Go to Pomona Admitted Students Day, and take your parents. They do a very nice job and have separate presentations for the parents.
Well, the money aspect is something you should talk over with your folks. I can’t imagine Berkeley costing less than $10k per year, but if they don’t mind paying the difference, that’s their prerogative.
If it’s name recognition they are worried about, they needn’t worry: Pomona is well known in grad school admissions circles.
If you decided to enter the work force after school, I would imagine firms flock to the Claremont schools to fill their seats with the smart graduates of Pomona, CMC, Mudd et al.
You get the tiny class sizes of an elite LAC with the resources of a mid-sized university. It’s really quite the setup. There’s a lot to be impressed about regarding Pomona and the other Claremonts – but to me, especially Pomona.
@Corinthian My parents and I are planning on attending. 
@prezbucky yeah my parents will pay more than $10k per year for berkeley. But they’re worried if I will be able to get high grades and gpa in berkeley and pomona. The thing is that I cant see into the future and tell if I can be successful in these schools…ugh my parents keep confusing me.
I would like to thank all of you guys for your advice! I was super depressed because I got rejected from all my dream schools, but now that I see how great pomona and berkeley are, I am extremely thankful for these admissions. Worst case scenario was that I was rejected from every school. But yeah I feel so much better thanks to insight received here.
Wherever you go, work hard and play hard: the former will bring academic and (later) vocational success. The latter will keep you sane. College should be fun – don’t forget that! (within legal, ethical and health limits, of course…)
I’d also choose Pomona for a lot of reasons (fit, class sizes, money, med school plans) but if your family is concerned about STEM reputation, Harvey Mudd is in Pomona’s consortium.
Also, make sure they know Pomona is higher ranked in its category than Berkeley is in its category: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/pomona-college-1173
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/uc-berkeley-1312
4 vs #20. If prestige is an issue, that might help :)
@prezbucky Haha. Will definitely keep that in mind.
@OHMomof2 Yeah my parents have already seen these rankings, but I will def mention Harvey Mudd.
Definitely Pomona based on information provided. I’m assuming the $50k from Pomona is enough to cover any cost difference it has with Berkeley. The only reasons to go to Berkeley would be culture/fit (e.g., you like the big campus feel, you visited and think it was a better fit). Berkeley is better known nationally but as noted before, that’s not an issue since you’re applying to med school.
If you like the small LAC feel I would be in the Pomona camp as well. My D is currently at a (different) LAC and has found that there are great opportunities to get involved in research, to know professors well etc. which woudl all be helpful for med school admissions.
As an aside, after looking up and down the East Coast my S ended up at a college only about 25 minutes from our home. Before he chose the school we did have a long talk. Basically we (parents) agreed to not just pop over to say hi, to only expect him home during school vacations etc. and in return he agreed not to use being close to home as a crutch, not to come over with laundry etc. And we all held to our agreement and it worked out extremely well. There was no downside of his being close. In fact it was helpful a few times (ex. when his laptop died I drove down with an old one he could use until his was repaired etc.). Bottom line is IMO close to home is not a problem, but it would be worth setting up some kind of “ground rules” in advance.
I had to register just to reply to this. I am a board certified MD and am familiar with both Berkeley and Pomona College. My sister went to Pomona and then went on to Medical School. I did a combined BAMD program at USC which no longer exists. I can say without any reservation that Pomona will be in your best interest especially with the financial aid package that you received. I know Pomona does not give any scholarships and I would have gone there for undergrad but got into a combined program. You are in an enviable position that you do not have to pay the sticker price for Pomona. At Pomona, they have a great track record of getting their students into the best medical schools and they will help you to get there. At Berkeley, you will have to fight tooth and nail to achieve the same thing. I am ok with competition and survival of the fittest but if you don’t have to do it, then why? Also after you get into medical school, no one cares where you did undergrad. To be honest, after residency, most people don’t even care about medical school. Each step is just a building block to where you want to be. Hope it helps.
At Pomona you can take classes at Harvey Mudd. I think this is definitively a great plus.
I live on the east coast, and we have heard of Pomona. In fact we know that’ it’s one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country. Don’t worry about name recognition.
Can I ask you what your stats were? It’s hard enough to get into Pomona, but to get in with that much aid is amazing.
UC Berkeley grad here (graduate level) telling you to go to Pomona :-). Berkeley is a great school but it’s huge and impersonal. As a pre-med you’d be in some classes where the professors are required to give a certain percentage of c’s, b’s, etc.
Pomona is better. Grad schools know.
Pomona packages its financial aid with no loans. Berkeley packages scholarship aid after loans have been counted. Pomona has better financial aid, smaller class sizes, better advising, and a better undergraduate reputation than UCB. With Cal, you may have loans; with Pomona you will not.
Listen to @washugrad and @MaroonDaddy
@usctrojanz Haha I’m glad you replied to my post, because my parents and I were worried about the med school and if it’s easier to get accepted to med school going to Pomona or Berkeley. You definitely helped clarify some of my questions.
@washugrad @MaroonDaddy @marvin100 @citymama9 @ItsJustSchool Wow. Thanks for the advice. I’m definitely leaning towards Pomona, especially since my parents have to pay more for Berkeley than for Pomona. Having loans is something I can’t have since I do plan on attending med school (which is expensive).
You probably already know but – Pomona rated #1 in Forbes Best Colleges/Universities list
Yes, one can argue plenty about the merits of rankings, but still #1 isn’t bad 