Anonymous
08/22/2025 08:55
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If you are a serious contender academically for Pomona, I don't see how you would want to settle for Pitzer. I don't think the academics/student body is well regarded and i think of the student body as more activist vs intellectual (pomona). Maybe look at cmc if kid is pre professional type.
This. They are worlds apart. Pomona is ranked 5 for national liberal arts colleges; Pitzer is 36 . It's not as well-regarded. I would do CMC, which is ranked 8, and cross-register for STEM. Because it's unlikely the STEM major will hold. New college students change majors 80 percent of the time - and usually twice. My own kid entered as an aerospace engineer at UVA and switched to the humanities second year. google it.
STEM attrition is not high at liberal arts colleges. The UVA example is a symptom of public universities' lack of support.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 16:23
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:If you are a serious contender academically for Pomona, I don't see how you would want to settle for Pitzer. I don't think the academics/student body is well regarded and i think of the student body as more activist vs intellectual (pomona). Maybe look at cmc if kid is pre professional type.
This. They are worlds apart. Pomona is ranked 5 for national liberal arts colleges; Pitzer is 36 . It's not as well-regarded. I would do CMC, which is ranked 8, and cross-register for STEM. Because it's unlikely the STEM major will hold. New college students change majors 80 percent of the time - and usually twice. My own kid entered as an aerospace engineer at UVA and switched to the humanities second year. google it.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 16:19
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:IMO Pitzer is a terrible brand name. Nobody will have heard of it, and your DC will spend the rest of their life being defensive about it. If your DC has the stats for Pomona they could do much better.
Most people grow after 22.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 16:16
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:IMO Pitzer is a terrible brand name. Nobody will have heard of it, and your DC will spend the rest of their life being defensive about it. If your DC has the stats for Pomona they could do much better.
Check back after Dec ED/REA results- you may have a whole new view of what “doing better” means
Anonymous
08/21/2025 16:06
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
IMO Pitzer is a terrible brand name. Nobody will have heard of it, and your DC will spend the rest of their life being defensive about it. If your DC has the stats for Pomona they could do much better.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 10:53
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:Pitzer takes a ton of its class in ED and its acceptance rate is less than 20%, so it isn’t a safety. Perhaps think of it as a target, but given its size, how many kids are they accepting RD?
I posted this on another thread, but their acceptance rate is up to 26 percent overall (and it's much higher for domestic than international students) and they had an enrollment shortfall last year, so I think it might be a little easier to get into this year than it has been historically. Not really a safety, especially because their admissions criteria seem a bit quirky, but probably a very decent shot for someone competitive for Pomona. I'd imagine demonstrated interest (and, sadly, full pay or close to it) would be a big help.
Anonymous
08/21/2025 09:25
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
my kid got into Pomona but was rejected from Pitzer for what's that worth...
Anonymous
08/21/2025 09:00
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:Pitzer. The name just sounds disgusting.
My kid does not want to apply there for this (dumb, IMO) reason.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 18:13
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:The kid moved in on Aug 16 and is very happy? I would think Pitzer is a good school, but maybe he needs to be there more than 96 hours before declaring victory. Maybe talk with him after the first semester.
true but there were summer send off events, class of '29 chats, early course registration, webinars etc. Pitzer did an excellent job of welcoming and onboarding first years. Having your class schedule set, feeling at home and happy first week of college isn't guaranteed and its a pretty big factor in adjusting.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 16:53
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
The kid moved in on Aug 16 and is very happy? I would think Pitzer is a good school, but maybe he needs to be there more than 96 hours before declaring victory. Maybe talk with him after the first semester.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 16:41
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Pitzer takes a ton of its class in ED and its acceptance rate is less than 20%, so it isn’t a safety. Perhaps think of it as a target, but given its size, how many kids are they accepting RD?
Anonymous
08/20/2025 16:38
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:Pitzer. The name just sounds disgusting.
Meh. Pitzer sounds fine to my ears. In any event Brown, Skidmore, Colgate, Wooster, Goucher, Oral Roberts, Ball State, and Pitzer's 5C neighbor Harvey Mudd are much worse. Occidental and Wesleyan sound like bible-thumping colleges. And Dartmouth is a single letter away from Fartmouth.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 16:22
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Pitzer. The name just sounds disgusting.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 14:00
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:They’re not similar at all. A student looking at Pitzer would be looking at Vassar, Wesleyan, and Macalester rather than Pomona.
My Pomona kid also applied to Wes and Mac. I think Swarthmore also fits within the group.
My Pomona DD also applied to Wes, Mac, and Swarthmore. She seems to have friends throughout the 5Cs. As far as I can tell, there's no hierarchy. I'm impressed by all the 5Cs and am convinced that each one has something unique to offer and could the the ideal fit for the right kid, regardless of prestige. I certainly see some commonalities between Pitzer and Pomona, but as others have mentioned Pitzer may not be the best fit for a kid who wants to focus exclusively on STEM. I recall that Pitzer takes a somewhat different approach to admissions (e.g., it's test blind), so I'd recommend doing research into Pitzer's practices before DC applies. (I think Your College Bound Kid has a Pitzer-focused podcast.)
I don't know much about Oxy, but it seems like a cool school. The biggest difference is the expanded social and academic offerings of the 5Cs vs. Oxy.
Last, disparaging Claremont's location is a popular pastime here, but I quite like it. While I no longer live in California, I went to UCLA but find Claremont Village much more charming than Westwood in the 90's. In fact, I'm looking forward to dropping off DD this weekend and spending a little time there.
Opps. I was looking at the Oxy vs. Claremont thread earlier and got confused. Ignore the Oxy comment.
Anonymous
08/20/2025 13:57
Subject: Pitzer as safety for Pomona?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:They’re not similar at all. A student looking at Pitzer would be looking at Vassar, Wesleyan, and Macalester rather than Pomona.
My Pomona kid also applied to Wes and Mac. I think Swarthmore also fits within the group.
My Pomona DD also applied to Wes, Mac, and Swarthmore. She seems to have friends throughout the 5Cs. As far as I can tell, there's no hierarchy. I'm impressed by all the 5Cs and am convinced that each one has something unique to offer and could the the ideal fit for the right kid, regardless of prestige. I certainly see some commonalities between Pitzer and Pomona, but as others have mentioned Pitzer may not be the best fit for a kid who wants to focus exclusively on STEM. I recall that Pitzer takes a somewhat different approach to admissions (e.g., it's test blind), so I'd recommend doing research into Pitzer's practices before DC applies. (I think Your College Bound Kid has a Pitzer-focused podcast.)
I don't know much about Oxy, but it seems like a cool school. The biggest difference is the expanded social and academic offerings of the 5Cs vs. Oxy.
Last, disparaging Claremont's location is a popular pastime here, but I quite like it. While I no longer live in California, I went to UCLA but find Claremont Village much more charming than Westwood in the 90's. In fact, I'm looking forward to dropping off DD this weekend and spending a little time there.