<p>If you had the choice of either, why CMC?</p>
<p>Depends on what you want to do, and what your personality is like.</p>
<p>If you are interested in studying Politics or Economics, CMC is better.</p>
<p>If you are more of an athlete or social person and less of a bookworm, CMC could also be better for you.</p>
<p>In general, CMC emphasizes a practical liberal arts education, while Pomona celebrates more intellectualism for the sake of intellectualism.</p>
<p>For example, CMC specializes in economics, but almost all of the economics graduates go onto business school, law school, consulting, and I banking. Pomona actually sends more people on to get PhD's in economics than CMC, even though CMC specializes in the subject. This kind of reflects the difference, Pomona is more interested in the ivory tower of academia, while CMC is more interested in real world applications of a liberal arts education.</p>
<p>Really, you should just do an overnight visit to the two (preferably on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night). Sometimes admissions offices dont allow visits on the weekends, but if you just stay at one school on Thursday, then your host can probably hook you up with a friend at the other school to stay on Friday. The two schools have different atmospheres and cultures, and only by visiting can you know which you fit with better.</p>
<p>If you want to see the purest CMC culture possible, ask for a host in "North Quad" on a Thursday night.</p>
<p>I was faced with the same decision a couple of months ago. I ultimately chose Pomona after visiting and researching the schools. But to answer your question of why someone would choose CMC over Pomona.... the only honest answer I could give would be #1 if they were absolutely sure they wanted to major in economics and go on to business or i-banking or something of that sort, or #2 they liked to party and drink.</p>
<p>CMC is designed towards leaders and leadership
Pomona is geared for the lifetime learner, love of academics</p>
<p>Read the descriptions of the courses offered at the two colleges (not just the titles.) It will give you a clearer idea of the difference in educational philosophy. Look at the current list of courses offered on the portal and see which classes you would actually choose to take and which campus is offering them. It should give you a better idea of the schools. Including Scripps, Pitzer and Harvey Mudd.
On the other hand, you might want to take your classes at one school (or many) but socialize at another - which is the beauty of the Consortium.</p>
<p>Neither school will keep you from going wherever you want to go. More CMC students focus on business, and more Pomona students focus on academia, but that's a function of the students desires themselves, not the ability of either school to get students into grad programs. Within Econ, CMC is still great if you want a PhD, and Pomona sends kids to top bschools every year. STUDENTS earn whatever future job/academic prospects they have upon graduating, the schools themselves don't give them these options.</p>