<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 Pomona 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 know that California weather is tempting. For about a week, I was really considering Stanford but then I realized that the only opportunities it would offer me would be the weather.</p>
<p>Choose Penn esp. since you’re interested in molecular biology. There’s a great program and tons of research funding. There’s also an incredible medical school and hospital in case you decide to be pre-med.</p>
<p>If you are interested in research, Penn is the place to be. It is very easy to start working at a lab as soon as you get here. There are hundreds of bio/medical labs all over campus. Most premeds I know work at a lab and most everyone I know who wants to do research is able to find at least one lab/professor to work with. Hell, I worked at a bioinformatics lab last year and I’m not a science major. If you want to do research, Penn is a research powerhouse. I can say without a doubt that you will have hundreds more research opportunities at Penn than at Pomona.</p>
<p>I have several friends who transfered to Penn from other schools and all of them love it here. They were all able to make friends and find their places at Penn. You’ll adjust to Penn just fine and love it here.</p>
<p>Do you find Oregon to be too big? If you just hate the size and want something a lot lot smaller Pomona might be better for you. However, if you’re fine not knowing everyone at your school and happy with a bigger environment, come to Penn. For your goals, i would say Penn is better academically. However, if you just couldn’t survive/be happy at a large school, no reason to have a crappy undergrad.</p>
<p>When choosing my schools this year, I ended up deciding between CMC, Penn, and Pomona. I decided on Penn pretty much because of the Vagelos LSM program. It was really hard giving up CMC and Pomona because I love the type of intimacy that those two schools foster. Personally, I believe that you will be able to pursue what you want at either Penn or Pomona. If you want to go to grad school later, there really isn’t a need to go to Penn now. You can still get research experience at Pomona, and will probably end up more well rounded since you’d get a more comprehensive education. I’d choose Pomona. Pomona has a strong biology department, and with Harvey Mudd you’d still have many opportunities.</p>
<p>PLUS I’m from San Diego and the weather is amazing. I never notice the smog in LA - it isn’t an issue unless you are really anal about that type of stuff.</p>
<p>huliaj: Not true. Well rounded is Benn Franklin’s middle name. Don’t choose a school based on weather. If I had done that, I would be preparing for Palo Alto.
Also, it’s not that easy to get into Penn for grad school. Penn has amazing opportunities and funding for research and the city has great resources as well. Go to Penn!!!</p>
<p>Doing research at Pomona is so easy it’s laughable. </p>
<p>“Hey, I like your research area, do you think i could work in your lab?”<br>
“Sure.”</p>
<p>Pomona’s professors get tons of NIH and NSF grants. If you really want the name brand of a Penn education go for it-- but i would say choose based on fit since you’ll have a plethora of opportunities at either place. Either one is a good choice, so good luck.</p>
<p>Well the same scenario occurs at Penn. You can pursue your own research as well without having to just assist. Basically, if you want an awesome city environment, tons of opportunities, and a fun learning enviornment, choose Penn. If you still want the west coast though, obviously you should go to Pomona.</p>
<p>SusieBra, I’m talking in a different sense. Penn is definitely more preprofessional than Pomona. A liberal arts education is way different.</p>
<p>I’m not saying to choose a school based on weather, but it is, in fact, important. I wouldn’t be able to go to school in an environment that I could not tolerate. I’m sure many others would feel the same.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean that Penn is easy to get into for grad school. I meant you have time to get that liberal arts education now instead of delving right into a larger university setting. However, students from Pomona have had tremendous success (a higher success rate than Penn’s probably) getting into their top choice medical and grad schools. Universities do value the liberal arts education, which is why many schools now advertise a “liberal arts curriculum.”</p>
<p>Choose based on what you need and fit. Penn and Pomona are both amazing institutions. It just depends on what you are looking for in a school and on your future plans.</p>
<p>^ Students in Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences do get a liberal arts education, by definition. The liberal arts bona fides of a “liberal arts college” such as Pomona are no greater than those of a liberal arts school within a larger university such as Penn. The curricula generally will be quite similar, except that at a place like Penn, a liberal arts student will have a much greater breadth and depth of opportunities available to explore (e.g., instead of merely taking a political science course about legal issues or the legal system, a Penn liberal arts student has the opportunity to take a class at Penn’s top-ranked law school).</p>
<p>Also, while Penn’s Wharton, Engineering, and Nursing Schools certainly add a strong preprofessional flavor to the campus, the 6500 undergrads in the College of Arts and Sciences–and the more than 2,000 liberal arts courses offered by that school–provide a significant liberal arts presence equal to or greater than that at any smaller liberal arts college. To paint Penn with an overly broad “preprofessional” brush while overlooking its many top-10 and top-20 liberal arts departments, is a serious mistake.</p>
<p>While what you say is indeed true, I don’t think anyone can comment on the type of experience that a student will get at either school unless they attend both schools. While Penn does have a liberal arts curriculum that is similar to Pomona’s, you will get a different experience at each school. What you see on paper doesn’t necessarily translate. Who you talk to will surely say different things, as everyone has different opinions and ideas. However, the type of educational experience you get WILL be different. Liberal arts at Pomona is different than liberal arts at Penn. We should all be able to agree on that.</p>
<p>By the way I didn’t say Penn was purely preprofessional. I said that it is more preprofressional. I am well aware that Penn does have strong liberal arts departments. I am going to Penn after all.</p>
<p>Well, I definitely agree that the overall undergraduate experience will be vastly different at the two schools. I guess my concern was with the implication that the “liberal arts” education–meaning CURRICULUM–available at Pomona would be somehow superior to that at Penn. For the most part, the liberal arts curriculum available at a school like Pomona (or Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, etc.) will be fully available at a school like Penn, with Penn also offering much more.</p>
<p>Yes, I believe Penn does offer more resources and opportunities. In this sense, liberal arts colleges do not compare.</p>
<p>I definitely don’t think the curriculum at Pomona is superior to Penn’s, otherwise I’d be going to Pomona. I think you can get just as good of an education at either school. It just depends on what you want.</p>