Pomona vs Wesleyan?

College Search & Selection
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If lucky enough to have the choice, what would tip the scale in Pomona's favor?

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<p>As far as "objective" measures, the main thing that would tip the scales in Pomona's favor is that it has the second highest per student endowment of any LAC in the country -- about four times the per student endowment of Wesleyan. </p>

<p>See page 3 of this PDF for per student endowments of selected colleges as of June 2004:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.williams.edu/alumni/campaign/about/2005_Coolidge_Endowment.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.williams.edu/alumni/campaign/about/2005_Coolidge_Endowment.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>With the exception of that one signficant difference, every other comparison would have to be made based on individual criteria. Suburban LA is very different than Connecticut. The size of the two schools is very different: Pomona being smaller (yet part of a larger consortium). The style of the two schools is different. The weather is very different. You have to consider the personal implications of the travel distance. You have to consider specific areas or departments that might be of particular interest.</p>

<p>Honestly, it's so close to a toss-up that, if I were choosing, I would have to do an overnight at both schools. I think that a clear favorite would emerge and that clear favorite would differ from person to person.</p>

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<p>Speaking of Harvey Mudd, how brutal is it? Did apply, figured it is drastically different from either Wesleyan or Pomona. What is it like to be a physics major at HM vs PO? How would grad school, etc. prospects compare? Can a Harvey physics major realistically pursue art, music or drama in a serious fashion? Or do you basically have to kiss such pursuits good-bye?</p>

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<p>Thanks for the very helpful and detailed response!</p>

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<p>And will definitely do overnights.</p>

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<p>Also, be aware that so-called "objective criteria" can be misleading. For example, in the Stone Age, before widespread reliance upon the Internet for research, library size was a rough measure of a college or univeristy's academic heft. Anyone looking at a description of Pomona in any of the current standard texts would walk away with the impression that Pomona had 2.4 million volumes for an LAC the size of Swarthmore (you can see where I'm going, here) but, that's really 2.4 million volumes for all 6 Claremont campuses compared to Wesleyan's 1.3 million.</p>

<p>My nephew, born and bred Back East, lives in the L.A. area and is thriving. His parents cringe, however, whenever he calls home while driving on the freeway. ;)
Similarly, Californians have been shaping Wesleyan's campus culture for at least two decades now, culminating in the unveiling of it's Film Studies building last Fall, paid for largely by California alum.</p>

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<p>Harvey Mudd is tech school -- arguably one of the top three in the country for undergrad along with Caltech and MIT. You really have to think of it as a specialty school. There are virtually no students majoring in areas other than math, science, and engineering.</p>

<p>Given the stated interests in both science and studio art, I don't think Mudd, CalTech, or MIT would make a lot of sense compared to a college or university with a more broad-based curriculum. Just as Scripps offers only the most rudimentary sciences, Mudd offers precious little in the humanities and social sciences. </p>

<p>All of those fields (English, languages, history, philosophy, Poli Sci, Econ, Sociology, art, music, etc.) are lumped together in a single "Humanities and Social Sciences" Department that is there basically just to provide the basic distribution requirements.</p>

<p>Here's the course list for that department for Fall 2005:</p>

<p><a href="http://www2.hmc.edu/www_common/humsoc/CoursesF05.doc%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www2.hmc.edu/www_common/humsoc/CoursesF05.doc&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As you can see, there is one art course ("Beginning Black and White Photography"), one history course, two poli sci courses, etc. This tells you what you need to know about the focus of Harvey Mudd as a tech school. I imagine you would find a similar situation at CalTech.</p>

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<p>Physics is pretty difficult at HMC, from what I can tell. I am headed in the engineering direction but I have numerous friends that are physics. </p>

<p>The program is definitely comparable to MIT, Caltech, Stanford, etc., in terms of difficulty and such. The only thing that these school have over HMC are the extensive lab resources (particle accelerators, etc). For undergrad, however, this should not be a big concern because even if you were to attend one of these schools, you would not have access to it. The resources are primarily allocated for grad school.</p>

<p>With that said, HMC probably has some of the best undergraduate resources in the country. Full-access, no priority to grad schools...because there is none.</p>

<p>There is a definite difference between Pomona physics and HMC physics. That difference exists for nearly all of the tech-related courses. The rigor and depth of understanding that is expected here is second to none. We learn the no BS approach to math/science/engineering. Unfortunately, that means that there you work your @ss off most of the time.</p>

<p>We still find time for fun. Our type of fun is kind of different though. At West, my dorm, we break computers, monitors, burn things, smash glass, light more things on fire, and throw 400 lb tires off the balcony to catapult huge springs into the air. Oh, and dry ice bombs and high-explosive detonators in spud cannons (ammonium nitrate/hexane) are always fun and welcome.</p>

<p>Every month or so, we throw a big party...and that brings hundreds or thousands of people from around the 5-C's. We've had alums fly here from other parts of the country just to come to the traditional parties.</p>

<p>Let's just say that majoring in physics and doing something else is possible. It will not be easy, but for me, I have two major hobbies outside academia. I do percussive music and rocketry. However, supposedly, engineering at HMC is as brutal as it gets. You should be fine.</p>

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<p>"How would grad school, etc. prospects compare?"</p>

<p>Heh. You get into pretty much any grad school you please...assuming you stay in the top half.</p>

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<p>Thanks for very generous info, insights, and first hand experiences! This will all be extremely valuable, or moot, depending on how things fall out!</p>