The chance of admission at any of these three schools, including Amherst. is so remote as to make this whole thread ridiculous. Unless op’s child is an athlete with a promise of coach support, admission odds are likely better at Williams and Amherst than Pomona if student lives in the DMV.

Anonymous wrote:I've never gotten the sense that Amherst students really take advantage of their consortium. My impression was that maybe half end up taking a class or two at another school (usually UMass). In other words, while that consortium is a nice feature, it's hardly an integral part of the Amherst experience like with the Claremont Colleges or, perhaps, the BiCo (Haverford and Bryn Mawr).

DD really wanted to like Amherst, but it offers very little when put up against the other liberal arts colleges. Solid school? sure, just not interesting enough for the $90k per year bill attached.

I've never gotten the sense that Amherst students really take advantage of their consortium. My impression was that maybe half end up taking a class or two at another school (usually UMass). In other words, while that consortium is a nice feature, it's hardly an integral part of the Amherst experience like with the Claremont Colleges or, perhaps, the BiCo (Haverford and Bryn Mawr).

I’m a hiring manager and have always enjoyed the Pomona kids - probably interviewed at least 20 over the years. Williams kids not so much, a different feel to those kids - almost like they are always selling how important and prestigious their school is - always like they had a chip on their shoulder that they didn’t attend an ivy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not get the best of both worlds (New England and a consortium) at Amherst?

Amherst lost its way decades ago and hasn’t recovered. Campus is also surprisingly meh for a top SLAC.

amherst troll at it again. sorry you had to suffer in Williamstown for four years

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not get the best of both worlds (New England and a consortium) at Amherst?

Amherst lost its way decades ago and hasn’t recovered. Campus is also surprisingly meh for a top SLAC.

What if we don't derail this conversation into Amherst when it wasn't one of OP's options?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not get the best of both worlds (New England and a consortium) at Amherst?

Amherst lost its way decades ago and hasn’t recovered. Campus is also surprisingly meh for a top SLAC.

With what proof? Amherst consistently ranks second best for LACs, and the campus is gorgeous with the mountain backdrop.

Anonymous wrote:Why not get the best of both worlds (New England and a consortium) at Amherst?

Amherst lost its way decades ago and hasn’t recovered. Campus is also surprisingly meh for a top SLAC.

Anonymous wrote:I think a lot of schools offer the opportunity to study at Oxford for a year or semester

I had to rub my eyes seeing that as a factor, because there's so many places that allow you to study abroad at Oxford. Hell, I went to a middling state university and studied abroad at Oxford. The college must not have a lot going on in Williamstown for that to be a big decider.

I think a lot of schools offer the opportunity to study at Oxford for a year or semester

Why not get the best of both worlds (New England and a consortium) at Amherst?

My DC will attend Pomona, but I think Williams is a fantastic school. I have two pieces of advice:

(1) Ignore anyone who claims there's an obvious objective choice between the two. That's ridiculous. Both are exceptional schools with great math departments.

(2) It's completely reasonable to consider study abroad options in deciding among schools. I went to a huge public university, where I had a great time but the highlight was my year abroad. Both Williams and Pomona have truly excellent study abroad options beyond Oxbridge. One of the reasons DC turned down Dartmouth is that he didn't like its limited study-abroad options, particularly for his specific major.

OP back again. Wow we have learned a ton from this thread, and DS is now leaning much closer to Pomona. We are very excited for our visit. WEPO was a really big factor for DC, but hearing there's more out there really put the picture in place for DS. We also checked math catalogs and did find a fascinating amount of offerings by the Claremont Colleges, which also has shifted the choice. Thanks for everyone chiming in on such a marginal topic, surprised we got the engagement we did but much appreciation!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how well Williams has been able to market WEPO. Many other colleges have similar programs: Pomona with Cambridge, Amherst with New College, Oxford, and yet it only seems to come up when discussing Williams.

There's also tons of other study abroad opportunities available at both schools, many of which your child may find more alluring than Oxford. The reputation among DC's friends is that Oxbridge is the only study abroad program that is actually academically rigorous. That took it off his list.

It's perfectly reasonable to choose Williams; just not because of WEPO.

It's always puzzled me a bit too, because no other college (maybe NYU or Bard, don't know much about them) has students come, because they're invested in going somewhere else for Junior year.

Pomona recently ramped up summer study abroad-for free-with a faculty membe,r and it looks very impressive. The faculty member has been an FSO, Diplomat, and Policy Advisor, and taught the course with trips to leaders at the EU, NATO, Morocco, and Human Rights Watch. That's the type of study abroad I'd look after.

This would not remotely appeal to either of my kids. A chance to spend a semester at Oxford or Cambridge would.

Pomona has a semester at Cambridge.
Williams has a semester at Oxford.
I'm not sure why this wouldn't appeal to your kids if it was in their department and they had the opportunity to see international career and research opportunities in the field, rather than studying in stuffy Britain colleges, but that's a child by child interest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It amazes me how well Williams has been able to market WEPO. Many other colleges have similar programs: Pomona with Cambridge, Amherst with New College, Oxford, and yet it only seems to come up when discussing Williams.

There's also tons of other study abroad opportunities available at both schools, many of which your child may find more alluring than Oxford. The reputation among DC's friends is that Oxbridge is the only study abroad program that is actually academically rigorous. That took it off his list.

It's perfectly reasonable to choose Williams; just not because of WEPO.

It's always puzzled me a bit too, because no other college (maybe NYU or Bard, don't know much about them) has students come, because they're invested in going somewhere else for Junior year.

Pomona recently ramped up summer study abroad-for free-with a faculty membe,r and it looks very impressive. The faculty member has been an FSO, Diplomat, and Policy Advisor, and taught the course with trips to leaders at the EU, NATO, Morocco, and Human Rights Watch. That's the type of study abroad I'd look after.

This would not remotely appeal to either of my kids. A chance to spend a semester at Oxford or Cambridge would.