We have a good friend who is a Pomona alum and who spent a semester studying at Swarthmore through a domestic exchange program between the two schools. She had a great experience and has talked it up to my D as an alternative to study abroad. This sounds appealing to D and she is thinking about it. However, our friend did this quite a few years ago. Anyone have recent experience with this program, or information besides the limited info on the Pomona and Swarthmore websites?
S will be starting Pomona in Fall. He was also accepted at Swarthmore. WE were told its possible but that it has to be a 1 to 1 exchange meaning there has to be a student at Swarthmore who wants to exchange with Pomona.
LOL we were told informally by students when we asked about exchanges that once the Swarthmore kids comes to Pomona they don’t want to go back. This is a cut and paste from Pomona website
Cooperative Academic Programs
Student Exchange Programs
Under arrangements made each year, Pomona sophomores, juniors and first-semester seniors may study as exchange students for a semester at Colby College in Waterville, Maine; Smith College in Northampton, Mass.; Spelman College in Atlanta; or Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Penn. Interested students should ask for further information from the Office of Student Affairs. A program for sophomores and juniors for an entire academic year is possible at the California Institute of Technology. The Physics Department can provide information on this program.
I don’t have any info on the Pomona/Swarthmore program (they were my D’s final 2 choices), but as the parent of 3 kids who all studied abroad, I can’t imagine studying in Philadelphia suburbs could compare to a real foreign study. All of my kids benefitted from study abroad; Pomona will pay for the airfare to get there.
I’ve heard the same rumor that it’s much harder for Swarthmore students to go on exchange to Pomona than vice versa.
I had a friend who did the exchange program to Swarthmore, but I think she ended up leaving Pomona altogether (didn’t transfer to any other college either). She’s the only one I know who has done the program. I was thinking about doing it, but in the end I felt that there weren’t enough distinctive differences between either college to warrant a one year detachment from the Pomona student body.
The weather was a big factor too.
Is the domestic exchange program for an entire year? I thought it was just one semester, which is what is suggested by the website’s language. I understand the point made by @mamabear1234 but part of what’s going into D’s thinking is that she wants to double major (definitely Econ and probably Politics) and is worried about not being able to take enough classes related to her majors if she studies abroad. This year she is taking a CS class and unexpectedly loving it, so now she is wondering if she can do a CS minor. Anyway I’ve told her to talk to her Econ advisor about it.
I think you can choose either. The person I know did a year, but other people do semester exchanges (to schools such as Spelman).
If she’s interested in a CS minor, that’d complicate things, as those classes are in high demand. I’m not sure how the transfer process works- I think while credits roll over, they can’t be used for a major or minor. It’d be good to inquire on that matter.