Davidson vs Claremont McKenna

caspiancat
Mon, 08 Oct 2012 16:00:47 +0000

Wow- These are my daughters top two schools and she had a difficult time deciding which one to do ED 1. I’m amazed that someone else also has these two schools as their top because they are so unique and far apart geographically. It’s exciting. It is nice that they both have ED2 as well though. We visited both schools about a month or two ago and she fell in love with both (after a long tour across the country looking at many schools and one Ivy. We live in Florida so I think location may have pushed her towards Davidson. She recently spent the night there and loved it and is applying there for ED1. Claremont McKenna is fabulous as well and seems to have a laid-back feel. They have a strong emphasis on employment after graduation and seem very practical which I liked. I think one thing that stands out about CMC is their guest speakers who are there 4-5 nights a week and dinner is provided for free to students if they attend. They seem incredibly supportive of students and subsidize many outings and tickets to concerts, pro sports games, and even Disneyland (I think a student said it cost her $26). Students at both schools seem really happy and both have amazing alumni support. CMC recently moved up in rank (Liberal Arts Colleges) and seems to be heading even further upward. They had a beautiful modern campus and I loved the consortium they are a part of (Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, and Pitzer) You can take classes at any of these school with relative ease- which is a very nice feature as they all have unique feels to them. I think the consortium is the major difference as well as location of course. Both seems to strongly consider fit when applying. Foreign Languages, business and cultural opportunities seem especially strong at CMC. The arts, liberal arts, and science seemed really strong at Davidson (but this is my opinion after a two hour visit so who knows! ) My daughter plans on doing ED2 at CMC if she doesn’t get into Davidson. Davidson just felt like a tiny bit better fit for her without being super far from home. She fell in love with Davidson the first time she stepped onto campus and loved the quaint town it is located in. Good luck with your decision I thin you will be happy no matter which school you choose.