Transferring to Pomona

bcda4321 · 01-03-2009, 01:27 AM

I'm looking to transfer to Pomona from Brandeis Univ. for Fall 2009. I have a 3.67 gpa for my first freshman semester. My E.C.'s aren't extensive, as I'm on the crew team and waking up at 4 45 am 3-4 times a week takes a lot of energy. However, this won't be the first time I'm applying to Pomona and I feel like I can really show my desire to go to the school through my essays. Is there even a chance for me? Even if there isn't I think I'm still going to go for it. I'm just looking for advice when it comes to transferring as I have never done this before and this process seems just as daunting as the regular first-year application process.

Thanks!

water boy · 01-03-2009, 11:45 AM

Keep your grades up, or get them higher. It's one thing you can do to show you're serious about your studies. Few, if any, Pomona students go through semesters without putting in a lot of work.

Really think about why you want to go to Pomona. Why wasn't Brandeis the right place? And what makes Pomona right? Just the ranking? And what do you bring to Pomona?

MNKeeper · 01-03-2009, 08:47 PM

I transferred to Pomona this year, but I don't have any specific advice that would be a big help. Just make sure to give your profs plenty of time to write their rec's. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

bcda4321 · 01-04-2009, 01:07 AM

Thanks for the help. I was waiting to see my grades for the first semester before starting this whole process so I still haven't approached my professors for the recommendations. I guess I'll have to do that once I get back. How is the advising at Pomona? One of the reasons I want to leave the school I'm at is that I feel totally lost there. I went to a liberal arts college because I didn't know what I wanted to study and had hoped to explore my options, but I feel like I'm getting no help. I've been assigned three different advisers (none of whom I have any sort of a personal connection with) and while one tells me I have time to decide my major, the other tells me that if I want major x I should already be taking classes y and z. One of the reasons I love Pomona is that I actually feel like the school cares about its students. Plus (I'm hoping) it at least has enough money to maintain a swimming pool.

MNKeeper · 01-05-2009, 12:09 PM

The advising is good... I mean, it's a small school so everyone gets individual attention. All new students write a short essay about themselves so that the school can pair students with the best possible advisor. Students and advisors will always have something in common as a result of the students' essays.

There are two outdoor swimming pools at Pomona.

dreamer121 · 01-14-2009, 11:37 PM

ah a Pomona transfer! I'm so jealous. I'm applying to transfer to Pomona out of NYU. There are so many things wrong about NYU I won't even take the time to list them here. I absolutely despise it and am literally crossing days off the calendar till may. Question: what were you SAT scores (if you dont mind me asking)? My SATs are low for Pomona, do they put a lot of emphasis on them?

jjay1 · 01-15-2009, 09:24 PM

I'm looking at transferring to Pomona as well, but I'm coming from a large public university. I have a 4.0 in its honors program, though, and am hoping to play basketball for the school.

bcda4321 · 02-02-2009, 01:25 PM

I'm in the same boat as you, my SAT scores weren't the best. I remember them telling me though that they don't put a lot of emphasis on them. They care more about grades and whatnot. Does anyone know what the acceptance rate is for transfers at Pomona?

ubergook · 03-02-2009, 04:55 PM

the transfer rate is little above 10 percent, but the rates aren't similar between male and female applicants

water boy · 03-12-2009, 06:30 AM

JJay1: basketball team just took a transfer from Cal. A few years back, water polo took a transfer from UCI. And football takes a number of transfers too. Definitely possible; talk to the coach. You know the deal.

Pomona has two swimming pools; one is an Olympic size facility. There are also pools at CMC, Scripps and Pitzer.

There is a club crew team in Claremont, but not a big presence.

jjay1 · 03-12-2009, 11:51 PM

water boy, I have been in communication with the basketball coach. He wants me to play there and said he's going to support my application. I'm visiting campus on Tuesday, so hopefully everything works out!

MNKeeper · 03-23-2009, 10:56 PM

Sorry I've been a bit neglectful of this thread (and this entire website) for the past few weeks.

First off, I didn't take the SAT, so sorry, I can't help you out there. But if you do a bit of searching I'm sure you'll be able to find the average SAT score for Pomona (CollegeBoard would have it).

As was mentioned earlier, the guy that lives across the hall from me was a baskteball player at Cal and now plays for Pomona.

Also, the transfer acceptance rate is actually a little under 10%. There are 14 transfers this year and according to Pomona there were roughly 200 applicants. I will admit that I don't know exactly how many students were accepted as transfers, but I'm assuming that nearly everyone who was accepted as a transfer came here.

starstruckk · 03-26-2009, 06:48 AM

good luck to all transfers!

dreamer121 · 04-09-2009, 11:40 AM

I CAN'T WAIT TILL MAY!!! this wait is killing me!

hopefulCali · 04-10-2009, 06:07 PM

Does anyone know if the May 15th notification date is the date by which applicants will be notified or the date Pomona sends out decisions? I'm trying to decide when to start obsessively checking my mailbox.

Good luck everyone!