Oxy vs Claremont

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, I’m helping DD choose between applying early to Occidental College (Oxy) and the McKenna Schools, and I’d love some guidance from anyone familiar with either school. We’re trying to understand the real differences in terms of academic focus, campus culture, and long-term opportunities. From what I gather, Claremont leans more toward government, economics, and leadership, while Oxy seems to have a strong liberal arts foundation with an emphasis on social justice and community engagement—but I’m not entirely sure how that plays out day to day. My child is interested in policy, environmental science, and maybe integrated sciences, so I want to make sure we're thinking about the right environment and support systems. Any insights on the vibe, student support, internships, or how competitive the atmospheres are would be really appreciated.

[Anonymous]

The McKenna schools? You mean The Claremont Colleges? Which one are you interested in applying to-that'll vastly change your answer. Occidental is pretty analogous to Pitzer.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like your kid is much more interested in CMC, but that is a very difficult admit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like your kid is much more interested in CMC, but that is a very difficult admit.

Does the kid even have the profile to get in to CMC? That’s a top SLAC. Occidental is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The McKenna schools? You mean The Claremont Colleges? Which one are you interested in applying to-that'll vastly change your answer. Occidental is pretty analogous to Pitzer.

Pitzer is a much tougher admit.

[Anonymous]

Occidental is better for the social culture and opportunities, but Claremont McKenna has the better name.

[Anonymous]

I would be very careful about integrated sciences. This is CMC's first year of even deploying the major, and you never know how good the faculty even are for something so ambitious. Choose the safer route at Oxy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Occidental is better for the social culture and opportunities, but Claremont McKenna has the better name.

Beyond crazy. Claremont McKenna is known for its pretty good social culture and definitely has many more opportunities than Oxy. OP should carefully consider if their kid is conservative enough.

[Anonymous]

I think of these are very different schools in different settings. Have you visited them? If not, you should visit the schools before they apply early decision. CMC is a much tougher admit but being part of the Claremont Colleges is a huge positive. If your child wants to be near L.A., however, Oxy is the way to go, but outside of L.A., Oxy is not as well regarded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi everyone, I’m helping DD choose between applying early to Occidental College (Oxy) and the McKenna Schools, and I’d love some guidance from anyone familiar with either school. We’re trying to understand the real differences in terms of academic focus, campus culture, and long-term opportunities. From what I gather, Claremont leans more toward government, economics, and leadership, while Oxy seems to have a strong liberal arts foundation with an emphasis on social justice and community engagement—but I’m not entirely sure how that plays out day to day. My child is interested in policy, environmental science, and maybe integrated sciences, so I want to make sure we're thinking about the right environment and support systems. Any insights on the vibe, student support, internships, or how competitive the atmospheres are would be really appreciated.

These are almost totally opposite schools regarding campus culture.

CMC leans conservative, while Oxy is woke. Hard for me to imagine a student who would be comfortable in both environments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think of these are very different schools in different settings. Have you visited them? If not, you should visit the schools before they apply early decision. CMC is a much tougher admit but being part of the Claremont Colleges is a huge positive. If your child wants to be near L.A., however, Oxy is the way to go, but outside of L.A., Oxy is not as well regarded.

DS doesn't care. He has no interest in the east coast and wants to build his life near his family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would be very careful about integrated sciences. This is CMC's first year of even deploying the major, and you never know how good the faculty even are for something so ambitious. Choose the safer route at Oxy.

Beyond wrong. CMC integrated science faculty come from Cornell, Stanford x3, Caltech, Notre Dame, UNC, UIUC, UCSD, Umich, MIT, CU Boulder, Irvine, UC Davis, Wake Forest, U Washington, UPenn x2. Their scholar reach is pretty insane for a new department. I'd read the new faculty descriptions for anyone interested: https://www.cmc.edu/newsfeed/cmc-welcomes-new-faculty-2025-26

[Anonymous]

I personally would go Oxy. Oxy has a gorgeous campus, especially compared to CMC, and there's a good student bond. It has great opportunities such as the Obama scholars, the UN program, and the Urban and Environmental Policy program are all gems. Being in LA makes the experience so much nicer, and the student body promotes being kind and ambitious over being pre-professional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi everyone, I’m helping DD choose between applying early to Occidental College (Oxy) and the McKenna Schools, and I’d love some guidance from anyone familiar with either school. We’re trying to understand the real differences in terms of academic focus, campus culture, and long-term opportunities. From what I gather, Claremont leans more toward government, economics, and leadership, while Oxy seems to have a strong liberal arts foundation with an emphasis on social justice and community engagement—but I’m not entirely sure how that plays out day to day. My child is interested in policy, environmental science, and maybe integrated sciences, so I want to make sure we're thinking about the right environment and support systems. Any insights on the vibe, student support, internships, or how competitive the atmospheres are would be really appreciated.

CMC is stronger in social sciences and humanities, sciences are not known to be its strength its strength. Their new integrated sciences program is a bit of a bumpy start and they're still working out kinks. It used to be that students could take science elsewhere at 5C colleges but that's a bit trickier now that they've invested so much money in designing this new program and new building. There's been some criticism of the new program from students. It's an hour inland from LA.

Oxy is pretty great in environmental sciences actually (and others as well). It is also a bit of an easier admit, yet still academically strong. It's in LA.

Both have small classes and accessible profs. CMC's culture is more pre-professional than Oxy if that's appealing to your kid. But also more competitive at CMC to join clubs, Oxy's vibe is more chill and inclusive. CMC is a far more rejective school so it is a much harder admit. I'd apply to both and see what happens but for your DD's proposed major, I'm not sure CMC is that strong of a fit. What about Pitzer (also at 5Cs) and Oxy?

[Anonymous]

Here is an article from CMC students on the mess that is CMCs new Integrated Sciences program:

https://www.cmcforum.com/post/disintegrated-sciences