As a Pomona grad and Bowdoin mom, I’ll tell you that both schools have excellent government and international relations depts. I was a gov major. Also in Pomona’s favor: CMC has a strong government and history dept too. I took “History of the 1960s” at CMC and a class on post-war Russia at Harvey Mudd (because I was determined to take a class at Mudd and knew I’d be eaten alive if I took computer science). With regard to Pomona’s size, the 5Cs are what save Pomona from feeling too small. In addition to your social life and academic options being broader, you also have your pick of cafeterias. Scripps splurges on shrimp on Sundays; Pitzer has a taco night, etc. With regard to Bowdoin feeling small, my daughter just said these words yesterday: “Bowdoin is so small,” and she’s only a sophomore. She actually loves Bowdoin, including its size, and she loves the change in seasons, but the smallness is such a dominant theme that she’s already talking about wanting to live off-campus. In terms of academic rigor and quality of instruction, they are equivalent.