<p>Hey guys, </p>
<p>I was wondering which school is better, Claremont McKenna or Notre Dame? Academically, socially, etc. Pros and cons please and which school is more prestigious? Which degree will help me more in the future in terms of name recognition? I am a catholic so as far as Notre Dame being a catholic school doesn’t really bother me. Some info will be great thanks guys!</p>
<p>No brainer…ND.</p>
<p>Seriously…many people outside of California have never heard of Claremont McKenna, but everyone has heard of ND. And, ND’s alumni networking is phenomenal. </p>
<p>And…you get … Touchdown Jesus!</p>
<p>It’s hard to answer your other questions because you don’t state your intended major/career.</p>
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Which is better, biscuits or bagels?</p>
<p>That’s what asking that question is like. They’re both really great schools with great reputations, and which is “better” will vary from person to person.</p>
<p>I agree with mom2collegekids that Notre Dame has more name recognition. Among employers, they’re the same. CMC has a fantastic track record for its graduates, particularly those in the social sciences.</p>
<p>I applied to Notre Dame with a major in Finance under Mendoza business school and I applied for Economics for Claremont McKenna. Thanks for your input guys! It’s just I was thinking since I will be paying a lot for my education, I might as well get a degree that will help me most in getting a job, that being said I guess Notre Dame has the more powerful alumni connection, and probably will land me a job. After all in business is not what you know, but who you know.</p>
<p>Well, the late Jack Kemp was a Claremont grad, and he did about as well as any Notre Dame alumnus; a long NFL football career (including a championship), longtime Congressman, intellectual and economic trend-setter, his party’s nominee for Vice President of the U.S. Can Joe Montana, Tim Brown, Paul Hornung or George Gipp say the same? LOL.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is more prestigious and garners a better recognition, both.</p>
<p>However, you may have a better academic and social experience at CMC, on account of the Claremont Consortium and everything that it entails.</p>
<p>Leaving aside the Big Time sports, the two are academic peers… however, the CMC experience comes with interaction with the super intelligent kids at Pomona (SAT ave. 1475) and Harvey Mudd (SAT ave. 1495, #2 in the country behind Caltech) … a really dynamic environment.</p>
<p>I have friends and colleagues from both schools. In California, CMC would get a little more “Oh, wow, you’re a CMC alum?”, vs. “Oh, that’s great! I’ll bet you enjoyed the football games!”. I’m not saying that’s a legit difference, it just IS. CMC in CA has a little bit of “smaller Stanford” feel to it.</p>
<p>In the midwest and East, I suspect Notre Dame would carry more gravitas. Where do you want to start your career? If CA, I would suggest CMC or Notre Dame equally … if not, Notre Dame.</p>
<p>Where do you want to work? West Side or East Side of the Country?</p>
<p>I like CMC better</p>
<p>“In the midwest and East, I suspect Notre Dame would carry more gravitas.”</p>
<p>Ya think? Slight understatement. CMC is a west coast phenomenon. Not sure why so many on CC think that it’s so well known outside it’s region. I know it’s a great school, but c’mon already, it doesn’t have the cache name of a Notre Dame or a myriad of other colleges.</p>
<p>I’m on the east coast and I’d definitely say Claremont McKenna.</p>
<p>Please also take into account the ND alumni network. Very few schools are as devout as ND alums.</p>
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<p>Really? Better known, for sure. But look at the differences in admit rates-
I believe ND has about a 30% admit rate, CMC’s is about half that.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I don’t think that you can really can’t compare the admit rates of a very small kind of specialized LAC like CMC, with a larger (about 8X larger) national U. </p>
<p>While both schools are prestigious, the name recognition that ND enjoys cannot be disregarded.</p>
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<p>True. A ND degree most certainly has national recognition and mobility.</p>
<p>And, if one is competitive for ND, it makes more sense to apply to Pomona instead, if one were really interested in a superior LAC experience on the West Coast. I doubt CMC’s economics program/department is far better than that of Pomona, and even if it were, cross-registration is the obvious course of action.</p>
<p>I still say that Joe Montana might have been elected to Congress or President if he were an CMC alumnus.</p>
<p>^^^Well perhaps if went to Pomona or even Whittier. :-)</p>
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<p>I don’t think you know enough about CMC to be making these kind of statements. I am not a booster of any particular school, but I think you are seriously underestimating CMC, especially in econ.</p>
<p>Ahh, had forgotten about Whittier College and Nixon. So that makes two of the past seven elected Presidents who have attended LACs in Los Angeles…</p>
<p>I don’t think it much matters whether Pomona or Claremont McKenna has the stronger econ dept… as they are a five minute walk from each other and cross registration of classes is encouraged.</p>