<p>Hi! I'm visiting Pomona in February, and I was wondering what in particular I should do/ see, and how to make the most of my time there. I live in Jersey, so this will be my one and only time to see it... are there any places on campus or in the town I should see, or any classes/ activities I should sit in on? How can I spend my time there to get the fullest picture of the Pomona? Thanks for any opinions!</p>
<p>Definitely do the tour and info session of Pomona. Check with the Admissions Off. to make sure there aren't any outreach events scheduled for the day(s) you're visiting. If you do the 11:00 info session followed by the noon tour, you'll get lunch tickets--great way to get a feel for the college experience. If you ask before your visit, Pomona will provide you with a list of classes you can visit. Or, you can just look up the class schedule on the web, identify ones that interest you, and e-mail the professor for permission. My D observed (did not participate) a modern dance class while visiting and got a good sense of the dance technique taught. Plus, she met some of the students. Drop in at the Coop (student-run bookstore) to browse through the books and insignia items. If you play a sport, schedule a visit with a coach ahead of time or try to attend a sporting event. Definitely walk around Claremont village; it was modeled on a New England village (humorous since the Claremonts were modeled on Oxford). Because all the Claremont campuses are adjacent to one another, take the time to walk around and see the buildings, or go back to any buildings that intrigued you during the tour. If you want another CA experience, grab a bite at In 'n' Out near the campus!</p>
<p>Have fun and good luck!</p>
<p>Visit a class or two, for sure! Get there somewhat early so you can watch all the students arriving, and possibly chat with some of them before the class begins. Students like to talk to prospies, and talking to students is one of the best ways to get to know the flavor of the school. If you can, you might want to choose classes that have a very small enrollment, because small discussion oriented courses are what Pomona is really all about. Intro science classes will be a bit bigger (though still not huge). Probably the admissions office would be able to tell you the size of teh class, or at least give you a rough estimate.</p>
<p>Little Mother, since your D likes dance, I thought I'd mention that the woman who teaches Ballet II and III is a really extraordinary teacher, and incredibly knowledgeable.</p>
<p>Irene--thanks for the tip. My D took ballet for many years, but she has realized that her body type is better suited for modern. If she minors in dance, though, I think she'll need to take a ballet class. I'll let her know!</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input! I love music, philosophy, and history/ IR, so does anyone know of any especially good professors that teach any of the above? And on a practical note... which airline, in your experience, provides the cheapest tickets to get out there?</p>
<p>Oh boy, one of my favorite obsessions...dance classes! My D was very interested int he ballet offerings and e-mailed ahead and arranged to take ballet class at several schools that she visited or nearby off-campus if the school itself didn't offer much in the way of ballet. In one case she couldn't arrange a time that worked but at least she went by the studio, checked it out, and talked to the director.</p>
<p>Best on-campus ballet: Barnard, class with Allegra Kent
Best off-campus ballet: Washington Ballet, Ethan Steiffel was taking class at the same barre.</p>
<p>Regarding airline tickets, Southwest often has cheap fares. For Pomona, you can look at flying into Ontario (closest) or Burbank (beats the hassle of LAX) and you might find better options.</p>
<p>Our S just flew home from LAX for the holidays--non-stop flight on United for a tad more than $200 r/t. Friend's S who graduated from Harvey Mudd flew into Ontario on Southwest all the time.</p>
<p>I can recommend some good professors whose classes you can visit... partly from personal experience and partly from friends' experiences. </p>
<p>Music: Hagedorn, especially if you are into non-western music.</p>
<p>Philosophy: Reed is good, and a lot of people love Sontag. Atlas has a tendency to cancel class a lot, especially on Fridays, so I'd stay away from him. Otherwise you might spend a lot of time finding the classroom only to see a sign on the door announcing the cancellation. </p>
<p>History: Woods is great... don't know much about any others. </p>
<p>Don't have a clue about IR. </p>
<p>Little Mother, as you probably know, the dance dept. focusses mainly on modern so your D should be happy with it. A lot of students minor in dance, but there aren't too many who major in it. For me it was about the right level of rigor-- not TOO intense, but good quality teaching.</p>
<p>February is a good time to visit. The air is clear and it is not so cold as in other parts of the country. We are into a very wet (el nino) winter, so there should be lots of snow capped peaks to see. Check out the botanical garden.
See if someone has a recording of the Pomona song "Torchbearers" sung by the glee club. There is also a version sung by the "the Men's Blue and White" The song was originally written by a student who heard a group of native Americans performing a Ghost Dance ritual. This is the melody he heard in the 1880s. The current words were written in 1930 by Ramsey Harris and English teacher at Pomona. It is a unique Pomona song not well known in other parts of the country.</p>
<p>hey! when you spend time there, you gotta realize that claremont isn't the most LIVELY neigborhood so you can't really expect TOO much from the surrounding environment. there's the village and stuff but yeah, keep that in mind. also, we've been having a lot of bad weather lately and when you come in feb. chances are it'll still be bad. i just wanted to warn you that socal usually isn't like that. haha. it's a freak year.</p>
<p>okay that's it.</p>
<p>Southwest Air has Ontario, CA as its destination city this week. That means most flights in and out of Ontario are heavily discounted. This may be an opportunity to purchase tickets to visit Pomona.</p>
<p>Cbreeze--Thanks for the tip! I'm already looking at fares for orientation in August.</p>
<p>for IR, id suggest visiting a class by heather williams, she is supposed to be great. most of the phil profs are good, collier and hurley come to mind, so check those two out. also, just talk to as many students (probably freshmen) as you can, make sure you really like it there, but im sure you will</p>
<p>" Or, you can just look up the class schedule on the web, identify ones that interest you, and e-mail the professor for permission."</p>
<p>Where is this on the website? I can't find it...</p>
<p>Go to <a href="http://www.pomona.edu/students/%5B/url%5D">http://www.pomona.edu/students/</a>, click on "Registrar's Office," then "5C Course Schedule," then "Claremont Colleges Course Schedule." From there you can select the subject.</p>