(recent Hopkins alumni)
I’m just going to address some of the points you made. I come off quite pro-Hopkins here (which I generally am) but that’s more due to the points you’ve made than due to the schools themselves. You should do very well at both schools and there’s not really a wrong choice here. I am curious as to what you’re planning to study since you mention a few different departments here.
My comments:
Re Pomona
- Diversity
This is probably true, but Hopkins is also a relatively diverse place. The most recent freshman class has more Asian / Pacific Islander students than White students and the school itself is pretty balanced in terms of gender (51% female / 49% male). Students come from all walks of life with extremely diverse backgrounds, identities, and interests.
- intimate feel and culture with the student body and professors while having resources/research of the large school (Claremont consortium) This is probably true though I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Hopkins has a much wider breadth of resources and connections.
- small classes and priority for undergrads Pomona has a 8:1 faculty to undergrad ratio, Hopkins has a 10:1 ratio. The only "large" classes at Hopkins tend to be the lower level courses - most upper levels are quite small. Hopkins undergrads never compete with Grad students for seats - mixed grad/undergrad courses do exist, but they are coded under different sections and each section has a specific number of seats reserved such that undergrads only compete with other undergrads (for seats) and likewise for grad students. This also helps professors curve the course differently between undergrad and grad sections.
- very good location/vibes and laid back Pasedina is definitely a quieter, more laid back area than Baltimore, but Pomona is going to be a tough school. Don't think that you'll be hanging out on the beach all that much.
- strong academics in neuroscience, math etc Hopkins has among the best neuroscience and applied math programs in the world.
- High endowment per student I'm not sure how endowments work or are allocated, but keep in mind that having a large endowment per student doesn't necessarily mean that more money is being spent per student. That money could be used for research, programming, building development, etc.
Re Hopkins
1 More recognition everywhere
The Hopkins “name brand” is better recognized nationally and intentionally than Pomona (who only West coast people and select others will know). Speaking as a California native I hadn’t heard of Pomona until I started applying to colleges whereas Hopkins (at least the hospital) was pretty well known.
2 Stronger alumni network
Our alumni network is huge and extremely diverse. I don’t know how it compares to that of Pomona but I would guess ours is more generally useful since Hopkins is such a large school and grads tend to spread out (as opposed to Pomona where I imagine most grads stay in California).
- Location Baltimore is definitely an acquired taste and definitely very different from Pasedina. Baltimore is a big city with a lot of things to do and close to other big cities (1 hr from DC, 2 hrs from Philadelphia, and 4 hrs from New York City). There are also a lot of government jobs / government contractor jobs and research jobs in the area as well as great volunteer opportunities.
- Hopkins is a larger school with more opportunities Hopkins is a large university that is extremely focused on research. Undergraduates (from all disciplines) are strongly encouraged to work in research labs and some majors (like Biology and Neuroscience) have a research requirement as part of the curriculum. Professors are generally used to this environment and are open to taking on undergraduate research assistants and Hopkins as an institution is putting together programs to make research even more open and accessible. Beyond research, Hopkins is very close to the DC-metro area which means there are a lot of job and internship opportunities at places like NASA, the NIH, senators offices, government contractors, think tanks, etc. Hopkins is also very close to New York City and Philadelphia and is relatively close to a major train station and airport. Furthermore, Baltimore is a great city for volunteer opportunities and activism and there are several student groups that will allow you to get involved in local volunteering, activism, etc.
- Hopkins faculty is more qualified? I'm not sure if this is entirely true from an teaching standpoint. However, Hopkisn faculty are some of the best researchers in the world. You will be learning whatever it is you choose to learn from the people who made major discoveries in that field.
- Cut-throat? Hopkins is not cut-throat. It is certainly competitive, but students are extremely collaborative and work under a "we're all in this together" mentality.
- Natural Language Processing center Yes, Hopkins has arguably the best programs for Artificial Intelligence and NLP. Our CS faculty include Jared Eisner and Phillip Kohen who are both leaders in the field of NLP and Machine Translation. If that's the kind of field you want to go into, Hopkins is a great place to be - especially if you want to do research / go to grad school for NLP related things.
- Center for Leadership Education Yes, Hopkins has a Center for Leadership Education which houses programs in Entrepreneurship and Management, Business, Finance, etc. I've only ever heard good things about this program.