Reply to Who is WASP (Williams, Amherst, Swat, Pomona) for?

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[quote=Anonymous]My DS chose Pomona over Dartmouth, Penn, Swarthmore, and a couple traditional Ivy+ universities among others. He really liked all of these schools, but ultimately was drawn to Pomona because of (a) its reputation for happy, satisfied students, (b) its combination of a tight LAC community and broader 5C social opportunities (whereas Swarthmore felt pretty small), and (c) its warm, West Coast location. He and I both feel like all these schools will roughly offer the same post-graduate opportunities.

Why WASP generally? (1) The financial aid at all of the WASP schools is outstanding and really only matched by HYPSM. Ditto for per-student endowment. (2) The LAC model--smaller classes, undergraduate-focus, tighter community, ample research opportunities, etc. (3) Incredible academics. In terms of rigor and the breadth and depth of the actual education, WASP is hard to beat. It's the reason why so many professors send their children to such LACs.

Differentiating the WASP schools? Honestly, they're much more alike than different. In terms of endowment, they are all basically the same--sometimes Pomona has the biggest per-student endowment, sometimes Williams, etc. I think they all offer equivalent students, faculty, resources, and opportunities, although particular colleges may accel in particular areas more than others--e.g., Williams and art history.  All are well rounded. So, for example, while Amherst is arguably the most preprofessional leaning of the four, its students have no problem getting into the best PhD programs if that's what they want. Similarly, while Swarthmore is arguably the most intellectual, its students have little problem getting jobs on Wall Street or at FANG companies. It's more of a question of school vibe than opportunity. IMO, there are plenty of reasons for a particular student to choose one WASP school over the others, but prestige or academic quality shouldn't be one of them. Anyhow, with that said, here are the reputational differences as I see them.

Williams: It's been ranked #1 for the last two decades and is the oldest, crustiest of the WASP schools. It does everything well and is particularly known for math, art history, and strong placement on Wall Street. Williams tutorials look extremely cool. It has a large portion of student-athletes and is the most immediately outdoorsy of the WASP schools. I personally liked Williams location and isolation, but many are immediately turned off by it. Williamstown is cute but tiny.

Amherst: Amherst is a lot like Williams but less isolated, has a decent town, and offers a consortium with UMass, Smith, etc., although I don't think Amherst students regularly take advantage of it. It's the only WASP school to offer an open curriculum. Amherst has always struck me as the most preprofessional of the WASP schools, but, again, it has students of all types. Like Williams, it has a lot of student-athletes.

Swarthmore: Swat is reputed to be the most intellectual of the WASP schools, and the term "academic intensity" is always mentioned. That said, I don't think Swat students necessarily study harder than Williams or Pomona students, but there does seem to be at least some stress culture there. That said, my DS thought most Swatties were fairly normal kids who like to have fun based on his Swatstuck experience. It has a consortium with Bryn Mawr and Haverford as well as opportunities at Penn, but it doesn't seem like many Swatties take advantage of such opportunities, at least regularly. The town of Swarthmore itself is the smallest, most limited of the WASP immediate towns. On the other hand, Swat has the easiest access to a major city via the on-campus train station. Swat is the only WASP school to offer engineering and probably has the best CS department (given Pomona's enrollment issues).

Pomona: Pomona has the best generalized reputation for quality of life and happy students. It's reputed to have an equivalent workload to Swat but without as much stress. The things that separate Pomona from AWS are its West Coast location and the best consortium in the U.S., which offers the advantages of both a small, tightknit LAC and a mid-sized university (total undergrad population of about 6,000). There have been recent issues with CS enrollment at Pomona, but its otherwise strong across the board. It's probably the most non-profit/public service oriented school in WASP. The town of Claremont is an upscale enclave, although its charms are probably more appealing to parents than teenagers. The cool parts of LA are fairly accessible from Pomona but not accessible enough for regular midweek excursions. Last, if you care about such things, it's arguably the most coveted WASP based on selectivity, cross-admits, and yield.[/quote]

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