Bowdoin vs Middlebury vs Pomona

College Search & Selection
1

<p>So excited to get into three dream schools of mine, but I'm now having a hard time deciding between them. </p>

<p>I'm an international student so I can't visit those schools. And I don't know much about the difference between East coast and West coast culture. </p>

<p>I'm pretty undecided about my major. But would like to try a wide range of them such as Computer Science, Philosophy, Psychology, Economics, Media/Film Studies, International Studies, etc. For climates, I'm not afraid of cold weather in the northeast, so California or Vermont or Maine are all OK. I know they are all great schools, so I'll only list some of my understandings here that make them different. </p>

<p>Bowdoin: Best food. Largest FA package (with $3000 for research purpose). Traditional departments are great (Econ, Psych...) </p>

<p>But I'm not really into pol sci or government, which it's really strong at. CS and Film may lack course diversity. </p>

<p>Middlebury: Great language and international studies programs. Great in Econ, psych, etc. Second largest FA package. Winter term offers practical and interesting classes and creates other opportunities. Exciting MiddCORE leadership program. </p>

<p>Location can be good (makes me more focused on studies) and bad (too far from main cities. Less opportunites. ) Only 4 CS professors. </p>

<p>Pomona: Claremont Consortium - balance of small and big. Great in traditional disciplines as well as media, and with Harvey Mudd in Consortium, great in CS. Close to LA (internships, other opportunities) and Silicon Valley (I love its feeling of innovation even though I don't wanna be a programmer. Don't quite know what other opportunites are there in the Silicon Valley). </p>

<p>But LA can also be a distraction. Plus, FA package smaller than Bowdoin's by $5000. The air quality may not be as great as it is at Midd or Bowdoin. There's also a chance that California will have a huge destructive earthquake in the following 50 years. </p>

<p>Please help me further evaluate the pros and cons of each college if you know about it. Also please give me some advices or experiences visiting or living on the campus. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>If air quality matters to you, Claremont is not your best option. I do not think “LA will be a distraction”, though, because you will be far away from the fun aspects of Los Angeles in Claremont.</p>

3

<p>i would go to bowdoin on financial aid alone. it seems as if you’d genuinely like to go to all three schools so, all things being equal, go with the largest reward. </p>

<p>congratulations. if money weren’t an issue, i’d just tell you to flip a coin.</p>

4

<p>It sounds to me as though Pomona best suits your diverse interests. You now have to decide if its advantages are worth an additional $5K/year. I’d say there is a wide gap in CS/Math strength between Pomona (with the other Claremonts) and Middlebury. In other respects, these are all highly regarded schools.</p>

5

<p>I would go with Pomona. Air quality issue is way overblown as a problem and while LA is nearby for special outings, it is not as accessible as one may think thanks to the city’s infamous parking lot highways and tough public trans access - certainly not a major distraction. Kids generally uses the city only infrequently. Campus is lovely, people generally stay close to home thanks to great social offerings among the 5C’s, almost 5,000 pop.</p>

<p>And the pluses are pretty clear - internship and ultimately job opportunities with great rep on the West Coast in particular (if that is a goal). Easy access to Mudd’s CS/math/engineering offerings, not that Pomona’s alone aren’t significant. Money generally matters bigtime but 5K a year is not enough to factor into this equation.</p>

6

<p>Pomona has a phenomenal graduate school placement rate if you’re considering that. The claremont schools have so much to offer, that would be my pick.</p>

<p>What atmosphere are you looking for?</p>

7

<p>I grew up in Claremont and went to middlebury college! Both wonderful places!!! The town of Claremont is lovely and vibrant, and all the colleges in town are great. The entire town is like one big college, and downtown is great. There is a train straight into LA now. But don’t expect beautiful wide open countryside around you. Middlebury is beautiful and very a beautiful countryside. The campus is spread out and gorgeous. The downtown is lovely, but much smaller than Claremont. You would be happy at both, but are different environments</p>

8

<p>To address some of your points-</p>

<p>“And I don’t know much about the difference between East coast and West coast culture.”</p>

<p>The West Coast has a laid-back and modern vibe, while the East Coast tends to be more serious, traditional, and historic vibe. These carry out in the vibes of the school- Pomona is distinctively laid-back and noncompetitive among the top LACs, while East Coast LACs like Bowdoin and Middlebury would have the more serious student population and just slightly more competitive. There is a difference between how the campuses look- Pomona has a mixture of Spanish architecture and high-tech buildings, while Bowdoin and Middlebury have bricks and a more historic look. Another difference- West Coast is more science and math oriented than the East Coast, and the East Coast it more humanities oriented. Nearly 45% of Pomona students major in a science or mathematics, compared to under 30% for the other two. </p>

<p>“I’m pretty undecided about my major.” I can only speak for Pomona, but it’s the ideal place to be undecided. There are more major/minor options at Pomona than the other two, much more classes due to the Claremont Consortium, and our curriculum is very flexible and open.</p>

<p>“Best food.”- This is a pretty minimal factor. Middlebury’s dining and Scripp’s/CMC/Pitzer’s dining hall (where Pomona students can eat) have been on the same list.</p>

<p>“with $3000 for research purpose”- Another minimal factor, especially for Pomona. Pomona covers summer research for about 15-20% of its student body each year at a stipend of 4000 through SURP and Independent Research.</p>

<p>“Traditional departments are great”- Bowdoin is also very good in biology and neuroscience.</p>

<p>“MiddCORE”- Is open to students from other institutions as well, though Middlebury sponsors it</p>

<p>“Silicon Valley”- shouldn’t be a factor. Claremont is more than 6 hours away. If you’re accounting for this then you should consider NYC/Philly/etc for the other two…</p>

<p>“But LA can also be a distraction”- Claremont is 30 miles away from LA. Your point would make more sense if Pomona was in the heart of LA. It most certainly is not.</p>

<p>“Plus, FA package smaller than Bowdoin’s by $5000.”- Very good point. Since Bowdoin offers no merit aid like Pomona you should appeal your Pomona FA. If they can’t change it, I dunno. Is Pomona really worth the 20K? For some people, yes, for others, no.</p>

<p>“The air quality may not be as great as it is at Midd or Bowdoin.” This shouldn’t be a consideration. Pomona’s smog is massively over-exaggerated. The air is really clean here and you can see the mountains clearly just about every day. </p>

<p>“There’s also a chance that California will have a huge destructive earthquake in the following 50 years.” Are you just trying to come up with possible reasons as to why not Pomona? This is really not a factor at all. There’s a chance that the East Coast could be destroyed by a hurricane or snow-storm. The East Coast experiences earthquakes too…
Trust me when I say Pomona takes earthquakes VERY seriously- all of the buildings are designated earthquake safe and they have a lot of emergency areas in case something happens.</p>

<p>How it seems to me- You like Pomona the most and are struggling to come up with significant flaws. You also seem to like Middlebury a lot with your specific reasons- it shows that you did your research for it. You don’t have very convincing pros for Bowdoin- do some more research. </p>

<p>On the financial issue- 20K is huge. Pomona is a notch above than the other two in just about factor, but the difference is pretty slight. For example (Pomona vs Bowdoin):</p>

<p>SAT Range:
M: 680-760 vs 670-750
R: 680-760 vs 670-760
W: 680-780 vs 670-760
ACT: 29-34 vs 31-33
Retention: 99% vs 96%
4 Year Grad Rate: 91% vs 88%
% Receiving FA: 55% vs 48%
Students of Color: 45% vs 32%
Internationals: 9.5% vs 5%
First Gen Students: 13% vs 12%
US News Ranking: 4 vs 6
Forbes Ranking: 9 vs 14
Top Feeder Schools Ranking: 13 vs 19
Endowment Per Student: $1,090,035 vs $513,175<br>
% of classes under 20- 70% vs 68.3%
% of classes larger than 50- 1% vs 1.3%</p>

<p>Only you can decide if being in a school that’s in a much more active area, has double the endowment per student of the other two, is considerably more diverse, and enjoys 2500+ classes, 7 dining halls, and 7500 students to interact with is worth 20K.</p>

9

<p>Thank you all for your responses!</p>

10

<p>denaht, thank you for your personal experience. Now I have a clearer sense of what environment I’ll get in both places. Since Claremont is closer to LA but Middlebury is more like “in the middle of nowhere”, what did you feel when you first get to Middlebury? I grew up in a big city so I haven’t experienced a kind of rural life. I hope to know what you and your friends think about the location of Middlebury. Does the location make the community tighter? Do you feel inconvenient when you want to hang out? Does the location affect internship opportunities? (I heard that lots of companys that have offices in LA go to Claremont college to recruit on campus. What about Middlebury? ) Thanks!</p>

11

<p>nostalgicwisdom, thank you for your long response. I think you have a really clear understanding of my thoughts now, that I love Pomona the most and Middlebury just as much. For Bowdoin I’m doing more research now. </p>

<p>However, I’m not trying to think of reasons not to go to Pomona. I love it and if it had not been for the earthquake, I would have definitely made my decision to go there. From the reports I’ve seen, there’s a 99% possibility in the following 30 years that a destructive earthquake will strike southern california. And for Middlebury and Bowdoin, the possibility is only 2%. (hurricanes and snow-storms will at least not ruin your dorm when you are asleep, and they are more predictable) The california earthquake problem is not about whether it will occur, but about when it will occur. So now I’m in this dilemma: I can choose to go to Pomona, but I’ll spend more money and will expose myself to a 4/30 possibility of experiencing a huge earthquake.The decision is also made when I have two other great options. </p>

<p>You mentioned that Pomona takes earthquakes very seriously. Could you please let me know where you got the information? I’m looking for it but haven’t found any yet.</p>

<p>Here’s also one thing about financial aid I hope to ask. Bowdoin and Middlebury both gave me more money that I requested, but Pomona just gave me the exact amount I wanted. Can I still appeal for more money? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

12

<p>Well, I go to Pomona. I’m from Houston, which doesn’t see earthquakes, period. Initially earthquakes were a slight worry but Pomona takes them very seriously. All the buildings are met to earthquake standards, the school has a strong network of emergency set-ups and does mock earthquake drills every semester, and the school gives everyone a safety kit in orientation week in case evacuation is needed. Honestly I think you’re being a bit paranoid…</p>

<p>A destructive earthquake is a 5.0 or higher. In the next four years (when you’ll be at college) the chance is 50%. 5.0 isn’t that destructive, neither is a 6.0, or a 7. Things become catastrophic at magnitude 8 or higher and those rarely occur.
<a href=“http://tsl.pomona.edu/pdfarchive/11-16-12.pdf[/url]”>http://tsl.pomona.edu/pdfarchive/11-16-12.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Well, I don’t think Pomona is worth 20K more. Do you? If you do, you don’t have to appeal- it’s sort of a hassle with. But considering that Bowdoin and Pomona have similar FA policies I’m surprised the difference is so high…</p>