Claremont McKenna College Students Tell It Like It Is
CMC is not a typical small liberal arts school. Located in sunny Southern California, 35 miles east of Los Angeles, CMC is one of five undergraduate institutions joined together in the Claremont Consortium. All five campuses are connected, and in some ways it's kind of like a big university with different schools. Students can take classes at any of the campuses, join clubs, eat, and party across the borders. Sports and some academic programs are shared between the schools, but in other really important ways the schools are very distinct. The schools vary greatly in philosophy, atmosphere, and the makeup of the student bodies. Graduation requirements and core classes are different. Going to school at CMC is very different from going to school at Pomona, Mudd, Pitzer, or Scripps.
- Hayes Humphreys
If you want a school with a lot of spirit, let the current CMC students tell you how it is:
CMCers love CMC, but it isn't school spirit in the traditional sense. People don't turn out to every football game to root
for the Stags (although we'll always come out to talk trash
to Pomona), but the school spirit manifests itself mainly through the social life. CMCers are always looking for a new, creative, over-the-top, indulgent way to all have fun together. School spirit is best seen in big afternoon barbeques with Slip 'N Slides down Green Beach, or in the wee hours of the marathon 24-hour party, or during an intense game of IM inner tube water polo.
If you're seriously considering CMC, check out what the students are saying about:
Academics:
"You'll have a lot of homework and you'll work really hard, but at the end of the semester, you'll feel so great that you learned so much, and the good grade you earned will mean so much more.'
'Most professors seem genuinely interested in whether students learn, and they're more than happy to meet with students to go over difficult material.'
Nightlife:
'Parties on campus are great. Alcohol is usually provided, and the themes vary. Students at CMC are proud to have a strong party reputation, and we work hard to keep it that way. The other colleges throw plenty of parties, too, so if you get tired of the CMC scene, it's easy to find some other place to go. Bars and clubs off campus aren't particularly popular, mostly because driving is usually entailed, and that's just not safe. The threat of drunk driving is the main reason that the administration allows partying on campus.'
'You cannot beat the social life that CMC has. We receive weekly e-mails describing the weekend activities, which attract people from every college.'
Overall Experience:
'I am so glad I came here. At a bigger school, I would be competing for opportunities that, at CMC, are here for the taking. It's incredibly easy to get involved, get jobs, and make friends. I feel so successful here, and I know that if I didn't, it would be easy to get help.'
'My favorite part is also my least favorite part of the campus: the smallness. When I think of CMC, I think of the intimate access to the professors, the late-night debates, and the all around wholesomeness and awesomeness of the student body. Students are here to learn, have fun, and contribute. It makes for a great intellectual and social atmosphere.'
If CMC sounds like the place for you, pick up a College Prowler guide to find the best dorm to live in freshman year, where most people hang out on the weekends, and why Robin Williams never graduated.
Find out if Claremont McKenna College truly has something for you, straight from the students' mouths.
Visiting campus isn't enough.
Read our CMC guide and discover what it feels like to be on campus for four years.
Discover if Claremont McKenna College is Right For You.
The College Prowler Process
While writing our series of college guides, we felt it was critical that our content was unbiased and unaffiliated with any college or university. By hiring current students as authors, we strive to create college guides that truly represent each campus. Our guides cover both the good and the bad, and whether survey responses point to recurring trends or varying opinions, these sentiments are directly and proportionally expressed through our guides.
From the very beginning, student writers gather the most up-to-date stats, facts, and inside information on their colleges. They fill each section with student quotes and summarize the findings in editorial reviews. In addition, each school receives a collection of letter grades (A through F) that reflect student opinion. Once a guide is written, additional college students serve as editors and check for accuracy even more extensively. This same process is applied to all of the 258 colleges and universities College Prowler currently covers. Each guide is the result of endless student contributions, hundreds of pages of research and writing, and countless hours of hard work. All of this has led to the creation of a student information network that stretches across the nation. It’s no easy accomplishment, but it’s the reason that our guides are such a great resource.
