<p>Personally, I can’t like CMC because it doesn’t have it’s own biology program. This is why Pomona is the better school for me.</p>
<p>and FauxNorm, I’m with you on everything stated above.</p>
<p>“the better school for me”</p>
<p>This is the right attitude. One school is not better than another.</p>
<p>In response to the idea that Pomona is not “nationally known,” that’s just wrong.</p>
<p>While it’s true that the “average person” has never heard of Pomona, the same could be said for any other prestigious school not named Harvard, Yale or Princeton. Not too many people know about the other Ivies (Cornell, UPenn…), nevermind small LACs like Haverford, Swarthmore etc…</p>
<p>However, amongst those “in the know,” those who were educated at these schools and those who have hired from these schools for decades, Pomona is definitely known. Indeed, it’s at the top.</p>
<p>I am in a similar boat now that I’m in grad school and kind of enjoy flying under the radar once more. However, amongst those in that industry, the name alone will open doors just like Pomona has and will continue to.</p>
<p>Some LACs seem to specialize at getting their grads into grad school (e.g., Bryn Mawr, Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Reed, Swarthmore). Does “hired from” mean Pomona excels at professional job placement, like many east coast LACs, given Pomona’s east coast pedigree?</p>
<p>Although it may not be apparent to many of you, I have not mentioned CMC once in this entire thread. I haven’t felt the need to compare the schools.</p>
<p>Respectfully speaking, Parent 57, you may not compare the colleges outright however you spend much time on this board promoting CMC in varying ways and on varying strings. This is comparing albeit in the passive sense of form. So one can argue the acceptable form of comparisons but in the end we all live in glass houses and the transparency is the same no matter how it is delivered.</p>
<p>I always feel bad when discussions come down to selectivity. Since the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia has the lowest acceptance rate I assume everybody applies there since it must be the best school in the country. My son applied to the University of Chicago the last year they used only the uncommon application. When he was there for an interview everybody we spoke to in the admissions office bemoaned that the next year they would be accepting the common application. It was said that there was pressure from alumni and others to decrease the admission acceptance rate. That it did. Does that mean that now the University of Chicago is a better school? Yes I am proud my son goes to Pomona but I would be just as proud of him if he was going to the local JC. Our job as parents is to help our children fufill their dreams not try to live our lives though them. There were many reasons my son wanted to go to Pomona, the low admission rate was not one of them.</p>
<p>“… you spend much time on this board promoting CMC …”</p>
<p>This sounds like criticism; is promoting undesirable?</p>
<p>“This is comparing albeit in the passive sense …”</p>
<p>This sounds like criticism; is comparing undesirable?</p>
<p>I totally agree with 70’s Grad’s post. I would also suggest there is too much emphasis placed on “prestige”. In some cases, it may be because it gives parents something to brag about to their friends, relatives and associates. There is a fine line between helping our children fulfill their dreams and trying to live our lives through them.</p>
<p>^^ and “prestige”, which on CC usually means “the greatest percentage of Americans heard of the place” is a pretty feeble yardstick. By this criterion, way more people are familiar with Michigan State than Pomona (no offense to M.S.). The truly educated, academic and/or professional elite (i.e. who are actually knowledgeable about what constitutes a top undergraduate school) are equally impressed whether an applicant (job or graduate school) attended Pomona or Swarthmore or Williams or Carlton or Harvard or Stanford… this list would include at least another 10-12 schools in this class, and base their decisions on that individual’s personal accomplishments.</p>
<p>I know for me that when I hire someone personal accomplishments and skills are much more important than which school they attended, particularly the longer they have been in the workforce. Consequently, I wouldn’t hesitate to hire a person who went to Michigan State over someone who graduated from Harvard, depending on their accomplishments and personal characteristics.</p>
<p>Your statement that the truly educated or elite are only impressed with 10 to 15 schools in the entire country says a lot more about you than anything even approaching reality. I know I am suppose to be polite on this board, but you are an insufferable stuffed shirt. I could say something worse, but I am going to exercise self-restraint.</p>
<p>Parent57, when you said, “your statement that the truly educated or elite are only impressed with 10 to 15 schools in the entire country says a lot more about you than anything even approaching reality” is referring to Dad2’s last post, then I think you are putting words in his mouth. He said an employer/ someone in the know is “equally” impressed by these top tier schools, not ONLY impressed.</p>
<p>I took it that Dad2 meant “equally impressed ONLY by any of the top 10 to 15 schools and lesser impressed (if at all) by all others.”</p>
<p>Without a doubt, Vossron, speaking both anecdotally and statistically. You can add in any of the post-grad Fellowships like Watson and Fulbright into the mix as well.</p>
<p>Moreover, outside of prestige, Sagehens, both as students and alumni, have the reputation of being extremely down-to-Earth. While the stereotype of top schools is that they just churn out corporate drones who’ve been on a set plan since Kindergarden, Pomona alumni are just as creative, quirky and innovative as they are as students.</p>
<p>I find it somewhat amusing that such a discussion is taking place on these boards, when the actual school and student body on the whole is anything but.</p>
<p>^^^^
“However, amongst those “in the know,” those who were educated at these schools and those who have hired from these schools for decades, Pomona is definitely known. Indeed, it’s at the top.”</p>
<p>Is that the creative, quirky, extremely down-to-earth side of you talking, or is it someone who-is-anything-but as represented by this discussion</p>
<p>It’s the honest side, written in response to several fallacious statements made about Pomona.</p>
<p>I’m always wary of people who automatically associate prestige with elitism, and non-prestige with nobility or meekness. </p>
<p>That’s far more patronizing than anything I’ve written in this thread.</p>
<p>Nobody has made any fallacious statements. You have constructed a straw man to knock down in order to find an outlet for your own insecurities.</p>
<p>I attended a so-called “prestige” school, but unlike you it doesn’t define me.</p>
<h2>I attended a so-called “prestige” school, but unlike you it doesn’t define me.</h2>
<p>Keeping Pomona folk “honest” appears to, though.</p>
<p>Keep on ■■■■■■■■! : )</p>
<p>wow. Try to settle down, parent57.</p>
<p>It’s just a friendly discussion, for goodness sake.</p>
<p>Perhaps in CA Pomona is considered the top LAC in the west, but traveling east, where I used to live, that honor falls to Reed College. The curriculum at Reed is universally well respected, and it has a reputation for rigorous academics. Pomona, which may be just as rigorous, is simply unknown to many east of the Rockies.</p>