<p>Hi guys, I need your advice. I have been researching both of these schools and they appear to be quite similar to one another. My teacher even called Pomona the "Rice of the West" so I'm utterly confounded as to what will be a better choice for me. I'm from the East Coast so both schools appealed to me for being far away(I want a different experience).</p>
<p>I want to major in law, medicine, chemistry, economics, biochemistry, or physics. In other words, I want an all-rounded school that can cater to my academic tastes. This is perhaps the most important factor.</p>
<p>Both schools seem to be virtually alike in professor interaction, quality of life, weather, intellectual life, reputation, general happiness, academic quality, residential life, student body(though Rice must be given the edge in diversity), endowment, financial aid, and so forth. Rice offers me Houston while Pomona offers me the other four consortium schools, and LA is close by too so it's not too rural. I'm not much of a sport's person, nor do I care for Greek Life. Rice is much bigger than Pomona, but with its consortium I think both schools will be around the same size. Pomona is more selective and has an academically speaking stronger pool. I've heard both schools offer good opportunities for research, which I am interested in. </p>
<p>I visited Pomona for their Fall Weekend and FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. However Rice is just as appealing to me right now and I can't make up my mind. I can only apply to one of them due to time restraints and financial constraints.</p>
<p>Wow, that’s tough. Both are highly selective, so it’s hard for even the best of students to predict which they’re more likely to get into. That being said, both are very high quality schools, and both have very high retention rates, but I’m not sure everyone would agree that the weather in Houston and SoCal “virtually alike.” Yes, both tend to have mild winters, but Houston is definitely more humid in the warm months. That’s obviously not a big deal for a lot of folks, and it’s only a couple of months out of the year, but after a late-spring week in Houston, D crossed just about all of the south off her list.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. Honestly weather at both appealed to me…I’m sick of the East Coast’s brutal winters. I heard both Pomona and Rice have miserable days move in time/leaving time/pretty mild winter/spring/fall, so I don’t think they’re too different in weather.</p>
<p>I have a friend who is now currently a junior at Pomona facing this very choice (he was accepted to Pomona and Rice). Pomona was his first choice (he preferred the community there), but Rice offered him more money. He decided to go with Pomona anyway, and he’s been extremely happy there. I have not heard of a single Pomona student regretting their decision to attend, despite having many other prestigious acceptances.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post zrathustra. I was granted a temporary extension from Rice so I’ll apply to both schools. Now is the matter of getting into both schools I’ll bump this back up if that happens.</p>
<p>Don’t underestimate the aspect of the consortium. It is very unique, and as I have posted before, it is more like one large campus. If you haven’t yet, you should go back and search the topic so you can have a complete picture. Also, doesn’t Rice have the residential college system? That is something that Pomona does not have. My S attends Pomona and socializes etc. with students from all the other campuses on a regular basis. Even the Claremont rivals during his sport season!</p>
I’ll bump this back up if that happens.</p>