Pomona vs. USC Trustee— thoughts?

JAlfredPrufrock
Sun, 15 Apr 2012 03:12:59 +0000

Thanks everyone for your comments, especially those with direct experience at both schools. I just got back from staying overnight both places, and I’ve pretty much decided on USC.

I’m sorry to say no to Pomona, as it really is a fantastic school. I went to two classes and they were amazing, great professors and great discussions. The campus is beautiful. Peter Olson, former CEO of Random House publishing, was on campus speaking and I went to the event— it was really interesting and inspiring. I think it really came down to personal fit for me. I had heard from many people that the best thing about Pomona is the people, so I guess I had sort of high expectations to really love the people I met… this didn’t really turn out to happen for me, as I didn’t really click with my host or very many of the people I met through him. I did hang out with some people that I really liked at the On The Loose (outdoors club) office . I borrowed someone’s bike and went through the other four campuses, which are reaaallyyy nice too, especially Scripps. I left Pomona feeling like I liked it a lot, but wasn’t not totally in love.

When I stepped onto the USC campus I just sort of had that “feeling.” I think maybe I’m just more of a big school person. USC feels so full of energy to me.

I went to three classes at USC: one had two professors for eight students, the other two had about ten to fifteen students. I just picked these randomly from the course selection because they sounded interesting. All three classes were super fascinating and engaging, just as good as the Pomona classes I went to were. I know that Pomona probably has a better academic reputation, but USC has a 9:1 student to faculty ratio, not so much worse that Pomona’s 7:1, and it has an excellent International Relations program which is what I think I’m interested in. I’m also turning down UChicago and Bowdoin, and I guess I was afraid that I would be sacrificing academic rigor, but the classes I went to at USC really convinced me that it will not be too much of a sacrifice.

I met some really fantastic people at USC. My host turned down Columbia. One girl was really really funny, she actually does stand-up I guess. She only visited USC initially because she wanted to visit Pomona and her parents said she couldn’t fly to California from Missouri and only visit one school. She ended up falling in love with USC.

The dorm where my host lives, Birnkrant, is only for scholarship students, and seems like a great community to live in freshmen year; everyone I talked to who lived there said they absolutely loved it, and people I talked to who didn’t lived there said they wished they could have. I put Birnkrant for my first three choices on the housing app (triple, double, single), and I applied pretty early so I think I should get it. I sort of like the fact that students move out of dorms after freshmen year, since I think it would be a good learning experience to actually rent a house or apartment and cook my own food; also, moving into a house with a bunch of friends while still in college just sounds fun to me. Personally, the fact that everyone lives in dorms and eats in the dining halls all four years at Pomona was a bit of a turn off, but I’m sure lots of people prefer this to the system at USC… it’s really all personal.

I felt like USC’s campus was just as beautiful as Pomona’s, just bigger and different. Just as many fountains, courtyards, beautiful trees and flowers, gorgeous architecture… I especially love the Mudd Hall of Philosophy.

As far as location, it seems awesome to me to be just three miles from the museums and restaurants and entertainment of downtown, while still in a very distinct and separate campus with lots of green space. I know there are safety issues, and the recent shooting is very scary and tragic. However, for what it’s worth, the students who died that night were well outside the perimeter that is patrolled by campus police. The area has always felt safe to me when I’ve been there, and kids I talked to said they feel extremely safe. Pomona’s location is very nice in a different way— it’s so close to the mountains, and a ways away from the city which I’m sure would be nice sometimes. Personally Claremont felt a bit sleepy to me, but that’s sort of nice in some ways.

As for the whole Greek scene, I talked to lots of people who weren’t a part of it that said it wasn’t dominating or necessary at all. If anything it seems like it would just add an extra option for having fun it that’s what you’re interested in, if not you don’t need to participate at all. I heard from some Pomona students that the party scene can get a bit repetitive and boring after a few years, but for some I’m sure it’s perfect! Again, to each his own.

I’m sure I could have been very happy at either school, and I don’t mean to knock Pomona in any way. I wrote this out as much to sort of reflect on my own thoughts as to inform anyone who was curious what my decision ending up being and how I came to it. Part of me is very sad to say goodbye to Pomona, and perhaps if I’d had a different host or things had gone differently during my visit I might have fallen in love with the school. In general, however, I think I simply realized that I prefer the energy and options of a larger school to the tight-knit, supporting community of a small school. And the money doesn’t hurt ;)

If anyone wants to post a rebuttal feel free haha, but I think you’ll have a hard time swaying me… I already bought a USC hoodie. Thanks again for the comments!