<p>Well I've been indecisive on this for a week now and have to send out deposits within a few days: Pomona or the University of Pennsylvania? Here are some quick points:</p>
<p>I haven't had the time nor money to visit either campus, but coming from a rainy and relatively small city, the idea of a sunny college town or a large urban environment are both attractive.</p>
<p>I'm a sciency type person and will be studying biochemistry/molecular biology; I also have a side-interest in bioengineering. I am interested in a research-oriented career and plan to head off to graduate school but there has always been a possibility for med school.</p>
<p>I love the sun and the intimacy at Pomona and since I'm a bit reserved in terms of personality, I feel the closeness would be really conducive to my learning/social life.</p>
<p>But at the same time, Penn has excellent biology and chemistry departments and the appealing option to cross over to the engineering school (for bioengineering).</p>
<p>I posted this same thread in the Penn forum to hopefully get more perspectives I'll be seriously contemplating this and will come to a decision soon but I would really appreciate any input and insights. Thanks guys!</p>
<p>I’m not a science major and I never applied to Penn so I probably wouldn’t be much help in comparing the departments.</p>
<p>All I can say is that I came from a small town in Minnesota where it’s really cold in winter and now being at Pomona is great. The weather is pretty much amazing and it definitely is more of an intimate environment than what one might find at a larger school.</p>
<p>I transferred into Pomona this year so if you have any questions about that feel free to send me a PM.</p>
<p>I looked at Penn and was really turned off by the social atmosphere (mostly frats and sororities) and class sizes (large, esp in intro classes, leading to lack of interaction with professors). I get the feeling that Penn is more pre-professional (grooming students for med school, law school, wall street, etc) while liberal arts schools like Pomona emphasize learning for the sake of learning (and a larger proportion of students go on to get PhDs). Penn’s atmosphere seems to foster competition while Pomona’s fosters cooperation.</p>
<p>Pomona’s chemistry and molecular biology departments are very strong. You can cross-enroll at Harvey Mudd for some bioengineering classes. Besides, I don’t think specializing in bioengineering as an undergrad is expected or necessarily recommended by graduate programs.</p>
<p>Your description of yourself and your academic interests sounds pretty much identical to mine, and I ended up applying early to Pomona. I did not apply to Penn. Take from that what you will.</p>
<p>A friend of mine who was considering Penn visited it this November. His visit made him not apply to the school. He said he didn’t feel comfortable on campus, and that there was just this big alley which was conducive to muggings. At pomona you will never have the feeling of being unsafe, and Pomona’s small size yet large consortium fosters opportunities that matches even the largest research universities. In addition Pomona has a great grad school name if you are looking to pursue a graduate degree.
At Pomona you will get to know your professor on a personal basis, not to mention getting attention in the classroom. UPenn is cold, in a bad area, and ultra competitive.
I got wait listed at Penn but did not even put myself on the wait list after I found out I got into Pomona, it was clear to me.</p>