Claremont McKenna College

Private · Elite · CA

Photo: CMC Media Team (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationCA · West

SettingSuburban

Undergrads1,388

Student:faculty8:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate75.3%

6-yr grad rate91.4%

Drop-out rate1.9%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$68k

Out-of-state tuition$68k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity64.3%

Gender diversity49.9%

International14.8%

Identity—

Overview

Claremont McKenna is a small private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, one of the Claremont Colleges consortium of adjacent campuses — alongside Pomona, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer — that share classes, dining, and social life while each keeps its own faculty, endowment, and identity. CMC has a distinctly pragmatic, leadership-and-public-affairs-minded culture compared to its more traditionally humanities-focused consortium neighbors.

Academics

Economics, government, and international relations are the signature strengths, often taught through CMC's network of research institutes — covering state and local government, political economy, and leadership studies among others — that put undergraduates directly into policy-relevant research alongside faculty. Nearly every student completes a senior thesis, a substantial independent research project that anchors the college's academic culture. The consortium model lets students cross-register at the other Claremont Colleges, effectively multiplying course offerings well beyond what CMC's own compact faculty provides on its own.

Campus & student life

Campus culture is achievement-oriented and social in a preppy, athletic way relative to other small liberal arts colleges, with students moving easily between CMC's own facilities and the shared consortium spaces. Athletics run through the combined Claremont-Mudd-Scripps program, and student government and campus organizations carry real social weight. The Southern California setting supports an outdoorsy, sunny day-to-day rhythm that's part of the college's broader appeal.

Getting in

Applications are read holistically, but CMC is known to look for demonstrated leadership and interest in public affairs, economics, or government specifically — essays that show direction and ambition tend to stand out more here than at peer colleges with a broader intellectual bent. Involvement in student government, debate, or policy-oriented activities is a common thread among admitted students.

After graduation

CMC has an outsized reputation for placing graduates into finance and consulting relative to its size, along with strong pipelines into law, government, and policy work, aided by its research institutes and leadership-focused mission. The alumni network is close and leverages the college's small size and institute connections, and CMC is also known for producing a strong number of prestigious fellowship recipients.

Worth knowing

Because CMC shares the Claremont Colleges consortium with four other undergraduate institutions, a student's day-to-day experience blends CMC's own culture with a much larger shared social and academic ecosystem — worth understanding before assuming it's a fully self-contained small college. The required senior thesis is also a real academic commitment students should expect from day one.

cmc.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate9.6%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1470–1560 · ACT 33–35

Test policyoptional

Rec letters2

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Early decisionNov 1

Regular decisionJan 10

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through Common App, Coalition (Scoir), or QuestBridge.

Early decision IIJan 10

Financial aid formsJan 17

Both Early Decision I and Early Decision II are binding: admitted students must withdraw all other applications and enroll at CMC; ED II simply gives students who decide later a second binding round on a later timeline.

Interviews: Interviews are not required but are highly recommended, and are mandatory for homeschooled applicants; virtual and in-person interviews run from May through mid-December, and Early Decision I applicants should complete theirs by mid-November.

Supplemental essays (2)

CMC's mission is to prepare students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions. With this mission in mind, please explain why you want to attend Claremont McKenna College.
Required · No word limit stated on the page
A critical part of fulfilling our mission is living out the commitments of CMC's Open Academy: Freedom of Expression, Viewpoint Diversity, and Constructive Dialogue. We want to learn more about your commitment to listening and learning from others with different viewpoints, perspectives, and life experiences from your own. Describe a time when engaging with someone about a specific topic resulted in you changing your attitude, belief, or behavior, or you changed the belief or behavior of someone else. What was the change that occurred for you, and what facilitated that change? What did you learn from that experience, and how has it informed how you engage with others?