Pomona College, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…having just read this article, it reminds me of one of the aspects I so appreciate about the school–genuine diversity in its enrolled classes. Thank you Pomona Admissions Team!
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/us/affirmative-action-college.html?emc=eta1
And, with the advent of Dr. Starr becoming the school’s new President, what a great role model she will provide for its students and alumni . Thank you Pomona Board of Trustees.
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-pomona-college-new-president-20161208-story.html
If you are a prospective student who relishes academic rigor and you care deeply about being educated in school where diversity is a core value, you may want to consider this gem for your undergraduate education.
At less than 10% acceptance rate, admission is a crapshoot.
The article describes how it bends over backwards to recruit qualified AA and Hispanic students and meeting full financial need. That doesn’t sound like a crapshoot.
A crapshoot is a gamble, a risky, unpredictable outcome. Applying to low-acceptance-rate schools like Pomona is indeed a crapshoot under the ordinary meaning of the word.
Forced diversity is not real diversity. Explicit or implicit affirmative actions promote one group of people while suppressing other groups of people. It’s not a good thing. I would rather they put all qualified students in a pot and do a real lottery. It’s more fair that way.
@ bogeyorpar Name one college that uses a lottery. I know of none. Every university wants a student body that will reflect the real world. They do not want half of the campus to be CS majors. They do not want every kid on campus to have a particular political leaning. They do not want every kid to be white. Although many campuses have certain reputations and attract certain students, most colleges would like their students presented with a diverse group of students and ideas. Therefore, admissions tries to bring interesting people of every racial and ethnic group to their campus. This does not suppress anyone. As a white male, I got every break there ever was growing up. The best schools, the best neighborhoods, the best college advice. Colleges recruit so the they can find deserving individuals who did not get all of that.
My connection to Pomona is that my biracial daughter attends the school. Pomona did a little recruiting, although I don’t think it really made a difference to her. She actually found the recruiting embarrassing. I don’t think she “suppressed” anyone with her 1540 SAT and 790 SAT II scores.
@preppedparent Amherst, Barnard, Brown, and Swarthmore all say they make great efforts to recruit low income and URMs, but having worked with Upward Bound and Questbridge, I can attest that the vast majority are still rejected.And of those who are admitted, it is no easier to figure out why than for non-minority students. Overall, it does seem that the need for significant financial aid is a PLUS factor, but only marginally.
@akiddoc I agree 100%. There seems to be this belief that minority, first gen and other “diversity” candidates invariably have low test scares and grades. This is really not true. I work with Questbridge and Upward Bound, and many of these students have incredible “stats”. I’ve also seen more than a few “full pay” students with frankly questionable stats admitted, so I think that favoritism can be shown to the privileged too.