Hi All! I’m an incoming freshman at Pomona college and since I recently went through applying to college, admissions, decisions. researching the college, getting a dorm, OA, etc. Basically I have lots of info and I wanna share it to help make your decisions easier. If you have any questions just drop a comment and I’ll get back to you! I applied RD to Pomona and was waitlisted then taken off the waitlist and decided to attend after recieving enough financial aid (I had committed to University of British Columbia while waiting to hear back). I got a 1430 SAT, 4.8 weighted GPA, all IB courses, lots of ECs, but I think my essays were what closed the deal. LMK if you need any advice!
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone familiar with Pomona is welcome to answer questions in this thread.
Congratulations on getting in! When did you hear back from the waitlist?
I’m assuming you’re coming from Canada if your other choice was British Columbia. I’m interested to know what the commuting process is like for you, how difficult it is to get to campus from the airport, and whether you manage well enough without a car (if you don’t have a car on campus)
@ninakatarina I am a parent of a Pomona student and recently visited the campus after flying into LAX. In prior visits, I had always rented a car at the LAX airport. But this recent trip, I simply took the Fly Away bus from LAX to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. It cost about $10 and took the express lane to reach Union Station in about 30 minutes. LA’s Union Station itself is worth visiting. Reflecting the Art Deco style, this lovely landmark has been renovated in recent years and is both lovely and functional. From Union Station, I took Metro-Link train to reach Claremont Station in about 75 minutes. The train is quiet and comfortable with electrical charging at certain table/seats. Cost about $10.
From Claremont Station, it’s only 1 short block to the Southwestern Most corner of Pomona College campus. And in about 3 more short blocks, I reached Sumner Hall, the admissions office for Pomona College and where many freshman dorms are located. So from Claremont Station to freshman dorms took about 10 minutes to walk. I had a large luggage which I pulled on wheels. It was a safe, short walk in sunny warm S. Calif. climate along peaceful streets. Easy. On campus, there are Zip cars parked at several locations including Sumner Hall and near Draper Center. Remember, the 5C’s form one large contiguous rectangle with the 5 (plus Keck Science grad school) campuses adjacent to each other. So it’s quite manageable to navigate. I’ve walked from one corner to the other several times for exercise. It’s pleasant and took about 25 minutes. On a bicycle (many bike share units available on campus), it would take about 7 minutes.
Also, you can take the Metro-Link from Claremont to Union Station in LA and from that station, transfer to many buses and trains, including the Gold Line trolley which takes you Northwest through Pasadena. We did this to visit the world’s largest sidewalk chalk festival this summer. It was a most enjoyable experience. No car needed.
Also, we took the Metro-Link past Claremont headed East and South to reach San Clemente, a most lovely beach community. We frolicked in the sand and ocean and ate a large seafood meal on the pier there. Then we took the free trolley to the discount mall where we took a long coffee break and then walked through their old town, which featured many quaint mom and pop shops. On weekends, the Metro-Link offers a $10 all you want to ride day pass. So our whole day of traveling to San Clemente cost only $10. And the train takes you past lovely towns on the way such as San Juan Capistrano, the legendary home of swallows. The train hugs the coastline at times too and also shows parts of industrial LA one could not witness from cars (train is elevated). I found this part of LA most intriguing and was grateful for the experience. I have visited LA many times, but had never seen this facet of LA. I now a small inkling of the logistical challenges involved in supplying a world-class city.
Hope this helps.
@ninakatarina Another Pomona parent here. Just to add to the great info from @PeaceOfMind there is a 5C ride share website which is useful for airport rides during peak travel times like holidays: http://5crideshare.com/. Ontario airport is super close and convenient but LAX is a longer more costly Uber/Lyft so it helps a lot to share. For everyday stuff, you can definitely get by without a car. Between walking, bike shares, getting rides with friends, Metrolink, ride shares and Zipcars there are plenty of options.
Nope I’m actually from Hawaii! And I’ve yet to visit the campus before, going there for orientation will be my first time there. My family and I are using a rental car to get to campus because that’ll be the easiest way to move in, but after that I will probably be taking the train to campus or flying into Ontario and ubering. I’m not planning on having a car at all in college because with rideshare services like Uber/Lyft, bus passes and the nearby train, it’s not really necessary.
How’s financial aid at Pomona? I want to apply ED but i’m a little worried abt finances because Pomona’s aid calculator said I would get $7,000.
I was given a lot of financial aid from pomona. I’m paying less than my EFC from FAFSA, which was inaccurate anyways. Pomona has a very large endowment and is very good about giving out financial aid so that students of all incomes can attend. I would double check the calculator and make sure you used the right numbers, but remember that the calculator is only an estamite. How much financial aid do you need from Pomona?
Not sure where you are flying in from, East Coast or overseas, but Ontario airport is way closer to campus.
I would need at least $15,000-20,000. I redid the college board’s npc for pomona and it went up to $8300, but I was wondering if pomona is usually more generous than the what the net price says. Have you heard of any students having success with appealing for more financial aid? And even then, if I applied ED would I have to wait to appeal until the end of regular decision? I’m super scared that even if I were to get in ED, I wouldn’t be able to afford it by $7,000 and would have to turn down my dream school 
You need to trust the NPC. No one on this thread is likely to be able to tell you how much aid you will get.
If you apply to a school ED, you turn in your FA paperwork before hearing on your ED decision. Be sure you meet those deadlines. They give you the FA info essentially with the ED info. If it is not sufficient, you can immediately appeal — they may give you a couple week extension on confirming your attendance while they process your appeal. But then you need to decide. You don’t get to wait for RD decisions.
You may want to apply RD so you can compare aid packages if you don’t think you can meet the EFC from the NPC.
Hey @love2run2018 , just wanted to answer your question about Pomona Financial Aid. I am the parent of a Pomona student, and in my experience, the aid was not in excess of what the calculator estimated. Pomona aid is based upon the student not be being required to take out any student loans. If you need to tide over a few thousand extra dollars, financial aid may allow you to take out a subsedized student loan. But, if the delta between what aid they are offering and what your parents can afford is greater than a few thousand dollars, I would actively pursue other schools. The cost of tuition only increases over time and it has historically increased at a much higher rate than the rate of inflation. In other words, the cost of college gets more expensive over the four years, not roughly stays even. So, if you are already not able to make it based on the net price calculator, it will probably get worse over time. I am not saying this to be a pessimist, rather, a realist. Basically, if you apply ED, you should be prepared to be all in. If you can not afford it, I agree with @intparent, wait for RD. You will have less odds of getting into your dream school, be that Pomona (or somewhere else), but you and your parents will most likely have multiple options to choose from. I applaud your maturity and wisdom for asking the tough questions now. Best of luck!
@love2run2018 In my experience, Pomona is one of the most generous SLAC in granting financial aid. However, I recall a few other schools exceeding Pomona’s generosity in FA. In particular, Colby, Vassar and Bates were even more generous. So explore their FA programs.
What made you choose Pomona over a bigger university like USC or even a mid size with around 6,000 kids?
Care to share your overall style and any substance of your winning Essay at Pomona? Assume you were not an athlete?
If you went to Punahou you’re in luck, so did the President of Pomona and it’s a definite feeder, athlete or all around great student - person.
Now imagine doing that at Williams in February:)
Hi, my daughter is deciding between Williams and Pomona for her ED school. She’s interested in Studio Arts and Art History, Literature. We found Williams is strong in Art History, can anyone comment on Pomona’s strength in these areas?
She’s in Taipei American School so there’s little chance for a campus tour before the ED deadline…
Williams really is the cream of the crop in art history.
@jojolee36 I chose Pomona because of the environment and the academics. I wanted to go to a bigger college initially but found that a smaller college had better class sizes and professors and the consortium gives you the feel and resources of a bigger college. Best of both worlds basically.