Cornell vs Claremont McKenna

stagalum
Mon, 05 May 2014 03:06:32 +0000

Cornell is a great school with a rich, storied tradition, and great research facilities.

That said, I honestly believe that the undergraduate experience at Claremont McKenna is unparallelled…and, not just referring to those who major in Govt, IR, Economics (which is what the school has largely managed to establish its national reputation on in such a short time).

Just check out the speakers at The Athenaeum, and I challenge anyone to find an institution of higher learning where an undergraduate can have dinner in a relatively intimate setting, with world-class speakers on a variety of
subjects, ALMOST EVERY NIGHT (except weekends)…this, at a college of around 1250 students!

Enough has been written about the advantages of small,intimate classes at top LACs (world-class professors - no such thing as a TA - who know you by name…often hold classes at their homes, etc).

The other unique aspect of CMC is its membership in the Claremont consortium (where students can take classes at the 4 other 'Cs"…Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and Scripps.), which is basically like one big campus, as its contiguous, but with each college having its own unique campus, architecture, etc. This is unique in American higher education, as its modeled after the Oxford setup, as opposed to the typical 'eastern LA consortium…i.e., Williams, Wesleyan, etc. where you need to take a bus to go to the other colleges.

Kaarboer, I’m 'not saying Claremont is better for everyone…you are fortunate to have two great choices…both wonderful schools, but different in many ways.

I believe you said you had visited Cornell, and were visiting Claremont this weekend.
Let us know how it goes…best of luck!