Claremont McKenna College
- Local Atmosphere

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Claremont McKenna College - Local Atmosphere - Local Atmosphere - College ProwlerCollege Prowler3.46

Local Atmosphere

Quick Stats

Fun Local Trivia
  1. The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, an Angels minor league baseball club in the area, has dollar beer nights. Throw a couple back, and you won't even wonder why a dinosaur is their mascot.
  2. Ben Harper's family owns the folk music store in the Village.
  3. Claremont McKenna sits in the shadow of the tallest mountain in Southern California. So in the spring, you can hit the beach and the ski slopes in the same day!
  4. The tallest buildings in Claremont are the seven-story South Quad towers on campus.
Notable Natives
  • Kylie Bivens – soccer player
  • Ben Harper – musician
Local Slang The Village: The small collection of shops and restaurants near campus
Points of Interest
  • Disneyland
  • The Getty Museum
  • Hollywood
  • San Diego
  • Santa Monica Pier
  • Universal Studios
  • Venice Beach

Student Author OverviewWhat's This?

Claremont is a beautiful town, but it’s far from a college town. There are several restaurants that are delicious, but pricey. There’s a bar called The Press, which is fairly calm and not cheap. There are several frozen yogurt places that offer a cheap off-campus hangout, but most students stay on campus on weekends for a reason: there isn’t much in the Village.

Once you have access to a car, Claremont changes from a slightly boring place to live in to an awesome place with a wealth of options. Just a short drive away are countless places for college students to go and have fun. If you drive ten minutes, you can find lots of shopping centers with Targets and Best Buys and more specialized stores. Just a little bit further away are the most popular off-campus trips involving drives to Mt. Baldy (for skiing and snowboarding), the beach, and Los Angeles. If that doesn’t do it for you, there’s Disneyland, Joshua Tree National Park (and music festival), Las Vegas, Santa Monica, and San Diego. Los Angeles is probably the most popular trip because there are so many different things to do. There’s shopping, clubs, bars, people watching, museums, etc. Basically, if you can’t find it in Claremont, it’s in LA, 45 minutes away.

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Claremont McKenna Student ReviewsWhat's This?

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Local Atmosphere at Claremont McKenna College

stagswag15

Economics '15

5.0
A+

Vacationing at College

If you want to stay near, the village has plenty of restaurants and other suburban attractions which is only a 10 minute walk, but if you want a crazy night, LA is only 40 minutes. People don't go too often though because campus is too much fun to leave.

May 01, 2012

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Local Atmosphere at Claremont McKenna College

katerina223

Economics '14

4.6
A

Incredibly Chill

The area is really comfortable, the Village is great and accessible, although pretty small and if you don't like CMC's campus there are 4 other colleges you can hang out on.

Sep 14, 2011

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Local Atmosphere at Claremont McKenna College

escanlan13

International Studies and Government '13

3.8
B+

Small, but Charming

I would say that Claremont is an extremely small and very conservative feeling town. It is a pocket of sunshine in a pretty dull part of Los Angeles. Claremont has tons of cute restaurants, a movie theatre, great spas, and some good clothing boutiques. Coming from a big city, it was hard to adjust to a small setting, but I have learned to love Claremont. The people love the colleges and you never hear the "Where is Claremont?" question. Also, it is super close, so there is really no need for a car.

Aug 22, 2011

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User rating for Claremont McKenna College - Local Atmosphere is 4.6 out of 5 based on 25 user reviews.

Student Survey Poll ResultsWhat's This?

Rate the local atmosphere on the following topics

What is the local atmosphere like at your school?

What is the proximity to other universities? Is there much interaction?

Can you see yourself living here after graduation?

Facts

Shopping Centers
  • Montclair Plaza
  • Ontario Mills
  • Victoria Gardens
Major Sports Teams
  • Anaheim Angels: MLB
  • Anaheim Ducks: NHL
  • Los Angeles Clippers: NBA
  • Los Angeles Dodgers: MLB
  • Los Angeles Galaxy: Soccer
  • Los Angeles Lakers: NBA
  • San Diego Chargers: NFL
Distances to Nearest Major Cities
  • Los Angeles: CA: 45 minutes
  • Pasadena: CA: 30 minutes
  • Santa Monica Beach: CA: 1 hour

Movie TheatersWhat's This?

AMC Ontario Mills 30
4549 Mills Circle
Ontario
(909) 484-3000

Edwards La Verne
1950 Foothill Blvd.
La Verne
(909) 392-4894

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Most Recent Student Author View all

Name
Elizabeth Friede
Hometown
Philadelphia
Major
International Relations

College Prowler is seeking talented student authors to assist with writing and updating the College Prowler guides to their schools. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain experience and tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is really like at your college.

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