<p>Allright, guys. If this won't convince you, I don't know what will.</p>
<p>So I'm working this summer with a Psychology Professor at UC Berkeley (I live in the Bay Area) in an internship (that my Pomona professor actually helped me get) and we were talking about why I choose Pomona. I told him i had decided between UCLA and Berkeley but turned them down because I wanted the individual attention. And he was like, "that was totally the right decision."
This Berkeley professor straight up told me "Pomona is 10 times better for undergraduate education that any of the UCs". He said it's because only about 5 percent of Berkeley Psych students do undergraduate research while at Pomona you can't escape it. Also, he said the intro to psych class was over 500 people at Berkeley. At Pomona it was 30, and that's a big class.</p>
<p>Anyways, I was just shocked to hear this from him but at the same time I thinking "YESSSS". Any doubts that I ever had about turning down Berkeley or UCLA were completely erased.</p>
<p>aleph is right. Just because UC's do tons of research doesn't mean it's available to undergrads. If you want to do research at an undergraduate level, a smaller school is a better choice. As for grad school, UCB and UCLA are the tops.</p>
<p>Aleph4, who was arguing that Pomona is not a great place to go as an undergrad? I could point out the obvious appeal to authority or potential bias of your advisor (for instance, that he looks very highly upon research, a seeming majo factor for him). Maybe he has a point, but do you think it's the "be all end all" story? I would say that if Pomona is the best place for a student, certainly they should go there, if they get in. If a students wants attention in every single class without having to talk to the professor before or after classes or in office hours, then obviously Pomona is a better choice than UCLA or Berkeley (both of which have their smaller classes, Berkeley more than UCLA, but Pomona clearly has smaller large classes and smaller classes throughout the whole time). I bet many of the over 600 students going to get PhDs after going to Berkeley every year are okay with the research they did as undergrads, and that many Pomona students "escape" doing research (even in psych). Like Pomona, the top students at Berkeley and UCLA do really well for themselves. Perhaps the average Pomona student does better than the average Berkeley or UCLA student, but if that's so, I would imagine it's largely in part because they came in with better skills and more previous accomplishments, although it's possible that Pomona significantly transformed them for the better. Do you really think Pomona is 10 times better than every for every student in every undergraduate situation?</p>
<p>No I definitely don't think so. I know tons of people that go to Berkeley and love it. I was mainly talking about the fact that you have more resources readily available to you.
Also, at Pomona you have to a research project your senior year, so that's what I meant.
It definitely matters what you're going to do. For example, if you're into business , you're better off at Berkeley. The main thing I wanted to point out is that there is a misconception that small liberal art schools don't have as many research opportunities than "research universities" when in fact they probably have more. The reason I posted this was because that's a reason why Pomona College is so highly rated. I'm trying to diss Berkeley, but I definitely think that Berkeley is best suited for grad school.</p>
<p>Also, most of the stuff right there came directly from a Berkeley professor.</p>
<p>Right on, aleph4. Clearly, concisely, and correctly stated. To pilfer a line from a "small" New Hampshire LAC, "it's a small college, sir, but there are those of us who love it."</p>
<p>I honestly don't think research (even for undergrads) is a reason Pomona is so highly rated, but certainly it's there to many of the great students (why I think it is so highly rated) with the great professors (another reason why I think it's so highly rated). You could also take endowment per student into account. Perhaps you're right, that to the average undergraduate, more research opportunities will be available at a place such as Pomona than a place such as Berkeley. If you consider a school like Caltech, another research university, you'll find research much easier than at even Pomona, it seems, but for the top handful of LACs and the top Berkeley-like research schools, I imagine you're correct (although some schools raise and set aside tons of money for undergrad research, such as Penn and Stanford).</p>
<p>For what its worth I am from so cal and I just heard about Pomona recently (from this board). I have friends at all the top schools and none of them ever mentioned this school. I have also done my own research and this school never came up on the radar. This is in response to A.S.A.P.'s post by the way I am not trying to bash the school. The things I have heard recently have all been good.</p>
<p>I am from San Diego and had heard about Pomona from very early on, but it is probably because my dad commutes between San Diego and Claremont (which is where Pomona and the other colleges in the consortium are located). I almost went to Pomona, but ultimately decided that it was just a little tooo close :P (I figured I would be tempted to walk over to his apartment and drop off my dirty clothes :P)</p>
<p>Yeahh that is exactly what I'm wondering about... It seems like only the educated community knows about Pomona College but to the rest of the typical parents and majority of Socal students, the only colleges IN CALIFORNIA they seem to find prestigious are UCB/UCLA/USC/CAL TECH/ Stanford.</p>
<p>aaznhyboi - so educate the uneducated! If you go there, then they'll know about it. Going to Pomona will often put you in the company of the educated. :)</p>
<p>I know these terms are used differently in different countries, but in the U.S. a college (LAC) offers undergraduate degrees and a university (Stanford) also comprises graduate schools. (But when I mention my "college" to folks at home, I have to remember to say "university" or they think I mean a trade school.</p>
<p>they used to sell a shirt that said Pomona College on the front and "that's ok, we never heard of you either" on the back.</p>
<p>Pomona and all of the Claremeont consortium schools are very much under the radar. they aren't on tv for sports (where most people seem to learn about schools), they aren't in the IVY league (which is actually simply a sports conference). They are small schools that focus on providing as fine an undergraduate education and experience as you can possibly get. "Advertising" themselves is apparently not a concern.</p>
<p>Most people cannot name all the ivy schools. Most people don't know the difference between a college and a University. Most people can't tell you who their congress representative, senator or chief justice of the supreme court is, but they can tell you who won the super bowl.</p>
<p>If the prestige factor is of importance, Pomona and the Claremont schools are probably not for you. MOst people haven't heard of 'em. But, If you want a world class education and college experience you cannot go wrong at the Claremont Colleges and as noted above, those who matter in grad schools, in the job market, will know these schools.</p>
<p>Hm..ok I'm confused. I just started exploring LACs too (rising senior) and have never really looked at them before. Does this mean that schools like Pomona are meant for people who plan to go to graduate school somewhere? Are they "feeder schools" or whatever? Or do peopell still go to the workforce right after graduating?</p>
<p>The better half of LACs, especially the top few and a particular handful of othre LACs, do incredibly well with graduate school placement with regard to their entire population, as in high percentages of the students go to graduate and professional programs, including top graduate and professional programs, compared to most schools. Some go into the workforce after graduation, many continue their education in either graduate or professional schools. Law and medical school are very popular, and places like Pomona feed into top programs, as do Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, to name a few.</p>