Yes. To sign up for employment events, you use an online platform in which all the employer events and fairs are listed across the colleges. So there’s no hassle. I’ve been to on campus recruiting events at CMC and Mudd and saw many from the other colleges there. On campus specific employer pages, we’re actually referred to collectively- employers know how much we collaborate. An example below:
Yes, Claremont graduates are thrilled to help other Claremont students. I have talked to alums from Scripps, Pitzer, and Mudd who were extremely helpful and receptive. I think we have our rivalries at school but when we leave we realize our collective strengths. If anyone from the other colleges reached out to me, I’d support them or connect them with someone I knew. I would say there isn’t as direct of a platform to reach out to them as there is with 5C recruiting, but it’s easy to find people on LinkedIn.
@nostalgicwisdom Thank you so much for your thorough response! It aligns with what I have heard and thought before. Most LACs are very grad school-oriented (with the exception of CMC, of course) and Pomona has very impressive records for students going to grad schools. Although I am not sure if graduate school is really for me, it is great that this door is open if I so choose.
Also, if it is not confidential and you are willing to share, what was your major at Pomona? Are you doing something related to that major now?
You mentioned alumni network and taking initiative to benefit from it. As a recent alum, what would you describe the alumni network to be like? West coast schools, especially Pomona being small, may not have as strong alumni connections as East coast counterparts. I know there are previous threads on this topic but since you are freshly graduated, you would offer a great, fresh insight. Thank you lots!
I majored in a STEM field but realized I wanted to do something else a bit too late, so my current prospects and future goals aren’t especially connected with my major. I don’t regret it. My STEM experiences have been valuable and I could readily connect them to business, marketing, and the like. I’m not sure where I want to eventually go- a lot of tracks interest me (industrial and social psych, policy, education, tech among them) and I think by its nature Pomona really helps you see the legitimacy of many different options. All part of the liberal arts experience. I think most of my friends are in the process of finding their own careers. I know one who had consulting and finance offers but switched to private photography, one who had no CS experience but mastered it in the side to get a job at Google, someone who loved their religious studies courses and decided to get a divinity degree from an Ivy (fully paid for) despite not being an actual major, and so on. Those who had a specific goal, like my premed friends, have all got into great med schools as of now after undertaking their gap year.
The alumni network…there are mostly positives and some negatives. The positive side is that Pomona alumni are helpful and do care about connecting with and supporting students. I’ve reached out to several and always got a response back, including some who helped me arrange interviews for job offers within the week of reaching out to them. Another positive is that there are many opportunities to connect- there’s a whole alumni database where you can find industry/location, an active facebook page with 5000 members, an alumni shadowing program (Shadow a Sagehen), and there’s a young alumni mentorship program called SagePost47 (search it!). The negatives… it can be difficult trying to identify these resources as a student because people don’t actively talk about networking or its importance. Even when students know, they don’t know how to proceed. I think accountability and responsibility is a tricky topic- who initiates the conversation? The alums, the student, or the CDO (Career Development Office)? What sort of expectations can be put on alums to support students- basic advising and conversations, or full on jobs/internships specifically for Pomona students? Our alumni base is pretty small- only 20,000 or so which is 2/3rds less than the number of undergrads attending Berkeley in a year! Hence why it’s so important to consider the 5Cs and other LACs as your network as well. Pomona’s CDO doesn’t offer direct guidance about connecting with non-Pomona alumni so you’re pretty much on your own there, and that can feel intimidating. But as previously mentioned, I’ve talked to alums from the other 5Cs and from Williams who were happy to provide perspective and help me find other connections.
That’s awesome how Pomona students are really able to pursue their passions. I didn’t know about SagePost47, but I’ll definitely look it up now! Thanks for the insight @nostalgicwisdom !
Hi guys!! guess what—I actually had my alumni interview today!! the email my interviewer sent me said that the interview would be about 30mins to an hour, but we actually ended up talking for 2 hours haha. it was such a fun time and now I’m crushing on Pomona even more… we still have a month til decisions are out and I can’t wait to see the results (hopefully not a rejection…)
@enenalal Wowow! Major congrats, talking longer than you are supposed to is a great sign. It means there is probably a positive review of you being sent to admissions rn!
I didn’t get a Pomona interview but I would’ve loved one!
I’m not sure what the exact deferral–>acceptance rate is, but Pomona is one of those schools where a deferral isn’t a courtesy rejection (unlike the Ivies and MIT, where 60-80% get deferred). Fewer applicants get deferred than are admitted. My guess is that deferred students are right on the border, but the office wants additional materials and wants to see if they can still stand out in the regular round. Pomona apparently has a policy where no more than half of the class can be ED/QuestBridge Match/Posse, so I could imagine some strong students getting locked out by that limit. From personal experience, I know 8 who were deferred; half were ultimately admitted in RD, two were waitlisted, one was rejected, and I am not sure what happened to the last person (they matriculated to Columbia). In any case, you can count on a deferral as a strong sign that you’re a compelling candidate.
@CassiniButterfly I think it’s actually a sign that you’re in excellent company if you are rejected. Think about it this way- you have two colleges. Both admit 20% of early students. One defers 10% and rejects 70%. One defers 75% and rejects 5%. At the second school, a rejection could be a sign you’re aiming way too highly because you’re in the bottom 5% of the applicant pool according to their perception. A deferral is honestly a courtesy rejection since the vast majority of the 75% ultimately don’t get in later. At the first one, you can’t really draw any predictions about the rest of your applications because 70% of a highly competitive group is getting denied (it’s important to remember very subjective decisions are made which vary from one school to the next). The early pool tends to be stronger than the RD pool,so you could very well get into other top colleges. And people do. I have looked up some of the folks denied ED in the past- they have gotten acceptances from Ivies, other top LACs, and great universities like Vanderbilt and Rice among others.
Not a desired outcome, I know, and one can’t help but be emotionally linked to their ED school. But if it does come to the worst, you have to put it in perspective. Getting denied from Pomona ED doesn’t mean you’re a weak candidate, and it doesn’t spell doom for later applications.
Let’s think optimistically for the moment, though. Have you all reached out to your admissions officer? You should shoot them an email and introduce yourself if you haven’t already. If you have anything new to add, awards to update, you should do so. You can find them here: https://www.pomona.edu/admissions/visit/admissions-staff If you’re not sure who your officer is (shoutout to California applicants lol), just email the main office and they’ll direct you.
I would think that it would be extremely weird to say “hi” only now. That window of opportunity is gone. They’re busy reading applications, we shouldn’t bother them
Ahh i actually won 1st place for a competition like four days after the Early Decision deadline it’s kinda related to my major so I really wanted to add it on my app but I thought it was too late already. @nostalgicwisdom do you think I should try shooting an email to our admissions officer? or would it be too late to do so now?
In my perspective, an applicant shouldn’t send anything to an admission’s officer unless one has a very specific question or additional materials for one’s application. The officers receive hundreds of emails a day and probably would like to be spared of the pointless emails. It can very possibly leave a negative impression of you if you are just bothering them for no reason.
I’ve heard this point from some admission’s officers and I am sure it is ultimately an individual preference of the officer but I would be cautious with “just saying hi”.
Those are all fair and considered points, and ultimately, you are free to do whatever you believe is right. My advice is only for ED1 students, not ED2 or RD students. This time of the year isn’t that busy- the admission officers often refer to it as preparation for the overwhelming nature of reading 7000-8000 RD applications to come. Divvy up the less than 1000 ED1 and QuestBridge applications among 15 officers/outside readers and that’s around 67 applications total over a month and a half (might seem like a lot, but it’s not). For context, admission officers read 20-30 applications per day and about 500-750 applications total in peak season.
The only exception is to not email the VP if he is your officer. He is extremely busy year round. I don’t even think the page gives you his personal email, unlike all the other officers.
enenalal, yes, you can definitely send an update. Either to the main email or to your officer.
i actually won 1st place for a competition like four days after the Early Decision deadline 
it’s kinda related to my major so I really wanted to add it on my app but I thought it was too late already.