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Premier College Guidance · The Claremont Colleges · 2026
Five Colleges · One Ecosystem
The Consortium
Campus Explorer
Matching Framework
Essays
Financial Aid
Cross-Registration
What They Look For
Passion Project
Strategy

Claremont
Decoded

Five of the most distinctive colleges in the country share one campus, one library, one social ecosystem, and one extraordinary cross-registration network. Most California families have never understood what that actually means. This changes that.

How the consortium works
You apply to one, not all five
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The Consortium: What It Actually Is
Most families think of the 5Cs as five separate schools near each other. They are not. Click each to understand the strategic implication.

📚 Cross-Registration

Students take courses across all five campuses. Pitzer students take 30% of courses elsewhere by design. A Harvey Mudd student can take CMC government seminars and Pomona philosophy simultaneously.

🏛️ Shared Library & Resources

The Claremont Colleges Library serves all five undergraduate colleges and two graduate institutions. Combined research resources rival much larger universities.

🤝 Shared Social Life

Five-college parties, joint dining, cross-campus clubs, and shared traditions create the intimacy of a small college with the energy of a much larger one.

🏆 Joint Athletic Teams

CMS (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps) competes against Pomona-Pitzer. Division III. National championships across tennis, water polo, swimming, cross-country, and more.

🎓 Graduate Access

Undergraduates can take courses at Claremont Graduate University and Keck Graduate Institute, accessing graduate seminars unavailable at standalone colleges.

🎯 The Strategic Implication

You apply to one specific college, not the consortium. The cross-registration benefit arrives after admission. Generic applications that focus on consortium benefits fail at all five schools simultaneously.

⚠️
Critical: You Apply to One College, Not the Consortium
Every application must demonstrate specific, genuine fit with that particular college. An application that reads as wanting the consortium rather than a specific college fails at all five simultaneously.
The Five Colleges: Strategic Profiles
Click any college for the complete strategic profile including acceptance rate, financial aid, signature programs, and the PCG recommendation.
🏛️

Select a college to see the full strategic profile.

The Matching Framework: Which College Fits Your Student?
Select one option in each dimension. The framework scores all five colleges and highlights which is the strongest fit for your student's specific profile.
Essays by College: What Each School Is Actually Evaluating
Click any prompt to see the complete PCG strategy. Every 5Cs application must demonstrate specific fit with that particular college.
All Required Essays
✍️

Click any essay to see the full PCG strategy.

Financial Aid: The Side-by-Side Nobody Has Built
Three of the five colleges are need-blind. Two are need-aware. Click any card or row for full detail. Run your personal estimate below.
💡
Pomona Average Net Price: $17,423 — Essentially Identical to Stanford's $17,998
Most California families have never considered Pomona in Stanford's financial aid tier. Click for the full comparison.
Most Surprising ▶
CollegeCOAAvg Net PriceNeed PolicyMerit AidFA Deadline
Pomona$95,670$17,423NEED-BLINDNoneJan 15
CMC$97,010$29,978NEED-BLIND$23,300Jan 17 / Feb 1
Harvey Mudd$104,512$42,720NEED-BLIND$10,457Feb 1
Scripps$98,574$45,505NEED-AWARE$24,048Feb 1
Pitzer$96,706$34,801NEED-AWARE$7,000Jan 6
CSS Profile + FAFSA required at all 5Cs. Pomona, CMC, HMC: need-blind. Scripps & Pitzer: need-aware.
Cross-Registration: Build Your Own Curriculum
Select your academic interests. See the cross-registration combinations that become possible. Click any combination for the full strategic picture.

🧠 Select Your Academic Interests

🔗 Matching Combinations

Select interests on the left to see combinations
The Strategic Insight: The 5Cs is the only small-college environment in the country where a student can have the intimacy of a 250-person class and the academic breadth of a major research university simultaneously. Pitzer students take 30% of their courses at other colleges by design. Click for the full strategic picture and how to use this in your application.
What Each College Is Actually Looking For
Beyond grades and scores, each of the five colleges evaluates something specific. Understanding what changes every application decision. Click a college to explore.
🔍

Select a college to see what its admissions committee actually evaluates.

The Passion Project at the 5Cs
PCG's F.U.T.U.R.E. Framework connects directly to what each college values in a student's independent work. Click each archetype.

PCG 5Cs Outcomes

Independent Research + Pomona

Environmental research cited in county government report

→ Pomona Admit + Full Need Met
Civic Platform + CMC

Budget transparency tool used by 3 city councils

→ CMC Admit (Class of 2028)
Accessibility Tool + HMC

Open-source tool with 800+ users in 14 countries

→ Harvey Mudd Admit
Genuine Curiosity + 18+ Months
+ External Validation + College Alignment
= 5Cs-Level Narrative
Strategic List Building: When and How to Use the 5Cs
How the five colleges fit into a California student's overall college list. Click each card for the full strategic explanation.
10 Claremont-Specific Strategic Insights
The insights that separate informed 5Cs applicants from the rest. Click each for the full explanation.
Free Consultation — Limited Spots Available

The Right 5Cs College
Changes Everything.
Is Your Student's Strategy Ready?

The matching framework, the essay strategy, the financial aid comparison, and the cross-registration argument all need to be in place before November 1. PCG specializes in exactly this for California families.

Book Your Free Claremont Strategy Session →
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Serving families in Calabasas, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills, Thousand Oaks & the greater Los Angeles area