Pomona College

Oh Pomona: Let me count the ways!
I went here several years ago and I still miss it. Pomona love forever! I transferred here from a large well-​known university and immediately wished I had just started my college experience at Pomona in the first place. What an incredible time of life. I wish everyone could have the chance to spend a few years in this warm, supportive place, filled with such bright, curious, multi-​faceted people. Never had I felt so at home. At my previous school, students bragged that they «worked hard and played hard» which roughly translated to: We drink to pass out and hook up and then when we’re sober, we study to make money.
At Pomona, there wasn’t such a clear divide between play time and work time. We studied and then went dancing at the underground party for a break. We drank and discussed philosophy by the fountain. We played frisbee or bocce in the sunshine while arguing about economic policy. We marveled at the installation art shows and dug trenches at the organic farm. We were alone and together, but not us vs them (well, except for some loving snootiness towards CMC, which they gladly reciprocated). No Greek culture divide or all-​consuming focus on status or the dollar. People were, for the most part, united by their quirks, by their many different interests, by their passion for making the world a better place, by their openness to (or well-​argued disdain for) both clever and goofy pranks and traditions, by their love of honest and searching discourse about art and politics and music and philosophy and everything under the sun.
My only regret was that I didn’t take advantage of things like study abroad, or pursuing research with a professor, or the internship programs — but that was my own darn fault and I had plenty of friends who did. I was just having too much of a wonderful time with all my classes, activities, friends, and my job… so what am I complaining about anyway?
Every night, every day, there’s something, often many things, to do — and if you get claustrophobic, go wander around the rest of the 5 Cs for awhile. And LA isn’t far. If you’re like me and most people I knew, we loved our little bubble while we had it. City life will still be there when you’re 22…

I don’t actually go here so I’m giving a 3 to stay neutral. I have to say that it is a nice, pretty campus, but also quite big. The students seem to be nice enough when I was asking for directions and the like. The architecture here is quite amazing. A lot of the buildings look like mini castles. There’s some nice artwork here too. At Frary Hall there’s two artworks, Prometheus and Genesis. My sister said the inside of Frary Hall was like Hogwarts. I didn’t get to eat at Frary Hall though, even though I really wanted to. They only take cash and when I went to withdraw some the ATM was broken so I had to go somewhere else to eat. I also came during their Fall Break so a lot of places were closed. I did get to stay in the Mailing Room which is like a small study space. Skyspace is quite an experience as well. I can definitely see the appeal of coming here. It is a private school though so tuition is quite high.

Pretty nice university with character! I came here on a hot summer day for an outdoor wedding. Oh my… it gets really hot there during the summer. The campus is not as big if you compare it to other campuses in and around Southern California. I believe that this is a private college.
I have nothing to say about the programs, nor the staff because I don’t go there. All I could say is that this is a beautiful college that is well kept.
The security seemed very friendly as they patrolled during the evening. The landscape is lush and well kept too.
Keep up the good work!

One of my ‘to visit” places! Would love to be a student here

#380 It’s heard multiple times a day — «the Pomona bubble» — and it’s probably one of the best ways to describe the Pomona College education experience. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure if Unilocal is the best place to expound on every detail, but «the bubble» has a lot to offer. I received an incredibly generous financial aid package, while the staff on-​campus is ALWAYS ready to help their students. Facilities are constantly being updated and alums are adamant about donating enough money each year to make the renovations possible. The dining halls make a point of listening to students’ input and the dining hall team recently overtook all dining hall procedures, dumping the third-​party caterer. There is a wide variety of options — vegetarian, vegan, gluten-​free, kosher, etc — and I have yet to see a campus dining hall system as amazing as the Claremont Colleges’. There are many things that could be fixed about Pomona, but it is definitely miles ahead of many other institutions.

Nice school. Good environment

I think it’s a bit silly to review a college based on its tour guide services, isn’t it? After all, when we send our children to college, we’re not hoping they get a great tour experience. We’re hoping they get a great education – and Pomona gives you that.
I always tell applicants that you can’t underestimate a school’s endowment. Pomona’s is huge – and it uses it on its students. In the four years I spent at Pomona, nobody ever told me, «Sorry, we don’t have a budget for that,» or «Sorry, if you can’t pay for that, you can’t have it.» Pomona’s pretty easy: if you deserve something, if you earn it, if you make a good case for it, you get it. As an undergrad, I got grants to do thesis research overseas (woah, for a college student!), and when I was approved for a study abroad program, Pomona paid for the plane ticket (actually, they gave each of us a budget, and we got to pocket the change if we found a better deal). Yes, you’re probably thinking, «Foolish girl, all those nice things are factored into the cost of tuition.» Not so, I tell you! I have it on good authority that Pomona spends (or spent, when I was there) about $ 67,000 on each student each year, and even if you pay full price, you only pay something like $ 45,000. So no, all those nice things aren’t factored into the cost of tuition – the College eats it up as part of the cost of educating its students.
Next: Pomona’s the kind of place where people care about you. Yes, YOU! I developed close relationships with many of my professors (the kind of invite-​you-​over-​to-​their-​house, meet-​with-​you-​over-​dinner, help-​you-​find-​a-​summer-​apartment, hang-​out-​with-​you-​after-​you-​graduate relationships – like Tuesdays with Morrie relationships, minus the death). No TAs taught classes. My academic adviser would be chatting on the phone with some government bigwig one minute, and telling me to «not be such a nerd» in the next minute. When I walked around campus, I couldn’t help but say hi to at least one person every five minutes. This is the kind of academic utopia that you read about in Jo’s Boys (you know, the sequel to Alcott’s Little Women – okay, maybe you weren’t «such a nerd») and think doesn’t exist. But it does! At Pomona!
I’ll refrain from being repetitive about the food and academics and all that and just tell you to read the review of my good friend Vivian C., below. No, we don’t collaborate. No, we aren’t the only two freaks who love Pomona this much. Pomona is just that great.
But let me give you a few highlights:
— Food is good. And there’s snack every school night!
— You can take classes at the other five colleges. I even lived at another college one semester when we had a housing crunch. Cross-​registering is super painless – this is not just one of those things that admissions tells you about to make you come, this ia s REAL THING that people love to do.
— Ski/​beach day: hit the beach and ski on the same day. Seriously, can you ski/​beach at Bowdoin? What about Haverford? Carlton?! Yah, thought so.
— Claremont is super safe. And it’s not even that boring anymore! It’s got a big new expansion with a Coffee Bean AND a Starbucks and a 21 Choices (a local fave froyo shop) AND Cold Stone. Seriously, kids are spoiled these days.
— Weekly movies for a buck in the theater, I think. Maybe two bucks.
— Chicken tenders at the Coop. Amazing. And shakes. Omg shakes.
— And our mascot is a sagehen. And it was mentioned in Bring It On.
So if you have a problem with the architecture, or the tours, or some administrative mistake, I’m sorry. But for those of you who can look past the exterior (which is pretty darn awesome, actually – and the admissions office is also fantastic) and are interested in the best four years of your life, welcome to Pomona.

I can’t imagine the life I would have now or the person I would be had I not gone to Pomona College. I think it’s quite possible that the decision to go to Pomona was one of the best decisions of my life.
So. I love this school. With all my heart. This school, my time there, is forever ingrained into the fabric of my being.
What’s to love? Aite, here we goes:
+ First things first. The food’s pretty awesome. There’s 2 dining halls on Pomona’s campus, in addition to all the other dining halls at the 4 other colleges that are within walking distance, which you’re also free to swipe into and use. That’s a lot of food, and it’s good food too. Not to mention, 5 nights a week, one of the Pomona dining halls, Frary, opens at night for «Snack,» which is really just social time and another excuse to procrastinate with your friends.
+ The academics. To tell you the truth, I don’t remember many of the things that I actually learned (oops! my bad!), but I do remember feeling like my brain was growing and realizing that, damn, this is what it feels like to really THINK.
+ The resources. Astounding. You can form any club or group you want and get the funding to put on events or to do what you want. At a small school, this is all possible.
+ For me, two particular students groups/​resource center did for me something incredible: they politicized me, challenged me to learn and to reorganize how I understood social justice, taught me how to be a critical thinker in every way, and gave me friends who to this day continue to challenge and inspire me to try to be an activist. I discovered these groups by accident, but once I realized how good it was for me, I threw myself into it. You can always find your niche if you look for it, and you’ll really get as much out of it as you put in. So put in a lot of yourself.
+ The people. Damn. I could write several novels about the people at the school, but I won’t go into too much detail here. But to put it simply: Take some of the smartest, quirkiest, most interesting young people in the country; put them all in a little resort of a college in the middle of the desert; give them everything that a school can possibly give so that the students can just focus on their own lives; and let’s see what you get. The bottom line is: EVERYTHING is provided for you (the meals, the housing, etc.), which allows you all the free time in the world to throw yourself into exactly what you want to do, and to explore what you want to explore. That, in my opinion, was the school’s greatest gift. When you have the luxury to not worry about the many little things that people have to worry about in life (food, bills, rent, housekeeping, etc.), you have the freedom to love and grow, and to be entirely selfless and giving of yourself. And when you’re so giving of yourself and you open yourself that fully to other people, that favor is generally returned in the same beautiful way. That, I think, is why so many of the students there loved the school. It was about the people. And what we gained from each other.
That’s why I loved it there.
There’s a million other things that I could tell you, but you can read about that in all the silly brochures. Close relationships with professors (that’s true); the school runs like butter (yup, it’s pretty efficient, and it’s quite possible to become friends with administration; in fact, I still joke around and make fun of one of the deans whenever I see him); pretty campus (check!), great financial aid (no more loans now because all loans are now grants = SWEET!), and the myriad other things that they highlight in those catalogs. You can just read up on that yourself.
So maybe this review might seem a little cheesy or touchy-​feely, but I’m telling it like it is. I’m not saying that Pomona’s the school for everyone, and there are definitely people who aren’t happy there, but if it feels like the right fit for you after a visit or overnight stay, by all means, work your little ass off to get in (it’s pretty hard to get in nowadays), and maybe, hopefully, it’ll give you the same kind of experience it gave me.
Right now, I feel very much distanced from the culture there, and I am glad I’ve moved on, but I appreciate what this place did for me and what I contributed to and benefited from it.
Yes. It’s not cheesy if it’s true. And it was all true for me.

i’ve had various family members attend this college, and also work in administrative positons here so i probably know too much about this place. in any case, your kid will get a decent liberal arts education here. even tho the school has a liberal feel to it, the philosophical roots of this school are very conservative.

I took a group of students for a tour of Pomona College on Feb. 13, 2008.
We had booked a tour at 10:00. We were supposed to have two tour guides, but a third one joined us, as well. It was nice to hear different perspectives. The tour guides had been well trained, as they were able to anticipate questions, but also how to work with a large group. They tailored our tour to meet the wishes of our students. I appreciated that.
For lunch, most of the kids stopped at the Coop. This little café has coffee, smoothies, sandwiches, burgers, salads and other fried foods. The prices were incredibly cheap. I got a tuna sandwich and pasta salad for $ 4.25. The tuna salad was good, the bread was kinda dry. The pasta salad was ok, a little oily.
Beautiful campus. Check out the art gallery. They have a great staff and a beautiful exhitit.

What I Got From Pomona:
— A lot of financial assistance.
— A few wonderful friends.
— A few great professors.
— KSPC 88.7 FM
— The respect of my colleagues and professors in graduate school.
— A couple of seriously generous academic prizes.
— A fairly rigorous liberal arts education.
— Totally delicious milkshakes at the Coop.
What I Did Not Get From Pomona:
— Clout with potential employers.
— A nice town to live in.
— The chance to study abroad.
— A stimulating campus environment.
— A wide variety of interesting people to interact with.
This is one person’s experience. Hopefully others will post theirs. Draw your own conclusions.