<p>How hard are the classes at Pomona? I know the faculty is excellent, but are the classes like Williams where the courses are really hard and the competition is really high on the verge of being cutthroat?</p>
<p>Thanks I appreciate responses. I need to start thinking about ED/EA schools and Pomona is one of them.</p>
<p>i visited Pomona during finals week. it didnt seem incredibly cutthroat... i dont know anything about williams academics, but i know pomona is incredible. I wouldnt say that anybody there feels any more stressed out that anyone at any other top college or university.</p>
<p>My S works hard but has a lot of fun also and is not stressed. Administation works hard to de-stress students. My S has gotten a lot more B+'s then he was used to, not as easy to get all A's as high school and he was in a competitive HS with a lot of AP's. He is thrilled with his classes and professors though. Classes are not that hard but the work is much more time consumming, lots of 15 page papers, some classes have a book a week and a paper a week to do. There is a true collaborative feeling no compepition, students work together. It is a truly amazing school and the other students make it, such brilliant but non-assuming students.</p>
<p>So...are the classes really hard to get A's in? I want to go into med, but I need a school that isn't too tough but is still prestigious. I know some people at Williams that turned down Harvad and Princeton to attend Williams. They said the classes there are really tough and the people were really competitive. so that got me thinking whether or not Pomona would suit my purposes; I mean it is pretigious, but if it is as hard as HYPS, then why not just apply to HYPS EA/ED instead? This is the big deciding factor for which school I do EA/ED. Pomona is one of the candidates. Thanks for your responses. Anymore thoughts?</p>
<p>What makes you think HYPS are all that difficult? My nephew who graduated with honors from one of the Ivies in HYP list said he thought his high school work was harder. Just because a school is well known or very selective doesn't mean its academics are all that difficult or challenging. You need to evaluate each school by studying the curriculum for the area you desire, visiting, and talking with students who are in, or have graduated from the school. </p>
<p>A side note: My nephew's roommate at medical school was from a non top-tier state university. Their medical degrees read the same with no reference to their undergrad school.</p>
<p>People who try to game the system from the getgo make me unhappy.</p>
<p>I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but there are just so many brighter people out there than me so I just want to have a better chance to get into top tier med schools. Your nephew's room mate is probably a lot brighter than me. Though I try very hard, I still am no match for so many people who are just born naturally brighter. So, I am begging for you help, because I just want to fulfill my dreams and not regret that I didn't fulfill my dreams when I look back at life 30 years from now. I hope you understand, I'm only an average guy if not worse. But I try harder than many people and that is what's gotten me success up to this point in life; I just want to goto a college where my dreams won't be completely crushed, where I could have at least a chance to fight for my dreams, where I can at least hope to succeed. </p>
<p>Again, If I offended anyone, I am really sorry. Unlike most of you who have responded, I'm simply not as good/intelligent as you. </p>
<p>Thank you for those who replied, I appreciate your thoughts.</p>
<p>Maybe you should consider a less critical field where lives are not at stake. I want the best and brightest doctors schools can educate. Or at least promise you'll go into dermatology or something like that.</p>
<p>BARRONS -if you only put the smartest/most intelligent people out there and not people who try hard, then more people will die. Many smart people never try hard enough, so by your logic, YOU'D be killing more people. Anyway, who asked you to continue to replying with negative and discouraging comments like this?? did you not succeed in life or something? did you just get rejected from a school of your choice? well, you shouldn't try to crush other's dreams because your own were crushed. I asked for help not criticism. If that's all you have to say, then quit wasting your time destroying other people's life.</p>
<p>As for others like idad, thank you for your input, I appreciate you shedding new light on that information</p>
<p>Just want to agree that Barrons post was meanspirited. There is always going to be someone smarter than you, no matter how smart you are, and just because jrseekinghelp is concerned about balancing difficulty of classes with grades doesn't mean (s)he can't succeed. Sucess in almost anything depends way more on hard work than innate intelligence.</p>
<p>ok..pomona...very hard tro get into yea? alright..if schools are hard to get into, obviously they are picking the brightest or most likely to succeed in the admission pool. If a college accepts you, they are saying you can handle the work and succeed in this environment. So I am guessing Pomona will have a competitive and a strong academic program. jrseekinghelp ..if you want to start out strong and get into Med school, you should obviously look into other schools like Northwestern which has a program i tihnk that give u a guarentee admission to med school or just apply to UCSD, UCLA, or UCB. (those UC's are extremely good with the med school stuff according to a friend who's planning to go to UCSD to become a pediatrician.) ok Barron's, what the hell are you saying. really, dat was uncalled for. a guy comes in here seekign help and wondering the academic strengths of one school and you just made him feel worse. If you think that he will be a bad doctor, whatever...but just don't go to him later when you get sick for medical attention. I'm assuming that every doctor you go to, you ask for their educational history....pathetic man.</p>
<p>Pomona is known for great grad school placements. They have a whole department that helps with letters of recommendations and mentoring , ie they even remind your professors to get their letters in on time. Kids with less then A averages that we know ended up with many great choices for med school. If I were young again and could get in it would be my 1st choice.</p>
<p>Thanks again Arizonamom and thanks to Rexrun647 and gloaming for your advice and suggestions. I am going to apply to Northwesterns HPME ( 7yr med program) but it's really tough. 40 ppl per year get in. Also, Pomona is one of my top choices, it's just a matter of whether I can get in or not and if I can survive(grade-wise) there. I visited the campus and it's really nice, the students and faculty are nice and I really like the campus. I'd actually prefer it over HYPS if the classes aren't so overwhelming -it takes a lot to overwhelm me because of my persistance - that I might do better at hyps.</p>
<p>I thank all of you for your support and advice and would deeply appreciate anyone comments - as long as they're not like barron's criticisms.</p>