Pomona Vs Williams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^Williams and Amherst are notorious for the above divide. It gets more diluted at Pomona and 5C’s because the athletes are spread out among the 5 colleges. Also, Pomona way more diverse of the SLAC’s-most student athletes at Williams and Amherst white UMC type students (like 55% or so at Williams).

What about Pomona attracts diverse students do you think? These are all highly competitive colleges for admissions, so seems weird that Pomona would differ

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^Williams and Amherst are notorious for the above divide. It gets more diluted at Pomona and 5C’s because the athletes are spread out among the 5 colleges. Also, Pomona way more diverse of the SLAC’s-most student athletes at Williams and Amherst white UMC type students (like 55% or so at Williams).

What about Pomona attracts diverse students do you think? These are all highly competitive colleges for admissions, so seems weird that Pomona would differ

Dp- from my perspective, Pomona has always been one of the most diverse LACs, so it probably has to do with like attracting like. Amhersts non-athlete pool is very similar in terms of diversity, and they have had a lot of campus controversies on their admissions office going off the rails with diversity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprised no one is defending Williams. Its student body is incredibly warm and they have the cutest mascot/merch. The math department is highly rated, and Williams has very good outcomes on the level of ivies. Id be worried DC wouldn’t be able to get a job on the east coast if they went to Pomona

+1
I did math and Econ at Williams and loved it. The professors are amazingly accessible. It was a bit of a culture shock going from being kind of the math wiz at my dc private and then being surrounded by math lovers who were on a whole different level, but the students and professors could not have been more welcoming and helpful. I didn’t find them cold at all. I ended up focusing on math and Econ (and fitting the stereotype of going into banking), but I loved that lots of the math people were equally focused on second majors that had nothing to do with math and were able to do so just fine.

I had always lived in DC so was worried it spoke feel too isolated. I ended up being so busy that I appreciated the focus on the campus and college. I don’t know what the PP was talking about as far as not classes at a certain time because of sports? It’s a regular school day and classes end in the afternoon. There aren’t evening classes but that’s not bc of sports. Look at the focus of the school and quotes from early presidents. They want you to be well rounded and explore the environment, too. I played a sport only my freshman year, and I wouldn’t say the sports teams are cliquey. The sports teams end up spending a lot of time together in season, so in that sense they are, but I don’t know how that’s different than at any other school none difference unique to smaller schools might be that there are a lot of multi sport athletes, which wouldn’t be possible at a div 1 school.

I would definitely recommend the math dept there. I’d reach out to some professors or other current students from your high school and start there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surprised no one is defending Williams. Its student body is incredibly warm and they have the cutest mascot/merch. The math department is highly rated, and Williams has very good outcomes on the level of ivies. Id be worried DC wouldn’t be able to get a job on the east coast if they went to Pomona

+1
I did math and Econ at Williams and loved it. The professors are amazingly accessible. It was a bit of a culture shock going from being kind of the math wiz at my dc private and then being surrounded by math lovers who were on a whole different level, but the students and professors could not have been more welcoming and helpful. I didn’t find them cold at all. I ended up focusing on math and Econ (and fitting the stereotype of going into banking), but I loved that lots of the math people were equally focused on second majors that had nothing to do with math and were able to do so just fine.

I had always lived in DC so was worried it spoke feel too isolated. I ended up being so busy that I appreciated the focus on the campus and college. I don’t know what the PP was talking about as far as not classes at a certain time because of sports? It’s a regular school day and classes end in the afternoon. There aren’t evening classes but that’s not bc of sports. Look at the focus of the school and quotes from early presidents. They want you to be well rounded and explore the environment, too. I played a sport only my freshman year, and I wouldn’t say the sports teams are cliquey. The sports teams end up spending a lot of time together in season, so in that sense they are, but I don’t know how that’s different than at any other school none difference unique to smaller schools might be that there are a lot of multi sport athletes, which wouldn’t be possible at a div 1 school.

I would definitely recommend the math dept there. I’d reach out to some professors or other current students from your high school and start there.

These are all great things, but looking at the child’s preferences, Pomona does seem to be a better overall fit. I like Williams a lot too, but you’re not gonna get the amount of courses or opportunities as the Claremont Consortium. It’s a classical liberal arts experience versus a more experimental one that happens to work pretty well

[Anonymous]

Eph ‘03 here. Remember that reality happens and you might be too stressed/overworked to even take up a tutorial- they’ve improved, but before only 30ish% of students took up tutorial. It also can be extremely taxing not having anywhere to go. Williams is very isolated and as a woman of color growing into herself, I do think it was a bit of a detriment to be so far away from anything of interest.

The math department is very strong. One of Williams’ golden Children up there with Econ. I was an art history major which…had some support, not as much as those majors for sure. Seeing where my class went, if DC wants to be a researcher, head over to Pomona. Most of the math majors in my class ran straight to finance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eph ‘03 here. Remember that reality happens and you might be too stressed/overworked to even take up a tutorial- they’ve improved, but before only 30ish% of students took up tutorial. It also can be extremely taxing not having anywhere to go. Williams is very isolated and as a woman of color growing into herself, I do think it was a bit of a detriment to be so far away from anything of interest.

The math department is very strong. One of Williams’ golden Children up there with Econ. I was an art history major which…had some support, not as much as those majors for sure. Seeing where my class went, if DC wants to be a researcher, head over to Pomona. Most of the math majors in my class ran straight to finance.

Forgot to mention that WEPO is great but overrated. Like half of the admitted students come because of WEPO, but there’s many other programs to study at Oxford if you want, and it’s a competitive application. Id focus more on the college that you are attending

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eph ‘03 here. Remember that reality happens and you might be too stressed/overworked to even take up a tutorial- they’ve improved, but before only 30ish% of students took up tutorial. It also can be extremely taxing not having anywhere to go. Williams is very isolated and as a woman of color growing into herself, I do think it was a bit of a detriment to be so far away from anything of interest.

The math department is very strong. One of Williams’ golden Children up there with Econ. I was an art history major which…had some support, not as much as those majors for sure. Seeing where my class went, if DC wants to be a researcher, head over to Pomona. Most of the math majors in my class ran straight to finance.

Forgot to mention that WEPO is great but overrated. Like half of the admitted students come because of WEPO, but there’s many other programs to study at Oxford if you want, and it’s a competitive application. Id focus more on the college that you are attending

That’s sad that students are coming to go to another college.

[Anonymous]

If the student is serious about math and looking for grad school, Pomona and taking upper divisions at Harvey Mudd and the Graduate university will get them very very far. Williams is a great school, but this seems like a no brainer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprised no one is defending Williams. Its student body is incredibly warm and they have the cutest mascot/merch. The math department is highly rated, and Williams has very good outcomes on the level of ivies. Id be worried DC wouldn’t be able to get a job on the east coast if they went to Pomona

The mascot is really horid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surprised no one is defending Williams. Its student body is incredibly warm and they have the cutest mascot/merch. The math department is highly rated, and Williams has very good outcomes on the level of ivies. Id be worried DC wouldn’t be able to get a job on the east coast if they went to Pomona

The mascot is really horid

What you got against purple cows?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the student is not a college athlete, then Pomona is the easy answer.

Op here. DC is not a student athlete. Is the divide at Williams that serious?

YES!

[Anonymous]

Be careful! Pomona is currently in legal trouble for mistreating BOTH Jewish and Arab Students.
Islamophobia: https://palestinelegal.org/news/2024/8/14/dept-of-ed-launches-investigation-into-anti-palestinian-racism-at-pomona-college
Antisemitism:https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/federal-complaint-filed-against-pomona-occidental-colleges-severe" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/federal-complaint-filed-against-pomona-occidental-colleges-severe

[Anonymous]

It amazes me how well Williams has been able to market WEPO. Many other colleges have similar programs: Pomona with Cambridge, Amherst with New College, Oxford, and yet it only seems to come up when discussing Williams.

There's also tons of other study abroad opportunities available at both schools, many of which your child may find more alluring than Oxford. The reputation among DC's friends is that Oxbridge is the only study abroad program that is actually academically rigorous. That took it off his list.

It's perfectly reasonable to choose Williams; just not because of WEPO.

[Anonymous]

Going to school cross country isn’t for everyone. I would highly encourage a visit to Pomona before applying. A trip to visit CA colleges was enough for my kid to take them off her list, and we had previously lived there. She wanted to be able to visit friends and family more easily (she did go oos but somewhere she is only an hour flight away). Of course, it will be a great experience for some, just worth knowing what camp your kid falls in, especially if they are considering ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how well Williams has been able to market WEPO. Many other colleges have similar programs: Pomona with Cambridge, Amherst with New College, Oxford, and yet it only seems to come up when discussing Williams.

There's also tons of other study abroad opportunities available at both schools, many of which your child may find more alluring than Oxford. The reputation among DC's friends is that Oxbridge is the only study abroad program that is actually academically rigorous. That took it off his list.

It's perfectly reasonable to choose Williams; just not because of WEPO.

Also, Oxford students don’t share bedrooms. Everyone has a single. Williams students at Oxford share bedrooms. Oxford students think the Williams students are slumming it which, compared to real Oxford students and other exchange students to Oxford, they are.