<p>I'm currently a student at Cornell University and am looking to transfer to Pomona. So far Pomona seems to answer all of my problems I have with Cornell, primarily the people. However, the one question I have is the party scene at Pomona. I am not a "bro" by any stretch of the imagination and thus the greek scene at CU literally makes me nauseous. As true New Yorker, grew up in SoHo, I do enjoy my fair share, if not more than my fair share, of debauched weekend revelry. </p>
<p>I keep hearing about these school sanctioned parties but thats the extent of it. Can someone shed some light on this side of Pomona? Do people go to house parties (I'm assuming there are no bars)? Basically I am looking for a school where I can have great intellectual and personal conversations monday through thursday and then kick back and go crazy friday and saturday with the same people. Am I looking in the right place?</p>
<p>I've got a friend that goes to Pomona, and since you have all the other claremont schools there's always a party to go to. However, we too are new yorkers and he said house parties are pretty nonexistent, they are usually dance parties. But whatever, he says they're still fun, only a slight lack in variety. I love house parties and Id miss them, but I'm sure I'd be content</p>
<p>There are relatively few house parties at Pomona because most students live on campus. But virtually every weekend there is at least one party at one of the Claremont schools. Also, students have parties in their dorms rooms fairly often. I think there are a few bars in Claremont Village but I have no idea if students ever go to them.</p>
<p>Also, I'm a transfer student so if you wanted more info about the transfer process or anything like that send me a message.</p>
<p>There are parties, lots of them, at least one every Thurs-Sat. However, it's really easy to be completely removed from the party scene. As someone who isn't a big partier, I never have had trouble finding something else interesting to do with my time, and as long as you don't hang around CMC too long the "bro" scene is easily avoided. So I would say, yes, Pomona/The Claremot Colleges do offer somewhere you "can have great intellectual and personal conversations monday through thursday and then kick back and go crazy friday and saturday with the same people."</p>
<p>There are definitely parties, and remember, at Pomona you have easy access to the other four colleges. That amounts to 5,000 students in total. There is always something going on.</p>
<p>You should know however that Pomona is not the kind of place where students study hard between Monday and Thursday then blow it out on Friday and Saturday. First, students consistently work very hard. Normally they study 5-6 hours a day. And the vast majority of students study on weekends, including Friday and Saturday. The courses are very challenging and there is a student culture of working very hard. So you may need to adjust your party patterns a bit. It is more likely at Pomona that students will go out Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but in a mild way that doesn't interfere with their work schedules. There is more of an integration of work and play than you would find at Cornell.</p>
<p>Don't entirely agree with midatl_dd. Some people rage it on the weekends. I know athletes who do. Go hard in classes and practices during the week. Games to kick off the weekend and then the partying commences. Especially at CMC.</p>
<p>Most people I know do a lot more studying than playing on weekdays and go out Fri/Sat. Sunday is definitely quiet time though.</p>
<p>There definitely is the studious culture; everyone puts in their studying time (consistently) and it's awesome! </p>
<p>What do you call a nerd in 10 years?
Your boss.</p>
<p>yeah, while Midatl_dd definitely voices some opinions that reflect the culture of studying at Pomona, if you want to tear it up friday/saturday it's definitely possible. In fact, i'm just returning from Pomona and then CMC, where there were both parties going on.... on a thursday. whichever lifestyle you're looking for we've got it.</p>
<p>Yep, there are definitely people who drink religiously every Wednesday through Saturday. The school-sponsored events do get a bit monotonous - multiple "dance parties" every weekend in this sort of underground club called Dom's - but you can find different stuff at other 5 C's. You just have to be the type of person who's comfortable taking a few friends and wandering around/meeting new people, because there isn't always enough going on strictly at Pomona.</p>
<p>Cornell: Small liberal city imprisoned by trees. Fresh air.
Pomona: Conservative right wing city close to big liberal city. Unbreathable air.
v
I knew someone who went to Cornell's Summer College and loved it but didn't even apply there because she was afraid she would become bored in Ithaca. The trees are rather overwhelming and I normally love trees.</p>
<p>Pomona is in the smoggiest area of Southern California. However, it is withing driving distance of places with fresher air. There is minimal humidy in So Call - unlike upper state New York.</p>
<p>At Cornell, you have a really great Congressman. Ithaca may be the most liberal city in the NE. At Pomona, you have David Drier, one of the crazy pro-war guys. I think it's over the San Bernardino line and that means you are in the redneck county where all the extremists in the state live. However, you could drive up to Big Bear or Wrightwood to go skiing.</p>
<p>If you are into the kind of career that requires a good city for film, Pomona is significantly closer to L.A. than Cornell is to NYC. </p>
<p>The profs at Cornell are really great, but there are a lot of TAs. You won't find the TAs at Pomona.</p>
<p>You are a little further from the closest nuclear power plant at Pomona. It's San Onofre, about an hour away, one of the only two nuclear plants in CA. The plants above you, at Rockchester, are among the worst leaking reactors in the country. The NE is a nuclear power keg ready to blow. Something to think about with respect to the NE. Contrary to the hype, the ones in the NE have very dangerous construction.</p>
<p>Also, the best party school in CA is SDSU. They just arrested some phenomenal number of students for selling drugs, so they are watching that campus, but their parties are famous.</p>
<p>rpo272, be assured that contrary to what funfun said, Pomona can definitely be considered liberal. Nearly all the Pomona students voted for Barack Obama. Also, nearly all dorms have "We support queer rights." signs.</p>
<p>funfun said the town of Claremont, not the college, was conservative, based on the fact that it's in Dreier's district. I don't know whether that's true of the town (it's a small part of the district) but the college is quite liberal.</p>
<p>It's the area that is ultra conservative. I was just checking the county maps and Claremont is right next to the border of San Bernardino County. Upland and Montclair, right next to Claremont, are in San Bernardino County. San Bernardino County is considered the most racist county in California. Orange County has the reputation for being conservative, but San Bernardino has the reputation for being racist and conservative. In certain cities in San Bernardino County, liberals often take off their bumper stickers so as not to have their cars attacked. An example is the case of Kevin Cooper, a black guy who appears to have been framed for a white murder. The officers were caught trying to frame him but the jury didn't find out and later joined Cooper in his appeal for a stay of execution. Jurors don't usually do that. However, outside the courthouse, perhaps 10 to 15 minutes from Pomona College, the KKK was having mock executions of black dolls - during the trial. </p>
<p>Right wing Congressman David Drier used to be a trustee at Claremont McKenna.. There are liberals in Claremont. They are pretty laid back and let the conservatives run things. The nearest liberal representative was about 30 miles away in East L.A. Solis just got appointed to Obama's cabinet and I don't know who is replacing her.</p>
<p>Pomona, Pizer and Scripps are supposed to be the three liberal colleges in the group and Harvey Mudd and Claremont McKenna are supposed to be the two conservative colleges. A friend of mine ranked the five colleges in terms of leftist liberal to right wing conservative: Pizer, Pomona and Scripps, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd. Pitzer's reputation is what Berkeley's supposedly was in the 60s.</p>
<p>Don't let anyone tell you the smog isn't that bad. The alerts often tell everyone to stay indoors and studies have established that long term exposure can cause permanent lung damage. During the school year, there are more days when the AQMD tells everyone to be cautious than when the air quality is good enough to exercise outside. If you exercise indoors or are a bookwork, you will probably be alright with the air conditioning. L.A. has great air quality compared to Claremont.</p>
<p>I looked at a map and it is right at the edge of L.A. County - next to SB. The mentality of the residents in Claremont is much closer to that of the SB County people than that of L.A. residents. </p>
<p>However, the school is supposed to be liberal.</p>
<p>Contrast that with USC, which is a conservative school in a liberal district. USC is in a section of L.A. where the residents vote 90% Democrat but, according to the tour guide, the most liberal public personality to speak at USC was Ron Paul.</p>
<p>A great deal of what you're saying is based on hearsay, unverifiable, or just wrong. As a current student, I can tell you that we've had two days all year long when athletics were halted for air quality, and one of those was because of the wildfires. I don't know where you're getting your information from, but it's certainly not from anyone who's spent time here. I'm quite an active person, and the air quality is demonstrably fine.
In terms of political culture, the town of Claremont had a fair amount of supporters from both sides of the aisle who were active around the election, with competing tables being set up during the weekly farmers market. The town as a whole is not all that active politically though, and considering that most students spent little to no time in it, it matters very little. This is even more true with regards to SB county, where students rarely explore or hang out. In terms of the campuses, Pitzer is more liberal, to be sure, though Pomona's quite liberal. Claremont McKenna is a pretty balanced campus, which makes it slightly more conservative than the collegiate norm, but calling it right wing would be quite unfair. Harvey Mudd students tend not to play such an active role in politics, and calling them the most conservative campus is a huge stretch.</p>