<p>Thoughts? Most likely studying biology. Pomona would cost a lot more.</p>
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Do you mean Pomona will cost you a lot more money that you or your parents actually have, or do you mean you would be taking a lot more loans at Pomona? I mean, if you have the money to spend, it’s your decision whether you want to spend it, but getting into large amounts of debt for college is not a good idea, especially when you have options that would reduce the amount of debt.</p>
<p>We’re not really one of the subforums that will tell you “go to this school, no matter what”, because Grinnell isn’t for everyone, but still, if it’s financially advantageous to go to Grinnell, I think you should. You haven’t given us any numbers, but ‘a lot more’ makes me worry. Most high schoolers don’t really have a concept of what, say, $50,000 in debt really means. Even Harvard wouldn’t be worth that kind of debt.</p>
<p>Biology at Grinnell is excellent. It’s one of the largest majors (maybe the largest, I don’t remember exactly), since so many people at Grinnell study STEM. The school also has a huge endowment that really shows in the facilities, and the Noyce science center has been expanded and renovated multiple times in recent years. You should try to make it to one of the admitted student days if you can so you can see Noyce in person. It’s an enormous building and it has all the resources you could possibly be looking for.</p>
<p>My son was accepted to both and several other colleges. He visited both campuses twice, did overnights and attended classes. We told him to not consider the finances involved. He chose Grinnell based on social fit. He also saved us $80,000 because of lower tuition costs and a substantial merit scholarship. He felt that Grinnell students were more unconventional thinkers than those at Pomona. It took me awhile to fully realize what a great choice he had made. This is not to say anything negative about Pomona at all. He’d have gotten a great education there too, but he felt more comfortable at Grinnell. And saving all that money sure was nice too. Both campuses are gorgeous. Iowa has winter, of course. I know sciences are first-rare at Grinnell. They probably are at Pomona too. Grinnell keeps class sizes small, even in intro courses.</p>