<p>Hello! I am a high school senior currently torn between Barnard and Pomona. Any advice and/or personal experiences on either of the schools would be appreciated! :)</p>
<p>Please note that I am and avid dancer and incredibly interested in studying abroad!</p>
<p>Here our some of my pros and cons for the two schools:</p>
<p>Barnard:
Pros: great Liberal Arts College, New York City, great dance facilities, part of Columbia University
Cons: All girls, far away from home (not sure if this is a pro or con)</p>
<p>Pomona:
Pros: great Liberal Arts College, Co-ed, part of a consortium
Con: not in the most exciting area</p>
<p>*Pomona is closer to where I grew up and currently live. Once again, I am not sure if this is a pro or con. In the short term it may be a pro if I get homesick, but in the long term I fear it may feel suffocating.</p>
<p>While Barnard is certainly easier to get into, I would recommend Pomona. There is a lot to be gained from the consortium, and while Claremont itself is sleepy, your only an hour away from LA - a hub for dancing the and preforming arts. Additionally, Pomona is more highly reputed nationally (often called the Williams/Amherst of the West Coast). But then again, it will come down to personal preference: urban or semi-urban? Warm or cool weather? </p>
<p>Basically, if your only con about Pomona is that it isn’t located in an “exciting area,” than I would say Pomona is your best bet - your close to LA, and from what my friends tell me about the life in the Claremont consortium, its anything but boring. Best of luck!</p>
<p>I am currently a high school student but my sister attends Barnard and I definitely wouldn’t say it’s easy to get into</p>
<p>To address your concerns about it being a women’s college. Don’t let that fool you into thinking there are no guys around. My sister has told me that the only class she’s ever taken at Barnard without guys in it was the required Barnard freshman english class. Guys are all around. Columbia is literally right across the street, you’ll be taking classes at Columbia and guys will be taking classes at Barnard. It’s a women’s college but it’s not the typical women’s college with no guys. So if your main concern about Barnard is that there won’t be guys around don’t be concerned.</p>
<p>If you’re wondering about this for ED apps, then don’t. If you can’t decide between two colleges for ED, then it’s probably better if you do neither. ED is for people who absolutely know their first choice. </p>
<p>Additionally, if you might need any amount of financial aid, you shouldn’t do ED - it’s really important to be able to compare financial aid offers.</p>
<p>If you’re not doing this for ED, you shouldn’t worry about it yet either. This is not something you need to worry about until you get your acceptances and financial aid offers.</p>
<p>Lastly, we can’t really give advice without knowing what you want to study, what your stats are, and what you need in terms of financial aid.</p>
<p>I have spent a lot of my life in Los Angeles though, so I wouldn’t exactly say that Pomona’s distance from LA is a strong plus for me.</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure what I want to study. I got a 2160 on the SAT and 700+ on my SAT subject tests. I have taken 14 AP or honors classes. I am the President of a club at my school. I have a job, various extracurricular activities, and many hours of community service.</p>
<p>(Sorry for being vague, I just don’t want to reveal too much personal information)</p>
<p>Please note that I have visited both schools and loved them both. I am strongly considering applying ED to one as I don’t believe my scores qualify me as a shoe-in to either. </p>
<p>You will do do well at either. I have no idea about dance and I don’t know if you can continue dance at either. Is this a consideration?</p>
<p>Pomona has the edge academically. think what your goals are. Are you intending on grad school? </p>
<p>The away experience is not to be missed, imo, you get a very well protected exposure to the other coast and NYC. That should be hard to turn down if you are from CA. But you could pick a Pomona peer to apply to.</p>
<p>If you really get a choice it is hard. I’d go East Coast if you are from West Coast and vice versa, just because it is a great experience and you will know more, be more sophisticated and worldly. But Pomona is a top 3 or 5 these days, and if you are an academic, you shouldn’t ignore that.</p>
<p>“There is a lot to be gained from the consortium,…”</p>
<p>…moreso than via Barnard’s “consortium” with Columbia???
Barnard students on average take 30% of their courses at Columbia. Not to mention sharing clubs, sports teams, libraries, extracurricular stuff…</p>
<p>I haven’t looked at stats recently, are you a strong candidate for Pomona? I don’t know, just asking. </p>
<p>Claremont consortium had some dance when we looked, but not a lot of ballet, if you care.</p>
<p>There are guys around, but not being coed in the dorms, or having swipe access with Columbia dorms, can be significant socially. Experiences vary in this regard.</p>
<p>Being cross country has pluses and minuses, as you’ve said.</p>
<p>Barnard is way easier to get into, especially if you have a sister there.</p>
<p>Both are wonderful schools, so I’d take a hard look at whether you have the stats for Pomona and whether you have them for Barnard without the ED tip/sib factor.</p>
<p>The OP does NOT have a sister at Barnard, but why on earth would that make it easier to get admitted? I know some schools might count siblings a sort of legacy, but I can’t imagine it counts for much.</p>
<p>I think the big picture is being missed in most comments here. I don’t understand Pomona and Barnard in the same breath. Both are LACs with solid academics. Pomona feels more expansive with a 5K student strong consortium, Barnard more expansive with Columbia across the street. But Barnard is a city-city-city school. It has virtually no campus other than the quads Columbia offers across the street. Weekend nights mean heading downtown. </p>
<p>Pomona is a very-very-very different place. As the OP realizes, the surrounding area is near catatonic compared to NYC. LA is not far distance wise but this is LA - i.e. everything is far. But Pomona is no bore. Activities are as plentiful as any other college with a campus based culture. Lots happening within a stone’s throw of one’s dorm, Claremont is an afterthought, LA happens (but rarely) and is not really integral to the experience.</p>
<p>I think you need to think city based vs. campus based experience - it will be very different. And also decide how important having professional/semi-prof dance opportunities are nearby. Lots more will be easily accessible in NYC.</p>
<p>Finally, your stats will be very borderline for Pomona (even ED), a much stronger sell at Barnard. SATs medians at Pomona as you probably know are sky-high - about 100 points higher than Barnard (it IS much more competitive). Maybe neither school is “the one.” Maybe ED should be reconsidered.</p>
<p>That’s obviously a reference to Pomona’s USNews ranking; but, in the cold light of day what does that really mean? That the OP won’t get as good a job? That the OP won’t get into as good a graduate school unless they go to Pomona? Those are tough assertions to prove, especially when there are so many other variables involved (i.e., grades, board scores, recommendations, networking.) The danger with making a school’s USNews rank the tipping point in the decision making process is that 1) who’s to say the ranking won’t change in four years? and, 2) you’re buying into just the sort of empty competitiveness that ultimately devalues the very thing you’re after – an education.</p>
<p>CUlater, a sib is a big tip at Barnard, a school that worries about yield. They are much more likely to yield a sib than an unconnected applicant.</p>
<p>"CUlater, a sib is a big tip at Barnard, a school that worries about yield. "</p>
<p>I imagine most schools worry about yield, but FWIW, they seem to be doing a petty good job of worrying about it, because Barnard’s yield is comparatively high. They had it broken down in its institutional research some years past, IIRC the yield for caucasion acceptees was around 60%. Just took a quick google, according to that source its 2009 reported yield was 47%, Amherst’s was 39%. Another year it was 43%. That’s low, it was more like the former the years I was looking. IIRC.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Whether you really want an all-woman’s school experience. If you don’t, you may have trouble feeling like you fit in at Barnard, regardless of the number of guys across the street.</p></li>
<li><p>Whether you want your social/campus life to be city-focused (Barnard) or campus-focused (Pomona).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>My personal belief is that the academics at Pomona are also superior, having sampled both Pomona’s and Columbia’s.</p>
<p>Reading that other thread, some people don’t really get the deal there, yes Barnard has a teeny endowment but as an affiliate they have access to Columbia’s resources. The physical plant, libraries, clubs, athletic teams, etc. that Barnard students have access to are not just those provided via that teeny endowment.</p>
<p>I am fully aware that both schools will provide excellent academics. Does anyone know, however, what the social scene is like at the two schools? I do NOT want the stereotypical college experience of frat parties and keg stands, but I do want to have a social life. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for the responses! I really appreciate everyone’s insight! :)</p>