Both are amazing choices and will get you far!

For our kids Pomona would be preferred, but it depends on the individual. Both great. There are many differences, but the biggest for us would be Columbia has engineering while Pomona has the undergrad focus.

Pomona. Kids there are brilliant and down to earth and the education is excellent. -Alum of another CC--

Pomona trumps Columbia. That’s how it went down in our house today.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's about core course requirements versus less onerous distribution requirements and it's about living in NYC versus living in a suburban college community.

I've heard it's tough to double major at Columbia. Leaves practically no room for electives. Anyone have relevant experience to share?

Certainly that's the way the math of courses and the Core works out; it's like a double major and then the core is equivalent to another major. "Triple majors" leave almost no room for electives, other than a couple of courses. What's worse, there is less freedom to take these courses in the first couple years at Columbia because the Core is most restrictive then. Junior and senior year is a little late to take the few precious electives available to "explore interests." Better to not double major...

Anonymous wrote:It's about core course requirements versus less onerous distribution requirements and it's about living in NYC versus living in a suburban college community.

I've heard it's tough to double major at Columbia. Leaves practically no room for electives. Anyone have relevant experience to share?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids at school (and some teachers), as a slight paraphrase: “Columbia of course. It’s more prestigious. Nobody has heard of Pomona.”

Kid: “Everyone except for you (parents) think Columbia is more prestigious.”

Response?

My response is, who cares? Does the student want the Columbia/NYC experience? If not, the prestige alone won't make a good experience.

NYC experience, yes. Common Core for 1/2 the classes freshman and sophomore year (and 1/4 of classes junior year), no. Not sure the former can (or should) outweigh the latter.

Either way, the slight difference in prestige is irrelevant.

Oh, I agree, though I would not say there is any difference in prestige. The problem is that people often conflate recognition with prestige. DC does this as well — as a high school kid — but adults should know better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How has no one mentioned the shit show of professional and performative protesting that goes on at Columbia on the daily yet? Pomona’s administration handling of the students who violently stormed one of their classroom buildings and tried to prevent others from leaving was handled properly, if you care about such things. Not so at Columbia!

Turn off your Fox News. Columbia had major issues a year ago. The admin handled it horribly. It has not totally gone away. The campus is now locked down (which is ridiculous). But it is far from daily.

I live near Columbia. Several members of my immediate family went there for grad school. Most kids have a very binary response. It is either exactly what they are looking for. Or it is a total turnoff. The student body is actually incredibly diverse - lots of kids from all over the country and world. Plus the diversity of NYC. Pomona is a relatively homogenous bubble. One is not better than the other.

All of the Fox News worshippers who might have considered it will no longer be applying for the reasons demonstrated in the quote above. I personally think this is a good thing. But from the perspective of diverse points of view, you will not be exposed to how half of America thinks.

Nope on the above. Pomona is actually the most ethnically and racially diverse LAC-they pride themselves on that. Maybe get your facts straight.

Apologies - should have clarified. The area around Pomona is a relatively homogeneous bubble. You can basically isolate yourself from the real world for four years. Which has its pros and cons - I'm definitely not saying that is a bad thing.

Okay. That's fair. Claremont is upscale and bougie and the Inland Empire is diverse but uninspiring. I think my kid goes to Los Angeles two or three times a month. So it's definitely a nice resource, but it's not comparable to being in Manhattan. That said, I quite like Pomona's setup, which offers a nice compromise from the community of a isolated liberal arts college without the complete isolation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How has no one mentioned the shit show of professional and performative protesting that goes on at Columbia on the daily yet? Pomona’s administration handling of the students who violently stormed one of their classroom buildings and tried to prevent others from leaving was handled properly, if you care about such things. Not so at Columbia!

Turn off your Fox News. Columbia had major issues a year ago. The admin handled it horribly. It has not totally gone away. The campus is now locked down (which is ridiculous). But it is far from daily.

I live near Columbia. Several members of my immediate family went there for grad school. Most kids have a very binary response. It is either exactly what they are looking for. Or it is a total turnoff. The student body is actually incredibly diverse - lots of kids from all over the country and world. Plus the diversity of NYC. Pomona is a relatively homogenous bubble. One is not better than the other.

All of the Fox News worshippers who might have considered it will no longer be applying for the reasons demonstrated in the quote above. I personally think this is a good thing. But from the perspective of diverse points of view, you will not be exposed to how half of America thinks.

Nope on the above. Pomona is actually the most ethnically and racially diverse LAC-they pride themselves on that. Maybe get your facts straight.

Yeah. What is PP talking about?

Each school offers a superb education, super intelligent students, and limitless opportunities after graduation. Columbia has the common core, which I think is cool but is hit or miss for others. Pomona will be more typically exploratory and interdisciplinary in a typical liberal arts way. My DS chose Pomona over Brown and Penn because he wanted try the west coast and liked Pomona's laid-back intellectual vibe. It definitely has less name recognition if you care about that, but he's very happy and seems to be getting a stellar education.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How has no one mentioned the shit show of professional and performative protesting that goes on at Columbia on the daily yet? Pomona’s administration handling of the students who violently stormed one of their classroom buildings and tried to prevent others from leaving was handled properly, if you care about such things. Not so at Columbia!

Turn off your Fox News. Columbia had major issues a year ago. The admin handled it horribly. It has not totally gone away. The campus is now locked down (which is ridiculous). But it is far from daily.

I live near Columbia. Several members of my immediate family went there for grad school. Most kids have a very binary response. It is either exactly what they are looking for. Or it is a total turnoff. The student body is actually incredibly diverse - lots of kids from all over the country and world. Plus the diversity of NYC. Pomona is a relatively homogenous bubble. One is not better than the other.

All of the Fox News worshippers who might have considered it will no longer be applying for the reasons demonstrated in the quote above. I personally think this is a good thing. But from the perspective of diverse points of view, you will not be exposed to how half of America thinks.

Nope on the above. Pomona is actually the most ethnically and racially diverse LAC-they pride themselves on that. Maybe get your facts straight.

Apologies - should have clarified. The area around Pomona is a relatively homogeneous bubble. You can basically isolate yourself from the real world for four years. Which has its pros and cons - I'm definitely not saying that is a bad thing.

It's about core course requirements versus less onerous distribution requirements and it's about living in NYC versus living in a suburban college community.

I live near Columbia and think even the coverage of the protests last year was overblown (NYU was worse for example), but I also think the fake news has successfully pinged Columbia's reputation.

Columbia's undergrad experience is better than some think, but I'd pick Pomona for something new.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How has no one mentioned the shit show of professional and performative protesting that goes on at Columbia on the daily yet? Pomona’s administration handling of the students who violently stormed one of their classroom buildings and tried to prevent others from leaving was handled properly, if you care about such things. Not so at Columbia!

Turn off your Fox News. Columbia had major issues a year ago. The admin handled it horribly. It has not totally gone away. The campus is now locked down (which is ridiculous). But it is far from daily.

I live near Columbia. Several members of my immediate family went there for grad school. Most kids have a very binary response. It is either exactly what they are looking for. Or it is a total turnoff. The student body is actually incredibly diverse - lots of kids from all over the country and world. Plus the diversity of NYC. Pomona is a relatively homogenous bubble. One is not better than the other.

All of the Fox News worshippers who might have considered it will no longer be applying for the reasons demonstrated in the quote above. I personally think this is a good thing. But from the perspective of diverse points of view, you will not be exposed to how half of America thinks.

Nope on the above. Pomona is actually the most ethnically and racially diverse LAC-they pride themselves on that. Maybe get your facts straight.

Pomona, and I say that as a Barnard grad. Columbia has completely bowed down to the administration and given over control in a shocking way. It is lost and will never be the school it once was. Pomona I’m all the way.

Anonymous wrote:How has no one mentioned the shit show of professional and performative protesting that goes on at Columbia on the daily yet? Pomona’s administration handling of the students who violently stormed one of their classroom buildings and tried to prevent others from leaving was handled properly, if you care about such things. Not so at Columbia!

Turn off your Fox News. Columbia had major issues a year ago. The admin handled it horribly. It has not totally gone away. The campus is now locked down (which is ridiculous). But it is far from daily.

I live near Columbia. Several members of my immediate family went there for grad school. Most kids have a very binary response. It is either exactly what they are looking for. Or it is a total turnoff. The student body is actually incredibly diverse - lots of kids from all over the country and world. Plus the diversity of NYC. Pomona is a relatively homogenous bubble. One is not better than the other.

All of the Fox News worshippers who might have considered it will no longer be applying for the reasons demonstrated in the quote above. I personally think this is a good thing. But from the perspective of diverse points of view, you will not be exposed to how half of America thinks.