Congratulations! Anyone who tells you this choice is an easy one is quite wrong- there are striking differences between each school. Pomona is in an unusually placed East-coast like college town within an urban hive with cities in just about every direction but north, which have the tallest mountains in SoCal. I think it has the better outdoorsy opportunities since there are national parks, skiing opportunities, surfing, sea kayaking, hiking, rock climbing, and so much more. The Outdoors Education Center goes to world renowned national parks very frequently, such as Zion, Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and the Grand Canyon. Pomona is more accessible with LA than Yale is to NYC; Claremont is also safer place than New Haven, though it’s flanked by cities the same population as New Haven.
If you want friendly/collaborative, I think Yale and Brown would lead in the Ivies that give that, but I think Pomona and the liberal art colleges will likely be better. Their communities are more inclusive racially and economically, and they foster not just small classes, but collaboration and nurture in every respect. I think Yale comes very close to emulating the experience of a liberal arts college and education, but it’s not the same extent as it is at a school that focuses exclusively on undergraduates. For instance, Pomona just won a 25K award in Zipcar funding against Boston U, Yale, and Harvard because its undergraduates pulled together to win the victory- even though Yale has almost 10x as many students. It’s a small note, though, and Yale has some other factors.
Yale will provide you more opportunities numerically. This is true. But Pomona and the 5C’s offer much more than any other liberal arts college and much more than you can ever seize. We have so many events, speakers, workshops, parties, and other enrichment opportunities happening each day that our boards are covered with flyers and dialogue with things to do and anticipate. There are 2500 courses total at the 5C’s. As someone who turned down both Yale and Stanford, I realized that there would be far too much to do at any school I was looking at.
Prestige is a pretty big factor. It didn’t matter much to me since I’m interested in a PhD at a top school, but Yale definitely has a push that a Pomona degree doesn’t have in the general population. If you’re interested in fellowships, grad school, etc. Pomona is highly sought out so in that respect prestige doesn’t matter.
I can’t speak for the GWS department here, but the Women’s Union is one of the best run group on campus. There are a lot of avenues for political activism in a variety of spectrums; we have a lot of political magazines and groups which are 5C based. Our Draper Center for community engagement is fantastic. If you’re passionate about feminism and social activism you’ll definitely find like-minded (and critical) people at the 5C’s, especially at Scripps, Pitzer, and Pomona.