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Why I Came to CMC... Current Students Speak Out
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Written by Will Kahn '12
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Congratulations on your acceptance to Claremont McKenna. As the president of the class of 2012, I encourage you to become part of the CMC community. You undoubtedly have a number of choices and with so many great and interesting schools out there, it’s hard to know how to distinguish them. Finding the right school can be difficult, and initially it wasn’t clear to me why CMC seemed like such good fit, but over my first year here I have begun to understand it. The thing that drives CMC, the thing it is bursting at the seams with, is talented, interested, and dynamic students. Never before have I met so many fascinating people from such different backgrounds. East Coast or West, liberal or conservative, football star or philosopher, everyone is devoted to something distinctive and remarkable. We each have our unique interests and we all encourage and challenge each other. This creates a community of passion and excitement which fosters progress and development.
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Why I Came to CMC... Current Students Speak Out
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Written by Cameron Hanson '10
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MY TOP FIVE REASONS WHY CMC IS THE PLACE FOR ME
1. THE STUDENTS. We're dynamic, charismatic, intellectual, fun-loving, laid-back, and community oriented.
2. THE SENSE OF COMMUNITY. CMC is such a happy home. You can't walk five feet without saying hi to someone. Compared to bigger schools where your social network is primarily based in your dorm, at CMC you can build relationships through class, WOA!, sports, parties, skateboarding accidents, etc. We honestly care about each other and I like to think of us as one big interconnected family.
3. THE CONSORTIUM. I never though I'd end up at a small school, but I am most content that I did! If CMC ever seems confining, just step on another campus and you are in a whole new world. The ability to eat at seven dining halls (each with their own flair), go to 5C parties, take classes anywhere, and in general interact with thousands of diverse perspectives unsurpassed in the WORLD.
4. THE ACADEMICS. Classes are challenging, but rewarding. Professors truly care, and I guarantee that you won't graduate without having gone to a dinner party, tea party, or singing party at a professor's home.
5. BASKETBALL. Playing basketball wasn't an original priority for me when applying to schools, but now I can't imagine my experience without it. You just can't beat playing your heart out on the court, having a tight-knit team, and gaining pride on campus. There is very little divide between athletes and non-athletes on campus, and coaches respect that academics should come first.. At the end of the day, we are all just students.
Okay I have a few more...
LOCATION. Don't underestimate our sunny days and proximity to LA. Sure Claremont is a bit of a sleepy town, but the Village is quaint and there are plenty of stores and restaurants close by. And even if you don't have a car, the Metrolink and Zip Cars are your sure ticket downtown.
THE ATHENAEUM. It's unmatched. Period. |
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Why I Came to CMC... Current Students Speak Out
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Written by Blake Bennett '12
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I can remember the first time I heard about CMC—my mom was looking through the Fiske Guide early on in my college search, and she jokingly told me “Hey Blake, here’s the perfect school for you: they have a maid service.”
Well, it turns out she was right, although not for the right reasons. I eventually visited CMC when I toured southern California colleges. I had a very strong feeling while I was there, and in the weeks afterwards as I reflected on my visits the feeling of “CMC is where I want to go” just grew stronger and stronger. It had everything I was looking for, from small classes and great faculty, to the whole social and infrastructure advantage of the Consortium, and most importantly, the things unique to CMC: the Athenaeum, which I visit at least once a month, an amazing location both in weather and opportunities, a fantastic, friendly and motivated student body with diverse opinions, easy access to study abroad, internships, and the like, a highly ranked Ultimate team, extremely good food, and more. By the time I got around to acceptance letters there wasn’t really even a choice anymore. I knew CMC was the place for me.
And of course, the fact that they do indeed clean our rooms twice a month doesn’t hurt, either.
~Blake |
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Why I Came to CMC... Current Students Speak Out
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Written by Daniel Kan '09
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I went to CMC because of the Athenaeum Speaker Program. I really didn't believe that a small school of around 1000 students could actually have a program like that, and if it truly did exist (it does), the other opportunities for CMC students must be amazing. I figured that at a certain level of college, the education would be relatively the same; physics is the same no matter who is teaching it, so for me it came down to what else the school could offer me. I never visited CMC before I enrolled, and as a senior approaching graduation, I have not yet been let down.
~Dan |
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Why I Came to CMC... Current Students Speak Out
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Written by Charles Johnson '11
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Why did I choose Claremont McKenna? I didn't. It chose me. And knowing Claremont's admissions staff, it probably chose you.
A little background... I had already applied to more than a dozen colleges and I had been wait listed at over six, including all of my dream colleges. I was disappointed -- kids that I had tutored got into the Ivy League, Stanford, etc -- and I felt as if the college admissions game were unfairly stacked against me. As the letters from other colleges mounted -- I ended up being wait listed at seven schools -- I wondered what I was going to do.
And then I got a phone call.
Apparently, in the confusion, I had forgotten to send my essay on a leader. Any other school would have just sent me a note saying that I was rejected, but Claremont McKenna's dean of admissions called me up and told me that I had forgotten it. After the slog of applying to more than a dozen schools, I was tired of feeling like a number. Claremont tried me as if I were a person who they would like to get to know and who must have submitted an essay. At Claremont, you exist and there are many people pulling for your success -- people you don't even know, alums, other students.
I decided then and there that I would go to Claremont McKenna, a school I had never even heard of and had only applied to on a lark. I had never been to Los Angeles County before, but it didn't seem to matter. I contacted a few professors beforehand and asked them if there were any books I ought to read before I got on campus. I read them all and counted down the days.
It's funny, because weeks later after I got to campus, I got another phone call me from one of those big name colleges. He told me that he was miserable and that he didn't feel as if he were learning anything, and of course, the weather didn't make things any better. I wouldn't have traded places with him for anything. I loved my classes and felt like I was getting to the bottom of things I had always wanted to explore. And as a student from a far left prep school in the Boston area, I love how conservatives can be open -- for the most -- on CMC's campus about their politics.
Now to be fair, Claremont McKenna has its problems, which I try to highlight and correct at my blog about school affairs, The Claremont Conservative and as editor of its best newspaper, The Claremont Independent, but I hope you'll find that CMC is the place for you. And if it doesn't meet your fancy, I hope you find what you're looking for.
~Charles |
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Student Perspectives 
