<p>skyhawk08,
You are thinking about Tri-Co(llege) which includes Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr and Haverford. Students at the three schools are permitted to take courses at the other schools, eat at the other schools, and even dorm at the other schools on occasion. Haverford and Bryn Mawr are very close to each other and there is a shuttle bus which runs often between the schools. Swarthmore is farther away (20-25 minutes) but there is also a shuttle bus which runs between the schools on a regular basis.</p>
<p>Swarthmore students also can take classes at UPenn, and I think they get reimbursed for the train ride.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Question about the Swarthmore College Alliance (i'm not sure of the official name) or at least it's association w/ Haverford and another College. Is this similar to Claremont Consortium?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes and no. It's similar in that you have three really good colleges. You can take courses at any of them. There is easy intra-library loan between all three. You can go to social events at any. They share responsibility for the summer diversity student orientation program, which rotates among the three colleges from year to year. And, in a few areas, they share academic resources -- more so between Haverford and Bryn Mawr. However, each of them is a totally separate school with a separate campus.</p>
<p>The Claremont Consortium is really unique. There is one library system. One dining system. One health care system. One security force. And, really, one large campus divided up into areas for each college. There is more sharing of departments -- for example the joint science department that offers all of the science courses for CMC, Pitzer, and Scripps. In some ways, the result is a campus that probably feels more like a mid-size university -- which probably has its pluses and minuses.</p>
<p>One area that is similar. Pomona dominates the Claremont Consortium with the size of its endowment and, therefore, feels less benefit from being a more active participant in the group. The same is true for Swarthmore in the Tri-Co Consortium.</p>
<p>Thanks! </p>
<p>This may be random, but I'm looking at getting an internship this summer. Does it matter where? I'm looking at a couple different ones:</p>
<p>Congressional Internship or Congressional Page (however this is unlikely as my representitive probably won't get a spot, but the internship is very likley)</p>
<p>Internship w/ the EPA</p>
<p>Internship w/ Oregon Bus Project (Grassroots Political project in Salem)</p>
<p>Also: Should I get a job? or is that just over-kill?</p>
<p>First--my background; husband--CMC Grad, Me--Scripps Grad, DD--Swattie who thought long and hard about transferring to Pomona after freshman year and sometimes still thinks longingly about the idea. So I do know quite a bit about these three schools, and while you have made some valid points, I have a real problem with some of your characterization of the Claremont Colleges here! If you want to call them specialty schools, you may, but they really are all full liberal arts colleges, whether they have an emphasis or not. I knew a CMC'er that was an art major and a Mudder that doubled in philosophy and CS. Most of DH's classmates do hold advanced degrees--yes, more MBA's, JD's, MD's than Phd's in English--but you can say the same for most schools. I'm not going to argue with anyone about the nature of the student bodies, or the strengths of the Joint Science program (I thought it was great--have many friends who went to med school/vet school from Scripps) or any other program--because I am not a student there now. I think that any of these schools will give you a great education, with lots of interaction with professors, lots of interesting research/internship opportunities etc. The difference is feel--let me just tell you some things about Pomona I wish my Swattie had.</p>
<p>The consortium is fabulous, and relatively easy to take advantage of. Although some Swat students take classes at Penn, train schedules aren't always accomodating. As for the Tri-co schools, it's even harder to take classes there without compromising your schedule. DD tried and just couldn't make it work. Additionally, she very much wanted to participate in an activity at Bryn Mawr (one that doesn't exist at Swat and is unlikely to start--though she asked around)--she could get there for meetings, but couldn't get home afterward. At Claremont, it's so easy to travel from campus to campus for classes and activities--I took classes at every school, and loved them all, and took part in activities at each school.</p>
<p>The consortium also works socially--there are so many events taking place all the time. You can go to a big 5-college party or a quieter chamber music concert, each campus has at least one film society, most have at least one improv or comedy group, most campuses have some sort of museum or gallery and some sort of performance space. Also, 5-college numbers and resources allow for some big acts to come in pretty regularly. Each campus has at least one coffee house; Pomona's Coop, CMc's Hub, Pitzer's Grove House, HMC (forget the name!!) and Scripps'--Motley to the View (best ever!). They each have a different character, and everyone is welcome.</p>
<p>It's not quite fair to say that there is only one dining service--I don't know if they are still run by the same group, but believe me, they are all different in character and are a fun way to get out of your usual routine; grab a friend and head to Scripps for sushi, Pitzer for vegan options, CMC for the best brunch and Pomona has Oldenberg center (all language tables) as well as Frary--if you like art (great Orozco mural). Swarthmore's under one roof ideal sounds nice, but there isn't a Swattie alive that wouldn't like to mix it up a bit now and then. Not to mention "Clareville" which, while small, has a number of great little restaurants within easy walking distance. Also--the Atheneum at CMC--I won't go into details, but it's a pretty special place!</p>
<p>Although Honnold Library does serve all 5 colleges, many of the schools have their own smaller libraries. I know the most about Scripps', however, which is not only gorgeous (I've seen it in quite a few movies), but it has some very interesting specialty rare book collections and a printing press on which one may learn to type set (Scripps has its own font). You are not asking about Scripps, but it's so cool to discover these great little surprises on each campus.</p>
<p>All incoming freshman at Pomona go on an orientation trip--you get to pick from a wide variety of them. While Swarthmore is experimenting with this, it may take a while to include everyone. DD's experience was that the Tri-Co (pre-semester group that meets in August with students from all colleges to discuss diversity issues) came in pretty much bonded together as a tight group. Some halls seemed to mesh together from the start and were also very tight. If you didn't have that experience with your hallmates, then it was hard to make friends initially at Swat. I think a small group orientation experience away from the school is really nice to help you bond at least with a few people at first. Maybe others have that experience with their CA group at Swat, but according to DD, hers didn't do anything together apart from the first training sessions, so it was difficult at first.</p>
<p>I've gone on long enough--if you have anything specific that I can answer, please ask. Oh, and did I mention the weather in So. Cal...?</p>
<p>Sisplau:</p>
<p>The question I was asked wasn't to compare Swarthmore to the Claremont Consortium, but to compare the Tri-Co Consortium to the Claremont Consortium. It is impossible to answer that question accurarately without discussing the unique structure of the Claremont Consortium: one library system, one dining system, one health care system, etc. The Claremont Colleges are structured as individual colleges that contribute to, and receive services from, several major centralized administrative functions. Tri-Co is NOT structured like that.</p>
<p>I disagree with about Mudd and Claremont-McKenna not being "specialty" schools. Just like I disagree with those who try to argue that MIT is not a specialty school because a few student major in an excellent econ department. Yes, the odd student here and there majors outside the specialties. But, 63% of the degrees CMC awarded last year were majors in Business/Marketing, Psychology, and Social Sciences. CMC does not have it's own science departments. Does not offer a studio art, art history, music, dance, or theater course. So it is hard to say that it is a full-service liberal arts college. Nothing wrong with that. I think he model of a collection of specialty schools sharing a campus is an interesting one... and a very cost-effective approach from the college's standpoint. It's kind of a miniature university model. Certainly nothing wrong with considering CMC if you are interested in their specialties. It's a great school.</p>
<p>As for as Pomona goes, I view Pomona and Swarthmore as equal in every respect and incredibly similar. For example, they are the only two hoity-toit LACs that were founded, from day one, as co-ed schools. Statistically, they are similar. Huge endowments. Size. SATs. Even their binge drinking rates are similar. I don't believe that I have ever expressed a preference for Swarthmore over Pomona on College Confidential. The differences really do come down to things that are inextricably linked to the whole West Coast/East Coast thing: weather, cars on campus, $59 hourly shuttle flights home, and on and on. Honestly, I think someone looking at both schools (and I would certainly look at both schools if I had the application to get into either of them) must ultimately wrestle the East Coast/West Coast decision to the ground and the answer will appear. If study abroad weren't so attractive, I actually think the Pomona/Swarthmore semester exchange program would be very cool.</p>
<p>As for orientation. Many, many schools do the whole orientation trip thing. Williams, Dartmouth, etc. Philosophically, I'm not sure that it makes sense, given that the purpose of orientation is to draw new students into the campus and the resources available. But it's a minor issue either way. To me, that's the sort of C or D level detail that pales in comparison to deciding big picture stuff like suburban LA versus East Coast. Overall, I'd say that a pass/fail first semester is a more important issue. I would also point out that Swarthmore's first collection in the ampitheater is a fairly unique orientation event, as well...with almost a spiritual component. Have you daughter watch scenes from the candle-lighting ceremony on the Meaning of Swarthmore DVD. I guarantee she will tear up.</p>
<p>Good grief… again?
I think responding to ID seems to be a 2nd job for me these days. :(</p>
<p>I agree with ID that Swat has a larger endowment than HC or BMC but his assertion for how that impacts the Tri-co is misleading. My understanding is that Pomona offers several key academic majors that the other colleges don‘t carry or carry well. By contrast, while 1) college size 2) endowment size slightly limit academic offerings @ BMC and HC individually, because of their historic cooperation as brother/sister schools and their proximity, it’s more accurate to consider them as one academic entity because taking courses in the bi-co is seamless and effortless (the equivalent of a north and south campus of a university). For academics, events, speakers, ect… in the perspective of students, it’s bi-college… socially, however, BMC and HC are more separate. So, if we want to compare academic resources for kids at the different schools, it’s more accurate to describe the comparison as Swat and bi-co.</p>
<p>HC’s and BMC’s combined academic resources offer equal, and in many disciplines, greater selection than Swat. As one example, Swat’s bio department has 13 faculty members (Swat students #1500). By comparison, HC has 9 who concentrate in molecular biology (students # 1200) but then there is ALSO BMC with 10 professors as well (students #1300) who specialize in other bio disciplines. While there is overlap with intro courses, the selection of advanced seminars is more generous and varied in the bi-co as a result… the same holds for other majors like econ and history, classics (where kids can actually take Greek/Latin beyond the 1st year), art history (where kids can take Italian) and to more focused fields like gender studies, Black and AA studies, Latino studies, ect… </p>
<p>That’s not to suggest that Swat isn’t a great school but suggesting that Swat “dominates” the tri-college is an overstatement in my opinion because the academic and social resources of the bi-co are ample and Swat is too far away on the radar. With BMC and HC in walking distance from each other and Philly an easy ride away, Swat is just an after thought for most bi-co kids </p>
<p><a href="http://phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2006-09-07/living/16246%5B/url%5D">http://phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2006-09-07/living/16246</a>
<a href="http://phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2004-10-21/news/14330%5B/url%5D">http://phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2004-10-21/news/14330</a>
<a href="http://phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2006-10-12/news/16450%5B/url%5D">http://phoenix.swarthmore.edu/2006-10-12/news/16450</a></p>
<p>and Swat kids probably feel same regarding the bi-co on most days. The bi-co is like the Claremont consortium with Swat a cousin 30 miles away. The Tri-co isn’t a “necessity” to its members but rather is used as an extra diversion for kids at Swat and the Bi-co to explore and engage their wander-lust… a “safety” blanket (like proximity to Philly) for going to a small LAC. In such a relationship, no member can “dominate” the other.</p>
<p>Majors<br>
Anthro (HC/BMC) Anthropology
Archeology (BMC)<br>
Arabic (Bi-co) Arabic
Astronomy (HC) Astronomy
Bio/molecular (HC)
Bio/organism/ecology (BMC) Biology
Chemistry (HC/BMC) Chemistry
Chinese (BMC) Chinese
Classics (HC/BMC) Classics
Comp Lit (HC/BMC) Comp Lit
Comp Sci (HC/BMC) Comp Sci
E Asian Studies (HC) Asian Studies
Econ (HC/BMC) Econ
Engineering
English (HC/BMC) English Literature
Fine Arts (HC) Art
French/ Fr Stud (HC/BMC) Franc Studies/ French
Geology (BMC)<br>
German/Studies (HC/BMC) German Studies/ German
Growth & Structure of Cities (BMC)<br>
History (HC/BMC) History
History of Art (BMC) Art History
Italian (BMC)
Japanese (HC) Japanese<br>
Linguistics
Math (HC/BMC) Math and Stats
Music (HC) Music
Philosophy (HC/BMC) Philosophy
Physics (HC/BMC) Physics
Poli Sci (HC/BMC) Political Sci
Public Policy
Psych (HC/BMC) Psych
Religion (HC) Religion
Russian (BMC) Russian
Sociology (HC/BMC) Sociology
Spanish (HC/BMC) Spanish</p>
<p>Concentrations / Minors / Programs<br>
African & Africana Studies (HC/BMC) Black Studies
Biochem (HC/BMC) Biochem
biophysics (HC)
Creative Writing (BMC)
Dance (BMC) Dance
Ed Studies (BMC) Educational Studies
Enviro Studies (BMC) Enviro Studies
Film (BMC) Film/Media Studies
Gender/Sexuality (HC/BMC) Women's Studies
General Programs (HC/BMC)
Hispanic & Hispanic-American Studies (BMC)<br>
Hebrew & Judaic Studies (HC/BMC)
Science and Society Program (HC)
International Econ (BMC)<br>
Interpretation Theory
Latin Am/Iberian (HC/BMC) Latin American Studies
Math Economics (HC)
Medieval Studies
Neural & Behavior Sci (HC/BMC) Cognitive Sci
Peace & Conflict (HC/BMC) Peace and Conflict
Theater Studies (BMC) Theater</p>
<p>HC/BMC: independent department at both schools
Bi-co: shared resources</p>
<p>I'm sorry I tried to discuss too many issues here. My only real point I was trying to make is that at Swarthmore, the Tri-Co seems to add nothing (HC Alum is correct--it is more the Bi-Co). At Claremont, it really adds to the experience of going to any one of the schools. You get the best of both worlds--small LAC's with unique character and close-knit student body, and largish university with everything that goes along with it. Ultimately, you'll get a great education at all of these schools, you have to decide which "milieu" is right for you. As for the much touted endowment difference, I really have yet to see where the size of Swat's endowment is adding measurably to her experience there--sorry. Your daughter's experience obviously has been different.
DD's educational experience has been great so far, I have no problems with that! But I think she could have gotten the same experience at Pomona (or CMC for that matter), and had a different lifestyle that may or may not have suited her better. Just trying to give skyhawkk08 an idea of how the consortiums differ.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That’s not to suggest that Swat isn’t a great school but suggesting that Swat “dominates” the tri-college is an overstatement in my opinion because the academic and social resources of the bi-co are ample and Swat is too far away on the radar.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You took my comment out of context. I was specifically referring to the lack of incentive for Swarthmore (and Pomona) to increase their participation in their consortiums.</p>
<p>The issue is real and has come up in discussions of further integrating the Swarthmore, BMC, and Haverford libraries over the years. If I get a chance, I'll see if I can dig up the library report for you. </p>
<p>What's in it for Swarthmore to further integrate libarary operations when they already have (and pay for) the largest of the libraries? The same dynamics exist in the Claremont College consortium where Pomona is often viewed as being resistant to even further integration. Why? Because Pitzer and Scripps get more benefit from more sharing of Pomona's resources than Pomona would get from more sharing of Pitzer and Scripps resources. It's just a dollars thing.</p>
<p>BTW, I'm not an expert on Pomona. But, I believe that Pomona takes the least advantage of cross-college registrations of any of the Claremont Colleges and, in fact, many Pomona courses are closed to students from the other schools. In other words, more Pitzer students want to take courses at Pomona than Pomona students looking to enroll in Pitzer courses.</p>
<p>As an aside, I think language instruction is the most viable academic field for consortium cooperation because of critical mass issues. Not coincidentally, this seems to be where there is the most Tri-Co cooperation. A good example is the new Arabic program where at least one prof. slot is shared by the three schools with first year Arabic offered at all three, second year Arabic at BMC and Swat, and third year Arabic at Swat.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But I think she could have gotten the same experience at Pomona
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I certainly agree with that. Pomona and Swarthmore have two of the three highest per student endowments of ALL liberal arts colleges. </p>
<p>CMC's endowment is OK, but not in the same league. What they offer is great, but it saves them a lot of money not having science or arts or music or dance or theater departments, so I don't think you can say the total education experience is the same as at either Pomona or Swarthmore.</p>
<p>I think the point that siusplau and I are trying to make is in regards to your comparisons of colleges, college experiences and spending per student. For true consortiums, like Claremont and the Bi-co, students don’t see boundaries and the resources of one school are fluid with those of the others. When you make your college comparisons, you seem to be artificially putting each college into a separate box which, when dealing with consortiums, doesn’t reflect the reality of the situation for students. Saying that kids who go to CMC don’t have the same academic opportunities as Swat is a little misleading because they do. The difference, however, is that they may have to skateboard an extra 2 minutes in the California sun to get there or, in the bi-co’s case, take a funky 10 minute bus ride. Either way, a class taken on another campus is still a class taken. And from my and siuplau’s experience, the consortium arrangement of the bi-co and the Claremont may actually provide greater opportunities when compared to a school that doesn’t enjoy a real consortium arrangement despite endowment size. </p>
<p>Regarding the library issue with the tri-college, the Swat perspective you give is one. I am giving you the perspective from the Bi-co. BMC’s and HC’s libraries are a little smaller than Swat’s but, like I said with many other resources, together their capacity and breadth of holdings is equal in most fields and sometimes greater. When thinking about a HC or BMC experience, you have to consider the other college. Books requested often arrive same-day or kids just pick them up before/after a class they may be taking on the other campus… there are about 4 thousand cross-registrations each year. Because of this, there is also significant discussion in the Bi-co as well, but the debate is whether the Bi-co should merge ITS resources with Swat. </p>
<p>The main reason why the colleges partner like this, in my opinion, is because it formalizes and lays concrete the relationship between Swat and the bi-co… another sentence to include in the admissions glossy, summer tri-co, the Peace Studies consortium, and, because all 3 schools share a common Quaker history and Philly location, it just makes sense on paper and is a way to distinguish a shared cultural history and "brand" when compared to other NE colleges… even though it doesn’t really impact most Swat and Bi-co kids either way.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Saying that kids who go to CMC don’t have the same academic opportunities as Swat is a little misleading because they do. The difference, however, is that they may have to skateboard an extra 2 minutes in the California sun to get there or, in the bi-co’s case, take a funky 10 minute bus ride. Either way, a class taken on another campus is still a class taken. And from my and siuplau’s experience, the consortium arrangement of the bi-co and the Claremont may actually provide greater opportunities when compared to a school that doesn’t enjoy a real consortium arrangement despite endowment size.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I have not expressed an opinion to the orginal poster that she should prefer Pomona, CMC, or Swarthmore. Search the thread. You won't find it. I don't have an opinion. All three are valid choices. Personally? I'd do Pomona or Swarthmore over CMC, but that's just me.</p>
<p>As to consortium arrangments, the most prevalent use is for students to gain access to courses not offered by their own school's limitations. For example, there were (according to Bryn Mawr's website), 2600 cross registrations between BMC and Haverford last year -- out of probably 18,000+ total registrations (8 courses per student per year).</p>
<p>I'm guessing that a signficant number of these were Haverford registrations in departments not offered at Haverford: archaeology, geology, art history, dance, theater, creative writing, environmental studies, italian, and russian. Or BMC registrations at Haverford in fields not offered by Bryn Mawr: studio art, music, astronomy, religion.</p>
<p>I don't feel like tracking down the research, but I am certain the same dynamics apply at the Claremont consortium. Most cross-registrations are the result of home colleges not offering a full array of departments. For example, if you want to take science at Pitzer, Scripps, or CMC you HAVE to take the courses in the joint science department. If you are a CMC student wanting to take art or music or theater, you have to cross-register, because CMC doesn't offer them. This is why Pomoma, with the largest assortment of departments, has the fewest cross-registrations. Not because of distance, but rather need.</p>
<p>I found this link to Harvey Mudd cross-registrations:</p>
<p>In 2002, they had fewer total cross registrations (coming and going) with all of the other Claremont colleges than the 2600 between Bryn Mawr and Haverford. I gather that there are some signficant restrictions placed by many Claremont departments on cross registration. It easy to understand why. A department sized for a liberal arts college has difficulty meeting the demand from five liberal arts colleges. This is less of an issue at Haverford/BMC where BMCs art history department and Haverford's music departments can be sized to serve both colleges.</p>
<p>I'm certainly not against consortiums. I've always been intrigued by the Claremont model. The Bi-Co and Tri-Co arrangements have some value. The 5-college consortium in Northhampton has some real benefits. However, all of these are over-sold in the admissions brochures, IMO.</p>
<p>As a practical matter, my daughter's biggest problem has been that she has too many courses she wants to take. Every semester, she's trying to whittle 6 courses down to 4. I suspect that is typical, which is why cross-registrations aren't more popular than they are.</p>
<p>Idad, you have a very warped view of the claremont consortium. You seem to think that the other claremont colleges just leech off of Pomona and its copious endowment and that Pomona really does not benefit at all from the consortium. Not only do I think that most people affiliated with the other colleges would vehemently disagree with you, I think that most people from Pomona would find what you're insinuating a bit ridiculous. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Most cross-registrations are the result of home colleges not offering a full array of departments
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Absolutely untrue. People take classes at other colleges for many reasons. Maybe they heard a particular professor was especially good, maybe it fits in their schedule better. CMC has an incredible history department, but when I registered for classes last semester, I was intrigued by the description of a Pomona history course so I took it. When students register for classes, there is one centralized system that lists all of the classes for all of the colleges, and almost all of them are open to students from the five colleges. Depending on where you live on some of the campuses, you might actually be physically closer to some classrooms of another school than the classrooms at your own school. Virtually everyone at the claremont colleges takes at least some classes away from their home college. </p>
<p>As for the endowment issue, despite the fact that CMC is only 60 years old it is in the top 10 for per student endowment among liberal arts colleges. They just spent half of a million dollars to have Bill Clinton come in April and give one speech. If a student finds an unpaid, nonprofit internship over the summer, they will hand him $3,000 so he can afford to do it and get experience. Does Pomona have even more money per student? Yes, but trust me, describing CMC's endowment as "OK" is a gross understatement.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, but trust me, describing CMC's endowment as "OK" is a gross understatement.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It was $315,000 per student as of June 2005. You're right. "OK" was probably a bit understated. "Pretty good" would probably be more accurate.</p>
<p>You know, this whole thing started because I said that Swarthmore's Tri-Co consortium was not as tightly knit as the Claremont Consortium. I think that's an accurate assessment.</p>
<p>As for Pomona's role in the Consortium. Is it not true that Pomona (as an institution) as viewed as somewhat standoffish compared to the other schools in the group? If that's not true, it is certainly a perception that is voiced rather frequently on the various Claremont forums. Maybe I'll check with Xiggi!</p>
<p>I believe it to be true that BMC and Haverford students view Swarthmore as being somewhat more aloof from the Tri-Co Consortium. I don't think Swarthmore students really care one way or the other. Some take courses at BMC and Haverford and Penn; others don't.</p>
<p>Oh sure, there are some pretentious Pomona students who like to wear shirts that say "Harvard: The Pomona of the East" and talk about how Pomona would be better if it weren't for the consortium. Chances are that these people are just bitter that they didn't get into Harvard.</p>
<p>They represent a distinct minority, however, and I would not consider their views representative of Pomona as a whole. </p>
<p>Also, this elitist attitude is not normally considered a positive attribute of Pomona. . .</p>
<p>Look, the OP asked us to compare the consortiums--which we did, trying to correct what we perceive as mistaken impressions that ID continually gives. Going on about endowment is really unimportant here--there will be no perceptible difference if the OP goes to CMC as a Government major (I would choose CMC over most schools if that were my intended major).
A small minority at Pomona does have a standoffish, elitist attitude--probably a smaller minority than at Swat. Sometimes they seem further out of the loop simply because of location--it's just that much more removed from the center of the campuses (the real "hub" would be between Scripps and CMC). But that is really Pomona's loss, because the shared facilities are great. We were out in December (son looking at HMC and CMC--maybe he'll add HC to the list)-- there is a new fieldhouse going in at Scripps that looks to be beautiful and the newer Joint Science buildings seem so nice. And I'm always amazed that The Danson, Raku, Walters and the Folk Music Center--still there after all these years!
Anyway--Thanks HCAlum and theboneyking. I'm done.</p>
<p>
[quote]
if the OP goes to CMC as a Government major (I would choose CMC over most schools if that were my intended major).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The choice between majoring in Government at CMC or at Pomona would be like the choice between studying science at MIT or Yale.</p>
<p>With 1100 students, CMC has 400 Economics majors and probably a similar number of Government majors compared to maybe 30-50 each at Pomona. So the sizes of the departments, the diversity of academic interests in the student body, etc. are going to be very different experiences.</p>
<p>Just like there is no right answer for every student considering studying science at MIT or Yale, there is no right answer between studying Government at a specialty school like CMC or a broad-based LAC like Pomona/Swarthmore. The issue is not the academic quality (which would be excellent at all of the above), but one of scale and specialization of the school and the student body. For example, according to their Common Data Set, CMC had zero art/music/theater majors last year.</p>
<p>I'm overwhelmed by the response to this thread!</p>
<p>I'm still curious about Internships/Jobs? What would be best?</p>
<p>The best for what? You should take whatever internship/job you think is most interesting and exciting for you. Don't make your life revolve around college admissions strategizing...</p>