I'm considering the Claremont Colleges, and I'm particularly interested in political science. Which of the Claremont Colleges has the best program or reputation for political science? Any personal experiences would be cool to hear about too!
All five of the Claremont Colleges offer robust programs in Political Science, but Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is well-known for its Government major (their version of Political Science). The Government major at CMC is one of its most popular majors and the college has a great reputation for the social sciences and humanities overall. One unique feature that distinguishes CMC is that they offer many "sequence" programs, which are essentially minors across the Claremont Colleges, providing a wide range of interdisciplinary opportunities. This could be an excellent way to delve into a specific area of interests within the political science field.
On the other hand, Pomona College also has an excellent program and Harvey Mudd, Scripps, and Pitzer each offer unique approaches to the discipline as well. Pomona emphasizes both the theoretical and empirical approaches to political power and authority. Harvey Mudd allows students to engage with public policy from a scientific and technological perspective, Scripps offers a strong interdisciplinary program with a particular emphasis on women’s political participation, and Pitzer has an emphasis on global and cross-cultural perspectives.
As the programs are diverse it would be beneficial to consider what particular aspect of political science you're most interested in. This way, you can match your specific interests and goals to the strengths of each political science program within the Claremont Colleges. Good luck with your college search!
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