Hey there! I’m a prospective undergrad, wondering if any new acceptees or anyone with any information could give me some insight as to how my stats pair up to Pomona college. Do I have a chance? please comment your thoughts!!
My School: Private Catholic High School
GPA: Note, a serious upward trend. Went from 3.8 student to 4.6 (both weighted). unweighted is 3.8 (cumulative).
Course Schedule: several honors course and reached the AP cap at my school each year. Received all A’s in Junior year
Several Honors English courses and a few Honors Science. I’ve gone up through Calculus in Math, completed all core science classes (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) and have gone through foreign language level 3 (Spanish).
APs have included (so far):
WHAP (5), APUSH, AP Psychology, AP Macroeconomics
Senior year Schedule:
AP Literature, AP English Language, AP Environmental Science, AP US government, Religions of the West, Philosophy, and Drama III
Extracurricular:
Drama (treasurer), we put on 3-5 productions a year (2-3 main stage). Several lead and supporting roles. Many long hours of dedication (reason for lower grades in freshmen year, until i learned time management). Multiple awards in dramatic festivals and regional competitions
Model United Nations (President). We attend regional conferences and have done well. Research intensive.
Environmental Club (Co-President). Founding member of club. Developed to raise environmental awareness. We embark on many different service projects (ex. beach cleanup).
Cross-Country (JV & Varsity)
Awards & Honors:
California representative at the American Legion’s Boy’s State Program
California Scholarship Federation (Seal-bearer)
National Honor’s Society
Other Factors
Teacher Recommendations: Off the Charts
Underrepresented minority: Check (Hispanic)
Haven’t done the SATs yet, expecting 700+ in Reading and hopefully above 600 in Mathematics
ACT was only a 28 (and 11/12 on the writing). I believe i can raise it to upwards of 30.
When I enroll in college, I expect to be a Humanities/ Social Sciences Major (Probably History, Political Science and/or Theatre)
You definitely seem to have a good chance. My only recommendations would be to raise that ACT score (2021 admitted class had an ACT range of 31-34) and to schedule an interview on the Pomona website before December. The interview, in my opinion, is an excellent supplement to your application and definitely gave me a leg up in admissions.
Thanks so much @ramennoobles I really appreciate the feedback. I’ll definitely sign up for an early interview. On that note, do you think there is a real advantage to ED applications at Pomona?
I honestly can’t say for certain. The ED admitted students I know are exceptional in more ways than one, but also same with the RD students. I think that people who apply to Pomona are already a self selecting group of people (not anyone just applies to Pomona, especially because it’s not as widely known outside of academia) and that is definitely amplified with the ED round which is known for being self-selecting amongst all colleges. This means that it definitely isn’t easy to get in ED, but it’s not harder either (look at acceptance rates for ED students). I remain pretty strong in my personal opinion that ED doesn’t give you an advantage, but I could be wrong. I think that if you have a strong application in either round, you have a chance of getting in. Don’t focus too much on ED rates.
That being said, if you’re sure Pomona is right for you then totally consider applying ED regardless. I wish I did and saved myself hundreds of dollars on other apps.
You’re male. So you will have an easier chance than female at this and other top LACs. If you are URM or first gen you’ll have an even better chance of admission.
Hi @Theatreguy999 , you sound like a great fit for Pomona. If if is your first love, then your chances of admission will be substantially improved if you do apply ED1. You can look at other threads on College Confidential. Your have between a two and three times better chance of being accepted ED1 versus regular decision. It does help if you are male and Hispanic, and do go for an in-person interview. But, Pomona’s RD rate was less than 8 % this past year. (Here is a thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20119751#Comment_20119751 ).
You will need to improve your ACT test scores or score in the mid to high 700s (per section) for the SATs.
Pomona’s Freshman classes have seen their average test scores rising. It is worth it to study hard for those tests and do well. Based on your interests in and out of the classroom, I just think you would be a great addition to Pomona and Pomona would be enhancing to you personally and academically. Best of luck!
Pomona considers talent as a very important factor in its admissions decisions. You might want to begin assembling a theater supplement for your application (it includes a couple of videos), and contact the Pomona CC coach if you plan on running in college. Regarding interviews, I understand that Pomona has decided to shift them to being informational instead of evaluative and focus them mostly on those who aren’t able to visit the campus.
:-c