The Claremont Colleges

Greetings From the Campuses of The Claremont Colleges!

The Claremont Colleges consist of five liberal arts undergrad schools: Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Pomona College and Scripps College. All but Pomona were conceived of and built as a consortium, based on the Oxford model. Each school has its own character and policies, but students can cross-register freely across 2500+ courses and even dual-major. Most schools allow taking up to 1/3 classes at other schools. The 350 acres of campuses adjoin each other and total about 6300 students, with 90% living on campus. The schools are located in Southern California in the beautiful town of Claremont, 35 min/45min from Los Angeles by car/Metrolink train, 1 hour to the beach and 30 min to Mt. Baldy. The most enthusiastic school tradition is Inner Tube Water Polo with a long-standing rivalry between the Pomona/Pitzer team vs. Scripps/Mudd/CMC. The overall Administration’s approach is to encourage “working hard” but also going outside to have fun and relax too. The students seem happy to be there.

It’s great for students who want a highly involved, highly social student body with some diversity in their college experience. It may not be the place for students who want a crowded and bustling campus, as the breadth of the campuses result in a lot of open space. The campuses seemed quiet at times and I wondered, “where is everybody?” They must have been studying. All the schools are highly selective.