I am a big fan of Colgate - the sense of campus community was very evident there, more so than other colleges, the alumni network is strong, there are good research opportunities and job placement. But more so then a lot of other Northeastern LACs it is remote. Hamilton may be a friendly town, but it is quite small - really only a couple of streets and perhaps 5,000 residents. So you have to know that going in and be fine with that and a lot of kids are fine with it. But it will be different and more remote withe less access to things than being in a town like Lewiston, Saratoga or Burlington for example.
I think what @TurnerT means is that the OP shouldn’t count on making regular trips to West Hollywood and Malibu Beach just because Pitzer is located a couple hours away. The everyday reality is that if you do step off campus, your destination will most likely be another 5C college (which isn’t like being off campus, at all) or the town of Claremont which is not very exciting.
My kid is a bit of a homebody and loves Mudd, but she has been into LA to museums, concerts, etc. There is some kind of Mudd student group that organizes outings, and I am sure Pitzer has the same. She doesn’t usually go, but the opportunities are there. International students also will have long weekends a couple times a year, maybe be on campus over spring break. I agree they won’t go in every week, but I think it is incorrect to say they will just stay on campus. She and some friends also go to Joshua Tree National Park sometimes, or just up in the local mountains hiking (she has friends with cars).
I’m a current Colgate student who plans to major in Economics and can tell you Colgate was the best decision I’ve ever made. I thought I had a better option in UVA, both for a business degree and social life, but Colgate is top-notch in both areas, despite being far away from major cities.
@onemoreday Don’t forget to visit Cooperstown. What an experience that is.
Anyone near the Colgate area should also take a trip on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad out of Utica.
And the Ommegang Brewery…
Saranac?
Oh sure that’s a good one. There is also a nifty farm implements museum up there. 
Pitzer’s greatest asset is the consortium. There is nothing quite like it, in terms of the colleges’ proximity to one another, their social integration, and their very distinct, discrete “personalities.” Colgate might carry more prestige in the northeast, but the Claremont Consortium is very selective and respected nationally. Colgate will provide you with more of the “typical” liberal arts campus experience, but I think Pitzer will introduce you to a more interesting range of students. Pomona is on the short list of the very best (and selective) liberal arts colleges in the country. Mudd is a tiny, intense, STEM-oriented college. CMC was originally a men’s college, and is more professionally-oriented, with strengths in Business, Economics, Public Policy, et al. Scripps remains an all-female college, with a traditional liberal arts curriculum. Pitzer has a decidedly “hippie” atmosphere, but not oppressively so. You can eat and live at other campuses, and take a number of courses elsewhere in the consortium.
There is now a train-link connecting Claremont to downtown LA and LAX. It’s about an hour away.
The Claremont colleges love telling prospective students that it’s possible to ski or snowboard and surf in the ocean within a single day. It can be 80 degrees in Claremont when there’s snow in the San Gabriels.
My son and I were very impressed when we visited. He applied to CMC as a “reach,” and was rejected. Pitzer accepted him, but the price-tag was simply too high for us.
Good luck! Colgate and Pitzer are both excellent options, but they could not be more different. Why not apply to both, see where you get in, and then take it from there?
Sounds like a gimmick. Why would they all have different admissions standards if you could live, eat and take courses at each other.
The last thing I want hear as a parent is surf and ski the same day.
OP, get your red khakis, loafers, bow tie and blazer and head to Colgate.
Oh, don’t be silly. It isn’t a "gimmick… It is five small colleges that fit together like lego blocks to make up what is essentially a 5,000 student campus. Each has their own admissions standards, dorms, majors, dining halls, graduation standards, and culture. They gain a lot of power from the consortium because they can share a lot of resources – health service, workout facilities, libraries, etc. Students do need to take a certain number of courses at their own college, and almost all students live on their own campus. But they get the benefit of a much larger selection of courses. Several other consortiums brag about this ability to cross-register, but the timing and transportation make it a bit of a headache to do often. The 5Cs really get the benefit of their proximity, and students take advantage of it. I think it is the best LAC model around – the benefits of a small school with some of the advantages of a larger one. My kid is very tight with her fellow Mudders, there is no doubt about which school and culture she feels a part of. And don’t be fooled by the laid back Southern Cal environment – the 5Cs are ranked 4, 9, 14, 29, and 35 by USNWR.
get your red khakis, loafers, bow tie and blazer and head to Colgate
as long as you also bring your North Face and LL Bean boots!
@intparent I was joking with the exception of the skiing and surfing comment.
@wisteria100 These kids have it too easy. I almost fainted when I heard about the stress relieving puppies and neck massages during finals week. We got extra late night Mass.
Well, the Mudders are definitely too busy to try to surf & ski in the same day.
We have this same conversation whenever one of the Claremont Colleges is involved in a head to head contest with another LAC. It’s almost like comparing apples to oranges. With the exception of Pomona, each one is essentially the size of one Colgate quadrangle. They survive because the consortium functions more like a medium-sized 6000 student university with a completely separate graduate division whose faculty do not teach undergraduates. People need to ask themselves if that’s the experience they are looking for because realistically that’s the experience they are going to have.
That makes it sound like the colleges don’t have their own cultures, which is way off base.
My vote is Pitzer. Don’t get me wrong, I grew up not too far from Colgate and it is pretty but the weather sucks unless it is summer and the fall can be nice. The only time the weather sucks at Pitzer is in the summer and September can be unbearable. The rest of the time it is great and the consortium is amazing. Both colleges will provide a great education. Find where you will be happiest.
You need to look at your learning style - you’re from China and based on stereotypes, you are probably in a structured environment for most of your life. Pitzer will free you of that more thoroughly than Colgate. Pitzer (and the consortium) is a more laid back environment and yes, you can take many classes at all the other colleges (and no it is not a “gimmick”). Pitzer has the most liberal and free personality of the five schools, Mudd the least, but overall they are very different than Colgate. It is also in a small college town but relatively close to LA. Colgate is more “preppy” and structured and potentially more stressful. But this might work for you. Don’t let the fact that it’s in New York State have you thinking it’s anywhere near New York City because it’s not, it is very rural with a small college town.
It’s a tough call but the schools personalities are quite different so figure out which works better for you, based on your current lifestyle and upbringing. Good luck!
Well, since no one else has mentioned it, I will: West coast schools have an advantage in that Asians are a historic part of their home state demographics. Taken as a whole the 5Cs may have an Asian and Asian American population somewhat north of 15%. Colgate can’t compete with that, just yet (and, assuming that’s important to the OP.)