<p>Congratulations!! That’s incredibly impressive. Before I start, I want to say that you cannot possibly make a wrong choice. Unless you pick Stanford. Just kidding. I go to Pomona, and therefore am (obviously) biased, but I’ll try to give you a rundown of your choice as objectively as I can.</p>
<p>Pomona, while it never feels constrictive because of the consortium, is distinctly a liberal arts college, not a university. You WILL recognize a large percentage of the population by the end of your first year, just through mere exposure. That being said, you’ll probably keep meeting new people, just because the total population of the 5-C’s is so large. We also have small classes (once you get past the introductory classes, which run to about 30 students), very available professors, and - despite our obscene endowment - our facilities are somewhat limited. For example, my roommate desperately wants to take Portuguese, but the program was just cancelled.</p>
<p>Stanford can offer you better athletics, BY FAR, if you care about that (although our baseball team did just beat the second-ranked DIII team). The two schools probably have equally terrible mascots - they’re the Crimson; we’re the Sagehens. They also have infinitely more prestige, at least at the layman level, although graduate schools and educated employers are very aware of Pomona’s quality. Stanford probably has the superior alumni network, although Pomona’s is reportedly excellent.</p>
<p>Pomona has better weather, hands down. It’s the difference between Los Angeles and the Bay, which is the difference between, say, a 10/10 and a 9/10, but still distinct. It’s sunny here all the time, except when it rains, which is just frequently enough to prevent the sun from getting boring. There is no smog here whatsoever. Seriously - and this is coming from a guy who almost didn’t come to Pomona because I was concerned about the heat - it’s great here.</p>
<p>Now for your specific departmental questions. Economics is huge at Pomona. Yes, it’s even huger at CMC, but seriously, more than half of my friends are econ majors. It’s ridiculous. I haven’t taken a class in it and so can’t speak to the quality, but I’m sure it’s great just because everything here is great. I have taken a class in physics, and I can assure you of that department’s quality as well. Then again, I have no doubt that Stanford is equally qualified in both of these areas, and probably has more prestigious faculty, if you care about that. The difference is that you’ll have much smaller classes and closer access to the professors at Pomona, and much greater opportunity for research.</p>
<p>The consortium will also give you a lot of opportunities for classes, although to be honest, you don’t really need the other schools unless they’re offering something Pomona doesn’t (like engineering at Mudd). As in, you probably won’t take econ at CMC just because they focus more on it. This is simply because Pomona is so strong academically that there’s not a drop-off in quality between it and any programs at the other 5-C’s.</p>
<p>Pomona students are really happy. Seriously, they are. It’s not perfect, and I could give you a (short) list of complaints, but I can’t imagine a student body more content with their lives than the people here. With that, I conclude this monstrosity of a post. Once again, congratulations, and good luck!</p>