<p>This is going to be a kind of long thread so please bear with me. These three schools are my top college choices and I'd appreciate some outside perspectives on the academics, quality of life, and social life at these schools, with a focus on Pomona.
Okay so I'll start with what I feel is the biggest difference between the three schools, quality of life. I'm asthmatic and I come from an area with pretty good air quality, so how bad is the air quality in Claremont? Is the LA climate better than the Bay Area, and btw I'm already assuming most people agree it's better than NY. How comfortable are the dorms? Are there many options for the outdoorsy type?
On to the social life. I've heard some supposed Pomona alumni talk about how the social life is so-so, they say that most people at the school are pretentious and kind of quiet, that the parties are kind of lame, and that there is not much use of alchohol. Is all of this true? How many clubs are there, I'm interested in the Debate, swimming, or Outdoorswomen organizations, and is there a variety of guest speakers or bands? Is the student body tolerant of slightly right of center political views? How intellectual is the environment?
Finally, academics. I'm under the impression that there really isn't that much of a difference between the academics at Pomona, Fordham, and Santa Clara, aside from the fact that you'll probably have more contact with the faculty at Pomona but I can deal without having dinner with my teachers, is this true or is Pomona really superior? Also how is the classics, philosophy, and economics departments at the school, are they pretty good, and is CMC really better than Pomona in economics or is that the "CMC edge" in economics over-hyped?
Oh and I forgot to ask one of the most important questions, how's life in LA? How close is Claremont to Pasadena, the beaches of Orange County, Hollywood, and Disneyland for a person with a car?
That's about it and thanks in advance to anyone willing to answer my lengthy post!</p>
<p>"....isn't that much of a difference between the academics at Pomona, Fordham, and Santa Clara,"''</p>
<p>WHAT!!</p>
<p>I should shut up, because I've attended neither, but my D visited, applied to, and did weekends at SCU and Claremont's (o.k., Scripps) and they seemed worlds apart.</p>
<p>Pomona is a very high ranked LAC. It is pretty competitive and you need high scores and grades to be accepted. Fordham and SCU are considered safeties for many, while Pomona is considered a reach. I think you should do a little more research.</p>
<p>Okay, had to edit....so I have limited perspective but visually, air quality is better in the Bay Area, but I don't assume it will be clinically significant on the Claremont campus. My D was turned off by the talk of alchohol at Santa Clara BUT, she has issues with the drinking culture, and I've heard it's no more than usual, and maybe less then usual at SCU. My feeling was that Pomona and the Claremonts have more intellectual feel. While the Claremonts may not have the soccer rep of scu, they do a nice job with intramurals. I think academically, Pomona ranks very highly in most areas common to LAC's. If it was me, and I could get into Pomona, I'd go! If you could get into Pomona, you could probably get good merit money at SCU.</p>
<p>Don't get me wrong! I thought SCU would be perfect for good students; Gorgeous campus. Great Jesuit philosophy. Perfect location for easy access to the Bay area, wine country, Tahoe, Monterey., but not too much day to day distraction.I would have been happy to have my D attend.</p>
<p>i've visited both scu and pomona and i've done quite a bit of research into the schools, and i even heard the testimonial of an alumni, my cousin, who has nothing but good things to say about the rigors of the education she recieved at scu so i don't think polarice is asking uneducated questions. i think scu is very underrated academically, although i would give the edge to pomona. as for fordham i don't know much about it but i has a very good reputation and it must've done something to deserve it right?
polarice i'm actually in the same situation as you, minus fordham and add cmc, and i'd really like to know how life is in the bay area.</p>
<p>SCU may be underrated, but it still makes sense to compare the statistics of SCU and Pomona. If for nothing else, at least selectivity. Getting in to Pomona is like getting into at least Stanford, no? All I'm saying is, if you have the stats for Pomona, cast a wide net!</p>
<p>Sorry I guess I kind of got a little mixed up in my post. I posted this same post in about four or so different threads but changed them up a bit to fit the category so sorry. Pomona is definetly ahead of both Fordham and Santa Clara but I don't think by that much, academically speaking. Santa Clara and Fordham are definetly my safeties but after researching what some of the supposed alumni have said about the social life at Fordham I think I might cross it off my list, mainly because of the stringent zero tolerance alchohol policy and I had no idea that it was in the BRONX!!!!!</p>
<p>Pomona
Percent applicants admitted: 16%
Test Scores
Middle 50% of First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 690 - 770 91%
SAT Math: 690 - 760 91%
SAT Writing: 680 - 750 91%
ACT Composite: 29 - 34 38%
87% in top 10th of graduating class
98% in top quarter of graduating class
100% in top half of graduating class </p>
<p>Santa Clara
Percent applicants admitted: 61%
Test Scores Middle 50% of First-Year Students Percent Who
Submitted Scores
SAT Critical Reading: 540 - 650 90%
SAT Math: 570 - 670 90%
SAT Writing: - -<br>
ACT Composite: 24 - 29 37%</p>
<p>36% in top 10th of graduating class
73% in top quarter of graduating class
94% in top half of graduating class
27% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher
26% had h.s. GPA between 3.5 and 3.74
25% had h.s. GPA between 3.25 and 3.49
15% had h.s. GPA between 3.0 and 3.24
7% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99</p>
<p>So Fordham is in the Bronx. ...you gotta problem wid dat? (Joking! I used to live in the Bronx!)</p>
<p>Pomona has admissions statistics that should be admired but I don't think that admissions statistics or rankings have everything to do with the quality of the academics, the nature of the student body yes but academics I don't think so. I'm not trying to demean Pomona at all, it's my first choice by far and the school that I've decided to apply early to, but I'm not going to side with the elitists that believe that any college that isn't in the top quartile of the us news rankings can't provide a rigorous education and that anyone who dares to compare a degree from any college that didn't scored a least a 4.0 on the US News peer assessment rating to Dartmouth or Wellsley is out of their mind and should have their mouth washed out with soap.</p>
<p>"... top quartile of the us news rankings ..." is it??</p>
<p>Oh yeah! That too!</p>
<p>Joking... joking... but you don't think those stats and the faculty at Pomona say something important about it's academics?</p>
<p>Oh and to the whole Fordham in the Bronx thing, I'm not trying to judge the people of the Bronx, well maybe I am, but it's just that everyting I've heard on television, on the internet, in newspapers, and from former NYers, which there are an OMG amount of in Tucson, the Bronx is like Tijuana, and that's kinda scary to a 16-going-on-17 white girl!</p>
<p>
[quote]
the nature of the student body yes but academics I don't think so
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I understand the point that you are trying to make (bcos what you learn is really up to you), but you cannot disasociate the student body and academics bcos they are intertwined. Take math class for example. If you were in a class with a 30 (or 130) kids with a sub-500 SAT math score, it would be extremely difficult to teach calculus at at typical college pace, even if they all had completed precalc. A professor can only teach to the level of his/her students.</p>
<p>I really like SCU, but it is on a far different academic plane than Pomona, which, if located in the NE, would be considered on par with Williams and Amherst for national rep.</p>
<p>And I understand your point too. I'm not trying to compare ASU to Pomona at all, Pomona provides, on average, a far better education to its students than ASU. However, 99 percent of courses at Santa Clara have fewer than 50 students and 64 percent have fewer than 30 students so the suggestion that Santa Clara provides an education that is the equivalent to a state school is, I believe, absurd. And as for the student body, the average SATM score is 618 and SATCR is 597, so they're not stupid by any means, they're not all Einstein's but they're not all little George Bush's either, who btw graduated from Yale. Santa Clara may not have the reputation of Williams, Amherst, or Yale but I think as far as the quality of the education it provides to most students is concerned it is definetly in the league of at least NYU, USC, or Tufts.
Oh and here's the link to all of the info I provided in my post about Santa Clara <a href="https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_print_tmpl.jhtml?printStyle=html&schoolId=776%5B/url%5D">https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg01_print_tmpl.jhtml?printStyle=html&schoolId=776</a>
Oh and I'm not trying at all to lower Pomona, again it's my number 1 choice, but I just feel that I have to defend schools that maybe aren't in the top quartile of the US News rankings but provide a fantastic education with a great student body and caring, wise faculty.</p>
<p>I don't understand the reference to ASU. I'm worried that I, or someone has offended you. Sorry, if it was me. Just trying to respond to your request for opinions.</p>
<p>No I'm not offended at all, just defensive a bit. And I live in Arizona and ASU is considered by most people in state, even my aunts who didn't even go to college, as somewhat of a "loser school", so I figured the reference was appropriate because bluebayou described a low achieving state school. But again I appreciate the posts and I'm not offended at all.
btw I'm the smart, loud, preppy, girl at a pretty ghetto school that doesn't really value academics and doesn't tolerate preppiness so I've developed thick skin over the past six years!</p>
<p>There have been dozens of threads re: air quality in Claremont, so just run a search for "Claremont + smog" and you should get tons of results.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>Outdoors at Pomona
You should definitely check out the organization On the Loose available to Pomona studnets but a 5 college club: On</a> The Loose | Home
Welcome to On the Loose, the outdoors club of the Claremont Colleges!</p>
<p>OTL dispatches student-led trips to destinations across California and the Southwestern states. OTLers like to backpack, climb, car-camp, surf, bike, and bear-wrassle. To these ends, we offer advice to those who are lost, cars to those who need transportation, and a wide-ranging assortment of gear to all studentsall for free. We also provide extensive subsidies for our adventures. We welcome students of all ability levels, from the most hardened sherpas to the freshest greenhorns. We host talks to engage our intellects, classes and training to hone our skills, and weekly Tuesday Shindigs to see each others shining faces.</p>
<p>Every week On the Loose is sure to have something to excite you, on campus and off. Whatever your level of experience, we hope to see you soon on trail, in the surf, on the rocks, or in a big comfy couch at one of our Shindigs!</p>
<p>Air pollution - rumors of the air being terrible are blown out of proportion. Yes, there are bad days but only a handful.</p>
<p>Is this real?</p>
<p>Yes. Here's an article from the Pomona College Magazine: [url=<a href="http://www.pomona.edu/Magazine/pcmsu00/10.shtml%5D10%5B/url">http://www.pomona.edu/Magazine/pcmsu00/10.shtml]10[/url</a>].</p>
<p>Based on your posts in this thread and considering your medical condition, Santa Clara University is the better choice for you between Pomona & SCU--although I don't really picture you at either school. Have you considered Reed College or Wesleyan University? UCal-Berkeley may be another match for you, in my opinion. The Univ. of Wisconsin in Madison may be a strong match as well.</p>