Getting into Pomona College, what do I need to do?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So I'm completely in love with Pomona College. I live in Washington State but i'll be visiting campus this summer.
I'm a HS Junior.
4.0 GPA (All A's) So far all the way.
I didn't do much my freshman and sophomore year but then kind of exploded this year.
-Hugh O' Brian Youth Alumni
-National Honor Society
-National Honor Society Program Director
-AVID Student
-Like 50 hours from 01/10 til' now at an Animal Shelter for community service.
-Part time job at Boys and Girls Club (I work with kids!? haha)
-Knowledge Bowl soph and junior year (plan on senior too)
-Key club soph. year</p>

<p>So my school is pretty dang small, like 150 kids, and we JUST got our first AP class this year (Enviromental Science) but I chose regular Chem. over it.
Hopefully we'll have AP English or Calc. next year...But here's my classes:
(I can't remember what all the classes were called but those are the core classes)
<strong><em>/</em></strong> indicates different semesters
Freshman Year:
AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination)
Band
English 9
Geometry
WA State History
Science 9
Spanish I</p>

<p>Sophmore Year:
AVID
Band/Web Design
English 10
Algebra II
World History
Biology/Advanced Biology
Spanish II</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AVID
Fit for Life
American Lit.
Pre-Calculus
U.S. History
Chemistry
Spanish III</p>

<p>Senior Year:
POSSIBILITY ONE:
Leadership (It's eating my AVID Class D:)
Current World Problems
Senior Seminar
Calculus (Maybe AP)
English (Maybe AP)
Physics/Anatomy
?/Psychology</p>

<p>OR POSSIBILITY TWO:
Leadership
CWP
SnrSm
Calc.
English
Physics
Anatomy/Psych</p>

<p>SAT Scores: Reading 670 Math 660 Writing 550
I'm taking the subject tests soon and i'll retake the SAT in fall cause my writing was horrid...
So, any thoughts?</p>

2

<p>ECs aren’t stunning, but still not too bad. I think admissions officers like to see deep connections with extracurricular activities. Aside from the National Honor Society, I just can’t see that. To make yourself stand out, those ECs probably need to improve (although I’d warn you to hear from others first - don’t take just my advice).</p>

<p>Your SAT scores put you in the bottom quartile of admitted Pomona students in 2008 according to About.com. That is, at least 75% of Pomona students received better scores than you on the SAT (see [Pomona</a> College Profile - SAT Scores and Admissions Data for Pomona College](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/collegeprofiles/p/Pomona_profile.htm]Pomona”>Pomona College: Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores)).</p>

<p>Your courseload seems reasonably challenging, and your grades look good. Describe your school - private or public, competitive or non-competitive?</p>

<p>So, to sum up:

  • Retake your SATs and see how they fit in with the stats on the About.com page I linked,
  • Keep up the good academic work
  • Improve your ECs (you possibly need closer connection to your ECs, for example president, secretary, etc. I’m not too familiar with the NHS - is this considered a ‘deep connection’ by others on CC?)</p>
3

<p>If you like Pomona you should also look at Pitzer and Scripps if you’re female.</p>

4

<p>My school is public, not that competitive I guess. Three other girls along with myself are tied for Rank 1. The thing is there aren’t many extra curriculars offered at my school. There are sports, which I fail at.
Key Club
Knowlege Bowl
Earth Club
Drama
and i’m pretty sure that’s IT. :frowning: I think i’m going to join up in Keyclub again and i’m not really a drama person. Too scared! I should have run for class ASB Dang!</p>

5

<p>Try and get each section on your SAT 700+ and apply ED.</p>

6

<p>That’s my basic plan so far, thank you!!!
Do you guys think a Job Shadow in the field of what i’m intending to major in would be a good step?</p>