<p>I am hearing a lot of bad rumors about pitzer after deciding that i want to go there.</p>
<p>Is it true that all the other claremonts look down on pitzer and that it is considered a school for the less intellegent?? </p>
<p>Im really worried about it.. Please help</p>
<p>woah...you're making a lot of posts. anyway, don't freak out so much. college will be fine, you'll like it. intercollegiate relations at claremont are a complex and many-splendored thing. pitzer has a pot-smoking hippie stereotype, and not entirely undeserved, just like everyone at CMC is supposed to be a bunch of preppie jerks. i wouldn't worry about it; you meet people that fit the perceptions of every school every day, but anyone worth knowing, you can talk to in the first place. Dumb people are everywhere; my roomate in prague this semester is from princeton and <em>ugh</em>, he's universally loathed.</p>
<p>i go to cmc, and date a girl from pitzer, and it's perfectly fine. the only people that will really look down on you are most pomona students, and that's because they look down on everybody.</p>
<p>haha i know im making a lot of posts.. im amazing like that.</p>
<p>Anxiety is deepset right now, i guess because this whole thing is coming so fast. </p>
<p>I got waitlsited at scripps, any advice on which one i should go to? (if i get into scripps)</p>
<p>Scripps is really different than Pitzer, which you probably know. Academically? Partially it doesn't matter, since almost every class is cross-registered, meaning you can attend pitzer but have a major only offered at scripps, and visa versa. i'm not sure it's so easy to do music that way, which is what, besides art/art history, scripps is really good for.</p>
<p>residentially, the two places couldn't be different. all scripps students live in dorms, and a quarter of pitzer students live off campus. there are no boys allowed in scripps dormitories, unless you're escorted at all times by a scripps student. as a boy, this is a major drag, and it tends to cut down on the kind of informal social activity you'll find at the other 5cs. at least with students from other colleges. Pitzer's campus is a lot more open and friendly, and a lot more relaxed. </p>
<p>you'll see what i mean if you visit; there's a chunk of scripps students who are mainly there because A) it's a women's school, B) Their parents could afford to pay full tuition w/o financial aid and C) they need to be totally coddled. that said, there's a lot of neat students there, too. it's really an entirely different social environment. there's a lot more pitzer students that come from the LA area, so there's less of a "i've gone away to college" vibe from the student body, than say, Pomona, wh have a very constant "must achieve" vibe.</p>
<p>Excuse me! I am a scripps student, and I totally disagree with that description!! If our school is so horrible, then why are we ranked 26th in the nation?? Pitzer is ranked 59th... (US world news reports) so I don't think you have any room to talk. As for our academics, we are well known for our science program.... (which we share with Pitzer) with an 80% acceptance rate to medical school. What kind of school are you if you don't have to submit SAT scores upon application?? Scripps students have a far higher level of thinking, and have a much more rigorous program. Scrippsies are hard workers... we are number 6 in the nation for students who study the most... if that's not enough proof to show you that we are a group of smart women, I don't know what is.</p>
<p>Woah! Please read my description again. I said the only reason, academically, to prefer Scripps over Pitzer is if you wanted to do those programs. Because joint registration is so easy, it isn't like you're picking and choosing academic programs. You're right that the joint-science program is shared, well, JOINTLY, by CMC, Scripps and Pitzer. Because it's shared jointly, you don't need to go to scripps to use it. So you shouldn't worry about academics when you consider going to Scripps or Pitzer. </p>
<p>I don't get your point about school rankings. Since I go to 13th-ranked CMC, by your logic, that makes me 13 degrees smarter than your 26th-ranked brain. That's a silly way of thinking, isn't it? Different people go to different schools for different reasons. While Scripps students tend to be good at some things, they are also not as good at others. IE, this year, a Pitzer and CMC team took 8th out of 400 teams at the national debate championships. A Pomona/CMC team joined them last year as well. Next year, students from Pitzer will be attending tournaments across the united states as well as Oxford, Cambridge, South Korea and probably Singapore. There are currently two active scripps debaters. </p>
<p>Pitzer also excels in another objective standard of academic merit-Watson and Fullbright scholarships, federally-funded grants for doing international research and education post-graduation. Pitzer has done better than every claremont school other than 150-year old Pomona in producing students who are awarded these extremely competitive scholarships, even my dear CMC.</p>
<p>Your point with rankings seems to come from the US News and World Reports, rankings. They have NOTHING TO DO WITH ACADEMICS. This is ranked on 7 metrics, all of them wrong for different reasons.
1: 25% of the Rank is Peer assessment: what other school administrations think of your school. This, especially in the ivies, leads certain schools into reciprocal ranking relationships that have a tenuous connection to reality. And relying so heavily on what other schools <em>think</em> of your school, given that they don't run it or ever set foot on campus, is dubious to begin with.</p>
<p>2: 20%: Graduation & Retention Rank: How many students return from being freshman and go on to graduate. This is important, kind of, but people go or don't go to school for such a myriad of reasons it's really hard to reach any kind of generalization from it. It often is a case of someone thinking they'll like a certain kind of school, but not going to investigate it themselves. Or, sadly, it involves the death or illness of a parent or other loved one. Or people simply get homesick and trouble in school. In a general sense, it gives you an indication of how well students are looked after, but I think it's safe to say both Pitzer and Scripps does a good job of this.</p>
<p>3) Faculty Resources: %20 The issues about faculty access inherent here are kind of skewed because of cross-registration. CMC, for example, gives professorslarge teaching-expense accounts. the result is that they have a higher faculty resources ranking, but every year, people put in ridiculous requests for computer equipment from bloated budgets.</p>
<p>4) Selectivity: %15 This is a good measure, to a point. However, all it says is that a lot of people other than you want to go there, too. If the school's a good fit for you, and you should go there, then the number of other people who want to go there is really meaningless. Much like these arbitrary rankings themselves, it's simply a point of pride and vanity for those who do get into certain schools.</p>
<p>5) Financial Resources: 10% The endowment's important, yeah. However, Pitzer and CMC are underranked here compared to say, Pomona and Scripps because they were founded in the last fifty years. A lot of endowments come from the estates of deceased alum. Both Pitzer and CMC are morbidly awaiting the death of more of their successful alumni so they can expand their endowments.</p>
<p>6) Graduation rate performance: %5 rate of change in the abovementioned grad rate.</p>
<p>7) Alumni giving: %5 The % of alumni who donate. Given that students from the different schools go into different careers (cmc students tend to be investment-bankers, whereas pitzer students tend to do something that actually helps others.) with different payscales, this doesn't really reflect on the quality of the school.</p>
<p>The point isn't that Scripps students don't work hard or aren't smart; they do and they are. One of my friends at Scripps, Annie a history major/hardcore techie, is probably the hardest-working person on any of the campuses. The point is that you don't lose anything academically by going to Pitzer. Even if they don't require SATs, one of the most riduculous, easily-prepped for (if you have enough money.) and useless indicators of performance ever designed by modern man. What's surprising is that you feel you have to defend the intelligence of scripps by calling Pitzer stupid. That's really disappointing.</p>
<p>haha wow guys, no fighting! from the way it seems, Pitzer seems like more of a match for me, only because i am interested in film. (in addition to MANY other things). I dont think it matters what rank the school is, i mean the fact that its even on that list is impressive in my opinion. </p>
<p>I had NO idea Pitzer was strong in debate! thats amazing! ive been on my schools debate team for 4 years and i LOVE it sooo much. thank god i can continue that in high school.</p>
<p>Anything on the pitzer social life? Anything unique to the school's social scene besides the stereotypical drug use?</p>
<p>I hope not all Scrippsies are as overly-defensive, insulting (towards the great school that is Pitzer), snotty and anal-retentive as you seem to be...?</p>
<p>:(</p>
<p>(Actually, I KNOW they are not, but you wouldn't help the cause if someone who already has a bad image of Scripps happened to read your post.)</p>
<p>Sorry about the above post. I let my roommate take a whack at it and, well, she can be a little defensive about Scripps! I think she was more angry at the fact that the previous poster had labeled Scrippsies as rich daddy's girls who were only there because they didn't get into their first choice school or wanted to seclude themselves from boys. Scripps was both her first choice and my first choice; the majority of people that I know came here based on the merits of Scripps and the 5C's and not because they didn't get into CMC or Pomona. As far as the dorm situation goes, it's purely for safety purposes and it's really not THAT much of a hassle to have your friend pick you up at the door if you're from another school. I don't see why you would need to be wandering around in Scripps dorms if you weren't going to be with or visiting a friend. So, I'm sorry for her offensive comments but please don't label us a bunch of rich girls who are trying to seclude ourselves (as you imply).</p>
<p>Thanks for the clear-up over who really wrote that post!</p>
<p>Best wishes with your pre-med/med years. :)</p>
<p>Oh, and on a side note - I plan on majoring in Human Biology, which is a Pitzer major and offered through both Pitzer and Joint Science. I think that Pitzer has a great Sociology department and without them I wouldn't love my major as much as I do!</p>
<p>It is true that Pitzer seems to be looked down upon by the other colleges, but honestly, most Pitzer kids don't care.
In my opinion Pitzer, like every other college, is really really amazing for certain types of people. The academics are a little more "loose" at Pitzer, meaning two things:
1. You don't necessarily need to know what you want to study right off the bat.
2. It's better to not need some sort of rigid structure (like the UC's) in order to succeed.</p>
<p>And also, just because Pitzer values less Western ideas of pedagogy, doesn't mean we are less intelligent. The SAT's are racist.</p>
<p>First, dont fret about what other 4Cs think of Pitzer College, as the school is a shooting star academically with a 1st Tier ranking & listed #3 in Up & Coming category by US News World Report, moving the school in the 35th of liberal arts for low acceptance rates. Other 4C students may consider Pitzer a young school with a truly liberal arts approach and may have issues with its flexible curriculum, yet the academic foundation has yielded a ranking of top 10 for national academic awards: currently 13 Fulbright Scholars, Watson Fellow, Coro Fellow, etc. </p>
<p>Further, Pitzer is revamping its campus, building its endowment and showing perhaps the sharpest rise in academic rankings than any other the consortium colleges. You must remember that Pitzer has only been around for 45 years and the schools leaders are still shaping the institutions reputation and brand. If you have an issue with Pitzer not being as highly ranked now as the other consortium schools, then that shortsighted perspective may not be a fit for you at Pitzer. The schools is about independent thinking, character and outreach, prevailing themes for the next generation of academic excellence and a path for Pitzer ongoing success in a rather comparatively short history of achievement.</p>
<p>Let's clear up a few things here:
1. Pitzer is ranked 49th in US News (not that it matters)
2. Pitzer was only founded in 1963, so there has not been as much history and time to get to whatever level you may think the other 4Cs are at
3. Pitzer is a unique school (like the other Claremonts), but is happy doing its own thing. The foundation of the education is based upon the idea that students should have more autonomy in making their curriculum. The other thing you will see throughout everything Pitzer does is the idea of social responsibility.
4. Pitzer is not for everyone and is not trying to be.
5. Once Pitzer became testing optional the academic profile of the school has risen quite a bit (you can check those numbers).</p>
<p>Be sure and visit (if you have not already). Talk to students and find where you are most comfortable.</p>
<p>Pitzer is the liberal school. I know a number of people who go there and they take classes at the other schools without problems. Supposedly, there is a lot of mixing without any elitism. I specifically asked about this when I toured and talked to students. </p>
<p>Harvey Mudd and Claremont McKenna are supposed to be the right wing colleges for the rich, spoiled kids. Claremont McKinna is supposed to have the best parties, though. I understand that the Pitzer students are always welcome at their parties. One college book, written by students, said that Pomona has racism and homophobia problems and that Pomona students are scared. </p>
<p>The dorms are best at Pitzer, but the physical classrooms are better elsewhere. Pitzer has been compared to Brown in that the students tend to be relaxed and happy, but they don’t have to worry about the blizzards. Pitzer is where you will find the idealistic intellectuals.</p>
<p>kaliyama, are you saying that 4 out of 5 in the freshman class won’t stay or won’t graduate? Are you sure about those statistics?</p>
<p>Note: Until the past few posts, this thread was from 2005.</p>
<p>funfun: She wasn’t saying either. She was listing the factors that go into the US News ranking and giving the relative weight of each. I can’t vouch for the factors or the percentages, but that’s what they were referring to.</p>
<p>Also, a lot of the info in post #15 is off-base, or at the very least far too strongly stated. I suggest doing more research/posting if you’re considering the other Claremonts (or if you’ve written any of them off for reasons that you give in that post). </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>OK, does anyone here have any information on the graduation rates that is better? I think I saw something like 64% graduating in four years in one college magazine. That’s better than 20% but it is still low. Could the students chime in with what they have seen first hand?</p>
<p>From Pitzer’s Common Data Set (available on its website):</p>
<p>Entering class of 2002:
<p>Entering class of 2001:
<p>2007-2008 Freshmen retention rate:
<p>[Institutional</a> Research - Common Data Set](<a href=“http://www.pitzer.edu/offices/institutional_research/data/CDS2008_09.asp#B]Institutional”>http://www.pitzer.edu/offices/institutional_research/data/CDS2008_09.asp#B)</p>
<p>What I have seen firsthand is that the 64% figure is misleadingly low (same applies to Scripps’ graduation rate). For one thing, the 5-6 year rates are more representative because taking a semester or year off is, while far from the norm, supposedly more common in Claremont than most other places. When people leave for good, it is most often for personal reasons (occasionally financial, but those tend to happen between freshman/sophomore year, and the retention rates are pretty high, so that fails to account for the majority). If you want to graduate in 4 years, you will. You won’t have an easy time falling between the cracks in Claremont.</p>
<p>Pitzer had an 89.9% freshman retention rate & graduation rate of 78% (five year) in '08.</p>
<p>No update on 2009 stats yet. . but, annual trends have consistently been on the rise across the board. </p>
<p>Also, acceptance has dropped to 20% for 2009 applicants (from 22% in 2008). </p>
<p>Surprisingly, '09 applications were slightly up during this recession - unique for private schools where many top privates experienced 10-20% decline in applications (e.g. Middlebury, Williams, Swarthmore, etc.)</p>