<p>Some here have been writing about 210 ED admits for 2018. </p>
<p>I think you are quite wrong about the impact of Forbes. Just think of the irony that a school that was lifted from the Forbes rankings became the most selective LAC in the nation. Shows how little impact that wannabe ranking carries. Pomona has attracted over 7000 applications for at least four years with a slight decrease last year when applications dropped from 7456 to 7153. </p>
<p>Take a look at the application numbers at Williams. It was ranked second in 2012. Forbes is simply not relevant. </p>
<p>This can be debated whether the Forbes impact had any relevance on a student accepting Pomona’s offer of admission given the recent publicity. This could have created the bump. Also a college that accepts a high number of early admits which leaves less of a regular pool availability seems to be the best way to ensure the most selectivity. There are so many ways to manipulate this number if the college wants to be more selective without being dishonest.</p>
<p>I’d like to think that the students who are admitted at Pomona are intelligent enough to pay little attention to the rankings produced by Forbes and Vedder when having to make a decision among their choices. The bumps might be at the application level, but the numbers hardly support changes in the size of the application pool. </p>
<p>If a percentage change of 8 percent sounds large, the added perspective of the absolute numbers brings it back to earth. A few hundred more applicants change very little in the life of the schools in the Claremont Consortium. </p>
<p>As in any pool of applicants, some will be intelligent enough to recognize what is most important in your college experience, mainly the quality of the institution and professors. There will always be the sexiness in making the top ten list of various publications which appeal to people. After all isn’t that why there are so many different cars on the road. Any car will get you from point A to point B, some are just better looking or perceived as better looking to the general populous. </p>
<p>You likely had several other good and cheaper options before choosing Stanford, prestige does play a role in making the decision of where to go to school and what will you get from your experience. It was probably the best school for whatever you chose to study and it had the best reputation because others recognized it as such, i don’t think you can honestly say the later isn’t important in this equation. Rankings, while flawed, appeal to the the ego in people and that crosses all levels of intelligence to a more primal level, especially in someone inexperienced.</p>
<p>To be clear, I am not dismissing prestige and perceived reputation. I DO think it plays a role when creating a list of schools, and it is pretty clear that Harvard or Princeton need no introduction but Williams or Swarthmore might. However, I also believe that, in the end, students who added Pomona to their list and considered accepting the offer of admission look at harder facts than a ranking that might be whimsical. I’d love to think that the students who like Pomona would not start to dislike if the rankings dropped them a dozen spots. </p>
<p>My point was that the impact of Forbes was probably not great and more insignificant than some might think. </p>
<p>I did indeed choose Stanford for a number of reasons, and that it was ranked 1 in my field carried some importance. On the other hand, I did go a different route when I decided to spend a few years … just next to Pomona! When I drive, which is not very often, I rely on my trusty Toyota FourRunner. I did, however, leave the huge bumpers and the longhorn hoodsign back in Texas! ;)</p>
<p>Per the university president, Pomona received 7700 applications to the class of 2018. 470 accepted a position at Pomona initially. 10 went to other schools off wait lists through the summer. 12 or 13 elected to take a gap year. 43% of the incoming class identifies as students of color. 11% are international. These are the numbers for incoming students, not admitted students. The numbers you see from Nostalgic Wisdom are probably correct. My daughter says he is well connected at Pomona. </p>
<p>Other data: median ACT 33, SAT CR 730, M 740, W 740. Or maybe the W and CR were reversed. 33% of the students were 1st or 2nd in their class (of the students whose schools submitted rankings).</p>
<p>The change in number of applications and percent yield are dramatic. The Forbes article almost definitely changed things. That is not necessarily a negative. Pomona is not well known to the general public. More exposure probably led to more visits to campus and more scrutiny by the top students and their parents. More scrutiny is going to lead to more interest. Anecdotally, my daughter was absolutely not interested in Pomona until she set foot on campus. I had to drag her there. (She visited before the Forbes article came out, but the article sure changed the perception of the school by her high school classmates.) That visit led to her eventual enrollment. On the other hand, her visits to the east coast LAC’s led her to lose interest in most LAC’s.</p>
<p>Interesting. Daunting. D plans to apply ED1. She has good stats and EC’s, but is also a white girl. She’ll put everything she has into her Pomona app. We visited last Fall and will visit again in October. Anyone know why the interview portal shows only 2 Saturdays as the only days available to interview in the entire month of October?</p>
<p>The increase is likely due to the fact more people found out that Randy Jackson (Am Idol) and well known actor with parkinson disease both have kids attending PC ! Students like the hollywood lifestyle and such. JK </p>
<p>Good that PC is getting more interest. It is a great school – and companies recognize PC produces talented graduates. My S has said over and over how lucky he was to get admitted. He appreciates learning from top professors, research and internship opportunities, many on campus activities, and has made many, many, many lifelong friends, from PC, Pitzer, and even a few at CMC, as it is a SCIAC league rival! </p>
<p>I think PC’s well-funded endowment, enabling it to cover 100% of financial need is also a key draw to increased interest/enrollment. College isn’t getting less expensive. If you come from a family with limited financial resources and can graduate with little or no debt, and earn a diploma from one of the nation’s top colleges, it doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to realize PC’s benefits. If it has a few growing pains in the process so be it. I’m thankful my child is attending a college ranked among the ivy’s, Stanford, etc. and not at some other university more well known for its football team than being an academic powerhouse! </p>
<p>That is hardly correct in historical terms. Pomona hardly increased its application between the Classes of 2016 and 2018. If you place value to the impact of Forbes, you should look how neighboring CMC despite its blacklist. They grew by … Twenty percent. Go figure! </p>