How much should prestige be weighted?

[Anonymous]

To turn down an Ivy, there must be a compelling reason. Pomona has a great reputation, but it lacks name recognition. Plus, the whole Claremont consortium thing confuses me. CMC and Harvey Mudd are both excellent, but the second rate Scripps and Pitzer concern me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To turn down an Ivy, there must be a compelling reason. Pomona has a great reputation, but it lacks name recognition. Plus, the whole Claremont consortium thing confuses me. CMC and Harvey Mudd are both excellent, but the second rate Scripps and Pitzer concern me.

Agree with this, however, much depends on his major and where plans on living. If on the west coast, then Pomona. Anywhere else, Dartmouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To turn down an Ivy, there must be a compelling reason. Pomona has a great reputation, but it lacks name recognition. Plus, the whole Claremont consortium thing confuses me. CMC and Harvey Mudd are both excellent, but the second rate Scripps and Pitzer concern me.

Number 25/32 ranked LAC by US News are second rate? Seriously? Only on DCUM. What is so confusing about the consortium? You have five very different schools which pull together to give students resources, opportunities, and a social life no other LAC can match. The average Scripps student has a high school GPA of a 4.03 and an SAT of a 2100. The average Pitzer student's GPA is a 3.93. You can't get into the Claremont Colleges being a poor student academically- they are all among the most selective LACs out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To turn down an Ivy, there must be a compelling reason. Pomona has a great reputation, but it lacks name recognition.

A question for you. Would you say the same thing for other LACs like Williams and Amherst, which are arguably more well-known on the east coast than Pomona but still unknown overall? That you need a compelling reason to turn them down over an Ivy? My impression has always been that the top LACs rank slightly higher than the lower-ranked Ivies in terms of undergraduate experience, thanks to their considerably large endowment per students and exclusive undergraduate focus. Forbes, which measures based on outcomes and student success, shows this too, as Williams, Swarthmore, Amherst, and Pomona rank above Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell. While Dartmouth has always been a LAC like Ivy, they've been shrugging that down to come across as a top university- and not very well: http://www.dartblog.com/data/2017/04/013199.php The LACs have always been undergraduate committed.

[Anonymous]

OP has been spamming this forum with Pomona posts for like 6 months. Are you a paid shill or obsessed alum?

[Anonymous]

Does not want DS so far away on west coast ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To turn down an Ivy, there must be a compelling reason. Pomona has a great reputation, but it lacks name recognition. Plus, the whole Claremont consortium thing confuses me. CMC and Harvey Mudd are both excellent, but the second rate Scripps and Pitzer concern me.

You can take classes on any of the campuses, but you don't have to. The prestige of a Pomona degree will not be reduced if you do take classes at Scripps or Pitzer for some reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Does your child want an East coast life or a West Coast one?

He's an east coast kid who would love to venture out. Pomona's unbeatable weather and proximity to the city is very appealing. He's not concerned about the size difference because Pomona's social life consists of students from all 5 Claremont Colleges, which are next door. 5500 undergrads vs 4200 at Dartmouth so the sizes are relatively similar.

Just so you know, I went to Pomona, and the weather isn't all that great. It is smoggy as shit right there, especially in the summer and fall. It's nowhere close to the beach, it is right in the middle of dreary suburbia. You want unbeatable weather, go to Pepperdine, Irvine, or UCSD.

Also, Pomona kids don't really socialize with "all 5 Claremont colleges". For most purposes they only socialize with other Pomona kids.

All that said, there is no "wrong choice" here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Does your child want an East coast life or a West Coast one?

He's an east coast kid who would love to venture out. Pomona's unbeatable weather and proximity to the city is very appealing. He's not concerned about the size difference because Pomona's social life consists of students from all 5 Claremont Colleges, which are next door. 5500 undergrads vs 4200 at Dartmouth so the sizes are relatively similar.

Just so you know, I went to Pomona, and the weather isn't all that great. It is smoggy as shit right there, especially in the summer and fall. It's nowhere close to the beach, it is right in the middle of dreary suburbia. You want unbeatable weather, go to Pepperdine, Irvine, or UCSD.

Also, Pomona kids don't really socialize with "all 5 Claremont colleges". For most purposes they only socialize with other Pomona kids.

All that said, there is no "wrong choice" here.

Is there a reason for this? I've heard this elitist attitude in Pomona from others too. Goes all contrary to the whole "Pomona is less elitist than east coast LACs", and honestly, it's a turn-off. When did you attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Does your child want an East coast life or a West Coast one?

He's an east coast kid who would love to venture out. Pomona's unbeatable weather and proximity to the city is very appealing. He's not concerned about the size difference because Pomona's social life consists of students from all 5 Claremont Colleges, which are next door. 5500 undergrads vs 4200 at Dartmouth so the sizes are relatively similar.

Just so you know, I went to Pomona, and the weather isn't all that great. It is smoggy as shit right there, especially in the summer and fall. It's nowhere close to the beach, it is right in the middle of dreary suburbia. You want unbeatable weather, go to Pepperdine, Irvine, or UCSD.

Also, Pomona kids don't really socialize with "all 5 Claremont colleges". For most purposes they only socialize with other Pomona kids.

All that said, there is no "wrong choice" here.

Is there a reason for this? I've heard this elitist attitude in Pomona from others too. Goes all contrary to the whole "Pomona is less elitist than east coast LACs", and honestly, it's a turn-off. When did you attend?

Reason for what? Mainly socializing with Pomona kids? It is mostly logistical. If you attend one of the 5 colleges, you live on your "home campus", take most of your classes there, and usually eat at the dining halls on your campus. No reason you can't go to other campuses to eat, use the library, or hang out, but the natural tendency is to go to the closest one to your dorm.

I didn't think Pomona had an "elitist" attitude. Everyone knew they were going to a good school, but how could they not know that? I would expect to find more "elitism" at Stanford or the Ivies than at Pomona.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Does your child want an East coast life or a West Coast one?

He's an east coast kid who would love to venture out. Pomona's unbeatable weather and proximity to the city is very appealing. He's not concerned about the size difference because Pomona's social life consists of students from all 5 Claremont Colleges, which are next door. 5500 undergrads vs 4200 at Dartmouth so the sizes are relatively similar.

Just so you know, I went to Pomona, and the weather isn't all that great. It is smoggy as shit right there, especially in the summer and fall. It's nowhere close to the beach, it is right in the middle of dreary suburbia. You want unbeatable weather, go to Pepperdine, Irvine, or UCSD.

Also, Pomona kids don't really socialize with "all 5 Claremont colleges". For most purposes they only socialize with other Pomona kids.

All that said, there is no "wrong choice" here.

Is there a reason for this? I've heard this elitist attitude in Pomona from others too. Goes all contrary to the whole "Pomona is less elitist than east coast LACs", and honestly, it's a turn-off. When did you attend?

Reason for what? Mainly socializing with Pomona kids? It is mostly logistical. If you attend one of the 5 colleges, you live on your "home campus", take most of your classes there, and usually eat at the dining halls on your campus. No reason you can't go to other campuses to eat, use the library, or hang out, but the natural tendency is to go to the closest one to your dorm.

I didn't think Pomona had an "elitist" attitude. Everyone knew they were going to a good school, but how could they not know that? I would expect to find more "elitism" at Stanford or the Ivies than at Pomona.

I've heard Pomona students use the consortium the least of the colleges and put on an attitude of superiority against the others. It's the furthest away and its large size enables students to be more isolated than the other colleges. Not sure how true this is, but I've heard it from more than one person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Does your child want an East coast life or a West Coast one?

He's an east coast kid who would love to venture out. Pomona's unbeatable weather and proximity to the city is very appealing. He's not concerned about the size difference because Pomona's social life consists of students from all 5 Claremont Colleges, which are next door. 5500 undergrads vs 4200 at Dartmouth so the sizes are relatively similar.

Just so you know, I went to Pomona, and the weather isn't all that great. It is smoggy as shit right there, especially in the summer and fall. It's nowhere close to the beach, it is right in the middle of dreary suburbia. You want unbeatable weather, go to Pepperdine, Irvine, or UCSD.

Also, Pomona kids don't really socialize with "all 5 Claremont colleges". For most purposes they only socialize with other Pomona kids.

All that said, there is no "wrong choice" here.

NP here just checking in to share an interesting coincidence. We are in Carlsbad CA on Spring break and heading to La Jolla in a couple days. We were talking over DDs college options about an hour ago at this great cafe with an ocean view. She was bemoaning, once again, the fact that she didn't get into Pomona. I reminded her that the first time we visited the campus, we thought the guide books had lied to us. They said the campus had an amazing view of mountains but we couldn't see any. Turns out they were completely obscured by the smog--we saw their outline on the second day. Agree that UCSD weather would be far superior!

That being said, Pomona is an amazing school. I would be very sad if my son had these two options and chose Dartmouth, though at the end of the day it should be the kid's choice IMO.

[Anonymous]

Dartmouth has an amazing focus on undergraduate education.....it's why they still want to be called a college rather than a university (which is what it really is). I went there for b-school and was frankly envious of the undergrads. The location was idyllic and the resources were out of this world.....skiway, golf course, mountain lodge, etc. If could do undergrad all over that's definitely where I would go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH went to Dartmouth. I'd say the name recognition opened a few doors early in his career but by 10 years out, no longer mattered at all.

Agree with PP - follow his heart.

But it matters socially. People almost always know where there social acquaintances went to college, and Dartmouth is going to impress a lot more people than Pomona only because more people are familiar with it. And please no lectures about how superficial it is to care about social impressions. Let's face it, that's why people drive luxury cars and live in houses way larger than what they need.

What a boor you are, pp. Get a life.

I went to Dartmouth and I'd respect a Pomona grad as an equal. I wouldn't respect people who valued Dartmouth over Pomona just because it's an Ivy. I'd assume they don't know what's what.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Does your child want an East coast life or a West Coast one?

He's an east coast kid who would love to venture out. Pomona's unbeatable weather and proximity to the city is very appealing. He's not concerned about the size difference because Pomona's social life consists of students from all 5 Claremont Colleges, which are next door. 5500 undergrads vs 4200 at Dartmouth so the sizes are relatively similar.

Just so you know, I went to Pomona, and the weather isn't all that great. It is smoggy as shit right there, especially in the summer and fall. It's nowhere close to the beach, it is right in the middle of dreary suburbia. You want unbeatable weather, go to Pepperdine, Irvine, or UCSD.

Also, Pomona kids don't really socialize with "all 5 Claremont colleges". For most purposes they only socialize with other Pomona kids.

All that said, there is no "wrong choice" here.

Is there a reason for this? I've heard this elitist attitude in Pomona from others too. Goes all contrary to the whole "Pomona is less elitist than east coast LACs", and honestly, it's a turn-off. When did you attend?

Reason for what? Mainly socializing with Pomona kids? It is mostly logistical. If you attend one of the 5 colleges, you live on your "home campus", take most of your classes there, and usually eat at the dining halls on your campus. No reason you can't go to other campuses to eat, use the library, or hang out, but the natural tendency is to go to the closest one to your dorm.

I didn't think Pomona had an "elitist" attitude. Everyone knew they were going to a good school, but how could they not know that? I would expect to find more "elitism" at Stanford or the Ivies than at Pomona.

I've heard Pomona students use the consortium the least of the colleges and put on an attitude of superiority against the others. It's the furthest away and its large size enables students to be more isolated than the other colleges. Not sure how true this is, but I've heard it from more than one person.

Mudd is the most socially isolated. They are super-studious science geeks.