Good questions! His SATs are 1560 and his ACT is 35, so I don’t think those are the problems. His GPA isn’t perfect–3.86 (or 4.660 with bonus points). He’s at a very rigorous math/science magnet school and, as a sophomore, he got 2 B’s in PreCalc BC. However, he got A’s in Calc BC and a 5 on the AP, so I was hoping that wouldn’t matter so much. (All A’s otherwise.) His sport is his main extracurricular, though he has others. Could be they needed other athletes more, even though he was highly recruited. Trying to weigh whether he should use ED2 elsewhere.
@preppedparent , that is what a pre-read is suppose to do. Of course there are other aspects to the application: essay, recommendations, etc. But grades and test scores were already reviewed.@jamamalv - I hope that deferral turns into a accept or your S applies ED2 somewhere and gets a big yes from them.
@jamamalv My thoughts are with you. My student was deferred from ED 2 before admission to Pomona in the RD round. I will be sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers your way if his heart is truly at Pomona.
Honestly that’s very surprising considering his impeccable record. I was talking with my hosts on my official visit and they said that Pomona values the essays very highly. Did he assume he already had it in the bag and then didn’t spend as much time on his essays? I just had anxiety and fear that I wouldn’t get in that I hyperfocused on my essays, so hopefully that paid off. I’m so sorry, and I am sure he will end up somewhere great with that record! Also, have you tried reaching out to the coach?
Also, “top 3” varies by sport. I know swimming has 6 spots.
.Hi, no, he didn’t take admissions for granted at all. He worked hard on the essays and I think they were good. I’m sure it’s a very strong group of ED folks, as I can tell by reading back in this thread. Thanks for the support, folks!
I’m sorry I didn’t mean for that to be offensive or come off rude at all. I just know of some friends in my sport who didn’t try in their essays or school once they got the green light from the school, but that was mostly D1. It’s just crazy that your son didn’t get in; I can’t find a reason why. His scores are significantly above the median and his GPA looks great. Best of luck
@runningrox12345, Don’t worry! I was being sincere when I thanked everyone for the support. I do think it’s a very strong group, and they’re trying to put together the best mix. Anyway, I hope the best for everyone!
College admissions is such a roller coaster with too many ups and downs and twists and turns. At least once, everyone feels their stomachs in their hands. I’m really hoping by Mar - Apr, jamamalv-kid is sporting a new Sagehen sweatshirt. Trying to create good karma. Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp…
quick question: i am super interested in pomona… I have been looking into this school for a long time. I applied RD this year, just bc im apprehensive to commit to one school fully with ed (financially)
Pomona does feels like the perfect fit for me… but is it true that they look more into extracurriculars and passion than they do grades? How holistic is the process really? Just got denied to stanford… so feeling a little down about my own application… my grades aren’t the best (top 15% of my school), test scores are okay (1520 SAT, 33 ACT), but I have been working on my own research for the past 4 years (patent pending), was an intel finalist, and won a couple of international awards. Also, I started a non-profit and have been working on developing my own app for financial literacy (none of these things were things I did for college though, just because I was passionate about it). I’m just worried that my grades will really bring me down, and even though I didn’t do any of this stuff for college… i still want to get into college lol. Pomona seems like the perfect place for me and I put A LOT of effort into my essays. Interview went really well… the guy was super impressed. I’m really looking for a good, small college with a lot of interaction with professors and a unique, collaborative environment ( I know stanford doesn’t fit that bill but I defo gave into parental pressure when applying, yikes!).
I don’t know if this thread is the right place to ask this… just nervous. Not necessarily a “chance me” (although if you have practical insight it wouldn’t hurt!), but more of a “what does pomona really look for?”
You have a strong profile. Kudos to you. I think any college you’ll ultimately matriculate to will be fortunate to have you.
For Pomona specifically, they’re invested in the dynamic of their entering class and the specific contributions each individual has on the community. They take the residential liberal arts experience seriously and want students who are intellectually motivated, willing to explore and take risks, and who will actively engage with the students around them. If you don’t demonstrate those traits effectively, it doesn’t matter if you have a perfect profile or if you are a ISEF grand award winner- you’ll be denied or wait-listed. Their website details the full list of characteristics they look for: https://www.pomona.edu/admissions/apply
That 15% rank will hurt your chances (94% of currently enrolled first years with rank were in the top 10%), but it won’t make your chances gone entirely. Your testing is fine and your extracurricular activities seem distinguished. If you can make everything else very strong- essays, interviews, recommendations- they might be willing to admit you despite the rank. But it’s tough no matter what given Pomona’s 8% acceptance rate, and you should look into other similar schools which also offer “lot of interaction with professors and a unique, collaborative atmosphere”. Carleton College is one to check out- an excellent school in the sciences, a very robust and collaborative environment, not quite as selective as Pomona, but offers just as strong of an experience.
@nostalgicwisdom thank you:) I’ll definitely look into Carleton, I really appreciate it! I’ve put in a lot of work into my Pomona app and am just nervous, so it is nice to hear from someone!
If you want to stay on the West side of the country, Whitman is another LAC with a strong science program but less selectivity (ave GPA~3.7). Don’t be fooled by their 50% acceptance rate, they seem to be sensitive that they’re seen as a safety and look for evidence of strong applicant interest.
When athletes are being recruited at the Ivies and some DIII schools like Pomona (every DIII school is different) that have supported slots your child must find out from the coach if they are being given one of the supported slots. This is not the same thing as having the coach’s support (that just means they tell admissions you’re a good player and will contribute to the team). At the Ivies you can be certain you have a supported slot because you get a likely letter in the fall before you apply early, but Pomona, because their DIII, can’t give you anything in writing so you basically have to take the coach’s word. But again, you need to be very specific and ask if you have one of their slots. This is not the same thing as a pre-read by admissions. Some coaches will make this very clear. Other coaches are less than clear because they want you to apply because that means if you get in that’s an extra player in addition to their slots they get. Usually, when you hear about a “recruited” athlete that didn’t get in early, it turns out that they did not have a supported slot.
If a coach specifically said you had one of their slots and you didn’t get it in, then either the coach pulled his support and didn’t tell you (this would be really shady and unlikely), or there was a red or yellow flag on the application file–iffy first semester grades, bad recommendation, you didn’t take the classes you said you were going to take, disciplinary issue.
Thanks, @desertbeachkid. This is helpful. I think that what happened here is that my son had the coach’s support but not a supported slot. Are supported slots typically only for early decision candidates? My son (who was deferred at Pomona) is on the fence about applying ED2 somewhere else. Can I ask if you’re a student athlete? Thanks!
For the Ivies I believe you have to apply early to get the supported slot (although I am not certain). For Pomona, it was important to the coach that my child apply ED1, but I can’t say for certain if ED1 is a requirement to get the supported slot for all sports at Pomona. You should try to find out from the Pomona coach if admissions is still willing to take athletes ED2 and regular. I know the Ivies have basically no more room for athletes after the early round. But I also know that athletes can still get into Claremont ED2 and regular. I don’t know if that’s the case for Pomona since they began offering supported slots.
At one point we had 2 kids that were involved in some part of the athletic recruiting situation at colleges in all 4 divisions, and would totally agree with @JellyFishh and @desertbeachkid with respect to D3. While the D3 athlete experience itself is great, outside of NESCAC, it has the most gray areas during the recruiting process at highly selective schools. We had a good experience with Pomona coaches, who we found to be very forthcoming IF you ask the right questions, and understand how to interpret the answers: Knowing the difference between “you have a spot on the team, but I don’t have a lot of pull with admissions”= “you’re totally on your own,” “you have my support”=“I’ll put in a good word for you, but no guarantees,” and having “support at the highest level if you apply ED1”=“you have a slot.” Regarding applying ED2 somewhere else, make sure your son has a frank discussion with the coach at the other college. The coaches are used to hearing the question, and if they can’t be honest at this stage of their relationship with your son, it certainly won’t get any better if/when he is on the team. For future athletes, we found a lot of good info about D3 recruiting at a lot of schools over on the “Athletic Recruits” Forum http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/
I wouldn’t give up on Pomona. I’d go back to the coach and ask for his help pulling for you in the reg round of admissions. Write a heart felt letter to admissions letting them know that Pomona is still your number 1 and how you will contribute both to sports and the community.
@nillupa I got a response back.
In last year’s pool, the new SAT scored lower than the old test. The admissions office believes that more of the strong test takers of the pool gravitated towards the ACT instead of taking a risk with the new SAT.
Because of the gap between the new and old scores, Pomona’s CDS doesn’t see the net increases the concordance calculator would suggest.
They did mention this as a “short-term impact”, so I wouldn’t generalize that gap for this year’s cycle or what other schools see. With more testing prep material available now for the new SAT, and more opportunities to retake the test than from when it just came out, scores will likely go up.
There’s an excellent thread on the SAT subforum which details that several top schools- Williams, Stanford, Princeton among them- reported lower new scores than old scores (or it didn’t match what the concordance suggested) that you could look into if this is a topic of interest to you.
@jamamalv @deaertbeachkid Deserbeachkid’s post is spot on. I have some more info on Pomona athlete recruitment specifically.
Just to throw in my 2 cents on the D3 athletic recruitment process (with specific regard to Pomona) I’m a well-accomplished student-athlete and was officially recruited by the coach to run for Pomona a couple weeks ago. The coach has the power to (at Pomona) do what’s called a Priority Athletic Recruitment. He offered me this PAR status contingent on the fact that I apply ED II (which I can happily say I did). He told me that PAR applicants are evaluated by the admissions office under an expedited (and likely easier) process (as far as I can tell, they check Transcript and Standardized Tests, not essays/recs at this point) . Within a week or two, The admissions office then informs the coach whether the PAR application was accepted or denied, and if it was accepted, you are all but guaranteed admission to Pomona (you then apply as a normal applicant would under EDII. Essays, recs, the works). Each sport gets only a handful of these PARs (it was 3 for men’s cross country), so it is incredibly advantageous to be offered one, assuming Pomona is undoubtedly your first choice. Note that this PAR is not the same as an academic pre-read. While the pre-read results are based off of the same criteria as the PAR (transcript, test scores), the pre-read does NOTHING to help you get in, only the PAR does.
Above is what I was told by the coach, now I’ll move more into conjecture. I’m very well qualified academically speaking (35 act, high 700s for SAT sub tests, 4.5 gpa weighted on 4 scale), so I’d wager this accomplishment was important in me receiving a PAR offer. As far as I can tell, I’m going to be one of the higher-performing recruits athletically speaking, so athletic success seems to be the other important factor in PAR offers. At most D3 schools, PAR equivalents are offered to borderline student athlete applicants (50/50 shot of getting in). Better qualified applicants usually don’t need that extra help from coaches in the form of a PAR or equivalent, they can get in solely off academic merit. However, with specific regard to Pomona, Pomona’s incredibly low acceptance rate leads me to believe that it is offered moreso to athletes who can contribute the most to Pomona, both in an academic and athletic sense.
So there’s my spiel, somewhat disorganized and unclear, but that’s all the info I have as a future Sagehen student-athlete. The key thing to understand is the PAR. If you’re offered a PAR (if you’re a good athlete with decent relatively-speaking academics), and your PAR is accepted, you can be 99.99% sure of your admission to Pomona, with a bonus of knowing about a month and a half before those ugly, non-student athletes. Hope I help clarify this confusing process.