<p>what kind of grades, scores, etc do you need to get into pomona? i have high scores but my grades are just average..... i do go to a verrrry hard private school and there's no grade bump for ap/ honors classes. so i'm taking lots of ap's but i dont get that extra boost for them. do i have to have a 4.0 for pomona? i do have a pretty impressive list of extracurriculars. what do you guys think?</p>
<p>i wanna know too plz</p>
<p>Yeah, and me. You don't really have to have a 4.0, but their average SAT is high</p>
<p>anyone? plz help?</p>
<p>I had a 3.95 at a private school. I know people who got a C or two early in high school, and they got in. </p>
<p>Although Pomona has impressive numbers (high SAT scores), they are also willing to look beyond the numbers, I think. Since it's a small school they'll read your essays more carefully and really try to see what kind of person you are and what you could bring to the community. But, it IS very competitive, so great numbers would certainly not hurt. </p>
<p>Irene '03</p>
<p>I do think you need great numbers. They like an upward trend, great grades junior and senior year. I think they would overlook freshman year as long as it was upwards. They do want a challenging couse load. They have rejected a lot of 1500, all A students who did not take advantage of challenging courses at their HS. They also recalculate GPA. I think that they look for a certain personality, such as friendly, social but bright, nonassuming students. Just my gut from the students I have met.</p>
<p>yeah because what really brought my gpa down was freshman year.... it has been upward since then. hopefully that will help. i may be interviewing there this summer- any tips?</p>
<p>about the interview: i would just say to be yourself and be relaxed. the admissions officers are all pretty young and they are looking for "real" people. i would imagine that they have a very sensitive "b.s." meter, so if you are not being yourself, then they will know...</p>
<p>yes, the admissions officers are all young, not some hunchback old bags with extra thick glasses. the admissions staff is very personal and engaging, and i sort of feel like liberal arts colleges focus more on your general application and comprehensive colleges put a tad more focus on your stats. which isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, it just means that while stanford and yale are trying to produce engineers and chemists, pomona is trying to produce people who can excel in anything. they just want to see that you show potential; obviously, great stats don't hurt, but seriously don't underestimate the importance of your essays and recommendations. and i would agree with fairburn on the b.s. meter!</p>
<p>My S's interviewer said they really just want to make sure that their students are not just bookworms with no social skills. His was pretty informal and informative and was with a recent graduate.</p>
<p>here's how it was for me, not saying this is normal:
my freshman year grades were okay, but not pomona standards, i got a C in french 2, and i had an unweighted GPA of 3.57, but by application time i was able to pull that up to a 3.8, also my SAT score was average for them, but really really lopsided, and i took it twice, my scores on both the verbal and math sections didnt really change. my sat2 writing was not so good, 680. make sure to take the hardest classes, even though i only had a 3.8, because of all the weighted classes i took, my rank weighted was top 4%, where as unweighted, i was about top 20%.
but, i also took the time to fly out and stay overnight.
my interview: it was my first one and i had NO IDEA what to do, i wore shorts, sandals, and a short sleeve polo. but i think they got the point that i did more than just go to school, and i guess they care about more than just numbers because i didnt get into other schools that were at about the same level where i didnt interview. but its all good, pomona was my number one choice all along and it just made my choice easier. just make sure to let them know that.
good luck!</p>
<p>Yeah, don't stress too much. The essays and interview are key.
I had a 1360, and somehting like a 3.75 excluding freshman year (I don't think they count it really.) I felt like I had ZERO chances to get in because of this but i did.
I think my essay and interview is what did it. I didn't even prepare, just be yourself and don't try to impress. They do have a good BS detector. My ECs werent amazing but they helped too i guess. They want to see variety, not just 102120303 hours of volunteering. I think they can tell when people just do stuff to look good.</p>
<p>At the accepted students' reception in our area, Bruce Poch, Dean of Admission, specifically mentioned that some students with perfect SATs and 4.0 GPAs weren't accepted because all they did was study, and it showed in their applications. The message was that Pomona is looking for a diverse student population, so if you have something to contribute, no matter how insignificant you might think it is relative to other students, Pomona is interested. As with all schools, it's also interested in students who are truly interested in attending, not just trophy hunters.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>hey kosuke, i hope you don't mind me asking but what were your Sat I's? thanks i need some help seeing whether I even fall into range for Pomona.</p>
<p>Yeah I'm 80 points short of their average SAT score......................which is 1460 for math and reading</p>
<p>1st try: 670v/800m=1470
2nd try: 690v/800m=1490
writing: 680</p>
<p>Don't fret about the SAT score. Trust me.
I thought I had no chance because i had a 1360 and I almost put Pomona out of my mind because of it. Then one day a fat envolope came in the mail.
If you can improve it, go ahead; but apply anyways.</p>
<p>how were your SAT 2's?</p>
<p>Well. I got a 760 in Spanish, but i'm native. I got a 670 in writing and a 710 in Math IIC.
My scores were definitely above average for UCs but for Pomona they were way below and I got in. I mean... i'm not saying it dosen't matter, just don't give up hope and if SATs aren't your thing then talk about that. Focus on what matters to you most, most of the time when they see that they're impressed.</p>
<p>my SAT 2s were 800math2c, 750chemistry, 680writing. im not a URM.</p>