<p>Hi, I'm in a difficult situation, so all opinions are appreciated. I'm currently set on going to Pomona, I love the school and want to be on the West Coast, but I am in a dilemma as to accept an offer to attend Brown (off the waitlist). It's been a while since this option has been made to me, but I've come to realize that there are some opportunities at Brown (I want to pursue fine arts/graphic design, and the option to cross-register with RISD is incomparable) that might incite me to withstand going up North instead of out West for the sake of having a broader choice in terms of what I want to study. In addition, the open-curriculum at Brown seems appealing to me, and I might feel more comfortable in a slightly larger school, but I'm not sure. Nevertheless, they are both incredible schools with a focus on undergraduate education, but I'm totally stuck as to what to do. Any advice?</p>
<p>Oh, and Pomona gave me a very good fin aid package, I don't know Brown's yet, although they are giving me an offer.</p>
<p>Thank you!!</p>
<p>As you have already said, Brown seems to keep, more options open if you're interested in graphic design, so it depends on how important that is to you. Btw, Pomona just changed its General Education Requirements. Although it's not an open-curriculum, it's not that far off from it (they cut the number of requirements in half). Here's a link to it: <a href="http://www.pomona.edu/ADWR/Registrar/newpolicybulletin.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.pomona.edu/ADWR/Registrar/newpolicybulletin.shtml</a></p>
<p>Congratulations on getting into two very strong schools!</p>
<p>S (who just got his degree in design|media arts from UCLA) also considered the Brown/RISD connection but I don't think their schedules are compatible making cross-registration a challenge. (You may want to check that.)</p>
<p>Brown is an urban campus whereas Pomona is more suburban, hence why D did not consider Brown. D also liked Amherst because there are no required courses there as well, but as gnatcire mentioned, there are now just 5 GE requirements at Pomona and many of those are easily covered by courses you would have taken anyway. (D's very happy about that.)</p>
<p>Finally, being from Greater Boston, D definitely wanted to be someplace warm especially after having 86 inches of snow this past winter.</p>
<p>Good luck in your decision!</p>