Hi everyone.
I was admitted to both NU and Pomona college. The financial aid packages are practically the same, so it’s really up to me to decide where to go based on my own interests. However, I have not been able to make a decision. My intended majors are either international relations (pre-law track) or neuroscience (pre-med track) but I have not decided yet about that either. I’m looking for third-party opinions, what do you guys think?
Northwestern
Have you visited either or both?
Big university right next to major city with four seasons. LAC which is part of strong consortium about an hour’s train ride from a major city with warm weather. Academics are excellent at both. Can’t speak to the strength of the departments you’re interested in at either campus.
No bad choices, just a question of what kind of environment you’d prefer.
Pomona
Have you gone to visit either one? Is weather a factor? Is size a factor? Is getting around a big city a factor? I guess I had it easy, my kid refused to look at Pomona when we took her to LA because she thought it was too small even though we insisted that the five colleges do in fact overlap both socially and academically. Do you want to attend sporting events? Or go to the beach?
I guess u can also go to the beach at NU! Lol
Have you gone through the course catalogs, are there any unique classes you are particularity interested in that one offers vs. the other? How about extra curricular opportunities? Does one offer interesting options that the other doesn’t? Do you like cold weather or would you rather it be summer all year long? Luckily you can’t go wrong with either, even though they are pretty different!!
These schools are very different so it’s down to personal fit. Tour the campuses.
I want to clarify that I had it easy because my D was VERY clear on what schools she liked and didn’t like even if my husband and I found it very annoying during the process.
You need to tell us a little bit more, likes and dislikes from your perspective.
Agreed. A friend of mine from high school matriculated at Pomona years ago and then transferred to USC because he said Pomona was not very well known outside of academia and wanted a larger student body. I do recall visiting campus and when I approached one of the main buildings a group of students checked me out like a stranger, reminding me just how much everyone knows each other at a small LAC. Northwestern is much larger school but I like the national brand, Big 10 football experience, etc. Does the OP like sports?
That tale is an exception, not a feature. Last year, Pomona’s retention rate was 98.5%- one of the highest in the country,and it’s not unusually high either- it’s at or higher than 97% every year. Its reputation has definitely rapidly risen over the years, and as someone who actually goes here and is an upperclassman, I can promise you that it’s not a place where “everyone knows each other”. I still don’t know over half of the people in my class, and the 5C’s make the experience much bigger. How many friends will you make in college? Probably not more than a core group of 20-25, so NU’s bigger size in that respect isn’t really a plus.
I agree with EOTW above. My daughter loved her experience at Pomona and she did not know everyone in her graduating class. She mainly knew her group of friends and students who shared like classes. She also took classes at some of the other campuses. She was very decided on the size of the class and knowing the professor and having the professor know her. This was most important to her.
I will also share that I had a niece who attended Scripps and toyed with the idea of changing colleges in her Junior year, she was invited to UCLA by one of her friends after she expressed interest. Her friend suggested before she makes that decision to join her for a day going to classes and see how she likes it. Wisely, her friend thought she may not like the class size and she was correct. My niece decided the small class size and the intimacy offered benefits she would not find at a large university.
My daughter is in a large university for grad school. She will have both experiences.
Either school you choose will give you a good education, you need to decide what is most important to you for your undergrad schooling. Good luck!
My D got into Pomona ED1 and we also toured Northwestern. They’re both great schools for what you want to do, and you say the FA is the same. If she were facing that choice she’d choose based on whether she wanted to have the bigger university experience in the Chicago area, or the smaller LAC/consortium experience in the LA area. Have you toured them? I would think that if you do that, you’ll quickly know which is right for you. It’s a great choice to have.
My friend’s daughter graduated from Pomona. She loved there. Close to professors and had a chance to internship from freshman year. She was premed and got a job at NIH for 2 years now she is attending med school. But I think you should visit both schools. You have to feel hows both schools by yourself because you will be 4 years at school.
Both are great school but it really depend on you. Good luck!
Thanks for your responses! I have visited both campuses, and of course that I loved the weather at Pomona, but I don’t have a problem with NU’s winter either (I think) What really concerns me about Pomona are the opportunities for grad school after my 4 years, I’m not quite sure if Pomona would allow me to go the same high-end grads schools that NU would. What do you guys think?
Don’t worry about Pomona and grad school? For all my years on CC, there are tons of people pull out statistics to prove that Pomona grads have the highest or higher grad school acceptances. Next is Reed.
You’ll be fine with grad school placement at either schools. Both are excellent. What do you want in your college experience? Do you care about proximity to home? Greek life? Local area? Diversity?
Here is student information (after graduate job and grad school) you can check and compare with Northwestern. http://www.pomona.edu/administration/career-development/files/where-grads-go-2013.pdf