Pomona or Johns Hopkins

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:They are both strong schools, but Pomona probably is more appealing. It has a reputation of being excellent for academics but also a supportive environment for undergrads. Johns Hopkins is a little more oriented to graduate programs, professional programs--even though it is an amazing university all around. Pomona also has better weather and the vibe of the colleges in that area are great.

Anonymous wrote:I'd pick Pomona for the better weather, reputation, location, fellow schools, happier students and overall feel.

I went to Harvey Mudd for undergrad and I disagree about the weather. This is only true in the sense that "it doesn't snow". The Claremont Colleges are in a horribly smoggy area. You're right near the freeway and it's basically like sucking on an exhaust pipe 365 days of the year. You are nowhere near the beach and you don't get any kind of ocean breeze.

That aside, Claremont Colleges have a more suburban feel versus the urban feel of Hopkins.

I frequent Claremont often and I've never seen any smog these days

What I know about Pomona is there was a big splash about campus rapes. One poster said Scripps enforces curfew, presumably to protect its women. Go figure.

Your use of the word “often” is superfluous.

You're right, but the point stands. That area is really not the smog covered area it once was. And there's been a surprising amount of development along with plans to build a light rail down to Pasadena/LA. That area is definitely going to be worth a ton in future years (Claremont already is, but the surrounding communities are developing as well).

+1 - I live in Arcadia and go to Claremont a lot- I haven’t encountered smog.

I live in Anaheim, 15 miles south of Pomona. It's not well known except by the locals. I've heard of Cal Tech, Stanford, JHU, MIT, Amherst, Swarthmore, Vassar, etc.

I live in DC and Pomona is regarded as one of the most elite schools in the country, definitely more than Vassar at least. I get the feeling that it isn't super well-regarded in most parts of SoCal given the presence of the much larger state school Cal Poly Pomona. Tell people here that you went to Pomona and they know it's the top LAC in California. Tell people there you went to Pomona and they would think you went to Cal Poly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are both strong schools, but Pomona probably is more appealing. It has a reputation of being excellent for academics but also a supportive environment for undergrads. Johns Hopkins is a little more oriented to graduate programs, professional programs--even though it is an amazing university all around. Pomona also has better weather and the vibe of the colleges in that area are great.

Anonymous wrote:I'd pick Pomona for the better weather, reputation, location, fellow schools, happier students and overall feel.

I went to Harvey Mudd for undergrad and I disagree about the weather. This is only true in the sense that "it doesn't snow". The Claremont Colleges are in a horribly smoggy area. You're right near the freeway and it's basically like sucking on an exhaust pipe 365 days of the year. You are nowhere near the beach and you don't get any kind of ocean breeze.

That aside, Claremont Colleges have a more suburban feel versus the urban feel of Hopkins.

I frequent Claremont often and I've never seen any smog these days

Your use of the word “often” is superfluous.

You're right, but the point stands. That area is really not the smog covered area it once was. And there's been a surprising amount of development along with plans to build a light rail down to Pasadena/LA. That area is definitely going to be worth a ton in future years (Claremont already is, but the surrounding communities are developing as well).

+1 - I live in Arcadia and go to Claremont a lot- I haven’t encountered smog.

I live in Anaheim, 15 miles south of Pomona. It's not well known except by the locals. I've heard of Cal Tech, Stanford, JHU, MIT, Amherst, Swarthmore, Vassar, etc.

I live in DC and Pomona is regarded as one of the most elite schools in the country, definitely more than Vassar at least. I get the feeling that it isn't super well-regarded in most parts of SoCal given the presence of the much larger state school Cal Poly Pomona. Tell people here that you went to Pomona and they know it's the top LAC in California. Tell people there you went to Pomona and they would think you went to Cal Poly.

What I know about Pomona is there was a big splash about campus rapes. One poster said Scripps enforces curfew, presumably to protect its women. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't is Claremont McKenna that was caught cheating the USNews ranking game by fudging the stats? Figures. These people seem to have no morals.

The SAT fudging started when they started admitting more minorities. But how to admit more minorities without suffering a loss in "prestige" due to declining admissions stats? Easy! Just fake the SAT scores of the underqualified minorities. It's for the best, since the SAT is racist anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wasn't is Claremont McKenna that was caught cheating the USNews ranking game by fudging the stats? Figures. These people seem to have no morals.

The SAT fudging started when they started admitting more minorities. But how to admit more minorities without suffering a loss in "prestige" due to declining admissions stats? Easy! Just fake the SAT scores of the underqualified minorities. It's for the best, since the SAT is racist anyway.

Pomona's stats have actually come down quite a bit since they admitted more minorities (they have the highest percent of underrepresented minorities of any top ranked school at the present). Their average for the SAT ranked 6th highest among all colleges and universities about a decade ago- 1530/1600- but is presently ranked 18th or so with a 1470/1600. Nice try, though.

[Anonymous]

I'm not even sure how CMC is relevant to this discussion? Haha. Perhaps we could have a Claremont Colleges hate thread where people can share their qualms about them?

[Anonymous]

Here are the reasons to pick Hopkins over Pomona:

1- Finances; Hopkins is considerably cheaper
2- You're a cutting edge, star student who has engaged with substantial research and has the aptitude/knowledge of a junior college student or higher
3- You want to be surrounded by more ambitious, competitive people and the top of the top (the top 5% of students at Johns Hopkins are far above the top 5% of Pomona or any other LAC)

Otherwise, I would go to Pomona. I am a firm believer of the power of the liberal arts college experience, and it's hard to get better than one as elite, endowed, and top-notch as Pomona. That school is known for its STEM excellence- it ranks 12th per capita for producing STEM PhDs (Hopkins is 31st) and in terms of the absolute number of winners of NSF, Goldwater, Churchill, and other prestigious science undergrad awards, Pomona beats Hopkins despite being much smaller. You won't be able to do the same cutting edge research at Pomona, but that is always available at graduate school. Use undergrad to hone in on the fundamentals, get meaningful and empowering letters of recommendations from professors who care about you, and have a good experience. One of the big benefits is that Pomona isn't as small as other LACs are; you could take CS courses at Harvey Mudd, philosophy courses at CMC or Scripps, linguistics and cog sci courses at Pitzer, etc.

Johns Hopkins is a great school, but more so for graduate/professional schools than undergrad. Nothing wrong with picking them, but I do think Pomona is a notch ahead.

[Anonymous]

Pomona.....not even a close call. But I’m a huge believer in a liberal arts education.

[Anonymous]

For sciences, pre-professional programs, no doubt HOPKINS. If your DC isn’t sure or is all over the place, I’d lick Pomona.
If we’re talking about name recognition only, HOPKINS.

[Anonymous]

Lol, pick not lick.

[Anonymous]

I know people who went to Hopkins but not in sciences. DS is at Pomona and it is amazing. The opportunities for doing research as undergrads are endless - most undergrads are expected to do research. The school, as you know, is part of the Claremont Colleges and it is in a pretty safe and sleepy college town. Everyone I know who went to Pomona got into great medical schools.

[Anonymous]

only at DCUM is some obscure lac comparable to one of the world's greatest universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:only at DCUM is some obscure lac comparable to one of the world's greatest universities.

but most people here are interested in undergraduate teaching, not the med school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:only at DCUM is some obscure lac comparable to one of the world's greatest universities.

but most people here are interested in undergraduate teaching, not the med school

yeah... which further confirms that DCUM college crowd are total idiots

[Anonymous]

Pomona---but I'm also a major believer in an liberal arts education.

I went to a small liberal arts school and Hopkins for professional grad school and was shocked that some of my classmates from Hopkins undergrad had basically taken only science and math in undergrad.
I had taken 80 hours of literature and history and anthropology and then of top of this---some science and math as part of my major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not even sure how CMC is relevant to this discussion? Haha. Perhaps we could have a Claremont Colleges hate thread where people can share their qualms about them?

I know, right?

OP - if you are bothering to read this.

Two good choices. Both excellent. Both create their own kind of stess on the kids. Both offer a wonderful education. Congrats to your child.

Don't listen to anything said here that isn't positive.

Dont listen to the old farts about the culture at Hopkins.