Perspectives of a Freshman

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pomona College
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<p>I'm a current freshman at Pomona College and would love to answer any questions you have about the school. My perspective may be different from others because I'm a low income, first generation minority student, but I think it may be important at a school as tiny as Pomona.</p>

<p>We don't really have stereotypes here. There's such a wide variety of people here, who beyond being incredibly smart aren't similar anyway else. That being said, there are definitely racial and class struggles that play out just as they would everywhere else. When you read reviews online, these distinctions aren't as apparent, and you are not really able to distinguish how a school functions for a subset of its population.</p>

<p>However, do take my perspectives with a grain of salt. Pomona is all about the fit, and that fit extends to independent identity more than anything else. I encourage other current students to defy, support, and ultimately give dimension to my own perspectives.</p>

2

<p>Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to answer questions. I’ve got 2 that I was hoping you could answer. </p>

<p>1) What’s an average day at Pomona like for you?</p>

<p>2) Do you know anything about the Science, Technology, and Society major? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

3

<p>1) I think you can make your day as routine or as spontaneous as you want it. For me personally, it’s a little bit of both. I have a set schedule from 8 AM to 4 PM, Monday to Friday, with breakfast, classes, lunch, and work. I usually have dinner right after at 5. After 5 is when things get interesting. There is always something going on campus either at Pomona or the 5C’s, so I usually try to go to about 2 or 3 events a week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Linear Algebra mentoring sessions. Some of the extra time is used for homework, a trip to the village with friends, in all honesty, it’s pretty spontaneous.</p>

<p>Saturday is when I try to head out of Claremont with a free trip sponsored by the Draper Center or with the Union Link to LA. Otherwise, there is always a huge Saturday event going on that I go to.</p>

<p>Sunday is the get my act together day. I finish my work, go to both a learning community and mentoring session for Linear Algebra, do laundry, clean my room, and prepare my backpack. Usually there is some event happening on Sunday as well so I try to go if I can. </p>

<p>Snack is from 10:30-11:30 PM Sunday-Wednesday. I usually go every time since free snacks can’t be beaten.</p>

<p>I’ve never felt bored with my schedule honesty…I’ve actually felt a little overwhelmed. Academics consume a lot of time and there are so many events going on that a really hard part of the Pomona experience is striking a balance between both. I usually go to bed at 2 or 3 in the morning and get up at 7 or 8.</p>

<p>2) The STS major is a shared interdisciplinary major among Scripps, Pitzer, and Pomona. Harvey Mudders usually don’t take it because their curriculum as a whole is designed as an STS major (a core of science/engineering classes with humanity courses). There are about 10-15 students in each class at Pomona who major in it. </p>

<p>As I’m a freshman, I don’t really know how difficult STS is. You can read the requirements here:
[Program:</a> Science, Technology and Society Major - Pomona College - Acalog ACMS?](<a href=“Program: Science, Technology and Society Major - Pomona College - Acalog ACMS™”>Program: Science, Technology and Society Major - Pomona College - Acalog ACMS™)</p>

<p>However, since many of the major components come from some of Pomona’s best departments (math, social sciences, and philosophy), you’ll get a wonderful educational experience.</p>

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<p>Is there much or any racial self-segregation at Pomona? My S is a biracial (Caucasion-Chinese) HS junior who is interested in Pomona and who feels most comfortable in environments, like that in his current HS, which are very racially diverse (whites are not the majority) but where race is pretty much ignored by the students.</p>

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<p>Hi EndOfTheWorld, do you know anyone involved in the outdoors club On The Loose? My daughter is applying to Pomona and this club is something she is interested in. It sounds really great, I am wondering if it is as great as it sounds!</p>

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<p>Hello Austina!</p>

<p>If you go to a Pomona dining hall, you’ll see racial subdivisions quite often. Not all the time, but they exist. Whites tend to sit together. International students are a very tight knit group. However, you take the initiative and no one will judge you for sitting in a predominantly student of color table as a White student, and vice versa. I personally have made friends of every race and have never felt judged in any way. Events tend to be very diverse- I remember how many non-Asians showed up for the Asian Banquet!</p>

<p>I personally think Pomona is getting considerably diverse over the years and thus racial differences are becoming less apparent. That is not always a good thing. Yes, we may be coexistent and accepting, but I never really feel racial diversity is acknowledged by everyone. I am not accusing students of being racist because they are FAR from that, but race very rarely comes up as an issue of significance beyond incidents of political correctness (for example, choosing to dress up as Pocahontas for Halloween). That being said, perspectives are valued very highly here, and they can often be brought up by racial upbringings. </p>

<p>Cliques are really what separate Pomona, not race and income standards. Hipsters, jocks, social butterflies, loners, intellectuals…they do tend to huddle around one another. Classes are also important- if you are a part of a very difficult class and go to mentoring sessions, you will form strong bonds with most of your classmates despite them being the complete opposite of you.</p>

<p>Pomona is not cliquey in the bad way though! As I said before, there is no rigidity in terms of who goes where. I would personally label myself as a loner, but I have friends from all of the categories I listed above. That is really where the diversity of Pomona comes in- everyone is so smart, yet so different, and it’s just an amazing learning experience. Maybe cliques are just part of the inevitability of life as we try to see where we fit in a place away from home =)</p>

<p>Hello Mamabear1234,
On the Club has become so big (I think it’s the most joined 5C organization) that Pomona has actually opened an Outdoor Education Center(OEC) which has tons of equipment for students to rent. On the Loose sponsors about a trip a week to some amazing places and you don’t even have to be an official member to go as every Pomona student gets listings from them. For example, this week, there is a trip to Mammoth Lakes from 11/8-11/11 open to all Claremont College students, and while there is equipment needed, students can rent from the OEC. </p>

<p>I love OTL. I have visited Joshua Tree National Park with them and it was such a memorable experience. For those who feel like Pomona won’t be outdoorsy enough, I am amazed by how geographically diverse and beautiful California is! </p>

<p>On the Loose is also the most funded 5C organization, so most events tend to be free. Transportation is usually limited so you have to sign up quickly, but if you’re passionate, you can go on whatever trip you want to.</p>

<p>EDIT- Wow, there are many events happening this weekend! Check them out at <a href=“On The Loose”>On The Loose;

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<p>Thanks for answering my question! </p>

<p>I have another question, although as a freshman, I’m not sure how much you’d know about it. I was wondering if Pomona has ties to Silicon Valley, and if so, do students from Pomona generally get opportunities to work at start-ups, or even big names, such as Google or Apple?</p>

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<p>I’m currently a sophomore at Pomona and I can vouch for everything Endoftheworld has said so far.</p>

<p>In response to you, wavetech, Pomona students do very well in Silicon Valley, thanks in part to our strong CS, math and science departments. Currently, for example, about 16 pomona alumni are working at google. In fact, the head of People Operations at Google, a senior vice president position responsible for all hiring, is a pomona alum. Laszlo bock is his name. I’d love to answer more questions if you have them!</p>

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<p>Hey Endoftheworld or BB54321, do you mind if I ask a couple of questions? </p>

<p>I’m from England. I know Pomona College accepts International Students - what do you U.S. Citizens (I assume you are?) think of internationals? Are they well received? And just in terms of numbers and diversity, do you think a qualified student from England would be reviewed by the admissions process with, I don’t know, interest or disinterest? </p>

<p>Also, just a general question: how does signing up for courses work? It’s a different system from the UK as far as I’m aware, and go ahead and correct me if I’m wrong, but is there potential for a class to have Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors ALL together? And I guess there are classes that only more advanced students can take? How do you guys see people who are a year, or 2 or 3 years, further ahead of you? I imagine that there are less boundaries between ages at college.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for anything you have to say. I’m applying to Pomona after a long search for a place that looked right for me. I landed at Pomona and haven’t felt like taking off again since.</p>

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<p>Hello rhsinclair,
When we were asked to post where we came from on the Facebook, the guy who responded he was from England got the most likes. From me, included =)
<a href=“http://i.imgur.com/naWFl.png[/url]”>http://i.imgur.com/naWFl.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I personally really love internationals from all over the globe because they tend to be such interesting people, and I really commend Pomona for increasing international outreach- some 11% of the class is international. Most, if not all of my class would agree with me.</p>

<p>Pomona definitely considers international students, even those from the UK, as a diversity factor! It’s a really slight boost in admission though, nowhere near a guarantee, but it’s not disinterest at all.</p>

<p>As a freshmen, you sign up for classes when you arrive on campus. You have to talk to your faculty advisor to be cleared to register. You look through the course catalog for classes that are open and fit your time schedule, and register for them. If a class is full, you can do something known as a PERM request, which is an appeal to be in a class. You have a 2 week add period through which you can add new extra classes and remove the ones you don’t want, and you have a month drop period where you can drop any class you are taking.</p>

<p>If you’re an upperclassmen, you register before the freshmen at home. Don’t worry though, as a freshmen I got all the classes I wanted!</p>

<p>The only class where I have only freshmen is the Critical Inquiry class every freshmen is expected to take. Both my introduction to sociology and chemistry class have sophomores, my PE class has all our grade levels, and my math class has grade levels freshmen-junior. No one judges on the basis of class year- trust me. Usually it is not even apparent. In fact, I really love having other people in my classes because it lets me branch out to other years in terms of friendships. </p>

<p>That being said, most classes at Pomona, especially math, science, and languages, will not let you go onto the advanced classes until you take the necessary prerequisites. Every freshmen for example will have to start with General Chemistry even if they made a 5 on the AP chem exam, though there is an accelerated version of the class available (it is still only the first year chem though)- very rarely will they make exceptions to move straight to organic chemistry. For the humanities, you have to take a prerequisite class like Intro to Sociology before you can take upper level classes- AP credit will not serve as a prerequisite for most intro classes (exceptions include economics, statistics, and Calc I/II). After you take a prerequisite class, the humanity courses become varied- you can take any you want in no required order. Math and science tend to be more hierarchical in terms of the level of classes, so most intro math and science classes are predominantly freshmen/sophomores, and most advanced classes are predominantly juniors/seniors. </p>

<p>If you feel you are however exceptionally skilled in a class, talk to the professor and they can make exceptions for you! And you won’t be judged- a freshmen friend of mines has already started vector calculus and says no one even brings that point up beyond maybe a point of major respect.</p>

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<p>I can answer any questions as well! My brother is a senior at Pomona as well so hopefully I can provide both the first and last year perspectives on a lot of issues. I can particularly help with: STEM (I’m a math/CS major), athletics (I’m an ultimate player), mock trial, OTL/outdoors, and ballroom dance.</p>

<p>I’ll echo all of EndOfTheWorld’s answers and add that the faculty here are really focused on getting out of your way and letting you succeed. The math department is letting me skip out of vector calculus and intro analysis for next semester (I will most likely be taking Number Theory and Real Analysis or Abstract Algebra), and the CS department has let me skip out of their entire core intro sequence based on past experience.</p>

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<p>EndOfTheWorld: That was all really helpful - thank you a million times over! It’s encouraging to hear that the college likes Internationals! I’ve been getting the feeling that more students in the UK are applying to American Universities in general, and I guess that’s helping to fuel increased international student percentages at places like Pomona. I think universities in general are becoming more aware that the world isn’t as big anymore and that people are more mobile! Anyway, just one last question (I think): can you earn credit over the Summer? For example, if I were to help out at an archaeological excavation, and by completing it I earn credit, will the college accept that?</p>

<p>zrathrustra: thank you! I didn’t mean to exclude you from answering my questions! I appreciate your thoughts as well. If I got in, I’d probably be farthest away from a Math/Computer Science major! I envy you that you’ve got the skill to do Maths at university level because the SATs were enough for me! Seeing as you do athletics, do you know anything about the Claremont Colleges Rugby club? </p>

<p>Thanks again both of you!</p>

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<p>You can get some credit over the summer by taking courses at other schools with summer programs. I’m not sure if you can get credit from summer research, but I haven’t heard of anyone doing that. </p>

<p>It’s not hard to get all the credit you need to graduate at Pomona. You need to take 32 courses, and you’re expected to be a Pomona student for eight semesters. I frequently end up taking five courses in a semester, and some people even take six. You can also bring in up to two courses from AP or IB programs (not sure if there is a UK equivalent). Students tend to only have trouble reaching 32 if they fail multiple courses, slack off and take three or fewer courses for multiple semesters, take a semester off but still graduate on time, or some other unusual situation.</p>

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<p>Are there many students at Pomona who applied to both Pomona and Mudd?</p>

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<p>My daughter applied to both Pomona and Mudd and ended up at Pomona and wait listed at Mudd. She has a lot of friends from both and enjoys taking advantages of some Mudd based activities even though she’s a Pomona student. Mudd has a more structured curriculum from what I’ve observed. I think Pomona was really the best fit for her, however so she didn’t pursue the Mudd wait list once she was accepted to Pomona.</p>

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<p>kathieh, I think having the consortium for other classes, activities, and food options is another of the big draws for Pomona for my D, besides On The Loose. I just wish it wasn’t so far from home!</p>

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<p>We’re over 1000 miles away, but Southwest Air has quite a few flights so it’s not too bad. We keep in touch with texts and phone calls here and there. However I can imagine your reluctance across timezones. My D didn’t apply anywhere east of Chicago which simplified things for us considerably. Good luck to your D with her search. Mine really does love Pomona.</p>

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<p>Would a conservative - politically and religiously- be comfortable at Pomona College?</p>

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<p>Probably not. Unless you really, really enjoy having your beliefs challenged and made fun of nearly all of the time. Some people are okay with that if they have strong enough convictions or don’t really care about it. But I think it will be hard. Not that people won’t be willing to have good, academic conversations with you about it, and not that you will be the only conservative. However, when you’re not having those conversations, the rest of the time will probably be sort of hard.</p>

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<p>Slushy - </p>

<p>While I agree with Cranberry that your beliefs will be constantly challenged, I don’t think that means you will be uncomfortable unless you don’t like having to defend your beliefs. If that’s true, you probably won’t fit at Pomona regardless of what those beliefs are. Someone who is culturally conservative, as in not OK with drinking, hooking up, gay people, etc. might be uncomfortable as well.</p>

<p>However, Pomona’s most active organization, the Pomona Student Union, is dedicated to challenging the dominant viewpoints on campus in large part by bringing conservative speakers to campus. And one of my friends is very conservative and has not felt the need to seek out a conservative friend group. Partly this is because conservatives are indeed a very small minority, but really it’s because in the end most people will accept you regardless of your beliefs. Some extremists won’t, but you won’t want to hang out with them if you’re conservative anyway.</p>