<p>so far, i've had nothing but negative experiences in communicating with pomona. last spring when i visited the campus my tour and info session were wonderful, but the people in the admissions office were curt and unhelpful. every time i've called the office since then, i've either gotten someone who can't even speak english, tells me to call back later, or basically hangs up on me. when i submitted my request for an alumni interview in late november, i received a postcard nearly three weeks later saying "our deadline has passed". and now there's all this stuff about missing application parts, etc...</p>
<p>this whole experience has given me a less-than-perfect view of pomona, sadly. is this the way the whole school runs? has anyone had particularly successful communications with the admissions office/school in general?</p>
<p>It is an extremely busy time right now in admissions and I am sorrry you had that experience. My son never even heard 1 word from admissions until he was accepted and since then has had nothing but raving reviews for every person he has interacted with in every department(he is now a junior). You are treated like a queen/king once in but admissions has so many applications and calls that they do not sound like they are able to represent the true flavor of the college. Don't give up on Pomona. It offers an amazing college experience!</p>
<p>I concur with arizonamom. D ('09) didn't hear anything from Admissions until her acceptance letter and even had to call them to confirm that they had received everything. Two ED stages and then RD, on top of high school visits, keep the Admissions staff busy throughout the school year. Once app review time arrives, staff members have to literally sequester themselves to ensure that every applicant receive quality time. That's the trade-off for the holistic approach to admissions, and I'm sorry you've been particularly affected by it. Pomona is a wonderful school, and I hope that, if you are accepted, you'll revisit with an open mind.</p>
<p>aot2007--My daughter's experience with Pomona has been pretty much the same as yours. When she had questions, her emails and phone calls were never returned. The person in admissions she would get every time she called could barely understand her. The interview fell through because we received the information we needed too late. And now, we get an e-mail telling her that her application is missing everything but the kitchen sink. Really odd, since all of her other schools have all the required components, which were sent weeks and, in some cases, months ago. ... So, at this point, we'll probably never experience the royal treatment some kids get upon acceptance, because I'm not sure we want to start re-submitting everything, putting extra work on the school GC, etc. ... I'm in Kentucky now, but I grew up near the Claremont Colleges, so I know what an amazing school Pomona is. Which is why this experience has been so sad and frustrating.</p>
<p>^^^exactly. I don't doubt that Pomona is a fantastic school, hence why I applied, but I'm just extremely fed up with the whole process. I understand that it's a busy time, but my other 8 schools, most of whom receive thousands more applications than Pomona, have all been extremely efficient, helpful, and respectful... and as any stressed applicant will testify, this kind of treatment only bodes well. I'm definitely still considering Pomona but let's just say that the whole application experience has not ameliorated my opinion of the school.</p>
<p>We're just leaving it in the hands of Pomona. Either they'll get their act together and find my daughter's application materials--which I know they've got ... somewhere--or they won't. You're right aot2007. It's stressful enough just going through the application process, but bad or nonexistent communication on the part of a college and the loss of submitted materials makes it so much worse. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Wow, I'm glad that someone else felt the same way I did. The kids working in the admissions office kept spinning around in their chairs, and I had to nearly slam my hand down on their desks to get their attention when I needed to ask a question. I was also extremely disappointed with our tour guide and informational session (our original guide overslept and so we had to deal with a new one who would run us into dorms, say, "This is our dorm," and usher us back out. Afterwards I felt that the information session didn't answer any of my questions. I came to Pomona looking for it to be my first choice... but left without caring if I got in or not.</p>
<p>I know that my experience probably was not reflective of the Pomona experience in general, but it was so upsetting!</p>
<p>I have heard complaints before about Pomona's admission's office, so you guys aren't the only ones. We were lucky, I guess. We didn't have any problems. We found the people we met, especially the kids, to be very helpful throughout the whole process. </p>
<p>When my D ( a few moons ago) applied to Amherst, they lost her SAT scores. It is very upsetting to be waiting for results, get a piece of mail thinking it might be something good, only to hear they have missing pieces! Eventually they found them, ...right after we had paid to have another bunch sent.
Yale sent her a card saying they never received one of her recommendations. They sent us a note stating this, and so my D asked the teacher to re-send. She did so, and we thought all was well. Two weeks later, they sent another notice that they still hadn't received it, and sent the school one as well. This time the teacher faxed her recommendation with a handwritten note in red:
"This is the third time I have sent this recommendation, and if you don't take this student, you will be making a HUGE mistake!" My daughter believes she got in primarily because of this teacher's "threats." :)</p>
<p>I think a lot of colleges are overwhelmed at this time of year. Many students and families base a lot of their impressions on the treatment they receive from the admissions offices, understandably. Sometimes they blow it. At least it helps you narrow down your choices!</p>
<p>A.S.A.P.--I understand what you're saying. We've had minor glitches with other colleges--one thing or another missing. The problem with Pomona is, they act like we've sent them basically nothing. They're missing almost everything!!! They seem to have received the common app, but not the supplement, nor the mid-term grades, nor the counselor's report, nor the signature page, etc., etc. It's scary. For a top class academic institution, which I know it is, this is pretty pathetic.</p>
<p>I think Pomona is suffering from a surge in its popularity and the number of applications they are receiving over the past few years has skyrocketed from what I'm told and to the point they are a bit overwhelmed. It has always been a sort of "under the radar" type of school. My son, who is a student there still gets a great deal of "Huh, where do you go, Cal Poly Pomona?".</p>
<p>To this end, there is still a little bit too much "mom and pop" to how they handle things. That lower key personal touch becomes great once you're there, but your frustrations are not surprising or unusual in this instance. </p>
<p>And I don't think though that this is unique to Pomona. My daughter is presently going through the admissions process (other than Pomona) and several other schools have lost, misplaced, can't account for any number of things.</p>
<p>If you've not done so, my best suggestion is to look at their admissions personnel listings, get ahold of someone there that is on staff (not a student-no offense to them) and politely explain your situation. Also, if you have any contact person there all the better (My son was being recruited to play a sport, so we hit a glich or two in the admissions process, but just contacted the coach). </p>
<p>Don't give up. I think a shot at Pomona is worth a little extra effort despite whatever frustration you are feeling (and rightfully so).</p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestions, bullwinkle. My daughter and I have tried to find the name of Pomona's admissions officer who covers Kentucky, but have been unable to. It seems to be a carefully guarded secret! But I know you are right--Pomona is a wonderful school and worth some extra effort. We'll try again. ... As for anyone confusing Pomona with Cal Poly Pomona--Ahhhhh! I attended Cal Poly for a year way back in the day, before transferring. It's a nice enough school, but, uh, in a different universe than Pomona!</p>
<p>I'm afraid that I must concur with many of these negative experiences. And I'm highly suspicious of the argument that it's because of a surge in applications as I think my D's other schools claim the same thing. I would add our first, largely negative impressions of Pomona - the conceited tour guide and the jewel of the 5C's attitude - have only been strengthened now that I hear that other's are having app issues.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Pomona, and incredibly happy with every aspect of her experience there---now. Fortunately, she was not deterred from matriculating by the chilly information session or a poor student tour guide. Every experience after that lackluster summer day was good, including a well organized overnight stay, personalized classroom visitations, letters from professors, and the admissions officer who remembered details of her application. The Pomona students she stayed with were more attentive and engaged than students at any of the other schools she visited. We continue to marvel how easily she could have written Pomona off during those early days, based on that first not so great experience with the admissions office.</p>
<p>Zannerina--Thanks for the wonderful note on your daughter's experience so far at Pomona. Hopefully, things will work out for my daughter, as well--if they EVER find the parts of the application which we submitted weeks/months ago, and they now tell us have not been received!</p>
<p>We haven't heard anything from Pomona, whether documents are received or are missing, but perhaps that is because son's application is for RD. Could you clarify for me?</p>
<p>My daughter is RD and she got an email from admissions on 2/7 with the instructions on how to check it automatically with this "self service" system.
You have to have a number assigned to you by admissions to use it.</p>
<p>Not sure I trust it, but all she is showing on the list is her 7th semesters transcript. She emailed another Claremont today that she is applying to and they have her mid-year report and 7th semester transcript (that would have been sent at the same time as Pomona).
So we are hoping that now that ED is over, they can start filing the RD stuff.
I know they wanted you to put on the outside of any correspondance if it was EDI, EDII or RD.</p>
<p>While the admissions office stuff is too bad, I must point out that the tour guides aren't a great approximation of the student body. Don't read too far into tour guides to gauge the students.</p>
<p>swkmom--If you're lucky, it may mean that they have everything they need. My daughter applied RD, submitted everything weeks/months ago, and they say she's missing four or five major things, including her supplement. Ahhhhh!</p>
<p>kcpdmp--We have not yet received a number from admissions on how to check her application status on-line. Ahhhhh!</p>