<p>What's the scoop for freshman housing at Pomona?</p>
<p>Do any freshman have singles? </p>
<p>What are the dorms like? What's the roommate match process?</p>
<p>Any insight welcome!</p>
<p>I visited Pomona and also have a brother that attends Pomona who’s a sophomore now. From what I learned, there are singles for freshman but most are put in doubles. The way you are paired is that you fill out a very thorough questionnaire (after you’re accepted) about you (like when you usually go to bed, prefer loud or quiet, music preference, etc.). Based on this, they will pair you with a roommate. I believe if your personality doesn’t closely resemble anyone else you’re put in a single. The dorms pretty nice. I saw quite a few and they are decent in size; there are some very spacious doubles and few that can seem a little crammed. </p>
<p>If you request a single on the housing form, you are very likely to obtain one as a freshman. It’s perfectly okay to be candid and assert that you do not wish to have a roommate. Some hold back and aren’t straightforward, even when they have a strong desire for a single, due to some timorous notion that whoever reads the form may glean trivial or mistaken insights into one’s degree of sociability. It’s simply a matter of stating a preference. You will find that most students past the first year prefer singles, when the typical freshmen insecurities of needing an “automatic friend” or “immediate social group” right off the bat from one’s roommate acquaintanceship(s) takes far less precedence. </p>
<p>Even so, if placed into a single, dorm-based friendships are pretty typical at Pomona given freshmen are placed into “sponsor groups,” where 12-20 freshmen are placed into the same hallway, matched by some level of compatibility as ascertained from the housing forms. </p>
<p>At Pomona, applying to substance-free housing (i.e., can’t store or use alcohol or controlled substances in your room) will assist in securing a single. Only 15% or so apply for substance-free in my estimation, but it presents an easier path to procuring a single room. This is especially true for sophomore year, as many upcoming sophomores who aren’t under that particular contractual obligation will be shutout of singles given they aren’t eligible to be placed into rooms designated for sub-free. These rooms are mostly singles with some doubles mixed in, as well. If sub-free isn’t your thing, then I certainly wouldn’t advise going that route for the mere sake of more easily obtaining placement into a single, as the penalties for noncompliance can be rather severe.</p>
<p>Note that past freshman year, you individually choose your room as part of a number-lottery selection process. That is, all rising seniors are numbered 1-350 (or however many there happen to be), rising juniors 351-725, etc. Practically all upcoming seniors and most/nearly all juniors should have the opportunity to select themselves into singles if they choose to do so.</p>
<p>Hi. Thanks for the information! </p>
<p>I’m a Pomona first-year, and from what I know what mifune said is correct.</p>
<p>They’re are four first-year dorms: Wig, Harwood., Lyon, and Mudd-Blaisdell. None are bad, but they each have advantages/disadvantages. Lyon has the largest rooms but is less aesthetically pleasing, for instance, and Harwood is gorgeous/recently renovated but doesn’t have air conditioning.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen of the upperclassmen dorms, they’re even better. Sontag/Pomona, the newest dorms, look like a hotel inside, and I hear the suite style they provide is really nice.</p>
I am a Harvey Mudd student, but from what I have seen, Pomona first-year dorms are pretty nice. (Definitely nicer than new dorms. And I am jealous at how common it is for a first-year to get a single.) I am pretty sure they have air conditioning, but apparently some of the upperclassmen dorms (like the Clarks) do not. There is also a very nice dining hall right next to the first-year dorms. One complaint I have heard about Pomona housing is that first-years are somewhat isolated on the south side of campus, whereas the upperclassman housing is closer to the other colleges. Maybe I am biased because we have mixed-class housing at Harvey Mudd and I sort of prefer that.