<p>Although I haven't visited Pomona yet (and only 20 days are left to decide!) I am very confident that I would like to attend Pomona through my research, talks with students, and the general impression I gather from virtually every resource I have come into contact with. My parents and I realize Pomona is an excellent school and is probably the best one I got into, <em>but</em> it is in California and I live in Ohio. My parents told me last night that they do not want me to go to Pomona, but would rather see me stay on the east coast. They think that if I were to stay on the east coast we would see a lot more of each other and that is a major issue for them. I have to admit, they are justified. I took off to boarding school in Tennessee when I was 14 and now I am wanting to go to California - it would be like we were never a family. I am wondering how often students typically go home from Pomona. I looked at the academic calendar for next year and it is very similar to my schedule at boarding school, which seems to be working fine. One thing I am concerned about are the summers - do most Pomona students return home during the summer or is it expected for students to intern and study abroad throughout their summers? If I can convince my parents that I would still be able to see them they will let me go. Any suggestions and information would be extremely appreciated - I would love to go to Pomona!</p>
<p>I'm even further than you are and I went home for Thanksgiving and Winter Break. I know some people from the east who went back for Fall Break, Thanksgiving, Winter Break, Spring Break and will be going for Easter Weekend too. It really does vary. Honestly, I could've done without Thanksgiving Break too. It's great out here! As for summer, most of the people I know are going home, but that's limited to freshmen. </p>
<p>I took off to boarding school in Tennessee when I was 14 and now I am wanting to go to California - it would be like we were never a family</p>
<p>No way! I'm shocked you would actually think that. My parents and I are still very close. I'm in contact with them, either through e-mail or phone almost daily. They both came out for Parent's Weekend in February, about a month after Winter Break. I'm not sure if you wrote this out of anxiety, just plain not knowing or if it suggests that you might have serious problems away from home, but in my experience so far, my relationship with my parents is the best it has ever been. Because I am not always with them, every conversation is meaningful and now that I'm a "college man," I actually feel like I can engage with them on an equal level. The dynamics might be different, but your family will always be your family, make no mistake.</p>
<p>Well, from a little different point of view, my S attends Pomona and we live about an hour away and that has made matters no different than if we lived 3000 miles away, for the most part. There have been no weekend visits, etc., no laundry drop offs (just too much good stuff going on at school).</p>
<p>He has come home at Thanksgiving break, winter break and home for the summer and we visited on family weekend and it has all been great.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, first of all that Ontario Airport is about 10-15 minutes from school, so travel is pretty easy. LA International is about an hour away and Orange County airport is about 1/2 hour or so.</p>
<p>You start in August and w/i a couple of months you have thanksgiving break (oh and mid semester break in October), followed w/i weeks of Thanksgiving by a month long winter break. Back to school in mid-january, a month later is family weekend and a month after that is spring break and then boom, first of May and you're done till August. (Lots of kids spend more continuous time from home at sleep-a-way camps-lol.)</p>
<p>I think most students leave for the summer and scatter home/internships and whatever else they chose to do. Not many seem to stay around Claremont through the summer in my observation.</p>
<p>I'd also add that while about 1/3 of the students are from California, I don't think my S has met very many. Most everyone he knows is from here, there and everywhere.</p>
<p>I don't think being at Pomona would add to any difficulties in visiting home and keeping connected with your family.</p>
<p>Pomona students go home for breaks and summer vacations just like students all across the country. If you went to school in the east and lived on campus, you would probably go home about the same number of times as if you were in California. In fact, my friends who have college students in California, living on campus, don't see their kids any more often than I do - although the expense of flying home is a bit more. We've been able to find flights under $300 round trip most of the time.
Your parents could come out to move you in, and again on parent's weekend in the spring. What you do with your summer vacactions is completely up to you. If you wanted to go home and find a job there for the summers, I can't think of anything that would stop you.
It's hard to commit to four years away from family (harder for them than for you, no doubt) but with email, cell phones, and breaks interspersed throughout the year, you can still be, and will always be, a part of your family.</p>
<p>k<em>is</em>here-- welcome to CC!</p>
<p>Both my kids are on the West Coast--D is a first-year at Pomona. With each of them, we discovered that we heard more from them while they were out there than we did when they were home! I went to college on the East Coast about 8 miles from my parents, but I rarely went home aside from vacations--I was just too busy with college and ECs. D will be coming home for the entire summer this year.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>ok, this may be a bit redundant, but we live on the east coast and my S is a freshman at pomona... so far he has come home for thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks, and we visited claremont for family weekend in february... he'll be home in the summer too... if you add up the actual class time, then he's only away for 7 1/2 months during the year. please don't base your decision on how many miles from home you will be unless you are needed at home for some special reason that you have not mentioned...</p>
<p>So how is your son's freshman year going, fairburn? Happy?</p>
<p>he seems happy... he has made some good friends and likes most of his profs. he had some problems registering for classes with the most popular profs, but got most of the classes that he wanted though not always at the preferred time or with the most popular prof... i guess that situation improves as you become an upperclassman. i think that he made a great decision by moving across country. it really adds to a feeling of independence and i think coming home is a "bigger deal" (in a good way)... the more i see of pomona, the more impressed that i am. what's not to like?</p>
<p>One line I would use with other parents who couldn't believe that we would "let" our kids go to school on the West Coast was "It was either five hours of driving or five hours of flying, and we'd prefer flying." Once they experienced packing cars and moving kids to college, they admitted they would have preferred flying. ;)</p>