<p>So my friend got into Swarthmore College, Pomona College, and Brown University and is trying to decide which school he should go to. He is concern about each school's community base. Any advice?</p>
<p>He should visit any, if at all possible, and maybe e-mail a current student.</p>
<p>I don’t think I could do the schools justice if I tried to pigeonhole their community atmospheres (if that what he means by “community base”?). The stereotypes would be that Swarthmore is somewhat nerdy, Pomona is laid back, and Brown is for hippies.</p>
<p>In addition to visiting, tell him to look through the schools’ course catalogue and read several issues of the student newspapers to see what’s on the student bodies’ minds at each place. It will give him a good feel for the kind of events going on as well. </p>
<p>All great schools, and the consortiums of which Swarthmore and Pomona are a part make them roughly similar in size to Brown. Similar intellectual orientation, so he really can’t go wrong. I assume they cost roughtly the same? If he’s from the east, he should consider going west and vice versa for a change of scenary, unless there is a reason to be close to home.</p>