Scripps College is such a beautiful, charming institution that it’s hard to imagine needing to avoid places. I can attest to the fact that most places on campus and things to do at Scripps are as wonderful as they look on the admissions brochure. Nonetheless, like at any college, there are things that are better to stay away from. Here are five spots to avoid during your years at Scripps.
1.) Kimberly Dorm.
Scripps is known for its beautiful dorms, and for the most part this is true. Unfortunately Kimberly, or Kimbo, is the redheaded stepchild of otherwise attractive residence halls. Kimberly’s appearance can most flatteringly be described as functional, owing to the fact that Harvey Mudd College originally commissioned the hall for its female students.
Your freshman year you’ll be assigned a dorm, but in later years it’s best to avoid living in Kimberly unless it’s the only dorm room left with single rooms available.
2.) Weekend Dinner at Malott Commons.
Malott Commons, Scripps’ dining hall, is known for having great food, but weekend dinners are the exception. The dining hall is open for limited hours on weekend evenings, and it mostly serves leftovers meaning, what’s left is usually the meals students enjoyed the least that week. Weekend dinner is a great time to try other Claremont College dining halls, cook your own food in the residence hall kitchens, or go out to eat in The Village in Downtown Claremont.
Another fun option is to order food from Mix Bowl, an inexpensive Thai restaurant that is open late and delivers directly to dorm rooms.
3.) Studying in the Browsing Rooms.
All of the Scripps dorms have a browsing room, a quiet room with books and space to study. The older dorms (Toll, Grace, Browning, and Dorsey) are among the most popular places to live, and their browsing rooms are attractive. However, the antique furniture, while lovely, is uncomfortable to study in, and the low lighting makes it difficult to see after dark.
It’s well worth visiting these browsing rooms and looking through their collections of books, but for actual studying the library or a sunny place outdoors is a better alternative.
4.) The Dorm Computer Closet.
In each residence hall you’ll find a small room with a computer and printer, called the Dorm Computer Closet. Scrippsies can connect their computers to the printer and print from anywhere. The problem is, the dorm printer is always out of paper when you most need it particularly around midterms and finals when everyone is printing long essays!
The dorm computer is also often in use, and the closets’ small quarters don’t make for a good environment for completing work. If you don’t have a computer a better option is to work in the Scripps Computer Lab. Scripps students can also print from their laptops to the computer lab.
5.) The Sagehen Restaurant.
The Sagehen is actually on Pomona College’s campus, but it’s the Claremont Colleges’ only proper restaurant. It’s tempting to take your parents or a date here because it takes the Scripps meal plan flex money, but it’s better to save your flex dollars for The Motley and other student hangouts.
The Sagehen has slow service, unremarkable food, and is expensive (half your flex money for the semester will be used up after eating here once!). For the price you’re paying to dine at The Sagehen, a better option is to walk a few additional blocks to The Claremont Village’s nicer restaurants.
Kacie Berghoef, MSW, is a Certified Enneagram Teacher and a writer. She received a Masters Degree in Social Work from UC Berkeley and a BA in Philosophy from Scripps College. Connect with Kacie at linkedin.com/in/kberghoef and at BerghoefBell.com.