Pomona vs. Amherst vs. Berkeley

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pomona College
1

<p>So, I think I'm down to these three, and I would really love some opinions. I'm probably studying Economics (and maybe biology) and then going straight to law school. However, this is really just the plan at the moment, and I want to keep other options open. I'm from Silicon Valley. Cal will be the cheapest, but not by a very significant amount. I want to end up back in the Bay Area after college/grad school (I love it here). Honestly, I think I could deal with both a big or a small school. Please help!</p>

<p>Berkeley
Pros:
1. A decent distance from home.
2. Prestige for Econ and bio
3. Possibility of graduating in 3 years (if I choose to only to Econ) since I have 12 APs
4. Great job prospects in the Bay if I decide to not go to law school
5. Cheapest (this, however, is not a major consideration)
6. Can take graduate coursework, good weather, and lots of friends at Cal.
Cons:
1. Grad school placement way lower than Amherst and Pomona
2. HUGE classes--how do you even get a rec letter?
3. Possibility of graduating in 5 years because of the difficulty to get classes
4. Ugly dorms and safety issues. And crazy competitiveness.</p>

<p>Amherst
Pros:
1. Incredible grad school placement
2. Open curriculum! Opportunity to explore for two years before deciding a major, and its really easy to double or triple major
3. Small classes, safe, awesome dorms
4. Option of staying home all of January thru Interterm
5. Trying something new! I've never lived on the East Coast
Cons:
1. Little known on the West Coast, so it might be hard to get jobs over here from there.
2. Far from home! And weather sucks -_-
3. Food for vegetarians is apparently pretty lame.</p>

<p>Pomona:
Pros:
1. Great grad school placement
2. Just far enough from home
3. Small classes, safe, great dorms, awesome food, fabulous weather
4. 5C colleges (def want to take econ classes at CMC) and LA nearby
Cons:
1. No one's heard of Pomona! :( I know this shouldn't matter, but it does a little. Especially when people ask if its a state school
2. Alumni network extremely limited to California--particularly SoCal
3. Because of the above things, getting a job after graduation seems a bit risky. However, law school would def be okay.</p>

<p>Soo, I'm a bit stuck. I'll be posting this on all the threads, so feel free to be as biased as you wish! :)</p>

2

<p>well, if you love the bay area, you would probably do the best at Berkeley!</p>

<p>With the 12 APs, you definitely would be able to graduate in three years- just focus on econ (or bio).</p>

<p>I have a friend who goes to UCB and he loves it there. Another of my friends already got into Haas. If you decide to go into business, Haas would be an excellent school to attend. They both said it’s not that competitive either- just watch out for annoying roomies!</p>

<p>Either way, you can’t go wrong with any of those schools.</p>

3

<p>All three are great schools and Pomona and Berkeley were two of my choices four years ago. I’m now a senior at Pomona with similar interests as you, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. Granted, I would have gone to Berkeley as an out-of-state student paying much more in tuition, but I think that the UC system is in a crisis and you can’t count on stable tuition for even in-state students. Plus you get much better value for your money at a small LAC.</p>

<p>With respect to law school placement, I’m an economics and philosophy double major and got into Yale, Stanford, Harvard and many other Top 14 law schools this year. Pomona has a great reputation among law schools and consistently places grads in top schools - just this year, I know of 3 Pomona seniors or recent grads who got into YLS, 5 who got into SLS and 4 who got into HLS; many others were admitted to other T14 schools. I myself have no doubt that being a Pomona student gave me a boost in law school admissions.</p>

<p>As for job placement, Pomona actually has a considerable number of alumni in many cities in the US, with the highest numbers in the Bay Area, Seattle, NYC, Boston and of course LA. If you’re interested in consulting or finance, every year tons of Pomona econ majors get awesome jobs in LA, SF and NYC. If economic research is more your thing, we also place very well in the Federal Reserve Banks, Brookings and the Urban Institute, among other research institutes and thinktanks.</p>

<p>Pomona and Amherst will both offer you a much better undergraduate experience than Berkeley through small classes, close relationships with faculty and peers and leadership opportunities. I would not have wanted to spend any less than four years here - I’m actually still not ready to leave in a month!</p>

<p>I should point out that Amherst, like Pomona, is still well known on the West Coast among people who matter (employers and grad schools) and might even have a bit of an edge in national name recognition over Pomona. When I was a senior in HS, I was definitely concerned about Pomona’s lack of name recognition, but since then I’ve realized that those who matter know it. I know two current students who transferred to Pomona from Harvard and Yale and have no regrets about it. I also applied to more large schools than small ones when I was a HS senior, but when I visited Berkeley last summer to look at the law school, I was so relieved that I didn’t go there as an undergrad.</p>

<p>While you will get lots of facts like these, the best thing to do is to visit the schools if you can. I didn’t visit Pomona until after I was admitted and fell in love during my visit. I’m a firm believer that you can’t judge fit unless you’ve visited (and ideally stayed overnight). Best of luck to you and PM me if you have any questions!</p>

4

<p>All three schools were on D’s list and we visited them all before she applied ED1 to Pomona. Why? She felt that Amherst was too isolated; it takes longer to get to Boston than it would to go from Claremont to LA. Even though there is a consortium there, it couldn’t compare to the Claremonts where you can easily walk from campus to campus. UCB felt too big to her. She wanted, and got, to know her professors, work as an RA beginning sophomore year, develop strong friendships with students from within and outside her class year and outside Pomona, and enjoy small class sizes.</p>

<p>As for your cons for Pomona - she came back home after graduation last spring and found her job through alumni networking on the East Coast. Pomona’s name recognition is more vast that you would think. (The number of admissions applications this year went up 10 percent!) As for getting a job, she landed the job of her dreams in August after doing some part-time work in the same field.</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision!</p>

5

<p>I would pick Pomona or Amherst over Cal due partly to the “cons” you mentioned, but also because the both A and P are so terrific. These aren’t just any two LACs- they’re the cream of the crop, imo.
I’ve been very impressed with the results I’ve heard about from the Pomona seniors (friend’s of son) both in job and grad school opportunities. You would have no trouble getting recommendations - the faculty are incredibly accessible. Both econ and bio are very strong at Pomona, and of course you have the consortium. </p>

<pre><code>Amherst may have somewhat better name recognition, but it seems to me that Pomona’s is rising. On Huffington Post they have an article on the “College” link about the 10 hardest colleges to get into, and Pomona is the only LAC on that list. I will say that most of the time now when people ask where my son is going, and he says Pomona College, he gets, “Ooh, wow. That’s a great school!” Five years ago when he was first looking, it wasn’t so much the case and he’d sometimes get the Cal Poly Pomona confusion. It was fine with him then, though, as he’s a fairly modest and low key person. Sometimes it’s better not to wear the “elite” label too conspicuously.
</code></pre>

<p>He has absolutely loved Pomona and is sad to be leaving this year.</p>

<pre><code>Best of luck to you.
</code></pre>

6

<p>I am a rising sophmore at Pomona and chose Pomona over Amherst. Visit both schools, for me it was all about fit because either school will get you where you want to go.</p>

<p>For me Pomona’s laid back atmosphere, friendly, unique and talented student body, 5C consortium, wealth of resources and great weather/food won me over. I felt a much more preppy and jocky vibe at Amherst (I am an athletic person but I felt that the school had a very lax bro- polo-jcrew culture). In addition the food is far from great and the student body didn’t seem nearly as friendly as Pomona’s. Furthermore I liked Pomona’s campus much better, and you can really explore all the 5C’s in claremont, unlike the consortium in Amherst where you have to take buses to get around.</p>

<p>I really suggest you visit each. Oh by the way, don’t be fooled that Amherst is ranked 1/2 and Pomona is 6, once you’re at the college it doesn’t matter, and top employers/ grad schools know Pomona is a top, top school.</p>

7

<p>I’ve been to Berkeley many times, since I live fairly close and have lots of friends there. But I’ll be doing an official overnight just to see what exactly Cal is like for a student.</p>

<p>Haha, I did visit Pomona after my CMC scholarship interview, but with the mindset of “I’m never going to get in here, so I CANT get too attached.” So I didn’t exactly have an open mind. But even with the bias, I loved Pomona. I’ll be visiting Amherst next week, and i think that’s when I’ll make my decision.</p>

<p>And thanks for the opinions! They really are helping–Berkeley is going lower and lower on the list, and Pomona’s seeming the most likely. Any other thoughts?</p>

8

<p>This is an old thread, but, I went to Cal for undergrad, and chose to go to Claremont Grad (Grad school at Pomona) for the M and maybe the P degree. I can’t speak of Amherst at all.</p>

<p>Cal is awesome, but, you’re fending for yourself. Great lesson in life, but, sometimes a tough lesson for an 18 year old to learn. Your classes will be taught by monumental genius professors, however, there will be way too many kids in each class. You will be lectured to by the best of the best, your personal interaction will be with grad student teaching assistants. If you know you’re headstrong, there will be no issues. I needed tons of outside experiences at 18 and Cal was perfect for me.</p>

<p>Pomona, on the other hand, would have been better for me in the long run. Small classes, direct involvement by amazing professors, and no distractions of real big city life would have paid dividends in life. If you’re a true academic, and not interested in worldly distractions, go PO.</p>

9

<p>RR - Looks like the OP did end up at Pomona - Class of '14.</p>