What's the difference between Amherst and Pomona?

[Anonymous]

I don't want vague comments about prestige but actual concrete differences between the students, the culture, the academics, the campuses, etc.

[Anonymous]

3,000 miles

[Anonymous]

East vs west

[Anonymous]

Significantly higher number of recruited athletes at Amherst versus Pomona, which affects the social scene. Pomona's consortium is better integrated and easier to access. Amherst feels relatively relaxed culturally compared to Williams and Swarthmore, but Pomona feels warmer and friendlier overall. Especially the profs, who were the standout when visiting. But DC and I didn't love the aesthetics of Pomona's campus, or the location, preferred the traditional New England campus and location of Amherst. Pomona has a large number of Comp Sci and math majors. Amherst skews pre-law and pre-med.

My kid loved both, and Carleton and Bowdoin, after visiting but ultimately wanted to be on the East coast.

[Anonymous]

snow

[Anonymous]

We visited both. Didn't attend so this n=1 opinion is based on touring only:

Amherst kids seemed more social, under less academic pressure. Talked about fun courses, parties, casual hangouts with professors. Pomona kids seemed more academically serious but not intense like Swarthmore kids. They talked fondly about professors too but in an academic setting, didn't talk about hanging out with profs. Amherst campus looks more scenic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited both. Didn't attend so this n=1 opinion is based on touring only:

Amherst kids seemed more social, under less academic pressure. Talked about fun courses, parties, casual hangouts with professors. Pomona kids seemed more academically serious but not intense like Swarthmore kids. They talked fondly about professors too but in an academic setting, didn't talk about hanging out with profs. Amherst campus looks more scenic.

Kid just finished her freshman year at Amherst, not her experience at all. She's pre-med though, so it might be major dependent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We visited both. Didn't attend so this n=1 opinion is based on touring only:

Amherst kids seemed more social, under less academic pressure. Talked about fun courses, parties, casual hangouts with professors. Pomona kids seemed more academically serious but not intense like Swarthmore kids. They talked fondly about professors too but in an academic setting, didn't talk about hanging out with profs. Amherst campus looks more scenic.

Kid just finished her freshman year at Amherst, not her experience at all. She's pre-med though, so it might be major dependent.

How was her experience overall as a freshman? Did she also apply to Williams and Swarthmore? How would you compare those 3 schools (+ Pomona if that was in the mix)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited both. Didn't attend so this n=1 opinion is based on touring only:

Amherst kids seemed more social, under less academic pressure. Talked about fun courses, parties, casual hangouts with professors. Pomona kids seemed more academically serious but not intense like Swarthmore kids. They talked fondly about professors too but in an academic setting, didn't talk about hanging out with profs. Amherst campus looks more scenic.

You just visited? n=.00001

[Anonymous]

What is the point of paying Chanel bag prices for a non-branded bag however high quality it is?

I do not understand the hype about Pomona.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the point of paying Chanel bag prices for a non-branded bag however high quality it is?

I do not understand the hype about Pomona.

I genuinely want to know which schools this PP thinks is worth "paying Chanel bag prices". Please don't say HYP b/c if your DC's app reeks of the same mindset, they won't get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the point of paying Chanel bag prices for a non-branded bag however high quality it is?

I do not understand the hype about Pomona.

The students at Pomona are pretty smart and their outcomes are great.
Same for Amherst. It’s not that difficult.

[Anonymous]

Agree Amherst has more athletes. But overall Pomona is basically Amherst translated to Cali, with those nice Cali vibes. Visit both and see which one your DC likes better.

[Anonymous]

Amherst is more invested in the humanities and pre-law. Pomona is pretty overtly STEM heavy with most of the students being concentrated in computer science, neuroscience, mathematics, and bio/chem/physics. I personally found Pomona's campus, at the foothills of a mountain, very gorgeous and, other than the view of the hills in the distance, Amherst left me slightly unimpressed. Both are in small towns with nice farmer's markets. Amherst has open curriculum, Pomona has distribution requirements. Neither seems intense in the way Williams is.

[Anonymous]

You don't even need words to describe the differences.