<p>Really?</p>
<h1>I read some of your past posts and you seem pretty immature. If you came across that way while talking to Pomona students it doesnt surprise me that you found them unsocial and aloof. </h1>
<p>creeper</p>
<p>“So it’s OK for ickes to post and solicit opinions after a short visit, but its not OK for wildhorse to do the same after researching some of ickes other posts!?”</p>
<p>ices posted to clarify a situation pertaining to her college selection process. That, IMO is what this discussion board exists for. Other people have constructively commented on her observations, and that also is what this discussion board exists for.</p>
<p>Near as I can tell, some other people have elected instead to attack ices an a personal basis. That, IMO is not what this discussion board exists for, and may violate the Terms of Service. Discussion should be focused on the characteristics of the colleges, and not the personal characteristics of the posters. IMO.</p>
<p>People do not come to collegeconfidential discussion board to figure out what ices is like. They may come here to help figure out what Pomona is like. Some of the posts on this thread have helped inform that, hopefully some of the others don’t also inform that.</p>
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<p>What do you mean by “why”? Even if everybody at Pomona was indeed “like this,” what kind of “why” is there? Accept that you didn’t like the vibe you got, and move on.</p>
<p>My apologies to the OP and anyone else I offended. I come from a rather gritty background and sometimes I too direct, in this case I should have been more tactful and less rude.
Over twenty years I have known several people who have gone or are currently attending the other four colleges and with the exception of one person everyone had a great experience. They are all very happy and successful in life. The one person whose experience was horrible wound up dropping out in her sophomore year and finally went to a state college to get her degree. The issue was not if the college was a good college, all the Claremont colleges are great colleges. The college was not a good fit for her because she was not a good fit for the college. Yes, she visited and loved the campus, the kids were great but in the end the big question should be, what this college offers. Looking back she does not fault the college, she faults herself for not looking past the surface niceties into the core of the matter. The happy ending is she went on to a fabulous graduate school, choosing just the right one.
If the OP is happy with what each college offers than decide on which you felt the most at home.
And yes I am proud that my daughter goes to Pomona, but not because it is Pomona but because I am proud of my daughter. Pomona is an institution and a means to an end, one which I have placed faith will assist her for four years of her life but she is the driver and any opportunities earned or lost will be owned by her alone.</p>
<p>Back to the original post. Pomona has 1500 students. In a one-day visit, it’s unlikely that a visitor would really meet many more than 15 current students, so that would be 1% of the whole. And if it seemed that everyone was a certain way, that’s probably not true - if around half of the 15 appeared a certain way, that would be sufficient to color one’s impression of the larger group. So it’s very easy for a student on a college visit to wind up making a decision on whether to apply to or attend a college based upon a very tiny percentage of a student population. </p>
<p>I’ve always said that college visits are of limited value. Here’s what a student is most likely to pick up from their visit:</p>
<p>I liked / didn’t like the architecture.
I liked / didn’t like the geographic setting.
My student tour guide was / wasn’t hot.
I did / didn’t see many people who looked like me.
I do / don’t like to dress in the most common mode of attire that I saw.
The weather was nice / the weather sucked.</p>
<p>That’s pretty much it. Certainly campus visits have their value, but they’re also fraught with shortcomings and pitfalls, and it’s good to consider that in advance.</p>
<p>With the original post in mind. It is your impression and it is valid. Every campus has a distinct culture. Once while visiting I noticed a T-shirt the students were selling that stereotyped the students at each college. Does anyone remember the wording?</p>
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<p>I’m a graduate of Pomona, and I can see how a high school visitor might think that the resident Sagehens are socially awkward/weird/introverted. They are also brilliant/interesting/talented. And passionate/funny/determined. The school has all kinds. I remember once talking to the Dean of Admissions about what types of students Pomona admitted, and he told me that they could fill their freshman class with ASB Presidents if they wanted to, but that would make Pomona a “boring” place. So they looked for interesting people who were academically capable.</p>
<p>I never met a single boring person the entire time I was at Pomona. Even the “nerds and geeks” were interesting. So were the former ASB presidents. And the Pre-Meds. And the music majors. And the Art History majors. And the Chemistry Majors. One of my friends was a math major who could be described as “so boring she was interesting”. Really! It used to fascinate me that somebody could get so much joy out of working differential equations. She was a true genius, and you don’t run into people like that very often.</p>
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Couldn’t agree more. Much more value is obtained from a long discussion with a current student, a former student, and people on this Board. Of even greater value is phoning the Dept. secretary and asking which Professor would be the best to help evaluate the fit between the applicant and the school, and flesh out the distinctive aspects of the school/Dept. </p>
<p>It seems to me a lot of high school seniors see college visiting as an extended, fun field trip on Mom and Dad’s dime.</p>
<p>wow! I haven’t been on CC for a while because I’ve been busy with school and activities and such, so I was pretty shocked to see this whole argument raging! (And yes, I realize that was a while ago, but I just saw it now, sooo…)
I just want to say:
- er, sorry for seeming immature in past posts… I don’t exactly try to be sophisticated while writing on a free online forum, haha. I didn’t think I’d offend anybody!
- Yes, i posted this question here-- as opposed to the Pomona subforum-- because that forum wasn’t very active, and I wanted more responses. I truly was not trying to be a ■■■■■.
- See, that’s exactly why I’m asking this question: I know I only saw a limited number of students, so I’m thinking maybe my impression wasn’t indicative of the student body as a whole. From what everyone’s been saying, I now doubt that my impression of Pomona was accurate… and I’ll probably end up applying there anyways. If only just to see if I can get in
I believe I’m going to end up applying to 4 claremont schools (probably)… and hopefully get accepted to at least one!</p>
<p>Plenty-</p>
<p>Pomona- The Ivy League called. They want their pretentiousness back.
CMC- We’ll do anything for a keg and an internship.
HMC- We know how to design a backseat, but not how to use it.
Pitzer- Why go to college when you can go to Pitzer?</p>
<p>I forget Scripps, but probably something to do with feminism. :P</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the t-shirt. I assumed it had to do with the Scooby Doo characters.</p>