Since there’s not a lot of posts about Pomona, and I know how hungry we were for info at this time last year with my D19 trying to decide where/if to apply ED, etc., I thought I’d post a follow-up on our thoughts about Pomona so far! With the sole exception of some frustration regarding a staff shortage at the student health center, her experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Everything–and I mean everything!–has been wonderful.
Her classes are all challenging and interesting without being overwhelming, and there are “mentor sessions” one can attend, led by older students who’ve taken the class, where it seems they gather and work on homework together as a group, ask for help when needed, etc. My D says there’s so much academic support readily available, that you’d actually have to work very hard to fail.
Socially, same concept–you’d have to work very hard to NOT make friends. Between the Orientation Adventure trip groups and the Sponsor Groups (plus affinity groups), it seems like students find their community very quickly. My D felt like she found her “people” easily, and has made solid friendships. I think the sponsor group system works really, really well. There is definitely an active party scene, but it also seems like there is plenty to do if you’re not into partying. And while there’s the usual hook-up scene, she’s also been surprised by the amount of actual “dating” going on.
As to the student body, she has been tremendously impressed by her fellow students, who all seem not only smart, but also interesting and involved and passionate and (mostly) extremely kind. There is always something fun to do–between going to the village (movie theater, great froyo and food, a Sunday farmer’s market), going hiking, to the beach, into L.A., to Disneyland–and it seems like the students do take advantage of the opportunities.
Oh, and lastly…the food! Between the 6 (or 7?) dining halls, my D and her friends say that the food is terrific. There’s an app that shows the menus for each dining hall for each meal, and my D reports that they really do take advantage of access to all.
Overall, we couldn’t be more pleased!