<p>Hi i'm a prospective undergrad student hoping to major in International Relations/International Development.
After undergrad I hope to go to law school (hopefully top-tier ivy-league school).
Which university do you think is better??</p>
<p>Understand that Duke and Pomona are very different schools. Duke is a leading large research university, DI sports team, with multiple grad schools. Pomona is one of top liberal arts colleges in the country, with DIII sports and an exclusively undergrad focus. I love Duke, but it’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>These schools are so different that you really need to visit to take an informed decision.</p>
<p>My D is a senior at Pomona and my S is a sophomore at Duke. My kids, just like these two schools, have totally different personalities. They would have been very unhappy if their schools had been reversed. You really need to decide on the school based on your personal fit. Both schools have superior academics so I wouldn’t worry about that. I can tell you that my D’s peers are ALL getting into the very top graduate school programs in their respective fields because the Pomona name has such respect in the academic world. I am sure Duke is similar although my S’s class is not there yet! Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.</p>
<p>@awcntdb I honestly can’t even see someone having difficulty choosing between Pomona and Duke. They really are that different in culture.</p>
<p>@Jwest22 Agreed. I did not say it would be difficult to decide; I said a visit was necessary. Informed decision could be as simple as going to each campus and realizing the OP likes the culture of one better. Could take as little as an hour or less to figure that out. Still, it takes a visit to get that context.</p>
<p>You can go to top 10 Law schools from either. I love both in terms of location; choose based on fit/whether you prefer a large college or a smaller, close-knitted community (of which I prefer the former).</p>
<p>Congratulations! These are two wonderful choices and like everyone said carry the name brand that will take you to any top graduate program, provided you work hard.</p>
<p>The argument isn’t as simple as LAC vs big university in this scenario. Pomona’s a really unique LAC- the most endowed by itself, and within a very accessible consortium that makes the size closer to 8000 students. While consortiums tend to be skewed, the Claremont Colleges are skewed to favor Pomona students, who have ease of access to the Metrolink train station and the Village, as well as the least amount of restrictions in terms of the 2500 course catalogue available each year. The other Claremont Colleges are extremely well regarded and top tier academically, and they all offer an LAC-styled classes and professor relationships.</p>
<p>One thing we do lack, however, is a big presence of Greek life and DI sports, which, if you like, Duke can definitely provide. But we definitely do not lack a partying culture or a strong residential life. </p>
<p>But there are a few things that Pomona has that Duke doesn’t have. It’s in the center of perhaps the most vibrant and diverse metropolitan area in the country, with tons of beautiful natural scenery, one of the best music and art scenes in the country, tons of opportunities for local internships, and other really incredible places like Disney Land and the Griffith Observatory. It’s probably going to provide a more cohesive and nurturing residential community than Duke is (19% of non-freshmen Dukies live on campus, while 2% of Pomona students do). And while Duke provides a liberal arts education, it does not provide to the same extent a liberal arts experience. The feeling that the school exists exclusively to support undergraduates like you. Deeper connections with your faculty (who come to teach you) and also with the administration. Much more flexibility in being able to take the courses you want to, as well as less bureaucracy to deal with if you want to try something new. </p>
<p>On the other hand, even despite Pomona’s resources, Duke is likely to provide you connections with their well regarded graduate programs and professors, has a much stronger alumni network, and can give you access to first-rate research. Duke is the sort of place where the hand-holding will be a lot less present, but where you can do remarkable things if you put in the initiative. Dukies also seem to be more pre-professional than Pomona students are, while Pomona students are more interested in going to law, med, and graduate school. </p>
<p>I hope this at least helps you understand some of the differences. I also recommend visiting the schools. Their cultures are very different and it can’t really be expressed into words (especially because these are pretty complex institutions that provide a different set of strengths and weaknesses depending on who you are).</p>
<p>@nostalgicwosdom: Thanks for your fine post. With respect, I suggest several fairly important points you’ve included are not entirely accurate; I am unaware of factual documentation – not stereotypes – that substantiates them. For example:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>LAC versus “big university:” With an undergraduate population of approximately 6,650 (and a total student population of about 14,600), Duke really isn’t a “big university” (especially when compared with both giant public “flagships” and even with Ivies such as Cornell and Harvard (both with approximately 21,000 students). Obviously, your fundamental point is sound; however, I believe there’s a significant difference – one you did not address – between a <7,000 undergraduate population and, to illustrate, Ohio State’s with roughly 45,000 undergraduate students at the Columbus campus alone. Commingling all universities, I suspect, may not provide an entirely accurate analysis, since the very attributes you correctly laud are quite likely to exist at an institution with 6,500+ undergraduates, but not necessarily at one with tens-of-thousands. </p></li>
<li><p>Nineteen percent of non-freshman undergraduates live off campus: As you’ve suggested in your post, Durham isn’t Greater Los Angeles. For that precise reason, the few undergraduates (principally seniors – and I’m not sure your 19 percent non-freshman figure is correct, but I’ll trust your research) who may live “off campus” essentially are “on campus,” since they normally live only minutes from West. My point simply is their “digs” may not belong to the University, but they are every bit as integrated with and accessible to “all things Duke” as are the undergraduates who live on East, West or Central Campuses. Incidentally, does the 19 percent figure you cite include the very large number of undergraduates (primarily juniors) who spend a semester overseas? </p></li>
<li><p>Cohesive and nurturing residential community: In addition to the matters raised in #2 re Durham’s proximity not creating any barriers to full campus life, I really cannot agree that a smaller LAC will necessarily provide a more cohesive and nurturing environment for undergraduates than Duke does. Critically, Duke – at its core – is undergraduate (notwithstanding the strength and breadth of its professional and graduate schools and their research); that’s the crux of the question. Duke intensionally places tremendous resources – scholastic, social, personal health and welfare, counseling, career, and so much more – at the undergraduate’s immediate call. I sincerely doubt if any undergraduate population has available more expert and hands-on assistance, regardless of its size, and I base this on decades of membership on senior leadership Boards and Executive Committees at Duke. You seem to indicate that size somehow necessarily creates “impersonalness,” and that plainly is inaccurate at Duke (and, FYI, I have degrees from both Duke and from a much smaller, although excellent, LAC; unquestionably, Duke’s cohesiveness and nurturing were far superior, regardless of the 3.5:1 undergraduate population differential).</p></li>
<li><p>Deeper liberal arts and undergraduate experiences: Among the elite national universities, Duke is rather unique in the degree of personal collaboration and intellectual cooperation across disciplines, schools AND experiential levels. Almost half of Duke’s undergraduates engage in interdisciplinary research that includes graduate/professional students, post-docs, faculty from all schools and disciplines, and academic researchers. Thus, the level of intellectual interchange is not only high with one’s undergraduate professors, but also with national-level practitioners, teachers, and researchers. Moreover, Duke’s President (Dick Brodhead) is so committed – and so renowned – in his focus on the liberal arts that last year he led (as its Co-Chair) the National Commission on Humanities and the Social Sciences, which is the primary institution attempting to rejuvenate the arts and sciences throughout undergraduate schools. When a university’s chief executive is focused on the liberal arts, one can be quite sure that the institution and it’s faculty will be, too. </p></li>
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<p>To conclude, I hold Pomona in the highest esteem. Like Duke, it is a outstanding higher educational institution. Further, I agree that the schools’ cultures are different. However, I respectfully suggest that several important points in your post, which may well be quite accurate when addressing first-tier national universities in general, are misleading concerning the undergraduate experience at Duke. </p>
<p>Thank you for your nuanced opinion on my points. I won’t disagree with you because my perspectives on Duke are based on some online research and experience with similarly regarded institutions like University of Pennsylvania and University of Chicago, not hands-on experience with Duke itself. The 19% statistic is from the Common Data Set '12-'13, if that clarifies things. </p>
<p>Having very first hand experience living in West Philly or Hyde Park is nothing like going to Duke. My brother went to grad school at Penn and no thank you. I also have a family member who went to Chicago. The liberal arts experience at UC is different then all LAC’s I’ve ever heard about. If you like taking nothing at face value and questioning everything and everybody UC is the school for you. And Princeton is the only Ivy that can come close to how demanding it is. I had not even considered Duke. I visited Duke because of pressure by my father and ended up absolutely loving having an excellent engineering school with a campus environment dominated by the liberal arts students. Did not want an MIT or CMU. In the end I did a lot of research but the only thing that ended up being important was my school visits. All these school have single digit admission rates so there are a lot of people that enjoy the world different then I do. Evaluate for yourself.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for their support!! I really appreciate it.</p>