<p>I'm a rising senior and I really like Pomona. My only issue is that Pomona is so little known, and I'm not sure if I want to go Pomona over another, better known school. So, why did you guys choose Pomona? What made you choose Pomona over other, better known, schools?</p>
<p>Would suggest reading:
[CollegeData</a> - College Buzz - John - Pomona College - Class of 2013](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_magarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=30044]CollegeData”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_magarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=30044)
[CollegeData</a> - College Buzz - Leyth - Pomona College - Class of 2016](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_magarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=30075]CollegeData”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/content/content_magarticle_tmpl.jhtml?articleId=30075)
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15256579-post93.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15256579-post93.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16102450-post13.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/16102450-post13.html</a></p>
<p>My personal perspectives (I did QuestBridge and ranked Pomona 1st above more well known schools.):</p>
<p>Initially, I had the same concern as you. As a low income applicant from urban Texas, almost no one knows of Pomona (or any liberal arts college, for that matter). The prestige seemed to be a big draw of better known schools. But when I sat down and seriously evaluated prestige, the big draws for Pomona became even stronger.</p>
<p>Here’s the truth about prestige- when you look at how Pomona does comparatively, you realize that prestige does not hurt the post-graduate statistics of students. Its PhD production is in the top 20 for all colleges or universities, as is its placement to the top feeder schools. Competitive graduate fellowships like Rhodes, Truman, Fulbrights, and Goldwater? Pomona ranks 8th in the country for producing these per capita. The medical school, law school, and business school acceptance rates are significantly higher than the national average. Top employers know about Pomona, and the Career Development Office is fantastic. The starting salaries are diluted by a heavy number of students who pursue non-profit work and graduate school, but if you look at those who do technology or finance, they make just the same, if not more than students from other schools. (Source- page 2 of <a href=“http://pomona.edu/administration/career-development/files/where-grads-go-2013.pdf[/url]”>http://pomona.edu/administration/career-development/files/where-grads-go-2013.pdf</a>) Work hard at Pomona, and you will be well rewarded. </p>
<p>Pomona stands as one of the most unique educational experiences in the country. It is perhaps the only comprehensive co-ed liberal arts college that genuinely feels like it has the resources of a mid-sized university, but with a complete and exclusive focus on the undergraduates (unlike other “LAC” universities like U’Chicago and Rice, or other LACs in consortiums like Amherst and Swarthmore). It combines both a focus on academia and intellectualism with a focus on pre-professionalism and career development, a balance many other top schools struggle with. The location is arguably the richest to experience ones’ college years, and the nurturing atmosphere and open-mindedness of the school can’t be topped.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks so much! You’ve actually gone a long way to assuage my fears about Pomona. But its still so frustrating when I mention Pomona and get a confused smile in return. Could you perhaps speak to the “location” of the school? Why is Pomona’s location the best to experience college? I’ve visited Claremont and, while it definitely isn’t a hole in the ground, it definitely is not the most interesting place on earth. </p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I also would like to know more about the location. I have heard that being near LA is not overly relevant because students do not go into the city much and it is not at ALL like schools just outside of Boston or even Northwestern’ns proximity to Chicago. That is not a bad thing, but is it inaccurate to say that you have the resources (internships, research, etc.) of LA at your fingertips?
HSG’</p>
<p>It’s very well balanced. You can make of it as you want to. I personally never found LA inaccessible. </p>
<p>Claremont is a calm, safe, and pretty little town, an ideal place to step away from the urban jungle of Southern California. The Village, directly adjacent to the south side of Pomona, has a movie theater, a bunch of good restaurants, starbucks, jamba juice and frozen yogurt, a pharmacy, some chain stores like American Apparel, banks, and salons, so it’s not as small as some other college towns feel (like Swarthmore). It has vastly improved over the few years due to renovations in the Village and improvements in transportation. There is a farmer’s market every sunday, and plenty of traditions and holidays, which makes for a cozy, lovable place.</p>
<p>Just a 2-3 mile drive from campus is pretty much every supermarket and fast food restaurant imaginable. Some are walking distance like Trader Joe’s and Subway. It’s easy to bike to many of these places, though most prefer the accessibility and safety of a car. About 20% of the student body has a car, and for those who don’t, students can rent a car from either ZipCar or Wheelz. </p>
<p>Two big non-car transportations include Dial-a-Ride and Foothill Transport. Foothill can drop you off in big stores like Target within 5 minutes, and the bus center is directly adjacent to the south edge of campus. The service is 1.75 for a round trip ticket. The Claremont Dial-a-Ride can take you anywhere around Claremont, the Montclair Plaza (huge mall with a lot of stores like Sears, JC Penny, Target), and the Pomona Medical Center. The service is 2.50$ for each way. Foothill can be a little unreliable especially on the weekdays, but Dial-a-Ride works fantastically.</p>
<p>The closest airport to Pomona is Ontario International Airport, located 20 minutes east of campus. It costs approximately 20$ to get to campus via super shuttle or taxi. </p>
<p>We’re in the heart of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, sandwiched right in between Los Angeles to the West and the Inland Empire to the East. One can drive to these areas (it takes around 40 minutes to get to Downtown Los Angeles when traffic isn’t bad, in my personal experiences, if you time it wisely, it usually isn’t). The more convenient option is the San Bernardino Line. You go to the Claremont Metrolink Station (right next to campus), and for 5$ can get a weekend pass to ride the train. The train drops you off right at Union Station in Los Angeles in about 50 minutes. The train is very reliable (it has never been absent, and it is rarely late). The earliest time to leave is at 4:39 AM, and the latest time to leave Union Station is at 11:00 PM. </p>
<p>You can get off directly at the Union Station to go to Little Tokyo, Arts District, Olvera Street, and Chinatown, within walking distance. Otherwise, you jump onto another train, bus, or subway from Union to go to pretty much any major destination in the Los Angeles Area. (See the map: <a href=“http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Spring-2012-LACMTA-Map.png[/url]”>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Spring-2012-LACMTA-Map.png</a>) I personally use the Silver Line a lot, which goes to USC, the Staples Center (Laker games!), the Walt Disney Concert Hall, MOCA, and the LA Convention Center. Union Station also has Amtrak trains. 2 of note- Pacific Surfliner, which goes to San Diego in about 2-3 hours, and Coast Starlight, which goes to San Francisco to Portland to Seattle. </p>
![http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Spring-2012-LACMTA-Map.png[/url]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Spring-2012-LACMTA-Map.png%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>The Los Angeles Metropolitan Area offers a lot. Concerts from big names in the music industry, big sport venues, the best orchestra and theater performances, some of the country’s best ethnic neighborhoods, amusement parks like Disney Land, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Universal Studios, huge shopping areas, a lot of museums, big city parks like Griffith, honestly just about anything. In terms of natural scenery, it can’t be topped- the Pacific Ocean, a ton of beaches, mountains, ski-resorts, national parks, botanical gardens, hills, and deserts, all in coexistence. The activity isn’t all centered west of Claremont- toward the east you’ll find the Coachella Music Festival and Joshua Tree National Park. We can’t forget the weather either- perfect pretty much year around :)</p>
<p>The school highly encourages students to take full advantage of the location. There are plenty of initiatives it offers:
-47 Things to do Before Graduating ([url=<a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/about/47/47-things-to-do.aspx)%5D%5B/url”>http://www.pomona.edu/about/47/47-things-to-do.aspx)][/url</a>] a yearly competetion in which the 3 students who do the most things on this list are given cash prizes [and big ones too, 1000 dollars!]. This year, 2 international students took the top 2 prizes, so it goes to show you that you don’t need a car to take advantage of Los Angeles!
-Pomona College Internship Program- sponsors 150 students yearly to do internships with 50 organizations in the SoCal region. Covers the cost of travel.
-Pomona Events Committee Off-Campus Event- subsidizes the cost of several of these trips [most are free], and covers round trip travel. Last year, events included Indoor Skydiving in Hollywood, Pastrami Dip at the Hat, theater at Nokia Center Live, LA County Fair, Wicked Musical at the Sergerstrom Center for Arts, Huntington Gardens, Donut Man, Newport Beach, Angels vs. Tigers Baseball Game, Old Town Pasadena, Lakers game, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Aquarium of the Pacific, LACMA, Hollywood Sign Trip, Book of Mormon Theater Performance, and Santa Monica Pier. Planned for this semester are Dodgers vs Giants Baseball Game, LA County Fair, Watts Towers, San Diego Zoo, and Griffith Observatory [and more to come].
-ASPC- gives discount tickets to amusement parks
-On the Loose, Pomona’s outdoor wilderness group. Trips in the past have included Zion National Park, Yosemite National Park, King Canyon National Park, Mt. Baldy hikes, sea kayaking on the channel islands, skiing at Mammoth mountain, the Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon.
-Draper Center for Community Partnerships- covers the cost of travel for students looking to be involved with off-campus volunteering positions, including Zipcar and Metrolink. Also, Alternabreak- one week community engagement spring breaks at Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco.
-Clubs and academic organizations- Through AAMP, I visited Little Tokyo and the Japanese American Museum, as well as the Manzanar Historic Site. Through Empowered Latinos for Action, I visited the San Diego-Mexican Border. Through QuestBridge, I visited the LA Book Fair (where I won an opera ticket!) , Halona Cabin, and the Griffith Observatory. My friend’s music teacher gave him a pass for a concert at Walt Disney Hall.</p>
<p>The reason we do get the reputation that we don’t really take advantage of SoCal is because there is a definite college bubble. A ton (literally) of events happen each year- more than 7000 events were scheduled at the Smith Student Center last year, and events at all of the 5 colleges are open to students from all the schools. Few, if any, students have to go off-campus for research, as Pomona has a very strong focus on research for its size, probably the most for any undergraduate school. And academics too- they are demanding and rigorous! Most just don’t have time to go out as much.</p>
<p>But for the adventurous student, Pomona (and any other school in Southern California) offers one of the best settings in the country to do so, with ample urban and natural options.</p>
<p>Interesting thread. Where do Pomona students go for internships given the huge number of schools near by and the number of students (I would assume) seeking internships?
T</p>
<p>Well, for PCIP, the internships are all around the Los Angeles area. Some are within walking distance like the Foothill AIDs Project in Claremont, some are a little farther away, like the Pomona Medical Valley Hospital (3.5 miles), and some are in the Los Angeles area, like Glendale (34 miles). If transportation is required, it is covered, either through ZipCar rental, Metrolink, bus, or Amtrak.</p>
<p>There are stipends for summer internships as well; to see where Pomona students go to please see page 6-8 of <a href=“http://www.pomona.edu/administration/career-development/files/where-grads-go-2013.pdf[/url]”>http://www.pomona.edu/administration/career-development/files/where-grads-go-2013.pdf</a></p>
<p>It’s important to realize that unlike just about any other metropolitan area in the country, SoCal is developed cities scattered all throughout the area, not big city–>forest–>farm land–>forest–>big city. There are several big cities in the region. Pomona is about 3 miles east from campus and has 160,000 people. Ontario is 7 miles west and has 160,000 people. Rancho Cucamonga is 13 miles west and also has 160,000 people. Fontana- 200,000, 20 miles west. Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange are 25 miles south and have 330,000/130,000/130,000 people. Pasadena, 25 miles east, 200,000 people. Santa Ana is 30 miles south and has 325,000 people. San Bernardino, 30 miles west, 200,000 people. Los Angeles, 32 miles east, almost 4 million people. 45 miles away is Long Beach (450,000). All of these places on a good day should take under an hour to get to via traffic. So if you don’t like the internship options proposed by PCIP, you can find an internship in the area by yourself. I’ve already highlighted transportation options above^ I am sure that if you go to the student affairs office you can request some money for transportation if you need it and it is for an academic purpose. </p>
<p>I know some students who intern at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, for instance. I also know several students who intern at several hospitals around the area: <a href=“http://www.copehealthsolutions.org/clinical-internships/overview[/url]”>http://www.copehealthsolutions.org/clinical-internships/overview</a></p>
<p>Thank you so much for all this detailed information. Truly, this compilation was a labor of love! It is really interesting and useful for applicants who may not be able to visit… one of my kids is waiting to hear about the fly-in which will be her only route to a visit prior to applying. I’m sure she will add all of this info to her lists as she sorts through and re-orders schools and she will use some of these items as a jumping off place for further research. Again, thank you so much - maybe a career or at least an internship in PR for you ;)?!</p>
1 Like