Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 07:20     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Whichever one has the vibes you like will work. DD has cmc students in her Pomona stats class and she’s taken data science courses at CMC and cs courses at Mudd. It’s a true consortium and while people here fuss over the ease of course registration, we’ve had no issues. The choice of your college can range from your entire social circle to just a convenient place for you to sleep.


How are dorm rooms and dining hall at
Pomona?

Can you describe student archetype, academic and social vibe without sugarcoating? Thx

This is one of the best times to ask this question, so I'm glad you are.

Housing is currently in a crisis. Not in a "omg the kids have no rooms" way but there is a major change in housing this year and normalization of doubles and triples due to the closure of Oldenburg for the CGE: https://www.pomona.edu/center-global-engagement. The school is still prioritizing making singles available for freshman (usually around 20-33% of the class is in singles) and all the seniors were able to get a single. It does get hot at the beginning of fall semester, but at night the temperature drops fast and dorms cool off. The most problematic dorms now have ac in the hallway for students. Some of the housing is downright luxurious and other housing is pretty poor. It's mostly a luck system but after sophomore year, mostly everyone is happy with their housing situation.

Dining halls are great. Students have 7 options (3 alone just at Pomona), so it is hard to complain. A lot of fancy dinners throughout the semester too.

Students really can be described as hardworking, fun and low-key. Pomona students aren't going to brag about the ranking or school, but they will use it resources, get the national awards, and go on to amazing phd programs while remaining pretty humble about it. Atmosphere is obviously liberal but there's a pretty loud conservative presence on campus these days. Students are not very pre-professional, so if you're expecting IB central, that is more of a CMC trait.


DP this is really great. Appreciate you sharing this helpful intel.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 05:59     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:CMC sounds like the better fit. Pomona kids are weird


CMC boosters are so rude.

I don’t think boosting is being honest. CMC is a much better placement for a student who wants a career using computational methods. Pomona is for the chalkboard theorist.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 02:26     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:CMC sounds like the better fit. Pomona kids are weird


CMC boosters are so rude.
Anonymous
Post 04/11/2026 02:16     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
CMC sounds like the better fit. Pomona kids are weird
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 13:09     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Above 2 PPs, please elaborate on “loud conservative presence” on Pomona campus or do you mean the whole 5C?

Well really anything on one campus extends out to the others. Across the 5Cs right now there are various conservative students doing activism, journalism, or just existing. The 5Cs have a TPUSA chapter, a republican club, etc. in general, these conservatives are still more progressive than the Trump clan (accepting of trans/queer people, for example).


I’m pretty conservative. I don’t and never will call myself a Republican because a Republican president attempted a coup, and the GOP went right along. Either you support America and the constitution or you don’t. Either you think it’s OK to falsely claim that center right Democrats are communists or you don’t. Either you think voter suppression is good and peddle false claims about noncitizens voting or you don’t. Either you’re cool with trans teens dying or you’re not. Saying you’re a “more progressive” Republican is just social camouflage.

Lock ‘em up!
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 12:10     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:Above 2 PPs, please elaborate on “loud conservative presence” on Pomona campus or do you mean the whole 5C?

Well really anything on one campus extends out to the others. Across the 5Cs right now there are various conservative students doing activism, journalism, or just existing. The 5Cs have a TPUSA chapter, a republican club, etc. in general, these conservatives are still more progressive than the Trump clan (accepting of trans/queer people, for example).
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 10:51     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
As a Pomona parent, my advice is to ignore everyone here who strongly recommends one or the other. Both are great schools and will give your kid broad opportunities. Pomona trends more intellectual and academic; CMC more preprofessional. But CMC kids have little problem going into academia, and a huge number of Pomona kids get high-paying jobs immediately after graduation (e.g., Pomona has a strong pipeline into FAANG). People here overstate the marginal differences. Culturally, both schools are social. CMC trends more traditional party; Pomona trends more kids hanging out or travelling together. Ideally, OP's DC could attend admitted students events at both. Both are great, as are Mudd, Scripps, and Pitzer. The 5Cs really are fantastic.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 09:11     Subject: Re:Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Really don’t think you can go wrong here. The access to professors at both schools are equally amazing and will set your student up for getting internships and applying to grad school. Heard that something like 80% of students change their intended major from senior year of high school to the end of sophomore year so go to the admitted students days or talk to some current students and see which is a better fit. As for clubs/activities on campus, the students from all 5Cs participate so again, you can’t go wrong.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 08:12     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Congrats to your DS on two fantastic choices!

Given his interests, CMC's integrated science program sounds perfect. CMC already offers a lot of resources and opportunities for students, and I would think they'd do even more for students in a program they're trying to grow.








Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 08:07     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Above 2 PPs, please elaborate on “loud conservative presence” on Pomona campus or do you mean the whole 5C?
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 07:39     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Whichever one has the vibes you like will work. DD has cmc students in her Pomona stats class and she’s taken data science courses at CMC and cs courses at Mudd. It’s a true consortium and while people here fuss over the ease of course registration, we’ve had no issues. The choice of your college can range from your entire social circle to just a convenient place for you to sleep.


How are dorm rooms and dining hall at
Pomona?

Can you describe student archetype, academic and social vibe without sugarcoating? Thx

This is one of the best times to ask this question, so I'm glad you are.

Housing is currently in a crisis. Not in a "omg the kids have no rooms" way but there is a major change in housing this year and normalization of doubles and triples due to the closure of Oldenburg for the CGE: https://www.pomona.edu/center-global-engagement. The school is still prioritizing making singles available for freshman (usually around 20-33% of the class is in singles) and all the seniors were able to get a single. It does get hot at the beginning of fall semester, but at night the temperature drops fast and dorms cool off. The most problematic dorms now have ac in the hallway for students. Some of the housing is downright luxurious and other housing is pretty poor. It's mostly a luck system but after sophomore year, mostly everyone is happy with their housing situation.

Dining halls are great. Students have 7 options (3 alone just at Pomona), so it is hard to complain. A lot of fancy dinners throughout the semester too.

Students really can be described as hardworking, fun and low-key. Pomona students aren't going to brag about the ranking or school, but they will use it resources, get the national awards, and go on to amazing phd programs while remaining pretty humble about it. Atmosphere is obviously liberal but there's a pretty loud conservative presence on campus these days. Students are not very pre-professional, so if you're expecting IB central, that is more of a CMC trait.


NP. This is accurate. Also, the buildings of these schools are of drastically different styles. Pomona buildings are old and classical, while CMC buildings are new and modern.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 00:35     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Whichever one has the vibes you like will work. DD has cmc students in her Pomona stats class and she’s taken data science courses at CMC and cs courses at Mudd. It’s a true consortium and while people here fuss over the ease of course registration, we’ve had no issues. The choice of your college can range from your entire social circle to just a convenient place for you to sleep.


How are dorm rooms and dining hall at
Pomona?

Can you describe student archetype, academic and social vibe without sugarcoating? Thx

This is one of the best times to ask this question, so I'm glad you are.

Housing is currently in a crisis. Not in a "omg the kids have no rooms" way but there is a major change in housing this year and normalization of doubles and triples due to the closure of Oldenburg for the CGE: https://www.pomona.edu/center-global-engagement. The school is still prioritizing making singles available for freshman (usually around 20-33% of the class is in singles) and all the seniors were able to get a single. It does get hot at the beginning of fall semester, but at night the temperature drops fast and dorms cool off. The most problematic dorms now have ac in the hallway for students. Some of the housing is downright luxurious and other housing is pretty poor. It's mostly a luck system but after sophomore year, mostly everyone is happy with their housing situation.

Dining halls are great. Students have 7 options (3 alone just at Pomona), so it is hard to complain. A lot of fancy dinners throughout the semester too.

Students really can be described as hardworking, fun and low-key. Pomona students aren't going to brag about the ranking or school, but they will use it resources, get the national awards, and go on to amazing phd programs while remaining pretty humble about it. Atmosphere is obviously liberal but there's a pretty loud conservative presence on campus these days. Students are not very pre-professional, so if you're expecting IB central, that is more of a CMC trait.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2026 00:19     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:Whichever one has the vibes you like will work. DD has cmc students in her Pomona stats class and she’s taken data science courses at CMC and cs courses at Mudd. It’s a true consortium and while people here fuss over the ease of course registration, we’ve had no issues. The choice of your college can range from your entire social circle to just a convenient place for you to sleep.


How are dorm rooms and dining hall at
Pomona?

Can you describe student archetype, academic and social vibe without sugarcoating? Thx
Anonymous
Post 04/09/2026 23:58     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Whichever one has the vibes you like will work. DD has cmc students in her Pomona stats class and she’s taken data science courses at CMC and cs courses at Mudd. It’s a true consortium and while people here fuss over the ease of course registration, we’ve had no issues. The choice of your college can range from your entire social circle to just a convenient place for you to sleep.
Anonymous
Post 04/09/2026 22:32     Subject: Pomona Vs Claremont Mckenna
Anonymous wrote:Pomona every day of the week. It’s no contest.


exactly. cmc has improved its ranking because of its proximity to pomona. they all draw name recognition from being in a consortium that's affiliated with pomona, not the other way around.