<p>The 13.6% acceptance rate is the lowest ever.</p>
<p>It really makes me wonder what made me more desirable than the other 86.4% of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>We’re the second most selective LAC (and only slightly behind Amherst)… :)</p>
<p>the middle 50% numbers are stunning…</p>
<p>SAT: CR: 700-790, M: 700-780, Wr: 700-790 or 2100-2360</p>
<p>ACT: 31-35</p>
<p>The ~25% Valedictorian figure is ludicrous, and it’s been like that for the past couple years.</p>
<p>I was pretty blown away when I looked at the stats…and not only are they amazing, but the admitted students are also pretty diverse. At least by my standards, which admittedly aren’t all that rigorous.</p>
<p>My D went to one of the most selective and rigorous high schools in the country. She says all the kids at Pomona are really, really smart - unlike in high school! Even better, they are funny and energetic and just a blast to be around. </p>
<p>And I agree: the stats are amazing. Look at the percentage of 800’s on SATs. And to have 35 be the 75% mark for ACT? There are only about 300 kids in the nation who do better than that!</p>
<p>Thanks for posting this!</p>
<p>wow I feel so blessed…the odds are not in any applicants favor…to be able to be accepted into the school that I’ve been obsessed with since I was 15 under those circumstances is really humbling!</p>
<p>OCsagehen, I’m just curious-do you think that having been/being so obsessed with Pomona will make you like it less when you actually get there?</p>
<p>naww…i’ve been on the campus like 8 times…i live close…and every time i sorta like it more…I mean already the excitement has sorta worn off just because the anticipation of the admission decision is gone…but I’m definitely sure its the right place for me.</p>
<p>I’m honored to have been accepted.</p>
<p>Sent from my SPH-D700 using CC App</p>
<p>i have mixed feelings when i read these stats-- and I DON’T mean this about Pomona in particular, but the whole college recruitment approach, about marketing how many students a college rejects. I’m glad my daughter is in such a selective school as Pomona, I’m very proud of that, she worked hard for that and I don’t take that away from her-- hence, the mixed feelings-- but the way the most selective colleges send out application invitations to so many more students than they’ll ever admit, making teenagers who get these invites feel like they’re actually wanted by these schools and not part of a mass mailing to get the application rate up so they can get the rejection rate up-- it’s a bit of a cruel hoax that our most progressive, liberal-minded, humanitarian-values promoting elite institutions are playing on teenagers.</p>
<p>This makes me a bit sad. Sorry to be such downer.</p>
<p>I couldn’t help commenting after reading some of the responses. My kid goes to CMC and they also have a ridiculous admission rate of around 13%. I know everyone feels good that our kids were admitted to these very selective schools, but this emphasis on SAT scores and GPA, in my view, is misplaced. In my many years running a company, I have noticed that the most successful people are rarely those with the highest test scores from the most selective institutions. Instead, they are the ones who are not only reasonably intelligent, but also have the best people skills. Your ability to lead and influence other people in a positive manner is by far the most important overall skill. I have seen brilliant people who I would never hire because of their inability to work with other people or function in a team setting. I wish schools would place at least an equal amount of emphasis on these more intangible qualities and stop obsessing on these other numbers, which are rarely predictive in separating the most successful from everyone else.</p>
<p>@ayz- They don’t do that to get acceptance rate down, they do that to make money off of applications. Pomona’s is $65 now I believe. Stanford’s is $90. Colleges are businesses. </p>
<p>@parent- The schools don’t place emphasis on SATs- that’s a myth. That’s why you see all these misled CCers post the same stats over and over again, and then they are disappointed when they are rejected. So many qualified applicants have similar applications- high GPA, high scores, lots of clubs. Bruce Poch (former Dean of Adm) wrote that there’s no statistical evidence that high test scores result in higher intellectual ability, so it isn’t emphasized in admissions. Obviously, when admissions is reviewing all those applications, it DOES come down to the more intangible qualities. (Look up the NPR section on Amherst admissions.) It’s not a coincidence that the more brilliant, interesting students also have fabulous scores, and not a coincidence that CMC also has high average test scores. People interpret the high test score averages at selective schools to mean that there is a direct correlation with SAT score and acceptance, when that isn’t necessarily true. Look at the Pomona “decision thread”- several 2300s waitlisted/rejected.</p>
<p>Those intangible qualities can’t be placed in an objective way, so it doesn’t show up on the admit profile (except for the sentence at the bottom). I like your subtle promotion of CMC, but Pomona also looks for different things in its admitted class- not only in leadership qualities, but also in art, music, languages, etc. Also remember that Pomona is different from CMC in that the goal is not to prepare students for a job and the “real world,” but to create an intellectual atmosphere and to educate. As to which atmosphere is better- that’s up for opinion.</p>
<p>@santeria-
I disagree with you in part. I agree they want the fees, and that college is, like so many not-for-profits, a business in function, but part of that business is creating the allure of the highest selectivity possible-- and so they want to pump up the application/rejection ratio. The proof is in so many of these schools touting with pride touting how many young people they’ve had to turn away.</p>