Anonymous wrote:Oh just ED to Williams already and be quiet. Tired of all the Pomona hate!

I am the SoCal native and to be clear I am not hating on Pomona, or any of the Claremont 5, I know lots of people who have attended all of them and know a current Claremont Board member (not surprisingly he is an alum). My point is I think people should pick their college for the college not for the "nearest" urban area. If you want an urban experience there are many schools that offer that true big city proximity that is not the vibe at Pomona or Williams.

Oh just ED to Williams already and be quiet. Tired of all the Pomona hate!

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Anonymous wrote:I am a SoCal native from within 20 miles of Pomona. I am also a parent of student admitted to Williams (didn't apply to Pomona) who almost went but in the end picked a different option. Both are great schools but quiet different locations.
Pomona is definitely not in the prettiest area of Ca (smog is an issue and it's industrial and not very green). The town of Claremont is cute and is definitely larger than Williamstown, which is charming but tiny. I would recommend visiting both. In the end most of a student's time is spent on campus or in the town the college is in- I wouldn't pick either school on the basis of access to LA/Boston, realistically that is not going to be a weekly or even monthly event for most students.

DD has only experience smog twice in 3 years from wildfires. Sounds like you haven’t been to la in years.

Oh yes I have, Mom and Brother still in the area. It is much improved over what it once was but it is still an issue, it is a big basin that has always trapped smoke/fog to the point that there are days when you can't even see the mountains . . . .

I’m just speaking from DD’s experience that smog is the least of her concernsz

I’ll also report she goes to Pasadena almost every weekend to see a boyfriend at Caltech and LA isn’t that far. Maybe if you’re used to Boston commutes it may be difficult, but she hasn’t found it too far.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a SoCal native from within 20 miles of Pomona. I am also a parent of student admitted to Williams (didn't apply to Pomona) who almost went but in the end picked a different option. Both are great schools but quiet different locations.
Pomona is definitely not in the prettiest area of Ca (smog is an issue and it's industrial and not very green). The town of Claremont is cute and is definitely larger than Williamstown, which is charming but tiny. I would recommend visiting both. In the end most of a student's time is spent on campus or in the town the college is in- I wouldn't pick either school on the basis of access to LA/Boston, realistically that is not going to be a weekly or even monthly event for most students.

DD has only experience smog twice in 3 years from wildfires. Sounds like you haven’t been to la in years.

Oh yes I have, Mom and Brother still in the area. It is much improved over what it once was but it is still an issue, it is a big basin that has always trapped smoke/fog to the point that there are days when you can't even see the mountains . . . .

Anonymous wrote:I am a SoCal native from within 20 miles of Pomona. I am also a parent of student admitted to Williams (didn't apply to Pomona) who almost went but in the end picked a different option. Both are great schools but quiet different locations.
Pomona is definitely not in the prettiest area of Ca (smog is an issue and it's industrial and not very green). The town of Claremont is cute and is definitely larger than Williamstown, which is charming but tiny. I would recommend visiting both. In the end most of a student's time is spent on campus or in the town the college is in- I wouldn't pick either school on the basis of access to LA/Boston, realistically that is not going to be a weekly or even monthly event for most students.

DD has only experience smog twice in 3 years from wildfires. Sounds like you haven’t been to la in years.

I am a SoCal native from within 20 miles of Pomona. I am also a parent of student admitted to Williams (didn't apply to Pomona) who almost went but in the end picked a different option. Both are great schools but quiet different locations.
Pomona is definitely not in the prettiest area of Ca (smog is an issue and it's industrial and not very green). The town of Claremont is cute and is definitely larger than Williamstown, which is charming but tiny. I would recommend visiting both. In the end most of a student's time is spent on campus or in the town the college is in- I wouldn't pick either school on the basis of access to LA/Boston, realistically that is not going to be a weekly or even monthly event for most students.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain what access to LA on weekends from Pomona really looks like? Do a lot of students have cars? I know there is a train, but my sense is that LA is very spread out; does the train take you somewhere where there are restaurants, shops, etc in walking distance?

The train takes you to DTLA. From there, it’s easy to walk to little Tokyo, the arts district, or Chinatown. If you can stomach a little more travel time, you can take the train to Culver City, Santa Monica, USC, etc.

There’s also the extension to Pomona for the A Line, which makes it easy for students to get to Pasadena or Highland Park.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain what access to LA on weekends from Pomona really looks like? Do a lot of students have cars? I know there is a train, but my sense is that LA is very spread out; does the train take you somewhere where there are restaurants, shops, etc in walking distance?

Kids I know there drive or take the train in only occasionally, like once or twice a semester. It's not that close. Imagine any school 75 minutes away from any city.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain what access to LA on weekends from Pomona really looks like? Do a lot of students have cars? I know there is a train, but my sense is that LA is very spread out; does the train take you somewhere where there are restaurants, shops, etc in walking distance?

A kid I know who is at a Claremont College has a car and drives into LA on weekends.

Can someone explain what access to LA on weekends from Pomona really looks like? Do a lot of students have cars? I know there is a train, but my sense is that LA is very spread out; does the train take you somewhere where there are restaurants, shops, etc in walking distance?

For math, it really depends on what courses you're interested in:
Pomona upper division courses spring 2026: Real Analysis II, Math Analysis I (x4), Combinatorics (x2), Algorithms, Dynamical Systems, Abstract Algebra (x3), Stochastic Operations Research, Graduate Partial Differential Equations, Intro to PDEs, Methods in Biostatistics, Scientific Computing, Statistical Linear Models, Statistical inference, Causal Inference, Randomized Algorithms, Matroids, Numerical Analysis, Functions of a Complex Variable, Transcendental Number Theory, Topology, Bayesian Statistics, Methods in Modern Modeling, Nonparametric Statistics, Mathematical Finance, Numerical Methods for Differential Equations, Machine Learning for Asset Pricing, Continuous Mathematical Modeling, Quantitative Risk Management, and Mathematics of Machine Learning are all the courses available across The Claremont Colleges, Algebraic Geometry

Williams upper division courses spring 2026: Applied Real Analysis, Abstract Algebra (x2), Discrete Geometry, Numerical Analysis, Galois Theory, Algebraic Geometry, Tiling Theory, Linear Control System Theory, Partial Differential Equations, Advanced Analysis

Both are ample courses for an undergraduate student.

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Anonymous wrote:A good thing to find out about personalities is looking at the schools’ respective newspapers about their students:
Williams | https://williamsrecord.com/470544/features/one-in-two-thousand-onyeraluobu-chibuogwu-26/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://williamsrecord.com/470544/features/one-in-two-thousand-onyeraluobu-chibuogwu-26/

Pomona | https://tsl.news/claremont-characters-zoe-dorados-cultures-of-probiotics-and-poetry/amp/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://tsl.news/claremont-characters-zoe-dorados-cultures-of-probiotics-and-poetry/amp/

It really shows how unsophisticated and scary Pomona has become, that article is just bizarre and sacrilegious. Much more buttoned up and respectable Williams student- off to JP Morgan too!

? This is insane

No these are just random links curated to contrast one conservative IB preppy bro classmate at Williams versus a hippy dippy Pomona girl in the other one. You can also selectively pick articles about Pomona science students winning awards and grants and Williams stoners based on what you're trying to prove!

the "hippy dippy Pomona girl" is extremely accomplished. from her personal website: "She is a 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, a 2023 National YoungArts Finalist in Writing (Spoken Word), winner of the Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Scholarship, & the 2023 Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Champion. From 2021-2022, she served as the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of Alameda County & is the runner-up for the 2024 U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate. She recently served as the Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador for the Western U.S."

See but this is DCUM, where the peak of all intellectual engagement is done by economics and cs majors, and anyone who isn’t an athlete future IB-bro is seen as strange, unaccomplished, and out of place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good thing to find out about personalities is looking at the schools’ respective newspapers about their students:
Williams | https://williamsrecord.com/470544/features/one-in-two-thousand-onyeraluobu-chibuogwu-26/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://williamsrecord.com/470544/features/one-in-two-thousand-onyeraluobu-chibuogwu-26/

Pomona | https://tsl.news/claremont-characters-zoe-dorados-cultures-of-probiotics-and-poetry/amp/" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://tsl.news/claremont-characters-zoe-dorados-cultures-of-probiotics-and-poetry/amp/

It really shows how unsophisticated and scary Pomona has become, that article is just bizarre and sacrilegious. Much more buttoned up and respectable Williams student- off to JP Morgan too!

? This is insane

No these are just random links curated to contrast one conservative IB preppy bro classmate at Williams versus a hippy dippy Pomona girl in the other one. You can also selectively pick articles about Pomona science students winning awards and grants and Williams stoners based on what you're trying to prove!

the "hippy dippy Pomona girl" is extremely accomplished. from her personal website: "She is a 2023 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, a 2023 National YoungArts Finalist in Writing (Spoken Word), winner of the Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Scholarship, & the 2023 Youth Speaks Teen Poetry Slam Champion. From 2021-2022, she served as the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of Alameda County & is the runner-up for the 2024 U.S. National Youth Poet Laureate. She recently served as the Youth Poet Laureate Ambassador for the Western U.S."

Anonymous wrote:Sad bitter people on this thread trying to disparage Pomona based on one kid's unique hobbies. Like who cares? Stop being a hater and find some positivity in life. Imagine judging a teen you'll never meet!

I just read the article and she sounds charming, unique, multidisciplinary, curious, and community oriented. exactly the type of person I'd expect to attend Pomona- in a good way.

Sad bitter people on this thread trying to disparage Pomona based on one kid's unique hobbies. Like who cares? Stop being a hater and find some positivity in life. Imagine judging a teen you'll never meet!