Pomona College

I love it here! I come from New England so the change is drastic, and wonderful. It's nice to be so close to LA that you take day trips to Hollywood to shop, or Laguna Beach, etc... to swim. But the college is really amazing. I live in the "Ghetto" dorm, but really, that's a relative term here. On my floor, there are all singles except for two doubles. One of the doubles rooms is really big, and mine has a private bathroom. If you request a single, I think they'll give it to you. Freshman year the college puts you in a "sponsor group" which is basically just the people on your hall with two sophmores to show you around. If you decide to be close to your sponsor group you can create amazing friends really fast and always have someone to sit with during lunch/dinner for that awkward first week. There's also this really cool tradition of throwing your sponcees (fellow kids in the group) in one of the various fountains across campus for his/her birthday.

As far as parties go, it's really nice to live on a sub free hall because you can experience a party elsewhere and return to your room without the threat of a big pile of vomit outside the door, or smoke wafting through the walls as you try to study. There's something going on everyday across the five C's (Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, CMC, Scripps) but most happens on the weekends at Pomona, Pitzer or CMC.

That's all!

1st Year Female -- Class 2010

Extracurricular Activities: A+, Faculty Accessibility: B+

Pomona is a great place if you are looking for a nurturing environment with lots of friendly people-both the faculty and the students are very nice and helpful. Even though it is a small school, you can go to any of the five Claremont Colleges for entertainment and/or classes, so in that sense it is kind of like going to a big university. There are lots of benefits to being part of the Claremont Consortium: there are many dining halls at your disposal since a student of one school can eat at any other campus using the meal plan; if there aren't any parties at Pomona then you can walk to other schools; you can join organizations at the other schools and meet people there if you ever get tired of seeing the same people all the time. I love Pomona, but it is not without its faults. It costs a LOT of money to be a student here; if you really want to get off campus, then you definitely need a car; Pomona students kind of live in a bubble because we are a little disconnected from the outside world; despite being one of the best liberal arts colleges in America, nobody knows about Pomona, so if you're looking for a school with plenty of name recognition this is not the place for you. But, as I said before, Pomona is a great school, and it takes really good care of its students. Maybe we get isolated because we (for the most part) all love it here, and there is so much to do in such a small space that there isn't really much need to communicate with the rest of the world...

1st Year Female -- Class 2010

Individual Value: A+, Surrounding City: B