<p>In all honesty, I don’t mind the fact that most people haven’t heard of Pomona. I think that adds to the humble culture of the school. Thanks for sharing everyone!</p>
<p>Northwestern!!! In the middle = best of the both worlds. :D</p>
<p>I see all three schools as having the similar high prestige among employers…</p>
<p>It really gets down to what kind of experience do you want from your 4 years of college. They are all fine schools, from an academic standpoint.
Keep in mind, CAL may be facing some budget constraints that may or may not affect your ability to finish in 4 years.</p>
<p>^ First of all, it’s Cal, not CAL. Second, the budget constraint is overblown about esp. in regards to graduating in 4 years…Berkeley is generous with AP credits, if you have a lot, you may be able to graduate in less than 4 years and save some money.</p>
<p>An $80 million cut at Cal is overblown if you have your head in the sand. This is big time trouble and just the beginning of likely several years of belt tightening. Larger classes, fewer classes, tougher completing recs for dense majors in the sciences and engineering in particular. The OP talks of double majoring. Good luck in 4 years.</p>
<p>True, if I don’t choose Cal, its only because I want a smaller more intimate classroom experience. My fear is that while northwestern is “the middle road”, it is more similar to Berkeley in terms of class sizes and research opportunities. However, I would imagine that it has a more vibrant social life than Pomona…?</p>
<p>It is different than Pomona, not necessarily more vibrant it really depends what your interests are. NU is driven a bit by frat/sorority driven and has a ritzy-ish/shopping area nearby. Pomona is more coffee shops/record stores etc.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve told you my opinion, but I will reiterate that your job fears are misplaced. Pomona gives its student every opportunity to succeed in job and grad school placement.</p>
<p>Do you like small, medium, or large?</p>
<p>Small or medium more than large, but that is the essential question. Yes, those fears have been quelled, now I’m just wondering which schools are easiest to get research done at, and I’m looking at social life</p>
<p>Remember that although Northwestern/Cal are larger and thus have more research “opportunities,” it’s very likely that Pomona has more realistic research possibilities, because of the lack of graduate students and the size of the school. It’s relatively easy, and often expected, to do research of some kind at Pomona.</p>
<h1>8, geniustai, referenced a decade old survey WSJ published only once. I think the publication realized that the survey had huge flaws and discontinued it.</h1>
<h1>17, agree with SistoKid, wrt, the area of Pomona College being extremely smoogy.</h1>
<h1>20, top414141’s post, therefore:</h1>
<p>
</p>
<p>So best weather would be questionable with the smog factor. Location-wise, PC is in a dead area. I guess there would be wide open areas to ride one’s bike, hike, etc. But the Claremont Colleges are not near any real big cities.</p>
<p>Let’s compare CalBar membership of Cal v Pomona (certainly, Pomona’s grads are probably more national in scope, but that would just spread them out more):</p>
<p>Cal, 18,000 members, 25,000 undergrads or 72%; % of members/total undergrads. </p>
<p>Pomona isn’t listed in top 25 of CalBar, with no. 25 having ~ 1,500 members. Let’s say, Pomona has 1,200 members; we know it has 1500 undergrads -> 80%</p>
<p>That’s pretty close, with no or little adjustment for top-notch LAC v top public. </p>
<p>If OP chooses to practice law in CA, there will be a whole lot more Cal camaraderie (I swear, I’m going to switch to ‘comradery,’ eliminating the need for that extra ‘a.’). </p>
<p>If he/she practices in NorCal, the group of Cal alumni from the firm might go to Cal football games, etc. If he/she goes to Pomona, he/she might be the only Pomona grad on staff.</p>
<p>Just some thoughts, and either to be taken seriously or not.</p>
<p>I disagree with any assertion that the smog effects quality of life. I don’t find it to be very noticeable, and the sky is always clear. It’s such a minimal factor compared to something like winter at Northwestern that it’s almost ridiculous to bring it up. The freezing winters in Illinois will have a far more deteriorating effect on quality of life, I would think. </p>
<p>The “dead area” of Claremont has 6,000 students in it. Not so dead. Plus, students here generally agree that Claremont is a cute little town, with restaurants, movie theaters, frozen yogurt, etc. The schools themselves bring in events, speakers, concerts, and parties. LA is manageable. I personally have a car, so I go into LA often. Zip cars are readily available, and most people have friends with cars. The social life is satisfying if you want it to be, and Pomona’s is better for me than Cal’s would ever be. I agree that larger schools can have more active social lives. It depends on the person.</p>
<p>And why would CalBar membership have anything to do with it? This is undergrad, not law school. If anyone from Pomona wants to go to Berkeley for law school for NorCal connections, it’s very manageable.</p>
<p>You should have very strong research opportunities at both Northwestern and Pomona - doubt a measurable difference. Wouldn’t worry about “lower” quality research at the LAC any more than I’d worry about the presence of grad students at Northwestern. Would worry Cal will be more dog eat dog vying for professor’s attn.</p>
<p>Social life depends on what you’re looking for. Claremont has better weather (smog issue really is overstated) but is dead - small suburban town - dead. LA is not easily reachable without a car. With a car, well, it’s LA. Take a nap while crawling on the freeway. There is lots happening on campus, but that’s the focal point of action.</p>
<p>Northwestern’s social life is more diverse. Lots going on with campus and off-campus parties. Evanston itself is several times the size of Clarement. And Chicago is an easy El or inter-campus shuttle ride away. If you’re interested in more varied campus, town, city options, this is the place.</p>
<p>Cal’s got a lot of variety to offer as well. I’m not a big fan of Berkeley personally, but San Fran’s not tough access and day trip opportunities are to be found in every direction. Better weather than Chi-town. Much more expensive. Most would vote Chicago a better city for student options.</p>
<p>Interesting that people think claremont is dead => boring. Is this coming from people who have been there? Im interested in hearing how fun Pomona can be; obviously, Chicago and Evanston are more hopping than quaint Claremont, but is Claremont actually boring/dead?</p>
<p>And after visiting northwestern, my fears are: ultra competitive, professors don’t care too much, students don’t learn because they want to, only because they need to to get into top grad schools. Yes, these are generalizations, but curious what nu defenders have to say.</p>
<p>(ps: I think I’ve narrowed it down to Pomona vs northwestern, it’s going to be a tough decision though because they are very different).</p>
<p>Claremont has a cute little downtown Village, but it caters more to the nearby Pilgrim Place retirement community as it does to the local colleges. If you want nightlife, you will not find it in Clareville. Most stiudent partying therefore takes place on campus. There used to be several Keg loving fraternities located in basement rooms of Clark Hall at Pomona, but those have dwindled down to only 3 frats left, and I believe the rooms have since been converted to housing.</p>
<p>Time to debunk. Northwestern is a notably MORE collaborative, LESS competitive place, much as the Midwest tends to be less on edge than the coasts. The endowment is huge with financial resources at the school incredibly strong. Professors are far from overwhelmed by their teaching responsibilities (as they are at most state u’s and even many LACs, these days) and are very, very accessible. </p>
<p>You’ll generally find more nurturing at LACs than at universities, but the trade-off is in sacrificing breadth and depth of course offerings, research opportunities, and world-class faculty scholarship. Big classes will mix with small at Northwestern freshman year with two seminars required, typically with no more than 10-15 students. Once you hit upperclass courses, virtually all are small and indistinguishable in size from those at LACs. Professors will know your name, they may even have you over for pancakes.</p>
<p>These are two great schools. Think about whether you’d be happier spending four years (yes, four years) on a larger stage or a more intimate one.</p>
<p>
How manageable? </p>
<p>As far as I now, you’d need a 3.8 to make Boalt “manageable” school to get into for a Pomona grad, or for any grad, for that matter.</p>
<p>That would depend more on the student than Pomona, but Pomona has an excellent reputation among law schools. Last year, several grads were accepted into Yale/Stan/Harvard law. I don’t know how many were accepted to Berkeley. By manageable, I meant possible, because the CalBar point was largely irrelevant as law firms would not be concerned with undergrad.</p>