I’m currently undecided about what I want to major in, but I’m considering something along the routes of econ or public policy. I love the city, but having a strong community on campus is also important to me. Barnard (surprisingly) gave me significantly more financial aid than Pomona; Barnard is pretty affordable for me, whereas Pomona is probably at the very upper limit of what my family could comfortably afford for college.
Could anyone give any insight into environment, job prospects, and any other differences on these two campuses?
They’re both great schools, and you can’t really go wrong with either.
The two most obvious differences: 1) Barnard is a women’s college; Pomona is co-ed; and 2) Barnard is affiliated with a large research university (Columbia); Pomona is in the Claremont Consortium with mostly other small liberal arts colleges.
Although Barnard is affiliated with Columbia, it still has a strong identity as a women’s college. You can cross-register with Columbia, but many (most, depending on your major and your choices) of your courses will be women-only or mostly women. You’ll also most likely live in a women’s residence hall (although there are options for Barnard students to live at Columbia and vice versa). Going to college in New York will also feel different from being some distance away from Los Angeles. Barnard has its own career services, I believe, but you can also access the resources at Columbia as well - which as you can imagine are considerable.
Pomona and the Claremont Colleges are well-respected LACs that attract great recruiters and job prospects. I don’t think you’ll be lacking at either. Being in the Claremont Colleges means you’ll access the undergrad populations at Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Claremont McKenna, and Pitzer - and being five LACs means that there will be a particular kind of culture on campus that’ll be different from the Barnard-Columbia atmosphere. You’ll also have beautiful Southern California weather rather than New York weather, lol.
Although my daughter is a sophomore at Pomona and we love Pomona (she was rejected from Columbia ED), I would go with Barnard if it is affordable. Equally good and why put yourself or parents through undue hardship? Where you go to college is not as important as what you do there.
Try reaching out to Pomona financial aid to see if they can match Barnard’s offer. If they don’t, I’d also go with Barnard. Let us know if you get any luck, since then we can try pointing out the unique differences in the two schools and their consortium dynamics.
@nostalgicwisdom I don’t expect that to work, since the Pomona admitted students portal specifically states that they won’t match offers from other schools 
Two amazing choices! I agree with the points made in post#1 but would certainly consider finances as part of your final decision.
They say it but there’s no worry about just asking. The worst that’ll happen is no change. The best option is that they up your aid. They might have made a mistake or an oversight with something about your FA. It happens.
Barnard and Pomona have the same financial aid policy- full need met with no merit aid. Write them an email saying you were accepted to a peer school that has the same financial aid policy as Pomona, but they gave you much more aid, and you were hoping your situation could be re-evaluated. Attach the Barnard financial aid award and Pomona financial aid award so they can see the difference. Highlight how the cost difference makes it difficult to consider Pomona when you could attend a similar LAC for much cheaper. People have done so in the past and have gotten their aid upped.
IMO Barnard is an easy choice here.
It offers the best of both an RU and a LAC. Although Pomona also is great, and the consortium arrangement is wonderful, I’d be inclined to recommend Barnard even if the net prices were close. Columbia is strong in econ, public policy, political science, and international relations. Your internship opportunities in these areas should be better in Manhattan than in Claremont, CA. More generally, New York is a very exciting place for a young person to be. Although there are good reasons to prefer either one, I can’t think of a very compelling justification to pay much more for Pomona. The weather? Buy a nice parka.