Im honestly so torn. Each one of these schools has a piece of my heart. I didn’t want my family to go into major debt and finally had UCLA in my brain, but now Pomona has tripled their Fin Aid offer so it would be less for Pomona compared to UCLA. From what I hear Dartmouth might match Pomona since they are comparable and competing schools. I have it in my heart to go to med school. Any advice would be so appreciated!!
Congratulations on having so many great options! DD is a very happy pre-med at Pomona. They have a dedicated Pre-Health office (http://www.pomona.edu/administration/pre-health/), and the faculty advisor and the CDO advisor listed on that page are in addition to each student’s personal faculty advisor in their major. The office and the Health Sciences committee hold workshops throughout the year (last year, they even had one for parents), and work individually with each student as they complete their post-grad applications (http://www.pomona.edu/administration/pre-health/apply/pomona-process.aspx). The CDO and the Draper Center (which facilitates community partnerships) have helped DD obtain paid/supported internships and research opportunities. They also helped her get into a study-abroad program that specializes in her research interest (which was completely covered as part of her normal tuition/financial aid). I’m sure UCLA and Dartmouth both have good programs, as well, but I wanted to make sure you knew that just because Pomona is smaller doesn’t mean that it has fewer resources for potential pre-meds and might even provide more personalized attention. Good luck!