Amherst vs Pomona vs Williams

College Search & Selection
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Hi!
So I’m a 20F immigrant student from a community college in Florida. My major is Political Science and I also want to focus on Journalism and Identity studies (gender, religion, ethnic, and otherwise).
There is a possibility I may aim for law school but not sure yet.
Anyhow, I was accepted as a transfer student to these institutions and all of them offered me a full-ride because I’m FLI so disregard financial concerns.

----Pomona College

Pros:
-It’s in a metropolitan area (Los Angeles)
-Part of the Claremont consortium
-Small liberal arts
-Sunny weather
-Small class sizes (8:1 faculty ratio)
-Pipeline to private sector (silicon valley and else)
-Great alumni community
-Near cost-free study abroad opportunities
-Only undergrad students so all classes are taught by actual professors
-One of the top LAC institutions (contested with Williams and Amherst)

Cons:
-Flying from SoFlo is expensive
-Dorms have no AC
-Good school but not that known

----Williams College

Pros:
-Top LAC institution
-Small class sizes (6:1 faculty ratio)
-Closer to the Northeast
-Pipeline to NY, Boston, DC, and Philly
-Best alumni community
-Free books
-Mostly undergrad students
-Oxford style learning and tutorials

Cons:
-Middle of nowhere (northwestern tip of Massachusetts)
-Closest metropolitan area is Albany, NY
-Cold af
-Flights and bus ride to get there (I get motion sickness)
-Great school but not that known
-Little nest of right-wing extremists (I’m an immigrant)

----Amherst College

Pros:
-Top LAC institution
-Small class sizes (7:1 faculty ratio)
-Closer to the Northeast
-Good alumni community
-All undergrad students
-Part of the 5 colleges consortium
-Great endowment

Cons:
-Middle of nowhere (near Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts)
-Closest metropolitan area is hours away and in a different state
-Cold af
-Flights and bus ride to get there (I get motion sickness)
-Great school but not that known
-Terrible food and services
-Little nest of right-wing extremists (I’m an immigrant)

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seriously … “little nest…” half this board are immigrants …

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Pomona. I just don’t see your sardonic sense of humor fitting in with either of these buttoned-down New England colleges.

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Pomona absolutely.

FYI you don’t need A/C in California…no humidity.

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Lmao immigrants can be right wing fyi :rofl::rofl:

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First, congratulations! These are all colleges which are more than amazing, and all have very low acceptance rates, so you did very well.

Just so you understand, all three of these colleges are VERY well known, and are not “good schools” but really, “amazing schools”. LACs are top-notch institutions which specialize in teaching undergraduates, and are VERY good at it. Moreover, these three schools are very wealthy, and are able to hire the very best faculty.

All three are very well known, especially among journalists.

None of the NE liberal arts colleges are in any shape or form “nests of right wing extremists”. Both Amherst and Williams have student bodies which are overwhelmingly liberal or progressive.

All that being said, it seems to me that your favorite is, hands-down, Pomona.

It is also the most diverse of the three, and, for a Floridian, a New England winter can be brutal (my kid attends a NE liberal arts college, one which is actually colder than Williams or Amherst).

Again, you have three amazing choices, all which are equivalent in every level of opportunities, resources, support, etc. What that means, really, is that you can choose the one which you find the most attractive to you.

The school year ends by June, and it gets pretty cool at night in the area around Pomona (the average nighttime temperatures in June are in the upper 50s), so a fan is enough.

PS. Pomona was my kid’s first favorite school, and one of her best friends from high school is there (she is your age or so).

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Well, you don’t need a dehumidifier you mean. :grinning:

Need? No, it’s not a necessity to remain alive, but surely there are weeks and months when it’s really nice to have, even here in Silicon Valley, let alone Pomona or somewhere like Palm Springs, the Desert or Central Valley.

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It was more a comparison to the NE schools where dorms often don’t have A/C and it’s incredibly humid at the beginning of the fall semester. California wasn’t humid when I’ve been there. :sunny::grin:

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Note that Pomona is not really that close to the middle of Los Angeles and LAX. The closest airport is Ontario International (Ontario, California!), and I think Burbank would also be closer than LAX. Maybe the flights would be cheaper if you fly into one of these other area airports. It’s a really beautiful school, but the surrounding environment is more suburban than metropolitan. I agree with others that little nests of right-wing extremists are probably not something you need to worry about at Amherst or Williams, although the northeast schools are often politically-charged, usually tilting left. Among the Claremont schools we visited, Pitzer seemed to have the most overtly activist atmosphere, and Pomona seemed more academic/intellectual. Each of the consortium schools seems to have its own “flavor,” and it’s interesting that the students who have chosen such different environments all seem to mix together well in the classrooms, dining halls, athletic fields, etc.

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Anything left of an LAC college is “militant communism”. Is that what you immigrated here to find?

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Congratulations on having three great options!

LOL. Williams is NOT a nest of right-wingers! Conservative, it is not!

Sanders was more supported than Biden on campus, and Trump supporters were very very few. If anything, at times it appears (at least to me as a parent who considers myself a liberal Democrat) as almost a parody of modern progressivism. Anything the right wing makes fun of in the left wing is well-represented at Williams: cancel culture, name your pronouns at the start of every first-time meeting, admit your white privilege, etc. Sometimes you have to wonder how all those active protestors grow up to become management consultants and investment bankers!!!

Seriously, though, on the plus side: it is a welcoming place for people of all different races and gender identities and so forth. You would be very comfortable there as an immigrant, and you would find lots of other immigrants and children of immigrants at Williams, and almost everyone on campus could be considered an “ally.”

I imagine Amherst and Pomona are quite similar to Williams in that regard. So not a differentiator.

And it seems to me that you feel most excited about Pomona and less enthusiastic about A or W. Since all three are equally amazing schools, why not go to your favorite? Go to Pomona and don’t look back! Best of luck.

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The loudest protesters may not necessarily be aiming for Wall Street and such, and business / money conservatives may not necessarily be social / racial conservatives who are more involved in “culture war” issues.

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True, that!

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Parent of a Pomona '19 grad here. It’s true that Pomona is located in a suburban setting. You can get to LA on the Metrolink. It’s much easier to fly into Ontario than LAX if you can. Also, 38% of Pomona dorms have air conditioning. On the one hand, it’s true that normally humidity is not a big problem. On the other hand, there are sometimes heat waves where it can get unpleasant. Over 800 Pomona Students Sweat Out Heat Wave Without Air Conditioning - The Student Life. But overall Pomona is a great school and the presence of the consortium all on one walkable campus is a big plus.

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I agree with you, but your post also brings up something I was thinking about while reading the OP’s post. Even if the “allies” have the best of intentions, it can be a bit wearing on those they are allying with. This was one of the things that scared me off the NE colleges for my multi-ethnic, multi-cultural son - he’s been raised and educated in international schools to regard himself as absolutely ordinary in these terms, and I think he would really dislike/not benefit from being cast as a minority in need of allies in some SJW’s world view. I don’t know how the OP views these things, as his background is different, but we are happy that our son is in a less-politicized environment. He’s obviously being exposed to US racial issues and politics - I don’t think any US college student can escape that and I think it’s important that he understands these issues as he makes decisions about his future - but his ethnicity and background are not defining factors. Among the OP’s choices, I am guessing that Pomona may be the least politically-charged environment and might offer the best chance to be “ordinary” if that is something he values.

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Seriously … current environment is completely nuts …

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Flying from FL, all will be a slep. Cheapest is to fly to LA and take the shuttle bus (or JetBlue south of La) Ontario etc will mean a transfer in Dallas, generally. Amherst—2 hours from Boston, less if fly into Conn. either way, a bus trip. Amherst is suburban, with lots of local shops and dining places, and Northampton nearby. Have you ever tried winter sports?

Congrats on being accepted into 3 of the best LACs If winter scares you, then. Ponoma is best. It will still average 10-20’ cooler than FL

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Hi, I’m only referring to it as so because that’s what I’ve been told by other FLI students that go there. Also, just because one is not conservative doesn’t mean it ranges to the opposite side towards communism. Lastly, my reasons to emigrate are no one’s business because I was brought here as a minor :woman_shrugging:t2: especially since I am an American citizen so. Thank you for your ‘insight’.

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I have friends and acquaintances that have transferred there and that’s why I described it as so. Not my personal experience because I’ve never visited and even less now with COVID which is very unfortunate lol

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Today, current Williams students who volunteered to reach out to admitted students each were given the emails of a few admitted students. If you receive an email, take advantage of that opportunity to ask any questions you may have that a current student can answer for you.

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