<p>Well, I know this is asking a lot: I want to compare Vassar, Pomona, Swarthmore, and UC Santa Barbara in four areas: atmosphere (relaxed, cordiality, friendliness); biology (1st major); creative writing (fiction and poetry), and religious studies.</p>
<p>Does anyone have anything they can tell me? Thanks very much.</p>
<p>Quite frankly, I don’t see how you could possibly face such a hard decision choosing between the four schools, especially considering that you’re not too set on a particular major. They each have vastly different campus cultures.</p>
<p>First of all, you’re picking from three liberal arts schools and a large public university. Liberal arts schools will expose you to a broader curriculum than Santa Barbara will, and will be much more likely to allow you to dabble in your three interests. Liberal arts school will have smaller classrooms, and all your teachers will be professors, as opposed to TAs. </p>
<p>Furthermore, Pomona and Swarthmore are very small schools, with a student body of about 1500. Vassar has about 2500 or something like that. Santa Barbara has 20,000 undergrads, not including a couple thousand more for the grad students. </p>
<p>In addition, Pomona and Santa Barbara enjoy the mild California climate, while Vassar and Swarthmore are in the mid-Atlantic. If you don’t want snow, don’t go to either of the latter schools.</p>
<p>I know that Pomona’s, Swarthmore’s, and Santa Barbara’s biology programs are strong. I can’t speak for Vassar, or for any of the other majors, but I’m reasonably certain that neither school has a distinct advantage over any of the other three in any of the majors you’ve mentioned. However, with creative writing and religious studies, you’ll likely find that liberal arts school will fare better in these humanities-orientated foci. </p>
<p>You are going to find the least relaxed atmosphere at Swarthmore, and the most relaxed atmosphere at Santa Barbara. Swarthmore is renowned for its academic rigor; Santa Barbara is known as something of a party school. Pomona will challenge you academically, but the California attitude prevails, so you won’t see the intensity there that you would find at Swat. Vassar falls somewhere after Pomona; I’m not that familiar with Vassar, other than to know that it has great performing arts program.</p>
<p>I feel as if you haven’t done much research on any of these schools, because they’re so different that feel extraordinarily odd grouped together. I think you seriously need to focus on finding the right "fit’ for you (as ubiquitous as that cliche is on College Confidential, it’s that way for a reason). I suggest searching the forums here on CC for more information.</p>
<p>I hope that helps. And congratulations on having such an enviable list from which to choose. :)</p>
<p>If you want the big school social experience with the small school feel, I would look into UCSBs College of Creative Studies program. You get more personal attention with professors than even at some of the most famous schools in the world. It really is an amazing program, especially if you want the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>DrAhumada-do you have PERSONAL experience with CCS @ UCSB? I have been accepted as an art student there and am having a hard time figuring out if it’s the right “fit” for me. (I have also been accepted to Cal Poly’s Art/Design dept.) Positives and negatives for program would be really appreciated. I will be visiting CCS this weekend, BTW.</p>