<p>some of the responses on this thread amaze me, and if the attitude that i'm seeing here is from people who are actually headed to brown next fall, then i'm a bit worried.</p>
<p>pomona is a fantastic school (easily a top 5 LAC), with access to all of the other claremont schools (a bit of diversity never hurt anyone), and access to LA, pasadena, etc. you will have a fully rewarding experience there studying humanities. they are, however, more structured academically.</p>
<p>brown is an equally fantastic school, which i believe to be stronger in the sciences, as well as offering access to both providence and other nearby metropolitan centers. they offer more freedom, which bear in mind is a double edged sword. i can put you in touch with students at both, and i reccomend you buy the college pr0wler (whoever censored this word is really lame) guides for both, have them shipped expedited and see what you think.</p>
<p>if it were me, i'd definately take pomona. it's a very comparable education and culture, a wonderful climate, and 34k is nothing to sneeze at. you really should visit both though, and in the end ignore what everyone tells you and go with what feels right. hope i've sorta helped?</p>
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brown is one of the top feeders to med school, law, school, etc. ...
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<p>ditto for Pomona</p>
<p>Academically, both are so good, and well respected by grad schools, that this is not a basis for deciding.</p>
<p>Fit, climate, coast, unique features of each of these unique institutions should be your considerations. Pomona has tons of money, so its fin aid package may be better than Brown's.</p>
<p>No one has denied that pomona is a good school... Yet, to group it in the same league as brown is ridiculous.. Its a good school, but when its a decision between pomona and brown, most students choose brown... theres obviously a reason for it..</p>
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Then there's tiny Pomona College in California, which sent a higher proportion of its kids to Harvard Law this fall than Columbia or Duke. No. 13 on our list, it's created a separate office to handle grad-school admissions and fellowships, including its own full-time director.
<p>Don't be so quick to pass judgement on Pomona, Brown lovers.
Pomona does exceedingly well getting their grads into medical, law and business schools, as well as graduate programs at the most competitve programs in the country. The education, the internship possibilites, the grad placement, it's all there. Location is better to some, worse to others. </p>
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No one has denied that pomona is a good school... Yet, to group it in the same league as brown is ridiculous..
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<p>Not so ridiculous, actually. You'll find a lot of Pomona students who passed up Ivies to attend Pomona.</p>
<p>"Youll find a lot of Pomona students who passed up Ivies to attend Pomona"</p>
<p>Im sure you will.. But youll find even more Brown students who turned down pomona to go to brown... The figures will back me up here.. Im going to stand by what i said... Brown is in a league above Pomona</p>
<p>hahah clay soul, if youre gonna tlak about rugby you should know that claremont colleges just lost in the national dII semifinals this weekend in florida</p>
<p>." Brown is in a league above Pomona- The figures will back me up here."</p>
<p>I would imagine that most kids that want an LAC don't even apply to Brown. I would bet that Brown and Pomona don't have that many common admits to even find such data.
One is an LAC, one a university. Is Brown in a different league than Williams? How about Amherst or Bowdoin? If you believe that being in the Ivy league, or being a university as opposed to a liberal arts college makes it better, then I can see why you feel that way.
Some people feel that a liberal arts college is at least as good, perhaps better, for undergraduate education. Pomona is up there with the best of the LACs and it's accepted students' stats are as good as Browns'. I don't believe that all the ivies are better than the best LACs. As good, and different, yes, but not better.
They're both great schools - but to say that it's "ridiculous" to group Pomona,( or Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst ) in the same league with Brown is just uninformed. I think the best LACs can very easily compete with most of the ivies when it comes to educational quality for the undergrad.</p>
<p>If offered 34K at Pomona, and only loans at Brown, Pomona would be the best choice. Equal education, equal access to grad school, and no debt.
(and warm wonderful weather.) It would be a no-brainer, for me.</p>
<p>actually brown, as one of the smaller ivies, shares a lot of cross-admits w/ lacs and wins the vast majority. this is likely why brown does not need to match fin aid offers outside the "ivy plus" group</p>
<p>FWIW, my son got about $2000 less in grants and $2000 more in loans from Brown than he did from Pomona for this first year, and chose to go to Brown. The FA office at Brown would not consider the Pomona aid offer, but did lower our EFC after seeking more information from us, specifically, health costs.</p>
<p>Id agree that the best LAC's are in the same league as Brown, yet the only ones id include in this list are swat, williams and amherst.. Pomona, though good, isnt a top lac (Just like brown isnt in the HYP league - close, but not quite there)...</p>
<p>Colleges comparable to brown would more likely be the 3 lac's i mentioned, and columbia, upenn and maybe dartmouth..</p>
<p>Hmm. I think your east coast bias is showing.
US news gives Pomona a #2 selectivity rank, along with A & S.
(Mudd is #1 in selectivity, Pomona's campus companion)
Pomona has a lower acceptance rate than A & S.
SAT scores differ by 10pts - higher or lower, depending.</p>
<p>You don't think Pomona is a top ten LAC.... </p>
<p>Yet you compare Penn, #4, right under HYP and think it's the same as Brown, ranked #15. And Columbia and Dartmouth are ranked #8 & #9, six points away from Brown, but you won't let Pomona sit with AYS, which is only 3 points from Swat. It's not very logical, imo.
I will give you that numbers aren't everything. But you brought up "numbers."
Note: US News considers all of the above "Top Colleges." I wholeheartedly agree.
For some kids, Brown is BETTER than Princeton or Harvard would be, regardless of the ranking. The differences are minute.
You can argue preferences within these wonderful schools, but they really are all in a very elite group. To say it's"ridiculous" that someone might be considering colleges within this group, where financial aid is a significant factor is misleading. We get that you love Brown, and I agree it's awesome.
Just don't think that for some kids, Pomona might actually be a better fit, better financial choice, and equally awesome. And it will get you into an equally awesome grad school.</p>
<p>On the contrary ASAP... I didnt bring up the US news rankings because i think theyre flawed anyway... Factors that affect the rankings are things like "Percentage of alumni who donate, etc"... Things that clearly wont affect one's undergraduate education... That being said, schools move about crazy amounts in the US news rankings.. how reliable do you think they really are.. Do you think UPenn and Duke are above Stanford... Quite honestly, they arent..</p>
<p>If financial aid or weather is a big factor, then go for pomona... but i dont think it has the edge over brown in any other category...</p>
<p>Also, "east coast bias?" Lol given that i think stanford is probably the best college in america, and given that ive lived in india for 18 years, i dont really see where such a bias would come from...</p>
<p>Pomona's admit rate was only 16% this year. I remember Brown had a year not too long ago where its own admit rate was 16%, so you can see how selective Pomona has become (and how much more selective Brown has become as well).</p>
<p>Pomona is VERY well regarded on the west coast; out here it is much better known than Swat, Amherst Williams, etc. After Stanford, it's <em>the</em> next best private that is not a tech school. Due to UC excellence, we have very few 'elite' non-religious privates. Thus there are some very, very smart west coasters aiming for Pomona, even if the college's national reputation might not be quite as strong. </p>
<p>Remember that admit rates are also influenced by the number of 'ineligible' students who apply, and this is heavily due to name recognition; the perception of Brown as fun, quirky, & liberal prompts many borderline kids to pick it as their Ivy reach. (Consider that U Chicago has a relatively high admit rate but a very smart student body-- good illustration that admit rate alone is not the best barometer of quality.)</p>
<p>But you must also take note that people who applied to Brown , do go to Brown when they are accepted. (Refer to the preference Ranking) Compare that to U Chicago. </p>
<p>Beside.. I can also use your argument for Pomona... As a college to go to for 'Stanford-rejects'? And I believe that nowhere does the term Ivy Reach is more apt than in Cornell..</p>