<p>Well, now, we've all heard quite a lot about what a friendly place Pomona is. However, if you've ever talked to one of their secretaries on the phone you honestly could never tell. Don't get me wrong. All of the students I encountered at Pomona were wonderfully sunshiny people. What's eating the admissions office, then? Every time I've called them (or even visited in person), they have been either dismissive or downright rude. I get things like "Well, sir, if they aren't picking up the phone, they <em>obviously</em> aren't in the office", or a quietly annoyed "uh huh" after everything I say, as if I've been talking to them for hours and they just wanted me to shut up (after only 30 seconds on the phone with them, mind you). These are not isolated instances, as I have both visited and called a number of times (not an excessive number of times, I could understand their frustration if I was calling every week, but I most certainly am not). I have yet to talk with a friendly Pomona admissions person. Really, is this some sort of a test for this school? "Are you happy? Are you SOOOOOOO happy that you'll stay happy even when people are rude? YOU ARE??? We'll take YOU!" Anyway, just my thoughts. I still think Pomona's a great school, still my first choice. Hope I get in. Oh well.</p>
<p>I've heard this from others, as well. It makes you wonder if they're understaffed, or if it's just a personality thing with a couple of admissions officers. Students love the place once they're in, as you've said, so it's just a quirky thing. Be persistent and polite, I guess.</p>
<p>Our contacts have all been pleasant. Perhaps it's this time of year? I would imagine that you are not the only applicant calling with questions over the course of the day, and perhaps the same question. The admissions staff is pretty busy right now between reading for RD and helping the ED admits. Not that the circumstances warrant rudeness, but I can see where one might be testy at this point in time.</p>
<p>Rude is not so bad. Incompetent can cost you an admissions. Losing files, applications, checks. It all happens.</p>
<p>I just called the financial aid office. Twice. Anyways, the first time the lady was pretty helpful, but I wouldn't say we were having fun. The second lady was nicer. Anyways, I got the information I needed.</p>
<p>A friend of mine in college admissions (not Pomona) has worked straight through holidays and intersession break, even doing a week of 7 am to 3 pm shift and then one week of 1 pm to 9 pm to process admissions. I'm waiting to hear whether they'll end up working Saturdays.</p>
<p>D called a couple of times this past fall, but the person at the other end of the line was always very helpful. They must having bad hair days . . .</p>
<p>Well, I can certainly understand that they would be the slightest bit stressed out this time of year. However, this whole thing goes back to September. Oh well, maybe it's just the particular individuals I talked to. I guess, being from Minnesota, I have a different idea of nice (i.e. obnoxiously outgoing and sugar coated). Again, not a big deal, just my thoughts.</p>
<p>There is an ID # now to check your file via e-mail. My D's didn't work. Did anyone have success with this?</p>
<p>This woman had a thick accent, so I could not understand her.
This another lady was much nicer though..</p>
<p>arizonamom- mine worked. I copied and pasted the code and sent an e-mail to selfservice... the only "missing" document is my midyear report.</p>
<p>The Pomona admissions office is very...quiet. I mean, most admission offices are, but at Pomona, it's almost like an awkward quiet (awkward for prospective students, at least!). The first time I visited with a couple friends, we had no idea what we were doing (like when the tours or info sessions were or what other resources the college offered prosp students). So we go into the (silent) office. We stand at the reception desk and wait for the reception lady's attention. She looks at us. We look at her. She smile. We smile. She looks at us some more. We stand there smiling (awkwardly) some more. About 30 seconds into this...strange silence, the lady finally asks, "can I help you?" And we're like, "yeah, we're here to visit, and um, so do you guys offer....like tours?" "Yes." "Oh, okay. Um...what time are the tours?" And so on... very minimal help.</p>
<p>When I went w/ one of my friends to pick up an app at the Harvey Mudd office, it was a completely different story. We walk in. We are greeted with a smile. The reception lady immediately asks us if she can help. My friend says she needs an application. The lady gets her an application and tells us that they have an info session coming up at so-and-so o clock and a campus tour at so-and-so a clock, and if we need anything else, we can blah blah blah...yeah, you get the picture. And that's the way it's been at every admission's office I've visited (and I've visited about half a dozen).</p>
<p>So I don't know if I'd call them rude, but I definately know where bcfunkadelic is coming from.</p>