Swarthmore (or less) & Pomona?

[interesteddad]

<p>

Saying that kids who go to CMC don’t have the same academic opportunities as Swat is a little misleading because they do. The difference, however, is that they may have to skateboard an extra 2 minutes in the California sun to get there or, in the bi-co’s case, take a funky 10 minute bus ride. Either way, a class taken on another campus is still a class taken. And from my and siuplau’s experience, the consortium arrangement of the bi-co and the Claremont may actually provide greater opportunities when compared to a school that doesn’t enjoy a real consortium arrangement despite endowment size.

</p>

<p>I have not expressed an opinion to the orginal poster that she should prefer Pomona, CMC, or Swarthmore. Search the thread. You won’t find it. I don’t have an opinion. All three are valid choices. Personally? I’d do Pomona or Swarthmore over CMC, but that’s just me.</p>

<p>As to consortium arrangments, the most prevalent use is for students to gain access to courses not offered by their own school’s limitations. For example, there were (according to Bryn Mawr’s website), 2600 cross registrations between BMC and Haverford last year – out of probably 18,000+ total registrations (8 courses per student per year).</p>

<p>I’m guessing that a signficant number of these were Haverford registrations in departments not offered at Haverford: archaeology, geology, art history, dance, theater, creative writing, environmental studies, italian, and russian. Or BMC registrations at Haverford in fields not offered by Bryn Mawr: studio art, music, astronomy, religion.</p>

<p>I don’t feel like tracking down the research, but I am certain the same dynamics apply at the Claremont consortium. Most cross-registrations are the result of home colleges not offering a full array of departments. For example, if you want to take science at Pitzer, Scripps, or CMC you HAVE to take the courses in the joint science department. If you are a CMC student wanting to take art or music or theater, you have to cross-register, because CMC doesn’t offer them. This is why Pomoma, with the largest assortment of departments, has the fewest cross-registrations. Not because of distance, but rather need.</p>

<p>I found this link to Harvey Mudd cross-registrations:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.dof.hmc.edu/Facts/registrar/crossreg.html[/url]”>http://www.dof.hmc.edu/Facts/registrar/crossreg.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In 2002, they had fewer total cross registrations (coming and going) with all of the other Claremont colleges than the 2600 between Bryn Mawr and Haverford. I gather that there are some signficant restrictions placed by many Claremont departments on cross registration. It easy to understand why. A department sized for a liberal arts college has difficulty meeting the demand from five liberal arts colleges. This is less of an issue at Haverford/BMC where BMCs art history department and Haverford’s music departments can be sized to serve both colleges.</p>

<p>I’m certainly not against consortiums. I’ve always been intrigued by the Claremont model. The Bi-Co and Tri-Co arrangements have some value. The 5-college consortium in Northhampton has some real benefits. However, all of these are over-sold in the admissions brochures, IMO.</p>

<p>As a practical matter, my daughter’s biggest problem has been that she has too many courses she wants to take. Every semester, she’s trying to whittle 6 courses down to 4. I suspect that is typical, which is why cross-registrations aren’t more popular than they are.</p>