Pomona v Tufts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're probably about equally good schools all things considered, but Pomona is the best college in Claremont, whereas Tufts is possibly at the bottom of the top 5 in Boston, depending on how you rank things. You're going to have more local bragging rights and a better experience overall at Pomona.

More local bragging rights in Claremont CA. I think that is one criteria no one cares about.

More importantly, very few people on the East coast outside of academia are familiar with Pomona or any of the Claremont schools.

Pomona is significantly superior to Tufts. They aren’t even in the same league. The admitted student profiles show this.

Except they admitted the same kid, which is why this thread exists.

To be fair, a Harvard admit would also get into Oklahoma state, but I agree with your broader point.

Yes, but perhaps not into Pomona.

[Anonymous]

Pomona is on the same level as Williams and Amherst as a tippy top SLAC. Tufts is more on par with Wake Forest and that ilk-not even one of the best NESCAC’s.

[Anonymous]

With this stats and URM, wait for HYPSM, you will get multiple plus full ride.

[Anonymous]

Pomona is amazing and your student will have access to the other 4 campuses/resources. The whole vibe of that school is amazing, the education is top-notch, and the location is beautiful. Congrats to your student!

[Anonymous]

Your DC has two fantastic options and neither is going to make or break your son's future. Both will get him where he wants to go. Don't listen to anyone who believes there is a clear answer.

Pomona has one of the strongest biology departments among LACs and I have to think that there are no shortage of research opportunities. My kid is a Pomona freshman has been offered internships and other opportunities in both her major and her minor by helpful professors. (I was not afforded such opportunities in my T20 undergrad university.) Pomona is as diverse a university as one will find in America. We are middle-class and not from California. The travel isn't too bad. Pomona runs free shuttles to and from LAX at the beginning and end of the semester and for Thanksgiving, which my kid used. There doesn't seem to be any rich kid/poor kid divide. Pomona kids seem humble and friendly as a whole. Anyhow, I recommend taking advantage of the fly out program. We did so last year and it really helped inform my kid's decision.

To be clear, I'm not advocating for Pomona over Tufts. I just know more about the former. Tufts seems like a great school and Boston seems like a fabulous place to go to college. And I associate Tufts with med school placement, which probably translates to a very strong biology department.

[Anonymous]

Obviously Tufts is urban which may or may not appeal. Pomona campus is beautiful and peaceful and student body is probably more laid back socially, less stuffy.

[Anonymous]

Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

Adding this is the opinion of a md/phd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

And yet Pomona is the fourth biggest per capita producer of biology PhDs, whereas Tufts isn't in the top 50. And how many research opportunities at Tufts are going to grad students instead of undergraduates?

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#biological-sciences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

And yet Pomona is the fourth biggest per capita producer of biology PhDs, whereas Tufts isn't in the top 50. And how many research opportunities at Tufts are going to grad students instead of undergraduates?

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#biological-sciences

Presumably they get those at R1 universities where they can do the types of research unavailable to them as undergrads. Look at the research coming out of slacs, little of it is hard core basic science, they don’t even have access to the most expensive equipment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

And yet Pomona is the fourth biggest per capita producer of biology PhDs, whereas Tufts isn't in the top 50. And how many research opportunities at Tufts are going to grad students instead of undergraduates?

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#biological-sciences

This list as Hampshire college as No. 2 and Earlham in the top 10. Clearly the per capita breakdown doesn’t provide meaningful info about the quality of a program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

And yet Pomona is the fourth biggest per capita producer of biology PhDs, whereas Tufts isn't in the top 50. And how many research opportunities at Tufts are going to grad students instead of undergraduates?

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#biological-sciences

This list as Hampshire college as No. 2 and Earlham in the top 10. Clearly the per capita breakdown doesn’t provide meaningful info about the quality of a program.

So much so that tufts isn't at all mentioned amongst research institutions or liberal arts colleges? Right.
Insane copium.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

And yet Pomona is the fourth biggest per capita producer of biology PhDs, whereas Tufts isn't in the top 50. And how many research opportunities at Tufts are going to grad students instead of undergraduates?

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#biological-sciences

Presumably they get those at R1 universities where they can do the types of research unavailable to them as undergrads. Look at the research coming out of slacs, little of it is hard core basic science, they don’t even have access to the most expensive equipment.

You understand that the background of Pomona faculty skews towards Ivy League or highly prestigious research institutions right? You think those kinds of people are fully content doing "hard core basic science" for a career. You also can't get NIH or NSF grants for basic science, yet Pomona faculty have no issues receiving that funding. Also, don't have access to what most expensive equipment? The college has so much lab instrumentation that I think you haven't even looked into any of what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

And yet Pomona is the fourth biggest per capita producer of biology PhDs, whereas Tufts isn't in the top 50. And how many research opportunities at Tufts are going to grad students instead of undergraduates?

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#biological-sciences

Presumably they get those at R1 universities where they can do the types of research unavailable to them as undergrads. Look at the research coming out of slacs, little of it is hard core basic science, they don’t even have access to the most expensive equipment.

It's hard to disagree with unembellished qualitative opinion.

Yet, regardless of your concerns about "hard core basic science" research and access to expensive equipment, these concerns haven't stopped Pomona biology grads from immense success in admissions to PhD programs. Nor has it prevented them from having one of the best pre-med programs in the country: https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/from-pre-med-to-md-understanding-the-pathways-to-medical-school/ (In the feeders to "top" med school rankings, Pomona is #5, between Johns Hopkins and Cal Tech. Tufts is #45, between Hamilton and Bard.)

Nor would I be so sure that Pomona lacks access to "the most expensive equipment." Pomona's endowment is $2.8 billion for its 1,750 undergrads. Tufts's endowment is $3 billion for its 13,200 undergrads and 6,400 grad students. This doesn't include Pomona's access to other 5C resources, such as Harvey Mudd.

For the record, Tufts is a great school and offers a great education. I'm simply using it as an example to refute PP's generalized conclusions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tufts is an R1 research institute with a medical school. Pomona is not. For a serious biology student, the opportunities are going be greater at Tufts. The quality of the basic science research simply isn’t the same as slacs.

And yet Pomona is the fourth biggest per capita producer of biology PhDs, whereas Tufts isn't in the top 50. And how many research opportunities at Tufts are going to grad students instead of undergraduates?

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#biological-sciences

Presumably they get those at R1 universities where they can do the types of research unavailable to them as undergrads. Look at the research coming out of slacs, little of it is hard core basic science, they don’t even have access to the most expensive equipment.

You understand that the background of Pomona faculty skews towards Ivy League or highly prestigious research institutions right? You think those kinds of people are fully content doing "hard core basic science" for a career. You also can't get NIH or NSF grants for basic science, yet Pomona faculty have no issues receiving that funding. Also, don't have access to what most expensive equipment? The college has so much lab instrumentation that I think you haven't even looked into any of what you are talking about.

I work at a major academic center, and have both NIH and private industry lab funding. Do what you want. With respect to my own kids, I would not send one set on biology to a slac. My guess is you are not a Md/phd.