Pitzer College | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Janet

Class: Freshman
Major:
Gender: F

High School: Terra Linda High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Pitzer is like summer camp. (We even have a shirt that says "Camp Pitzer" on it.) It's a little under a thousand people, which in my opinion is a nearly perfect college student population. The best thing about Pitzer the flexibility and control it gives to its students in forming groups, governing itself, and creating one's course of study. Most people have never heard of Pitzer, but are familiar with the "Claremont Consortium." Most students can be spotted on the "Mounds," or in the Grove House, which are both historical landmarks of the college. There is a downtown area about a mile or so away that has boutiques, up-scale restaurants, and cafes; and there's a farmers' market every sunday. And three to five miles away is a more commercial kind of shopping area that offers brand name goods, chain/fast-food restaurants, and supermarkets. Pitzer's administration is friendly, accommodative, and very accessible to students. The most recent controversy on campus was approving the creation of a "Masculinist Coalition." It took several weeks and revisions of the proposed group's charter to be approved by Student Senate. Pitzer's school pride is not expressed in traditional channels (sports teams since Pitzer sports is paired with Pomona), but rather through the kind of student activism that characterizes an overwhelming majority of those who attend. Pitzer's campus provides students with outdoor art spaces, on which any student can create a pre-approved mural. I'll always remember the annual spring arts and music festival, Kohoutek. The most frequent complaints are concerning the inconsistent quality of the dining hall food. If I could change one thing about Pitzer, it would be the discrepancy between the old and new dorms.

Academic Life

The student to faculty ratio is 10:1. So far, my favorite class has been Contemporary Social Theory. We read seven fascinating books that discussed sociological phenomena/trends. The workload and pace were very manageable, and the professor was engaging, energetic, friendly, and genuinely eager to teach and get to know his students. My least favorite class was Macroeconomics; it was tedious, and involved understanding an array of concepts and interdependent relationships. Also, the professor was not as sympathetic to students' needs as I would have like him to be. Overall, students study four to five days a week. Sunday is the biggest studying day, and most students don't have class on Fridays. Pitzer students are very socially and politically aware; we are always assessing the events of life with a critical eye. We recognize ironies, fallacies, and hypocrisy within numerous current events. Students are not competitive among one another Pitzer. Nearly no one asks a classmate what they're grade was in a class, or for a particular assignment. The most unique class I've taken was my Freshman Seminar: Youth in Pop Culture; my professor had met several famous rap artists. We studied gang culture, hip-hop culture, globalization of trends, and read a diverse lot of sociological analysis books. I am thinking of majoring in Psychology and double minoring in Economics and Philosophy. But it should be noted that Pitzer allows its students to design their own majors. Professors have been known to invite their students in to their homes. I have shared lunch on a few occasions this year with a couple of my professors. Pitzer's academic requirements allow students to study what they want. There is little to no constraints on a student's ability to study what they want. Pitzer's courses are definitely theoretical in nature. Although, there are several opportunities, such as the "Pitzer in Ontario" Program that allow students hands-on experience working in various sectors of the local community.

Student Body

Pitzer is the most diverse college in the 5-C Consortium. Pitzer is in support, and in fact, does implement affirmative action policies. It prides itself as promoting and actively seeking diversity. There are few to none "spoiled brat" kind of personalities at Pitzer. Even those who are financially well-off, are modest in expressing their socioeconomic status. A right-wing, conservative, or someone abiding by strict religious ideologies would feel out of place at Pitzer; it is historically a very liberal-minded institution. There is no overarching clothing style characterizing Pitzer students, other than perhaps tie-dye and flip-flops. Intermingling between "types" of students is a constant natural occurrence at Pitzer. Most Pitzer students are from the Bay Area, Texas, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, New York, and Los Angeles.