Claremont McKenna College

Overall ExperienceWhat's This?

The overall experience for most people at CMC is positive—provided they know what they are getting into. CMC is truly a unique school: this quality makes it heaven for some and extremely limiting and frustrating for others. CMC is not a liberal arts school; it’s a preprofessional school with a lot of general education requirements.

While technically you can major in something “liberal artsy” such as literature or history, CMC students are constantly thinking about jobs and their future and mostly stick to government and economics. Haters and lovers alike are happy with their professors and classes at CMC; professors are dedicated to teaching and truly want their students to work hard and challenge themselves. For the most part, if you can’t find a class or an activity at CMC, you can head over to one of the other 5Cs. That said, anyone interested in the arts or music should be aware that CMC has no art/music program of any sort, and it can be difficult to get into these classes on others campuses.

CMC students like to have fun. But, for them, having fun involves talking about the economy and a keg. Most social activities involve alcohol and copious amounts of it. While the other 5Cs help spice up the social scene, if you don’t like to drink, CMC will be a difficult adjustment for you. CMC has decent diversity on paper, but when it comes to life goals, CMCers are relatively homogenous. Everyone at CMC is intelligent, driven, and focused on becoming rich and successful. The vast majority of students know what's expected from CMC before they get into it and love it; the few that don’t usually didn’t understand what they were getting into. CMC is a blend of academia and the professional world, of serious and fun. CMCers love their school for a reason; there truly is nothing comparable.

Claremont McKenna Student Reviews