Columbia vs. Pomona.. need urgent input!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pomona College
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<p>I know there have been previous threads about the merits of these two colleges( I've pretty much browsed through all the ones I can find), but I still cannot make up my mind between these two colleges. I would wholeheartedly appreciate any input into this dilemma( a fortunate dilemma anyhow.)</p>

<p>The cost for both schools will be roughly the same for me, so financial reasons are not a factor in choosing a school. </p>

<p>The problem is mostly that I am relatively undecided about what I want to do for the future. I'm considering applied math/perhaps engineering degree combined with an MBA in grad school, economics with grad school MBA, and medicine. Future career- somehow involved in a tech startup, finance, or medicine. Medicine is really the odd one out here because I do not really enjoy biology , but my parents fervently want me to pursue medicine. As immigrants, they've sacrificed their lives and time for my academic success so much that I can't but feel that I'm being unwarrantedly selfish by pursuing another career without leaving an opportunity open for medicine. </p>

<p>I've visited both campuses.
So besides the whole undecided deal, here are some other pros and cons: </p>

<p>Columbia (SEAS) : </p>

<p>-best location in the world-particularly for finance, business</p>

<p>-threads like ( 4 Years Later: Reflections of a Columbia College Senior ) make me wary about Columbia's social environment as someone who enjoys campus community</p>

<p>-lack of campus community. In general, people seem aloof and absorbed in their own lives, although that seems to characterize New York in general. </p>

<p>-extremely intense and competitive environment. my overnight host basically didn't sleep until 6 am and skipped her first class at 8:40</p>

<p>-will make me definitely grow up very fast. I don't know if I can handle that coming from a small surbarban town</p>

<p>-core curriculum</p>

<p>-professors teach larger classes, are more absorbed with their own research. however, they perform more cutting edge research than at pomona. then again, must compete with grad students for reserach, and a columbia student told me that it is rare for freshman to be performing research (i'd probably do research in Computer Science/ EE)</p>

<p>Pomona:</p>

<p>-Claremont seems almost too small with no city life(which I like), but very intimate. When I visited, pomona students were so friendly I felt right at home. Got lost during the visit, and the students offered to personally direct me where I needed to go. </p>

<p>-secure and safe place where I feel I will definitely not fall through the cracks( which I feel might happen at Columbia). I found friends right away during the first hour, while I spent most of the Columbia's Days on Campus floating around groups of people, making "acquaintances" but not "friends"</p>

<ul>
<li>won't experience as much personal growth here compared to Columbia</li>
</ul>

<p>-professors are friendly, approachable, and personally teach every class. they get to know you so there is no problem with getting recs for grad school</p>

<p>-not in as ideal of a location for business, finance internships. Also, i'm considering engineering, and pomona has no engineering major, but harvey mudd is right next door. I'd have to major in Computer Science. Anyone know if it is possible to transfer to harvey mudd from pomona if a student decides to pursue engineering? </p>

<p>-freshman are actually PAID to do internships and reserach opportunities are easy to acquire</p>

<p>-food, dorms all better than columbia's (minor)</p>

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<p>It sounds like you made your decision if you read your own pros and cons carefully. My D was in the same position 3 years ago, and finally on April 29th she chose Pomona. To answer 2 of your “cons” for Pomona, you can take all the classes in comp sci you want at Harvey Mudd and still be a Pomona student, my D has a friend who is doing just that. There is no concern about the location for business, finance internships - these are done during the summers anywhere you want in the country. There are many Claremont College students in NYC in the summer, as well as other major cities. </p>

<p>One of the best things about Pomona, is that you won’t fall through the cracks at all. You can experience everything you want as a freshman, there is really no such thing as “seniority”, it is one big community. Good luck with your wonderful, yet very tough decision. Feel free to PM me.</p>

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<p>You definitely sound like a better fit for Pomona than for Columbia. If you’re worried about prestige, you should know that a ton of people (including me) turned down Columbia for Pomona. :)</p>

<p>Columbia is cold, unwelcoming, and intense. Pomona is warm, friendly, and more nurturing. The administration in Columbia does not really care about their students, but at Pomona you’ll get an unparalleled amount of individual attention. </p>

<p>Claremont is definitely not a city, but it’s safe, calm, and beautiful. It has the necessities: pharmacies, grocery stores, a collection of restaurants, a movie theater, salons. It takes 50 minutes to get to LA, which is a complex and multifaceted city. In that sense you get the best of both worlds. </p>

<p>Columbia CS has many more classes than CS than Harvey Mudd/Pomona CS combined, but you have to keep in mind that you’ll only be taking about 32 classes in your time, so course selection is not a huge factor (though you should see both and see if your classes are offered). Pomona is one of the top LACs for CS- the facilities are top notch, the recruitment is heavy, and there are so many opportunities to be involved with faculty research here. However, you may be working with the top minds in CS in Columbia, which is a factor in its own.</p>

<p>I’m surprised you think you won’t experience as much personal growth at Pomona. Pomona is the place where you discover what your true interests are- it’s a place that encourages going out of one’s comfort zone. There are so many ways to be involved here and the residential life is much better than Columbia’s.</p>

<p>Good luck in deciding though!</p>

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<p>Also, you can take engineering at Mudd and create your own major at Pomona! I don’t see why you would go through the hassle of transferring.</p>

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<p>And then there’s also the question of how easy it would be to switch to Engineering at Columbia as well. I think there will be pretty of personal growth at Pomona. One comment. If you are not totally bought into medicine, don’t go there. It is not something you can do without having your heart in it.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all the replies!</p>

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<p>I spent fourteen years of my life in NYC, and although a lot of people would refuse to acknowledge it, the sort of environment that exists there sort of breeds disillusionment, hostility (especially towards strangers), and unhappiness. NYC is probably one of the saddest places in the world, very individualistic as opposed to collaborative or community oriented. Its hard to walk pass homeless disabled veterans everyday without it affecting you. And these things have real implications, individualistic cultures have higher rates of depression and suicide (as opposed to collectivist in the sociological sense)
Of course these are broad generalizations, and although research could be done to see if what I say is accurate, I haven’t actually done any myself. But I have a feeling deep deep inside that Pomona is a much happier place than Columbia. </p>

<p>Haha now none of that has anything to do with the quality of education at these schools, but I think you know they’re both great. And the Claremont colleges say they make cross enrollment very easy.
Sent from my XT907 using CC</p>

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<p>The cross enrollment thing is very true. We don’t even think of it as cross-enrollment. Every class is in the same registration system, you sign up for what you want. I almost took a class at each school this semester, but ended up dropping one. There are some very loose rules about the total number of non-Pomona classes you can take.</p>

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<p>kelgrl- what did you end up deciding?</p>