Claremont Colleges - Any graduates on the board?

**Stu Gotz** · 02-09-2022, 12:00 PM

My daughter and I visited the campus during a trip to the west coast and she had a very favorable first impression. I was wondering if any graduates would chime in on the 5 colleges / 1 campus set-up and if you enjoyed your time at the school. Thank you in advance.

**irul&ublo** · 02-09-2022, 01:14 PM

Get out your checkbook

**Stu Gotz** · 02-09-2022, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by irul&ublo

Get out your checkbook

Its checkbooks all the way down.

**4matic** · 02-09-2022, 01:35 PM

No experience other than that’s a beautiful place. Im glad I went to a small college fwiw.

**irul&ublo** · 02-09-2022, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by Stu Gotz

Its checkbooks all the way down.

If she has a shot at getting into any, she must be pretty damn smart. Which college?

**irul&ublo** · 02-09-2022, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by 4matic

. Im glad I went to a small college fwiw.

Is that the one you rode the short bus to?

**dan_pdx** · 02-09-2022, 03:20 PM

My buddy's wife is a Pomona grad from sometime in the late 90s. I'm sure she'd be happy to weigh in, do you have any questions beyond how it was in general and how the consortium approach worked (or didn't) for students?

**Skeeze** · 02-09-2022, 03:23 PM

I loved it there, feel free to send me a PM with more questions.

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**whyturn** · 11-08-2022, 07:01 AM

Mount baldy is where I learned not to turn

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**mcski** · 11-08-2022, 08:58 AM

Chirp chirp. Pitzoid here. All of the schools are great and the cross over combo was great. Small schools but the benefit of an escape valve to take classes at the other schools and/or enhance dating possibilities. Glad I went when I did because there’s no way I’d get in or be able to afford it now. Great networks of alums. Former gov of Montana is a cmc guy. And the mighty Sagehens have generated TWO NBA championship coaches.

**LegoSkier** · 11-08-2022, 09:32 AM

Graduated from KGI in 2009 so I can't comment on the regular colleges or undergrad life as I was an old-assed grad student but can comment on the area in particular.
Claremont was great. Strangely, it was the most walkable place I've lived as I lived only a few blocks from downtown. I lucked out in that Baldy had great years with consistent snow down to the lot both years I was there. Oh, and The Back Abbey is the bomb.

**Long duc dong** · 11-08-2022, 02:16 PM

Interesting to see this. I don't have any firsthand knowledge.

I came very close to going to Claremont McKenna. It was tough to turn down. For me, it really came down to wanting a bigger school. The final four for me were Boulder, USC, UCSB and CMC. I chose UCSB and I'm glad I did, but CMC is a really great school. You certainly can't go wrong with any of the colleges.

I really liked the Campus when I looked at it, and I liked the area. I go to Baldy all the time from Newport Beach. From CMC you would obviously be closer. It takes me about 40-45 minutes without traffic to get off on Mt. Baldy Rd.

The people I know who have gone to CMC speak highly of it. For me, I just really didn't want to go to a small school. My dad was a professor at Vassar, and I just wanted a bigger school. For the record I think the only school I would have chosen over UCSB or USC was Stanford. Unfortunately I didn't get that choice. I didn't get into Pomona either. I was pretty stoked when I got into CMC, but in the end I wanted something bigger.

I believe they have a good graduate program in Financial Engineering. My graduate work was in statistics, but I have always thought it would have been cool to go to grad school at the base of Baldy for a couple of years in a great program. I'm glad I went the route that I did, but I could see the area being a great place to go to school.

Great schools. Obviously to go to any of them is a wonderful opportunity.

One of my best friends, who I met at UCSB, grew up in Claremont. He did say that the relations between the school and the community were reasonably good. He had some friends that were the children of Clairemont professors. He graduated from high school in 1993, so obviously things might well have changed. Clairemont is an upper middle class community, so a reasonable relationship is not all that surprising. His parents were both attorneys, so his perspective on relations might be different from someone who comes from more of a working class background. His knowledge also might be very out of date. I have not asked him about any of this since the late 90's.

**Jumper Bones** · 11-09-2022, 10:42 AM

Zero experience with the school but I've made my home next door in Upland, and work in La Verne. Nice area.

Oh, and The Back Abbey is the bomb.

Indeed.

**MarcusBrody** · 11-09-2022, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by Long duc dong

Interesting to see this. I don't have any firsthand knowledge.

I came very close to going to Claremont McKenna. It was tough to turn down.

This was me too in the early 2000s. I applied to Claremont McKenna because they sent me a flyer saying that if I was a finalist for their big scholarship, they'd fly me out for the last round of interviews and I'd never been to California. It was a good fit for me, though, as I wanted to study IR and it has an IR/Politics/Econ feel, so it seemed like I had some sort of plan.

Anyway I got to fly out for the interviews and I really liked the place. I felt really comfortable, enjoyed the class I went to, liked the students who hosted me, and likely could have played either of my sports at the time. I liked the campus and the multiple college set up. They also offered me a bunch of money, both the academic scholarship and more need based grant money than anywhere else.

I didn't love the suburban feel and they really talked up the advantages of their semester in DC for IR/Politics students while I was also admitted to Georgetown which meant I'd be there all the time. I ended up going there. I think I thought it would be more challenging, I liked the more walkable city campus, and I probably liked the greater name recognition. After a semester at Georgetown I considered transferring to Claremont McKenna, but once I got into my major and went abroad I was happy where I was.

Still, I have always thought really well about the Claremont schools and would be happy for my kid to go there.