When I went to Pomona, I cross registered & took classes at Scripps & Pitzer. Scripps at the time had a great art program -- several of my friends were art majors there.

re "amazing" community: the Claremont colleges have a SLAC feel that is very supportive. The advantage of the 5-college campus structure, as some have already pointed out, is that one can have strong relationships with & be well known by professors AND have access to the other campuses (kids, profs, classes, jobs). Each campus certainly has a diff flavor which is interesting/fun. The CC had a wonderful music scene at the time I attended -- bands would play at an all-day music festival on the Pitzer campus, and all of the Pomona fraternities (there were coed ones and all-male ones) had parties which hosted bands. My profs were smart, engaging, and seemed quite interested in teaching (rather than their research or publishing which could be the case, I suppose, at a larger univ). I lived off-campus for a few years, and although I didn't live in one of them, there were 'themed' houses some of my friends lived in focused on shared interests (Veggie House, International House etc.). Pomona was small enough that one could really assume leadership roles easily (I served on the student senate & helped organize a conference on global warming; was a writer for a feminist newspaper; had a work-study job I enjoyed that took me into LA to tutor kids). Social groups were quite fluid and people seemed really comfortable interacting with others quite different from themselves. The extent to which I have remained close to friends from college seems (anecdotally) to be stronger than other ppl I know, even those who went to SLAC -- except for my cousin who went to Carleton & also has a quite tight knit group she remains in touch with.

I liked Pomona very much & would send my children there -- largely because the quality of the profs was high -- but it had terrible career counseling. Maybe things are better now.

Many posters use the word "amazing" to describe Scripps and the other Claremont schools. Could you be more specific about what makes the education/social scene or whatever so "amazing"? I'm not trying to bait anyone -- just would really like more detailed information. Thanks!

The Claremont schools are amazing, and that's a very nice area to live in. Not a bad use of four years.

My kid went to CMC an took classes at Scripps. She loved Scripps. It was her happy place. Claremont is quite the bubble. And I do not think she or any of her friends feel any superior connection to CMC. But she has a special fondness for Scripps.

We just visited and my DD liked Scripps more than Pomona. Our Scripps tour guide was articulate but very personable. My DD liked the cooperative community feeling of Scripps. The relationship between the 5 schools is really close -- they have a very nice joint science building, can take classes at any if the schools, and can eat at each other's cafeterias. Pomona limited the number of non-Pomona classes. If you can visit, that would be helpful.

Lifelong East Coaster here, and when I read the title I (sorry!) rolled my eyes at the fact that you felt the need to explain what Scripps is. I promise, people who know about colleges know how good Scripps is. Sure, some people won't, just like some people can't keep UPenn and Penn State straight, but if it's the right place for your daughter and she gets in, count your blessings.

PS And I know the eyeroll was nasty. I really am sorry.

Scripps is amazing! And very highly regarded. I promise you will fall in love with Scripps and the Claremont Colleges on your first visit.

I'm from CA. Yes, Scripps is well regarded there. I didn't know anything about some of the well regarded LACs here or its rankings before I moved here, so I'm thinking that not knowing much about these smaller SLACs is a regional thing.

Anonymous wrote:I graduated from Scripps in the early 2000s. It's an incredibly special place.

How so? Can you say a little more about your experience as a student there?

I graduated from Scripps in the early 2000s. It's an incredibly special place.

DD visited Scripps and loved it. She ended up applying ED somewhere else, but if she hadn't gotten in early she definitely would have applied to Scripps. It's perhaps the most beautiful college we'd ever seen. And it seems to have all of the advantages of a women's college with the advantage of taking classes and socializing at the other coed Claremont schools, which are within easy walking distance. The consortium seemed like one big university comprised of smaller, supportive colleges with distinct personalities.

We went to a presentation the Claremont consortium had here recently as my DD is interested in Pomona. We both absolutely loved the Scripps presenter, who I believe was the head of admissions for the school. From her descriptions, it sounded like a great place to go to school--nurturing and very focused on helping the kids achieve. We both liked the sound of being able to take classes at the other 4 colleges without difficulty.

All the presenters were great actually. I still sometimes laugh thinking about the answers to a question someone asked: What sort of kid is a fit for your school? The Pitzer guy said their kids are the kids who disrupt class because they can't sit still and want to be outside doing things. They are also partial to the class clowns. It was so refreshing!

PP from above...I probably shouldn't say Pitzer is easier to get into because all of the CM schools are hard to get into, but it might be easier than Pomona and CM.

Good luck!

I don't think Scripps is necessarily as unknown as the other Claremont McKenna schools (other than Pomona maybe), but it is all-woman's and that fact probably tends to turn off some students from applying. Honestly, I don't know much about it other than that, but it's probably worth a look. Have you considered Pitzer? It's also one of the schools, more artsy and probably easier to get into.

Is anyone familiar with Scripps College (part of the five Claremont Colleges)? DD really wants to attend a liberal arts school out west and while she will be applying to Claremont McKenna and Pomona we don't want to bank on her getting in there as they are extraordinarily competitive. Scripps is ranked 23 in liberal arts schools by USNWR which we were pleasantly surprised by especially since other comparable all-women's colleges like Mt. Holyoke and Bryn Mawr that are more well known around here are actually ranked lower than Scripps. Do you think people on the East Coast are just less familiar with Scripps because of the distance or are we missing something? Thoughts/feedback/experiences would be much appreciated.