<p>Hi-
I'm a senior in highschool and I'm applying to Pomona ED for fall '07. My only visit to campus was this summer while school was out so I didn't get to talk to many students. I'd love to hear about how you like Pomona, etc. (basically the details that you don't hear on the campus tour).
Thanks!!
-Jami</p>
<p>ps. I'm hoping to major in neuroscience/cognitive science so anything you can tell me about that area would be helpful!!</p>
<p>Hi, Jami,</p>
<p>Welcome to CC! You may want to search past posts; I seem to recall neuroscience/cognitive science being mentioned.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks- sorry if this information is already out there... I just joined today and haven't had a chance to look through all the threads yet!</p>
<p>Hi Jami!</p>
<p>I'm a freshman at Pomona and am really, really loving it. Everyone here is great. I don't know too much detail about the neuro/cog sci program, although a friend of mine is in intro to cog sci and is really loving it. Let me know if you have any specific questions and good luck!</p>
<p>Pomona has a bomb study abroad program that's only for neuro majors at University College London. Neuroscience is a popular major among pre-med students because a lot of the requirements for the major overlap with the requirements for med school. Also, neuro seems like a cool major because you don't take all your classes under the same department. Well, i guess gnatcire can talk more about that...</p>
<p>As far as stuff they don't tell you on tours (well, I usually tell people on my tours, though), a lot of the literature you read about Pomona emphasizes that its close to LA. disneyland! knott's berry farm! beaches! chinatown! yay, right? pomona is in claremont, though, and while there is fun stuff to do in LA, socal traffic is absolute h*ll, gas prices are ridic, and the public transportation system is pretty bad. that being said, there's usually school sponsored trips to different places in socal that are free or reduced price. i've been to magic mountain for $10, old town pasadena for free, going to santa monica this weekend for free. other than that, claremont is pretty isolated and i definitely feel trapped inside the 'claremont bubble' sometimes. luckily pretty much everything on campus is free. and while it is a tiny city, many study abroad programs are in big cities (london, paris, berlin, etc.) so i guess spending the other 7 semesters in claremont isn't THAT bad.<br>
also, everybody seems to think that all pomona students are extremely laid back and easy-going. a lot of that depends on where you live freshman year -- at least on my floor i felt like a lot of people were under constant stress and always worried about school. yea, OVERALL i don't think pomona students are as competitive as some east coast schools, but there are exceptions.<br>
anyways, there's good and bad points for every school. while i sometimes wish i had gone to brown for the size, i'm sure if i went to brown i would sometimes wish i had gone to a smaller school. the best you can do for now is just leave your options open and prospy if you get accepted . take care!</p>
<p>thanks that's really helpful!
another question... I know Pomona talks a lot about the small classes and emphasis on discussion.. in reality how big are/were your freshman classes?</p>
<p>I was really impressed with how small my classes actually are. My ID is my smallest, with like 15, and my biggest is probably my philosophy class, which has maybe 28. I actually have a friend who is the only student in her class (she's a freshman). The professors are really engaging, and lectures are really interesting for the most part, but I do enjoy my discussion-based classes more, which, fortunately, there are a lot of at Pomona.</p>
<p>My ID class is six people, which coming form a HS where my smallest class was 28 is a big deal. The teachers here are simply amazing - I'm in elementary Japanese, and our teacher is probably one of the best teacher's I've ever had - and certainly the best language teacher (And I came from a HS with very good language programs)</p>
<p>The neuroscience and cognitive science programs are both going to be relocated to one of the two new buildings that are currently being constructed, which will be finished by the beginning of next semester. I know at least for the neuroscience department, it will come along with a bunch of new resources and equipment. Both majors have few complaints - Professor Burke in the cognitive science is one of the highest paid professors and Professor Weekes in neuroscience won the California Teacher of the Year award. As a neuro major, I think all the teachers are great and there are a good number of neuro courses available considering that we are a small liberal arts college. There is also plenty of opportunities to do research as well - this past summer (and for my senior thesis) I've gotten the chance to work with EEG and electrode nets!</p>
<p>Wow that sounds amazing! The London program for neuro majors is also very appealing since I'm sure that I want to study abroad in college. I'm almost done with my application so now it's time to proofread and then just wait until December!! <em>keeping my fingers crossed</em></p>