Yikes... Tough call...

<p>Thanks for chancing my brother but now i have a more pressing question: I was recently granted acceptance to both Dartmouth and Pomona and I cannot decide.
-I am aware of both schools amazing academic and research reputations (i plan to go pre-med)
-I also like the undergraduate emphasis both schools have and the intimate campus
-coming from LA, I want to experience cold weather and nature, but i don't want to be so cold it is uncomfortable.
-also, I do want to do more than just drink (not trying to promote a stereotype)
I think i would have a good time and unique experience at both schools, I just cannot decide. can someone help?</p>

<p>no one can make that decision for you. my daughter is a sophomore at dartmouth and to date she couldn't be more pleased with her experience. she tells me many people, including her, are not part of the drinking culture at dartmouth. i also believe there is some degree of a drinking culture at all colleges so i doubt you'd escape that by attending pomona or almost any other college. my daughter also visited and was accepted to scripps college and she was very tempted to attend that school. it is very likely you would have an interesting and exciting experience at either dartmouth or pomona.</p>

<p>thank you, i also forgot to mention something. At Pomona i hear they are laid back with a liberal atmosphere, whereas Dartmouth is a little more conservative. Can anyone shed some light on the subject?</p>

<p>If you're from LA, have you spent a night on Pomona? If not, I'd recommend seeing if you can stay on a Thursday, which will give you a decent picture of both academic and social life.</p>

<p>That's one of those myths about Dartmouth that gets cleared up very quickly once people arrive on campus... Dartmouth is perhaps more politically balanced than, say, Brown, and we do have a vocal conservative minority - see the Dartmouth Review, College Republicans, etc. </p>

<p>However, the campus mostly is liberal - I'd say about 80-90%. Additionally, I feel like people here who call themselves conservatives are more about preserving College traditions, economic freedom, and hands-off government - not stereotypical fundie bible-bangers/bush-worshippers/self-righteous puritans - this is college, after all, and virtually no self-described conservative here is anti-gay rights, anti-women's-rights, racist, puritanical about sex/alcohol/whathaveyou.</p>

<p>Basically, liberals and conservatives are pretty chill, and not incredibly dogmatic/divisive about politics compared to other colleges. People won't shun you for voting Republican... or identifying as LGBT... or both.</p>

<p>suggest you go to Dimensions to get a feel for Hanover and then decide.</p>

<p>LA will always be liberal, so yes, that means pomona is liberal. Compared to Dartmouth, I would say pomona is extremely liberal/radical. A lot of the people at Dartmouth are wealthy/upper/middle class; and at pomona, there are way more minorities and people from the lower-income communities, making the campus more open to different cultures and stuff (no, im not saying Dartmouth isnt open, but i am saying that due to the location, pomona is more diverse than dartmouth is.)</p>

<p>I dont think pomona has frats,and, if they do, its not something thats spoken by the campus or the community(students), so the drinking thing wont be a problem there. </p>

<p>I think that going to Dartmouth would be too drastic for someone coming from LA, because the location is so different. Here in LA, we have so much in the palm of our hands. One could go driving anywhere and if you go to Hanover, you cant take your car (unless u wanna drive 4,000 miles or something). Also, you are mostly isolated from society and what is going on outside of the Dartmouth Bubble. These are things you gotta think about...</p>

<p>that was the biggest load of ***** I have ever read mojojojo69, you have no idea what you are talking about. care to cite some actual stats regarding your point about the socioeconomic makeup of both respective schools? you are pulling stuff out of the air buddy. You think going to Dartmouth would be too "drastic"--man are you close-minded, not to mention alarmist. isolated from society? are you kidding me? give me a break.</p>

<p>what the hell are you talking about, maximinusthrax. I think its obvious, and everyone knows that a large portion of Dartmouth's student body is wealthy, that can be generalized about any Ivy. Why? Because its true. Pomona is also given the California "Cal grant" which gives low income applicants money to afford tuition from expensive schools. Dartmouth is private, so obviously, it will be costly for anyone with a low income to attend the school.</p>

<p>Lately, to increase low-income applicants, Dartmouth instilled the "loan reduction" from their financial aid package, for individuals with incomes below 30 or 45 thousand. </p>

<p>Anyways, why do you think they did this? ** Because they want more minorities in the campus*. * And why do they want more minorities/low income applicants? Because they didnt have that many before!!! DUH!! (logical common sense, i guess some people dont have it)</p>

<p>Since maximuniusthrax is so misinformed about Dartmouth's own stats, i decided to post a link regarding the student loan reduction. Here it is: <a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/generalinfo/news/loanreductions.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/generalinfo/news/loanreductions.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]

man are you close-minded

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You're closed minded. If you lived in LA you would know the difference. Rural is not the same as metropolis, idiot</p>

<p>Come on guys, no need for name calling or rudeness. Just state the facts...and mojojojo69 you are certainly closer to the truth....</p>

<p>sorry, i didnt want to seem rude, but this foo insulted my information, when i was only trying to be helpful to the original poster...</p>

<p>I also wasnt trying to put the school down. I love the school and what it stands for, but the original poster has two totally different schools and i just wanted to weed out some of, what I think, are the major differences.</p>

<p>you are being ridiculous mojojojo. you don't go to dartmouth, so you have no idea what you are talking about. unless you have any substantive data to back up your assertion that dartmouth kids are, on average, wealthier than those that attend pomona you should stop contributing to this thread. if you do go to dartmouth then that saddens me, because you are completely incapable of making a coherent point. your statements are utterly fallacious. the fact is that dartmouth and the other ivies are need blind. do you even know what that means? if you can't afford to go here you get massive financial aid. almost all of my friends here are on financial aid. there are certainly rich kids here, but I would wager that there are no more than at pomona. I know all about cal grants, LA, etc---I am from California, and my little brother goes to UCLA. And Pomona is a private school as well....what the heck are you talking about. The change in financial aid policy applies to people of all races...minorities are certainly disproportionately poor, but they aren't the only ones. finally, dartmouth is as diverse as any other private school, including pomona.</p>

<p>and of course "rural isn't the same as [a] metropolis"--who said the two were equivalent? we could certainly debate the merits of rural vs. urban schools, but that wasn't even addressed in my post.</p>

<p>Ok, I looked you up. Let me get this straight. you are currently attending a community college in California, but you are bloviating about the difference between Pomona and Dartmouth? Not to be rude, but what do you really know about Dartmouth or other Ivy League schools? And by re-reading your post I think you may have confused Cal-Poly Pomona and Pomona College, an expensive private institution.</p>

<p>
[quote]
you may have confused Cal-Poly Pomona and Pomona College, an expensive private institution.

[/quote]

No, i did not confuse Cal Poly and Pomona College.</p>

<p>
[quote]
you are currently attending a community college in California, but you are bloviating about the difference between Pomona and Dartmouth? Not to be rude, but what do you really know about Dartmouth or other Ivy League schools?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Obviously more than you, or else you would know how wealthy the students are...instead of posting biased comments to support your school. I am here to show an "outsiders perspective". Certainly, there is nothing wrong with that. If so, I suggest you stop because I will still keep coming and posting my opinion.</p>

<p>
[quote]
finally, dartmouth is as diverse as any other private school, including pomona

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Not according to collegeboard.com:
Dartmouth-
4% American Indian/Alaskan Native
14% Asian/Pacific Islander
7% Black/Non-Hispanic
5% Hispanic
59% White/Non-Hispanic
6% Non-Resident Alien
5% Race/ethnicity unreported </p>

<p>Pomona-
1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
14% Asian/Pacific Islander
9% Black/Non-Hispanic
10% Hispanic
48% White/Non-Hispanic
3% Non-Resident Alien
14% Race/ethnicity unreported</p>

<p>The statistics speaks for itself, pomona has more minorities, considering its a smaller school (not to mention the other colleges such as Harvey Mudd, and Claremont, which also have a high amount of minorities)</p>

<p>
[quote]
the fact is that dartmouth and the other ivies are need blind.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So? that doesnt mean they meet 100% of a persons need with grants, or be any good for that matter. I recently saw on the Dartmouth board a kid complaining about his/her finaid package. In addition, Cornell meets a persons need with 70% grants, 30% loans...not a good package for a minority. Considering that it costs 44 thousand to go there, per year. Collegeboard took out the statistics for this, but it was there about a month ago. You can check cornell's own site.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The change in financial aid policy applies to people of all races...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>did i ever say it didnt?</p>

<p>
[quote]
your statements are utterly fallacious.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>yeah, yeah, yeah...like yours arent</p>

<p>
[quote]
because you are completely incapable of making a coherent point.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You act like everyone here gets your point...</p>

<p>
[quote]
I am from California

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You certainly dont sound like it.</p>

<p>Oh, and one more thing, stop trying to be silly by pointing out my grammar mistakes, its a message board and if i wanna be talk'in all ghetto i will be talkin all ghettoez okay,foo? yeah, correct that for me too!</p>

<p>and to finish this foo completely:</p>

<p>
[quote]
and of course "rural isn't the same as [a] metropolis"--who said the two were equivalent? we could certainly debate the merits of rural vs. urban schools, but that wasn't even addressed in my post.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>oops, i guess it "wasnt even addressed" when you said
[quote]
. isolated from society? are you kidding me? give me a break

[/quote]
</p>

<p>yeah, thats what i thought. Who's the ridiculous one now? you got owned by a community college student.</p>

<p>You can't infer the argument that Dartmouth isnt isolated from society to mean that it is the same as a metropolitan school. That would have to be under the belief that not isolated MEANS metropolis, as if those were the only two options avaliable for a school. Obviously, it is not.</p>

<p>it is the ONLY option this thread stated, pomona (big city) vs. dartmouth (rural). I think its obvious that there are other choices available.</p>

<p>mojo:</p>

<p>I hope you spend a little more time fact-checking before you start cranking out college papers. :)</p>

<p>Pomona = big city? ummmm, nope. 2000 Census had Claremont, CA at 39,000 residents. Granted, its surrounded by more 'burbs, but big cities they ain't.</p>

<p>Also, suggest you check a college's common data set for figures regarding class size, racial/ethnic componsition and economic profiles of students -- collegeboard data are often incorrect.</p>

<p>hahaha, I implied that Pomona is near LA, since the original poster is from LA (its about 30-45 mins away, if traffic is right). I mean, I know pomona isnt a big city, its actually a suburban campus. But the surburbs are always surrounded by a big city ;)</p>

<p>I think what i did was pretty reasonable...considering dartmouth is nowhere near a big city. In fact, the closest thing they claim to a big city is being "3 hours away from boston"; this is according to the video i saw @ theu.com (the setting, i believe)</p>

<p>People need to stop trying to finger point everything i said. Overall, im pretty much right.</p>