Pomona College
Why would you go to a small name college on the other side of nation when you have the brains to get into Harvard or Yale?” These were the first words my mom said when I told her I was interested in Pomona College. Pomona is a small liberal arts college located in Claremont, California. They distinguish themselves from other institutions through their cooperative academic environment, access to resources, and inclusive campus environment. These were some of the many things I noticed when I first visited Pomona during the fall fly-in program. It was at this program that I began thinking about the type of undergraduate experience I wanted, and furthermore, saw Pomona as most fitting.
Coming from a very competitive high school, I was aware that atmosphere wasn’t for me. I didn’t like people constantly asking about my class rank, GPA, and test scores. To me, none of that stuff mattered. What I cared about were our passions and what we were doing to actively grow our interest to better the community around us. I saw that as success, not these arbitrary numbers like class rank and GPA. And I believe Pomona embodied that. The student body was so brilliant and active, yet laid back. The students cared about their studies, but they didn’t feel the need to compare themselves to others for the sake of their own validation. I believed that environment, one of cooperation, would be much better for my mental and academic health while giving me what I needed to succeed.
At the fall weekend, I spoke with current and former students who shared the opportunities they had because of Pomona College. Although Pomona may not have as many resources as those large research universities or even the Ivy League, the resources are much more accessible. For starters, Pomona only houses undergraduate students, meaning the internships and research opportunities that are usually reserved for graduate students, go to undergrads. Coupled with Pomona’s small student body, the opportunity is truly limitless. Students are able to engage in research with professors as freshman, and even receive funding for internships that offer little to no pay. This results in a student body that is super engaged and dedicated to their passions.
This makes Pomona students perfect candidates for programs such as the Rhodes Scholarship and the Fulbright Scholarship. In 2016, Pomona had sixteen Fulbright Scholars while Harvard had thirty-one. But with an approximate class size of 400, Pomona actually had double the number of Fulbright Scholars when looking at ratios.
One of the greatest thing about Pomona College is that it’s a part of the Claremont Consortium. The consortium houses four other colleges, each with its own unique personality. I thought this was wonderful because Pomona would give me the accessibility of a small school but the social life of a medium sized school. Furthermore, the Claremont Colleges share a lot of the same resources. This maximizes opportunity by allowing students to take classes on other campus and even use the same educational facilities.
Academics aside, Pomona had everything I was looking for. During the college process, I paid as much attention to academics as I did social atmosphere. I did this because knew I would be attending a school with an incredible reputation, so I thought things like environment, campus, etc. were more important. Not only did Pomona have the academic environment I was looking for, but they also had a great social atmosphere. The college was super LGBT friendly and incredibly diverse. But furthermore, they were inclusive. Pomona had people from every background imaginable and these people actually interacted with each other rather than seclude themselves to their own “groups”. Seeing this at the fall fly-in program, and even admitted students weekend, I knew that Pomona was genuine.
