This is my first post in college confidential. As the title suggests, I have been admitted to Pomona, Swarthmore, UCLA and the University of Michigan. I have not yet decided my major but my current intellectual pursuits are physics, mathematics ,and philosophy. I managed to narrow down my list of choices to these four schools but I am having a hard time deciding which school out of these four I should attend. On the one hand, the intellectual freedom of and the nurture I will receive from the LACs( Pomona and Swarthmore) intrigue me while on the other the prospect of attending a large research university( UCLA and Michigan) and the plethora of different opportunities available there inspire me. The major factors ( not in order) that affect my decision are:
Academic Rigor
School Reputation
Research Opportunities
Potential to receive financial aid in the future( I was admitted without any financial aid but I might need aid in the future )
In particular, are you in-state for either UCLA or Michigan? If so, then the lower starting cost may be advantageous if you are concerned about cost and financial aid in the future. If not, do you have any in-state public choices?
Do not expect much aid from any of those universities once you arrive on campus. UCLA and Michigan will definitely not give you any aid. I am not sure about Pomona or Swarthmore, but I cannot imagine that they will extend any financial aid to you once a student if they have not already done so.
Academically, you cannot go wrong at any of those four elite institutions. Given your majors, you are guaranteed to have small classes and the attention of faculty at all four since those majors attract few students, even at large research universities.
Do you have a preference? To answer your questions:
Academic rigor: Swarthmore, UCLA and Michigan are all rigorous, particularly in your chosen majors. I am not sure about Pomona, but I would assume the same goes for it.
School reputation: All four are excellent, and their reputations are justifiably very strong.
Research opportunities: I would assume that UCLA and Michigan have more opportunities and options for research, but at the same time, more students would be vying for them. That being said, since you can pretty much fit all the Physics and Philosophy majors at those universities in a bus, the odds are still very good. Pomona and Swarthmore should also be great in this domain.
I am almost certain that you will not receive any aid from UCLA or Michigan. Not sure about Pomona or Swarthmore, but I would assume the odds aren't great either.
Life at each of those four institutions will very wildly from campus to campus. What preference do you have?
Do you prefer sunshine and warmth 90% of the time (UCLA and Pomona) or a variety of weather (UMich and Swat)?
Do you prefer smaller classes and more access to professors (Swat and Pomona) or more classes/majors to choose from and greater anonymity (Michigan and UCLA)?
Do you prefer an urban setting (UCLA) or a more suburban setting (the other three)?
In terms of rigor, you can choose a rigorous schedule anywhere you go, but among these four one stands out as the most rigorous generally: Swarthmore.
In terms of research opportunities, there are more opportunities at Michigan and UCLA, and certainly more cutting-edge research goes on at the research universities. There is also more competition for those research spots. Still, I would give an edge to Michigan and UCLA for research opportunities. Especially Michigan: it has the second-largest research budget of any school in the US.
In terms of prestige, they all have plenty of it in terms of job recruiters and grad school admissions. However, Michigan and UCLA are more known to the general public in the US and internationally.
Do you prefer the smaller, perhaps more intellectual atmospheres of Swat and Pomona? Or the more pre-professional, research-oriented, larger campuses of Michigan and UCLA?
Hopefully these questions and this info will help you decide.
According to its Common Data Set (section H6), Michigan does not offer financial aid to international students. UCLA did offer FA to internationals in 2006-07, but I cannot view CDS files more recent than that.
In 2014-15 Pomona granted financial aid to 57 out of 161 internationals, averaging about $41K each.
Swarthmore granted FA to 53 out of 150 internationals, averaging about $48K each.
You may want to contact people in the FA offices about what would happen after year1 if your financial circumstances changed. I think the expectation would be for you to re-apply for aid each year (if needed) and that your application would face the same standards/processes as an incoming freshman’s would. But maybe the aid is more limited after year 1, depending on the school.
Congrats on some great admits! Make sure you read that full @nostalgicwisdom thread mentioned by @Corinthian. My Pomona senior D had much the same experience (and probably knows at least one of the JPL interns referenced in the thread). D was usually involved in multiple research and internship opportunities both during the summer and the school year and her transportation costs were always covered. Her research experience led directly to her first post-Pomona job. D also faced the large research university v. small LAC question, and decided that while she can always go to grad school for the former, she could only experience the latter as an undergrad.
Thank you everyone for your feedback! I finally decided to attend Pomona because of the Liberal Arts Experience which is exclusive for undergraduate education. As otisp mentioned, when I graduate I can attend a large research university but for undergraduate I believe a Liberal Arts Education is ideal for me.