.
Pomona was designed to be a west coast version of and east coast LAC. Even if you can’t come out to tour at Pomona, you could visit some east coast LACs to see if the environment appeals.
The only thing I can think of with CMC is the big glass cube which appears to float over a pond.
I agree with SlitheyTove’s analysis. I would add that Pitzer’s is a desert landscaping. (And my D usually eats at Mudd’s dining hall too, even though she’s at Scripps).
In my opinion, Pomona and Scripps are the prettiest. But, yes, you can easily visit another campus to get your “pretty campus” fix. Or for that matter you may spend a lot of your time at another campus. My D has taken classes at 4 of the 5 schools so far.
BTW, my D wasn’t looking for a women’s college and she tells me many of the students at Scripps were the same. But they fell in love with Scripps nonetheless. So it just might surprise you.
I just want to speak out about “prettiness” within the context of California’s drought. Pitzer has long taken pride in its ecological sensitivity, but any college that is trying to maintain a verdant campus now is criminally irresponsible, so please don’t even consider it as a factor for the foreseeable future. Pomona was the first, and so it has the oldest buildings, and Scripps was built to resemble (in a Californian way) Eastern women’s colleges. The others are newer (ie. post-WWII), although CMC has some stunning modern architecture. Nobody in California should be watering for decorative purposes.
FYI regarding changes at Scripps and Pomona to address the drought:
http://www.scrippscollege.edu/news/features/weathering-the-drought
http://www.pomona.edu/news/2015/07/23-water-conservation.aspx
I’m sure all the campuses are doing their part.
They’re all difficult to get admitted into. But Scripps, being the women’s college, has only half the competition.
Scripps is switching to drought-tolerant grass.
Never underestimate colleges’ willingness to do whatever it takes to stay competitive. Props to the Claremont colleges that are taking steps to be responsible, however.