<p>I was accepted to the above colleges and have frustrated over weighing pros and cons for the last week. Can someone who has attended or visited even one of the colleges give me their opinion in relation to grade deflation/inflation at the school, difficulty of grading, course load, school spirit, the liveliness of the surrounding city, and the overall feel of the school. Level of safety would be great too!</p>
<p>I'd like a school with spirit and not a TOO heavy workload. Medium grading--though easy grading and grade inflation would be great too lol-- in my opinion since I want to get into med school. Thanks for your help :)</p>
<p>Also: the financial aid packages for most ( not all, but most) of the colleges were relatively similar so just give me your opinion on what I've listed if you could. Price will obviously be weighed but it'll be mine to weigh once I've decided what schools are the front runners in the categories listed. Thanks again</p>
<p>Take a look at the course catalogs and schedules of each school to see what they offer in your prospective major(s). Also check the schedules for class sizes and format if that is something you are concerned about.</p>
<p>I understand ruling out CMC and USC but could you give me a couple of reasons for why you ruled out UCLA :). It’s just that the reasons why you might not like it (size, location, etc) might be a positive for me. I hear that JHU and Berkley hv grade deflation :(</p>
<p>I am a UCLA alum (go Bruins!), but the class sizes and difficulty getting into classes are a problem. My own D was just accepted, and even though I taught her the 8 clap when she was a baby, she’s going to turn it down. She was accepted to JHU also, and is still considering it.</p>
<p>Difficulty in getting classes these days is not as bad, as students on the UCLA board would attest. Certainly, JHU has smaller classes, but I’ve always liked the lecturer to just lecture and do so at a fast pace, without much class interaction, which I felt slowed things down. The faster pace always kept my attention better.</p>
<p>If you really want to know about class sizes, look on the colleges’ web sites for their class schedules rather than just making assumptions. That can also show the class sizes for the specific ones that you are interested in.</p>
<p>Why rule out USC or other Us? Is CS Cognitive Science or Computer Science? Can’t understand what criteria you are looking for to rule out a few schools just based on a poster saying, “I’d rule out schools X & Y.” The schools you list are pretty different from one another. CMC was a nice very small school with a lot of personalized attention. One of our relatives thrived there. </p>
<p>USC is very lively and if you stay in and around the school pretty safe. My kids never had problems getting into any courses they wanted to and found the grades were OK and pretty similar to what they got in HS. Depending on your major, you can have a pretty decent work/life balance at many of the Us. </p>
<p>Our friend’s D went to JHU. SHe didn’t enjoy a happy school/life balance when in pre-med and found it very stressful. The area away from campus there is also not all that safe either.</p>
<p>Each of the Us are pretty different. Congrats on having a lot of good options to choose among.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s probably best to look at the course schedule than make assumptions. As someone who graduated last year, I observed students getting the classes they wanted, but perhaps not the section. Or sometimes, they’d be waitlisted, but typically they’d get in off of the waitlist. That was just my experience in my major however.</p>
<p>You should either go to USC or Johns Hopkins. Both will provide different things. USC is the second least competitive for a premed out of your choices, and while Johns Hopkins is extremely competitive like UCLA and Cal, it makes up for it by being renown for good opportunities it can provide you in the health sciences and the brand in the medical field. </p>
<p>If you want the easiest and funnest time during undergrad: USC (You’ll still have to work very hard obviously, but it’s the easiest out of the choices you gave besides Pomona where they might grade more personally than based on competition). </p>
<p>If you want the best brand name in health sciences for your undergrad institution: JHU</p>
<p>If you want the best advising for medical/grad school: Pomona</p>
<p>UCLA, Cal, CMC are just good schools all around and you should only consider them if they are a great fit for you personally. They don’t have a noticeable/non-negligible advantage over the others.</p>
<p>I personally think you should go to Pomona.</p>
<p>While our classes are rigorous, we don’t have grade deflation. If you work hard and utilize all of the resources the college has to offer, you’ll do very well. The average GPA at Pomona is a 3.5- higher than the rest. Professors don’t curve because they don’t want to create a competitive atmosphere. Pomona is one of the few schools where pre-meds aren’t competitive with each other.</p>
<p>As golden says- YEP. Pomona has for sure the best advising for medical school. Our Pre-med committee is so nice and provides so much for the students- free MCAT preparation, mock interviews, essay revising, and a plethora of opportunities for summer research and programs after graduating. As a result our pre-meds have very good preparation for medical school and have more than double the national average acceptance rate to medical school. I know CMC also has a very high med school acceptance, but our pre-med committee and science programs are stronger.</p>
<p>Neuroscience is Pomona’s best departments- the teachers are excellent, the facilities are really up-to-date, and the major is well designed. About 7% of each class majors in neuro because of how good it is here. Pomona’s neuroscience is used as a model for Ivy Leagues who are creating or updating their neuroscience track. You should look at the major requirements here- they are pretty intense, but also really flexible : [Program:</a> Neuroscience Major - Pomona College - Acalog ACMS?](<a href=“Program: Neuroscience Major - Pomona College - Acalog ACMS™”>Program: Neuroscience Major - Pomona College - Acalog ACMS™)</p>
<p>If cost isn’t a factor, Pomona, without a doubt, for you. A LAC with the resources of the fantastic Claremont Consortium (ie. 7500 students, 7 dining halls, 2500 classes+), very happy students, and the 4th largest endowment per student is very hard to beat.</p>
: [Program:</a> Neuroscience Major - Pomona College - Acalog ACMS?](<a href=“