<p>I'm applying to colleges through QuestBridge. My College Match application requires me to rank the colleges I would like to attend according to my personal preferences.
I'm stuck with which one to rank 2nd and which one to rank 3rd. I'm confused between Brown and Pomona.</p>
<p>Any suggestions? Both the colleges are extremely reputed, but which one is more well regarded?
Which one would you rank 2nd, and why?</p>
<p>I want to double major in literature/media studies and theater, just in case you'd like to know.</p>
<p>Considerations:
Pomona is a smaller student body. Located in Southern California/location or weather an issue for you? Top LAC/part of the Claremont Colleges.
Brown is larger. Climate is cold in the winter-for obvious reasons. An Ivy League university.
DD considered Brown for their theater program & high academics-elected to go to Northwestern instead.
I hope this helps-APOL-a Mom</p>
<p>Well, Pomona because it’s Southern California (nearer to LA), Brown because it’s Ivy League. Pomona because it’s a smaller school, Brown because it’s Ivy League. Pomona because the college has a media studies major and I kind of like the housing facilities (for example, they let freshmen live in single rooms, not sure if this is the case with Brown), Brown because the school has an open curriculum and again of course, because it’s Ivy League.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how the media studies major offered at Pomona really is?</p>
<p>I would check and see how many Questbridge students each institution accepts and choose the school that accepts more. You have a much better chance of being matched there.</p>
<p>And why those two in particular? There are so many schools in between. Pomona is sooo small. There are excellent LAC’s that are a little bigger and some more like Brown.</p>
<p>Two good schools. Are you currently on the East Coast or West Coast or something in the middle? If you can afford the travel costs (does Questbridge cover them?) my bias is to try living in an area that is different from where you grew up. I don’t know Claremont (my son applied to Harvey Mudd, but unfortunately we didn’t find out about it until after we’d done our west coast visits), but I do like southern California a lot. (I spent three years in Pasadena when dh was a grad student at Caltech.) If you had access to a car, a drive to the beach, the mountains or the dessert was easy and I loved LA. Claremont is a pretty small town and about 1.5 hours from LA, while Providence is a big city and somewhat closer to Boston. (Also train goes there.) Most freshmen at Brown are in doubles, but they do have quite a few single rooms. Pomona is small, but I think that’s somewhat mitigated by being part of the Claremont Consortium.</p>
<p>It’s not quite what you asked for, but I’d put how “highly regarded” as one of my lowest tiebreakers. Other factors like indicated in posts 2, 3 and 5 seem more valuable.</p>
<p>Well, I’m an international student and I can only apply to Princeton, Yale, Brown and Pomona through the College Match process (not applying to Princeton).</p>
<p>As for how many students each institution accepts, it’s Brown’s first year as a QB partner, and hence we can’t really compare.</p>
<p>Both are lovely schools. I think most students could be happy at either. Brown is a bit more left-wing. For some that’s a positive, for others a negative.</p>
<p>I think this should be an easy choice: University or LAC? The fundamental distinction.</p>
<p>Do you think it’ll be easier to find internships/career opportunities in the LA area if I choose Pomona? I hope to major in media studies and theatre there.</p>
<p>Pomona is ranked 6th among the Liberal Arts Colleges, and Brown is ranked 16th among the national universities. Does this make a difference?</p>
<p>My heart says Pomona, but my head says Brown. Gosh, this is confusing!</p>
<p>D graduated from Pomona '09. She chose it for its size (even though HS was bigger) that led to her befriending many students from Pomona as well as the other Claremont Colleges, plus faculty members (small classes). Also, she wanted something more suburban. Pomona definitely lends itself to more of a suburban feel. Finally, she wanted a school with a consortium that provided her with the opportunity to cross-register easily - and you can’t get any easier than walking across the street to another school! Although Pomona is small, the Claremonts combined seem like a small university (5,000+/-) with a mutual library and student health service. And the students at Pomona are considered quite liberal.</p>
<p>As for internships, Pomona provides lots of internships (during the school year) for students, and pays them as well. Also will cover transportation expenses! My D also applied for and obtained funding to travel to and stay in S. America for a month to do research for her senior thesis the summer before her senior year.</p>
<p>Brown is also a great school, but definitely in an urban area - Providence, RI. There are cross-registration opportunities at RISD for those arts-inclined. And being a university, there are many more courses and fields of study than what you might find at an LAC.</p>
<p>You need to decide what the best fit for you is. Surrounding Brown is the hustle and bustle of a city capital, the river which is a picturesque area, and large stores for shopping. Surrounding Pomona is Claremont Village (the shopping district that imitates small-town shoppes), the San Bernadino mountains (snow-capped a great deal of the time), and palm trees.</p>
<p>Haha. As New Yorkers, we didn’t find Providence urban. In fact, my D rejected Brown as not urban enough and ended up at Barnard/Columbia in NYC.</p>
<p>Thayer St., the part of Providence by Brown, is very much a “college town” and very student oriented. Brown’s buildings are intertwined with other buildings in places, but it also has a lovely, gated campus.</p>
<p>I think the internship opportunities at both would be outstanding. Pomona is in shooting distance of LA, Brown of Boston. For movies I would say Pomona, for theater, I’d say Brown, (A dear friend is the resident playwright.)</p>
<p>However, I say, Pomona. Go with your heart. Between the consortium and presence of LA I don’t think Pomona’s size is negative. </p>
<p>If your heart said Brown, I’d say go with that.</p>
<p>Since both meet your needs tell your head to take a nap.</p>
<p>I’m a current Pomona student (as of yesterday) and would be willing to answer any questions about Pomona within my range of knowledge that might assist you in making your decision. I will be gone for the next few days (to the BEACH for orientation!), so if you have to make your decision within that time, I can’t help you. However, if you have more time to decide, feel free to hit me up either on here or on AIM (Curseittohades) once I get back and ask away. :)</p>
