Talk:Westmont College

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This needs to be a bit more organized. I will work on this and editing the language a bit...a few too many "many"s for an encyclopedia article. Help with citing sources would be appreciated.

This article is way too biased. Westmont is *not* that great of a school.

one word: organization. This page is totally inaccessible.

- This page reads like a prespective student pamphlet, and is very biased. It also makes no mention of the fact that the UC system by and large will not transfer any religious studies credits.

[edit] Rankings

Re: Westmont is not that great of a school. Then, may I ask, why is it that the factual data (entering GPA, SAT scores, professors with terminal degrees, etc.) would rank it in the top 50 liberal arts colleges in the country?; that quite a few of its students choose it over Stanford, Harvard and other schools?; that an anonymous donor just gave it the fourth largest donation ($75 million) ever given to a college?; that it consistenly ranks at the very top of schools producing students with integrity?; that its applicant pool is growing out of control? Might it be that you haven't investigated the school, don't know its merits, or simply couldn't get in?

Re: Whether or not any of what you said in the last sentence above is true is completely irrelevant to my statement.

To be honest, it does rank very last in that top 50% [1]. :) In terms of academics (breadth of majors, degrees offered, library resources, graduation rate, professors with doctorates) Westmont does not offer as much to the student, particularly given its price, as do other liberal arts universities. TheFactsPleaseMaam 22:05, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Re: the above -- as a graduate of Westmont, I can personally attest to the fact that in many respects it is a special place, just not in the aspects that typically define leading colleges and universities. They can afford to be highly selective (hence the high average SAT and GPA) because they appeal to very specific demographics. The location in Santa Barbara and the unapologetically Christian emphasis, combined with a hard cap on enrollment (per the Conditional Use Permit with Santa Barbara) keep "supply" artifically lower than demand. The academic environment is mediocre compared to leading liberal arts colleges even if just West Coast schools are considered. If a student is willing to trade off academic excellence for a heavy christian emphasis and/or proximity to a city like Santa Barbara, then it is an outstanding choice. For those interested dominantly is a truly excellent liberal arts education than places like the Claremont Colleges, Occidental, Whitman, etc. are far better choices just on the West Coast. A 106th place ranking is nothing to be overly proud of. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.28.160.56 (talk) 23:20, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Opinion

Our goal is not to edit this page to display Westmont as great or not that great of a school. Regardless of your opinion on the matter, this Wikipedia page exists to present the facts. My opinion is that Westmont is a pretty good school, but there are, of course, much more prestigious schools out there. This opinions, however, does not belong in the article. If it sounds like an ad then fix the tone and the bias, but don't remove the opinion just to re-insert your own. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.136.180.131 (talk) 08:30, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

Westmont does have multiple identities. It is a small private distinctively Christian college as well as an excellent academic liberal arts college. Relative to other Christian colleges Westmont stands out academically along with Wheaton College as two of the most selective and prestigious Christian colleges in the country. While it is not up to the level nationally as the Claremont's or other highly selective liberal arts colleges it does fit as an academically superior Christian institution. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.181.74.86 (talk) 05:33, 3 November 2007 (UTC)