ED next cycle, Pomona College as a New England Student [in Comparison to Vassar]

College Search & Selection
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I noted that they mentor, speak with students etc.

Both my schools - undergrad and grad (yea large state school) - had panels, regular alum visits, small luncheons with industry professionals, meetings and field trips That’s not proprietary to LACs.

But it’s my opinion, when the student is looking at two similar schools, that shouldn’t play a role in the decision. The student will have access should they decide to take advantage no matter which they will attend. And alumni may help direct but are unlikely to place students directly into a role.

The student should find the best fit for them, and alumni should not be a deciding factor in that equation. At least in my opinion.

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Note: I edited the original post to clarify that this student is planning to ED in the next admissions cycle.

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Great question and happy to further answer via DM. In my opinion I wouldn’t take advice about a school and the campus experience unless someone has at a bare minimum visited the school.

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As a Vassar alum, I can tell you there are many benefits to alum connections. PM me if you have questions. One of my sons looked at the Claremont colleges. They are great schools. But as others have said, there is also some benefit to being able to get home easily for holidays, etc. I lived an easy drive from Vassar but only went home on holidays. Good luck!

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@Catcherinthetoast did an excellent job of describing some of Vassar’s powerful and active alum programs and activities. I appreciate your reaching out backchannel and I hope I answered some of your questions there. Good luck!

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Vassar alum chiming in here - and my son may very well also be applying ED in the fall! (Yet to be determined). Pomona was actually among the top few on my list of schools when I applied - I’m from the midwest and the decision was that Pomona was too $$ of a plane ticket and not driveable so I applied ED at Vassar instead. While it was also a plane ride home at the holidays, we were able to drive to/from (16 hours!) for drop-off and pick-up. And while California seemed nice in theory, the ivy covered classic New England campus, strong legacy of being a Seven Sister and continuing to have woman in leadership positions, and proximity to New York won me over.

Vassar alumns are incredibly involved. As others have mentioned, this is the case at many LAC, but I feel like it’s really an especially accessible and active group at Vassar. Also, if you are planning to end up on the East Coast for work, I do think - despite the high rank of Pomona - Vassar still tends to have better name recognition. But either I think are great in that regard.

I’d focus more on the “fit”. Your description of Vassar is spot on and it seems from your post, that your heart is with Vassar but it’s hard to give up the Cali dream. Reminder that Pomona is only 1700 students - significantly smaller than the 2600 Vassar student body. And yes, it’s part of the larger consortium, but I feel like the slightly larger VC cohort size hits the sweet spot. Only you can decide where to ED. But I do think VC’s open curriculum is amazing, the beautiful campus is hard to beat, and it’s an absolutely incredible community. Best of luck to you!

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I’m not at all surprised to read this. During our discussions with Vassar coaches during the recruiting process, the tightness of the alumni base was mentioned more than once. I can see it.

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And a propos of nothing (well, almost nothing) and the question of alum networking, etc., it’s fascinating to see the # of VC alums and parents posting a response to your questions. And as for Pomona parents/grads…… crickets so far.

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Prior to sending two of mine to SLACs, I probably would have agreed with you. I am an alumnus of a very large and well respected research powerhouse. Many who attended, like me, are enthusiastic about the school and the sports teams. But there are 36,000+ undergrads there, and the sense of taking care of our own is a bit of a stretch in real life, which reflects what you’ve written. My alma mater graduates legions of all type of people every year, and it’s hard to get one’s head around the idea of being loyal to a given fellow alumnus just because you’re both graduates of the same university. It’s hard to articulate why, but the numbers, IMO, make the thing a bit more of an abstraction. A dear friend who graduated from UCLA says the same thing, and of course that is a phenomenal place to get an education.

Both of my LAC kids share a different experience, and I through them vicariously. For better and for worse (and as you know, there is no shortage of people on this forum who are happy to point out the latter), it is a more intimate environment and thus, for many, experience. It is college “on a human scale,” as one LAC president once noted. This is such a hot topic around here (and elsewhere) that it’s hard to get anywhere with these discussions, but I would posit that, if a LAC didn’t produce a strong sense of belonging and identity with the school then it’s doing something wrong. I think they do, and that’s why I think the alumni of these schools TEND to be pretty tight. I acknowledge that there are some large schools, like USC, who also have pretty strong alumni ties, but I think it’s more typical of a smaller college. I’m not saying it has to be 3,000 or less. I just know that at each of the SLACs my kids attended, alumni show up in pretty strong numbers for their reunions 30+ years out from graduation. But for me, I don’t have a sense of why I would ever attend a reunion. I have a huge social circle of fellow alumni, and none of them ever go either.

For a pointed example, there also two specific alumni associations among LACs that are widely known for their fierce loyalty: the Williams art history mafia and the Wesleyan film mafia. Both groups notoriously look out for their own in industry. I’m sure there are others. I have heard many times that Middlebury people take care of their own on Wall St, for example. @Catcherinthetoast can probably shed more light on that one.

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I have not heard that Pomona is a particularly stressful place. Great school, nice campus, California … what’s not to like.

Comes down to personal preference. You’re not comparing Pomona with a lower-tier LAC. It’s Vassar. To me, Vassar has an incredibly strong brand and, as one alumnus wrote in another thread, the name is quite widely recognized.

You seem to prefer Vassar, so go there. FWIW, if it were me choosing between these two fine institutions, I would prefer Vassar myself. But that’s me. I have a bias for the northeast, and I have a bit of a bias for Vassar itself. I love and respect the history of the Seven Sisters, the campus is as pretty as they come, and it’s a school that, to me, just personifies the ideal of a liberal arts education.

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Well, one of our kids attended Pomona and another attended Vassar and both would agree that they made the right decision for themselves, and that their respective college experiences got them where they are today (happy and doing what they want to do). Both visited 20+ schools, fell in love with Pomona/Vassar the first time they saw them, and stayed in love after going back for second looks. Both were science nerds, although the Vassar kid also has some artistic leanings and is more involved with politics (which seems to fit the general Vassar student profile). The Vassar kid stayed on the east coast and has taken advantage of a very visible Vassar alumni network (particularly in NYC), while the Pomona grad’s alumni connections seem to work more “behind the scenes” (there’s probably a reason that its very active entertainment alumni group is known - internally at least - as the “Claremont Entertainment Mafia”), and has found Sagehens in every city they’ve lived in since. Both formed close ties with professors - the Pomona kid also working closely with profs at a couple of the other 5Cs. My observation as a parent is that the Pomona academic experience was a bit more intense - despite it’s laid-back reputation - and its financial resources were quite a bit more obvious. As parents, we absolutely loved visiting both. As you have probably figured out, while both are very selective, it is a lot harder to get into Pomona. That’s particularly true for EDs, with Vassar admitting nearly 40% and Pomona far less than half of that. I don’t think you could go wrong with either. Now you just have to continue to kill it in your high school classes and get admitted!

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Hey! Congrats on your work this far, especially as a first-generation college student. It’s not easy to navigate, and I have a lot of respect for you on here planning. I’m a current junior at Vassar and would love to help you out in any way that I could, feel free to dm me and ask more questions here! I’ve done some work helping first gen/ low income students with navigating the college process.

The comments about financial aid calculators are really important. If you apply ED, it’d binding, so you need to make sure it’s something your family could pay for. You probably already know this – but doing those calculators would be valuable.

I don’t know much about Pomona, though the points about how it’s really just part of the larger Claremont Colleges seems important if you didn’t like the “bigger school” vibes. Even if Vassar isn’t for you, maybe Pomona isn’t the best alternative? LA is also just a whole different vibe from the New York state and city.

I like Vassar a lot. It’s not perfect, but I have a lot of appreciation for it. Our STS program is pretty well regarded. Open curriculum is really, really nice. Vassar is a nice size. When I was in high school, I was worried that 2,500 students would feel too small. But honestly, there are always tons of new people to meet, though you’ll always see people you know when you go to stuff. It’s a nice balance. Of course, that’s subjective… but I like it. There are lots of connections between Vassar and NYC though. The Center for Career Education does a lot to help students connect with alums.

Vassar has a Transitions program for first-gen, low income students too. They have a foundations week, and are active with events throughout the school year. Many of my friends did this, and love the community of people and supper networks that it built for him. It’s one of the best parts of Vassar.

I’m from Maryland, and considered going to Cali for college. In retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t. It’s cheaper to get home, and it’s nice to feel closer to family, without being too close. 5 hours is plenty far. Support matters – even if you aren’t going back more than 3 times a year, knowing that you could matters. Of course, others feel differently :slight_smile:

People get stressed at Vassar, of course, but I don’t think we have a culture of stress. Honestly less stressful than high school, I think. People work a lot, but have time to do things other than study haha. I was really surprised by how many people sleep enough and prioritize their well-being over getting every reading done. The social science/ humanities profs especially are really caring and supportive people.

Pomona is richer though, and that comes with perks! Though I’ve been able to get money for stuff from Vassar. Last summer, I got a grant from Vassar to live in Peru taking Spanish classes all summer. They paid for the whole summer – including the classes, my homestay, food, transit, and trips to Machu Picchu, the Amazon rainforest, a fútbol game, etc. I got money to go to a conference about Civic Engagement in Boston last fall. Some of my friends got money to go to a conference in Montreal over Spring Break (they ate very well too haha). My friends and I applied to the Vassar ticket fund and all saw Hamilton on broadway and ate at a nice restaurant, all totally covered by Vassar. I’ve seen another show on broadway, also totally covered by Vassar. My dorm had buses that went to see Cirque du Soleil this December, and we did this cool sailing thing on the Hudson with an environmental justice organization this Spring, all totally free. The Vassar Student Association (our student government) gets to allocate nearly a million dollars to student clubs and organizations each year… which equates to all sorts of cool stuff that students spend money on. Pomona is richer and I’m sure you could do stuff like this there… but don’t discount that Vassar is also quite rich. There are opportunities to access money here too.

Anything I else I could comment on to help? Feel free to post here or dm if there’s anything I could help support with!

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