Am I a fool for liking Pomona more than Stanford? Stanford feels like this superpower college that I would be an idiot to say no to and would be giving up so many opportunities. Everyone around me keeps telling me that I would be making the wrong decision to choose Pomona. I still have to visit Stanford, but I loved my Pomona visit. I loved the size, that most people knew each other, the other 5C campuses, the diversity, and the open-mindedness. There were negatives, of course. But I just feel something about Pomona. Maybe I will feel the same thing after my Stanford visit.
I personally liked Stanford more when I visited, but it’s your education, so you should be able to choose whichever college you want to go to.
No. Stanford and Pomona are vastly different in their educational approach, emphasis, and student body. It is totally fair to prefer Pomona to Stanford. If you were to come to Pomona turning down Stanford, you will not be the first or anywhere near it. If you want to speak to some current students who made the very same choice, let me know and I can connect you to them.
Do go into Stanford with an open mind though, and see what you think.
No! It is a large chunk of your life that you’re deciding on so make the decision based on where you think you’ll be happiest! If you choose Stanford because you just don’t want to turn it down because of the prestige, and end up not liking it, you will definitely regret it.
it really depends on what you want to do in life…stanford’s name will always carry a lot of weight no matter what you do but as per above you wont be the first one to turn it down
You’ve got some good choices. Visit Stanford then go where you feel most comfortable.Easy-peasy
Seems like Duke is an option too. Hmmmm.
Stanford and Pomona will feel very different. Stanford’s reputation is more more global plus Stanford offers immersion in the Silicon Valley community, which could be immensely valuable depending on the career path for the student. Stanford offers access for undergraduates to its top notch graduate schools. Stanford offers top notch sports teams playing at the highest echelons. Stanford is much much larger in terms of physical campus. You really have to think carefully about turning down Stanford for any other school on the planet.
However, my child attends Pomona and absolutely loves it. The quality of experience there is different from Stanford in many respects. See which fits you better. Not unusual to love one over the other depending on your priorities, preferences and predilections. Remember to think of Pomona as one of the Claremont College consortium, a rare situation that combines top notch small LAC with the resources of medium sized school.
I fully see my child’s position. Based on my experience with Stanford and at Ivy League schools, having attended one, I regard Pomona/Claremont Colleges as equal if not superior in the quality of undergraduate development.
Pomona is a great college. No question about it. But Stanford is in a whole different league.