^^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).

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?

Almost all New England LACs athlete divide is really really bad. The only college I haven’t heard it brought up is Bowdoin, but Williams has a heavy student athlete divide

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?

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

Anonymous wrote:I think kids underestimate geography. If he thinks he’ll end up in nyc for first job/s, Williams. It’s a small peer group either way, but having friends where you land is nice. There are Pomona kids here too but not in same numbers.

Math department super strong at both. If ED Williams and RD Pomona.

It’s a much harder admit for Pomona overall. The RD acceptance rate is abysmal, so they should consider ED2 Pomona at minimum

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those were my dd's top choices as well after visiting. In the end, she went with Williams but it was a hard decision. I agree that if a kid goes to Williams, they should really love the location - Pomona campus is lovely but the setting is suburban vs rural, and she loved being surrounded by mountains. WEPO was an attraction, as was the math department and she loves the arts, but she also just loved every kid she interacted with, every professor she emailed, and the alums she met. The strong alumni network is a big plus for her - every alum she has spoken with has immediately offered to be helpful in any way they can. It is a lovely community. But Pomona is amazing - definitely visit if you can, because I think that would really help him decide.

Funny how many families have this dilemma.

DS made the opposite decision. He loved being near the mountains in California while still being able to go to LA. For him, he wanted the Cambridge program more than Oxford, loved the chemistry class he sat in on, and felt the chill student body felt right, especially with the consortium. Like PP said, Both very strong skills and very similar in almost every way.

Potential Pomona applicant family here. How easy is it to take classes at Mudd/other 5Cs for your DC? I’ve heard mixed reviews

I'm not the PP, but my DC is starting at Pomona this weekend (OMG). Anyhow, it's reputedly very easy for most classes that aren't CS.

So excited for your family! Welcome to Pomona (Chirp Chirp!!). You’ll be surprised how quickly they’ll settle in after orientation.

Answering the other commenter, agreed. It’s very easy as long as it isn’t CS. DC’s even taking an engineering course there next semester

The comment on Pomona’s math department being a little more academic lines up. The math majors consistently win big national fellowships like Churchill, Goldwater, NSF, etc. It is a math department dedicated to creating future mathematicians. Even the statistics side of the class goes on to PhD programs in stats

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those were my dd's top choices as well after visiting. In the end, she went with Williams but it was a hard decision. I agree that if a kid goes to Williams, they should really love the location - Pomona campus is lovely but the setting is suburban vs rural, and she loved being surrounded by mountains. WEPO was an attraction, as was the math department and she loves the arts, but she also just loved every kid she interacted with, every professor she emailed, and the alums she met. The strong alumni network is a big plus for her - every alum she has spoken with has immediately offered to be helpful in any way they can. It is a lovely community. But Pomona is amazing - definitely visit if you can, because I think that would really help him decide.

Funny how many families have this dilemma.

DS made the opposite decision. He loved being near the mountains in California while still being able to go to LA. For him, he wanted the Cambridge program more than Oxford, loved the chemistry class he sat in on, and felt the chill student body felt right, especially with the consortium. Like PP said, Both very strong skills and very similar in almost every way.

Potential Pomona applicant family here. How easy is it to take classes at Mudd/other 5Cs for your DC? I’ve heard mixed reviews

I'm not the PP, but my DC is starting at Pomona this weekend (OMG). Anyhow, it's reputedly very easy for most classes that aren't CS.

I think kids underestimate geography. If he thinks he’ll end up in nyc for first job/s, Williams. It’s a small peer group either way, but having friends where you land is nice. There are Pomona kids here too but not in same numbers.

Math department super strong at both. If ED Williams and RD Pomona.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those were my dd's top choices as well after visiting. In the end, she went with Williams but it was a hard decision. I agree that if a kid goes to Williams, they should really love the location - Pomona campus is lovely but the setting is suburban vs rural, and she loved being surrounded by mountains. WEPO was an attraction, as was the math department and she loves the arts, but she also just loved every kid she interacted with, every professor she emailed, and the alums she met. The strong alumni network is a big plus for her - every alum she has spoken with has immediately offered to be helpful in any way they can. It is a lovely community. But Pomona is amazing - definitely visit if you can, because I think that would really help him decide.

Funny how many families have this dilemma.

DS made the opposite decision. He loved being near the mountains in California while still being able to go to LA. For him, he wanted the Cambridge program more than Oxford, loved the chemistry class he sat in on, and felt the chill student body felt right, especially with the consortium. Like PP said, Both very strong skills and very similar in almost every way.

Potential Pomona applicant family here. How easy is it to take classes at Mudd/other 5Cs for your DC? I’ve heard mixed reviews

Anonymous wrote:Those were my dd's top choices as well after visiting. In the end, she went with Williams but it was a hard decision. I agree that if a kid goes to Williams, they should really love the location - Pomona campus is lovely but the setting is suburban vs rural, and she loved being surrounded by mountains. WEPO was an attraction, as was the math department and she loves the arts, but she also just loved every kid she interacted with, every professor she emailed, and the alums she met. The strong alumni network is a big plus for her - every alum she has spoken with has immediately offered to be helpful in any way they can. It is a lovely community. But Pomona is amazing - definitely visit if you can, because I think that would really help him decide.

Funny how many families have this dilemma.

DS made the opposite decision. He loved being near the mountains in California while still being able to go to LA. For him, he wanted the Cambridge program more than Oxford, loved the chemistry class he sat in on, and felt the chill student body felt right, especially with the consortium. Like PP said, Both very strong skills and very similar in almost every way.

Anonymous wrote:I posted upthread but you should visit Pomona. It's easy to idealize southern Cal and there are lots of pluses to Pomona but Claremont is not a beauty spot.

Opinions differ on this. I think Claremont itself is cute and charming even if the rest of the Inland Empire isn't.

But I agree that visits are critical for both schools. I liked Williamstown and its environs, but I knew many who were immediately turned off by its location when visiting. Similarly, I reckon many East Coaster envision palm trees and beaches when the they think of Southern California, but that's not really what Claremont offers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they have the cutest mascot/merch

Well, then, I guess it's decided.

Hey the question of if one wants to be an Eph or a Sagehen is a serious inquiry! Two kinds of people out there

Those were my dd's top choices as well after visiting. In the end, she went with Williams but it was a hard decision. I agree that if a kid goes to Williams, they should really love the location - Pomona campus is lovely but the setting is suburban vs rural, and she loved being surrounded by mountains. WEPO was an attraction, as was the math department and she loves the arts, but she also just loved every kid she interacted with, every professor she emailed, and the alums she met. The strong alumni network is a big plus for her - every alum she has spoken with has immediately offered to be helpful in any way they can. It is a lovely community. But Pomona is amazing - definitely visit if you can, because I think that would really help him decide.

Both have superb math departments. I think Pomona's may be slightly more intellectually inclined and Williams a little more inclined toward future quantitative analysts. For example, Pomona produces the 4th most math PhDs per capita after Cal Tech, Mudd, and MIT. Williams is 12th, which is still excellent. https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#math

Both are virtually identical when it comes to academics, quality student bodies, and resources.

Williams is great if your DC wants to live in an immediately outdoorsy and bucolic environment and appreciates the fact that its isolation and tiny town leads to a tight community. Unlike Pomona, Williams offers Oxford tutorials (although only half the students take advantage) and Winter Term (a month of pass/fail classes on interesting subjects), both of which seemed extremely cool when I toured with my DC. Williams will lean slightly more preprofessional and preppy than Pomona.

Pomona seems to have the best reputation for quality of life among the WASP schools. It has a bigger immediate town in Claremont and weekend access to Los Angeles. The most unique aspect of Pomona is the 5C Consortium, which gives students most of the advantages of both a small LAC and a mid-sized university. As others have noted, this will include the opportunity to take courses at Mudd. Pomona will like slightly more progressive and non-prof than Williams.

Anyhow, you can't go wrong. Both are incredible schools.