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A Frat House Atmosphere Without Actual Frats

North Quad is one continuous kegger party that gets more and more out of hand every year. It has just about swallowed Mid Quad too, and even South Quad is overrun by it sometimes. The binge drinking, party scene totally dominates campus social life and anyone who's not into that will end up living on the fringes and hanging out off campus a lot. To be fair, the students work really hard (when they're not drunk).

4 Years of Guaranteed Housing

99% of students live on campus. Students are allowed to move off campus after their 2nd year, but I don't understand why anyone would. It's just so convenient to live a short walk away from your classes and activities.

More Athletic Than Most D-III Schools, but Sports Aren't Paramount

There are definitely a lot of athletes on campus and there's a pretty strong intramural scene (especially the 5-C ultimate frisbee and rugby teams), but it's a small school and there isn't the "rah-rah" culture that a big university typically has. People go to the homecoming game mostly to yell profanities at Pomona students (who are apparently our rivals, at least for that one day).

Some Great Classes and Profs, but It's Not a True Liberal Arts School

Generally the profs are really accessible and the workload is challenging but not overly so. You get out of it what you put into it, as with most things. But don't come here looking for a real liberal arts experience; there are general ed requirements, but you get the feeling they're mostly for show. People here are more career-oriented than they are intellectually curious.

They Don't Call It the "Claremont Bubble" for Nothing

Claremont is absurdly safe, to the point where students develop careless habits like leaving their doors unlocked and walking around alone at night. Cops don't even bother coming on campus because there's basically no crime and Campus Safety has it all covered. Sexual assaults are never reported, but I'm pretty sure they happen here just like at any college, so speak up if it happens to you!

Students get free appointments and cheap prescriptions for many basic meds at the very clean and professional student health center. It's an unbelievable resource. Lower marks for the mental health center, which has been cut back due to budget concerns; there you'll mostly just get referrals.

Very Lasseiz-Faire

Students are pretty much never carded, and disciplinary action is extremely uncommon. Everyone appreciates that the administration doesn't get too involved in policing campus culture, but there are actually times when I wish they WOULD step in and stop bad behavior (for instance, when students get so drunk and rowdy that they destroy campus property, which happens far more than it should).