Social life?

purplegirl · 10-25-2009, 08:07 AM

My D is serously considering Pomona, ED but has some concerns. She loves the campus, the location is ok but she would have liked to be closer to the coast. She is interested in a school that has an active outdoor club. She likes to surf, ski, swim, sports, etc. But looking over the outing club and social activities it seems the trips are mostly overnight, camping, etc. In reality, how do the kids get to the beach? Just to say for the afternoon? Are there day trips? And at night, what is there to do besides parties. She would like an active campus life too. She is torn because other schools have what appears to be more school spirit such as attendance at football/hockey and BBall games which she doesn't get the vibe at Pomona. She likes to see a school with a pub/night club where concerts might be held. Also, does your social life revolve around just hanging with the few friends you have or are there other social events (other than parties) that brings the school community together? I can see that this is why she is torn between Pomona and some of the schools she likes here in the northeast. Sorry for so many questions, but the deadlines are approaching.

mom22girls · 10-25-2009, 08:16 AM

My d is seriously considering Harvey Mudd (also from L.I.) You might consider posting this question on the other four colleges forums as well if you don't get the response you're looking for. Since they are a consortium, those students would know about this as well. Good Luck!

SpiritManager · 10-26-2009, 01:51 AM

I don't think she should apply ED. There are many things on your list that your daughter is looking for which are not central to the experience at Pomona. Perhaps she'll decide next Spring that those things are less important to her than whatever it is that draws her to Pomona (which isn't clear from your post) but you should encourage her only to apply for regular decision since it's quite possible from your description that Pomona is not the right school for her.

As for getting to the beach - no, they're not going to pop out in the afternoon for a quick dip in the ocean. It doesn't work that way. It's an hour drive. And if she doesn't have a car, she'll have to go with an organized outing. As for the outdoors club - they have lots of hikes and overnights - but it's not going to be everyday. Nor would she have time to be going off to the beach everyday, or going skiing every afternoon. While the Claremont Colleges are convenient for access to the natural world as well as the urban world- the truth is that the focus there is on the campuses themselves, not off. In Southern California getting anywhere can take quite a bit of time - and driving.

purplegirl · 10-26-2009, 07:51 AM

Thanks for your replies. For several years she has had a strong desire to go to southern california for college. We took a trip this summer and looked at many schools there that she expressed interest in. But either they were too big, too religious, not selective enough, etc, she felt Pomona was the best fit. But with Pomona having to sacrifice being near the coast to get the more academic LAC for science. Thus, while Pomona is great as the small LAC good in science, it doesn't really offer her any different "outdoorsy" stuff that the same type of schools do here in New England. The reason she is set on ED is because of fear of rejection at RD at these schools since they take almost 1/2 their class ED and the experience of D1 taught us that, ED gives our kids the best shot. (Although, so far D1 is making it work and is happy). She knows anything can happen in RD round but she's trying to put the ball in her court. We will keep visiting other schools and in the end the decision is hers. She's a great kid, works hard and I know she'd make it work at alot of the schools she's looked at. She just isn't willing to give up this California thing yet!

cbreeze · 10-28-2009, 06:54 PM

Quote:

it doesn't really offer her any different "outdoorsy" stuff that the same type of schools do here in New England.

I don't quite understand this statement. As you know, California has sunshine throughout the year so people are able to spend much more time outdoors than indoors. In New England, the winter months are snowy, so the number of activities that can be done outdoors are very limited. The strongest suit California can offer is the weather. From Pomona College, you can go snow skiing in an hour in the winter as well as playing volleyball on the beach or go surfing in an hour. I don't think those activities are possible for most of the year in New England.

A few of my friends' children went to UC San Diego because it is close to the ocean and they wanted to surf. Little did they know that without a car, the surfing spots are not readily accessible.

redlightbulb · 11-10-2009, 02:45 PM

I think there are a few things to point out:

1) The 5 colleges are very residential (average 95%) so on any given weekend there are at least 4,500 smart students who would be bored out of their minds is they weren't putting on speaking events, dance parties, plays, movie screenings, concerts and trips here and there.

2) The 5C outdoors club, the OTL (found here: On The Loose | Home) is the largest enterly student run outdoors club in the country, and is an amazing resource for trips, friends, and equipment.

3) Pomona works very hard to get students off of campus for cheap or for free. Many of these trips are from a list some student's made a while back - I have gone on quite a few of these, and there seems to be a trip almost every weekend. A version of the list is here: Pomona College Magazine :: PCM Online

Also, Pomona has a lot of FLEX cars on campus, and will subsidize some student trips - this makes getting around a lot easier!

Pomona is not in the downtown of a city, or connected by the best public transportation network, but unless your off campus desires are to go clubbing I rarely hear complaints.

kcmdonahue · 11-10-2009, 02:49 PM

I know this is off-topic... but is it true that Pomona takes half their class ED?

twomules · 11-10-2009, 09:27 PM

RE: ED numbers

I looked in Pomona's Common Data Set and the number of students admitted ED was left blank. I don't know where else to go for the information. There was a note saying that the ED plan includes Questbridge and Posse kids.

http://www.pomona.edu/institutionalr...S2009_2010.htm

FauxNom · 11-10-2009, 10:38 PM

I think Pomona takes around 130 ED.

lightbulb - thanks for your post here and on the jobs thread. Very helpful!

leeduh · 11-11-2009, 05:09 PM

The Class Profile I got for 2008-2009 (class of 2012) says that out of the 382 people in it's Freshmen Class, 110 were admitted through ED

Anonymous91 · 11-18-2009, 02:35 PM

If your daughter wants an outdoor experience, Pomona is her best bet. It's true that east coast LAC's have that more rural and "outdoorsy" feel, but at Pomona you can be outdoors for the whole year, not just sept,oct,april and may.

Pomona has a plethora of campus unifying events (excluding parties), from athletic events (the Pomona-Pitzer VS CMS homecoming football game was just last week which had amazing spirit) to forums/debates to departmental events to free/subsidized trips outside campus (Dodgers game, exploring Old Pasadena, and the aquarium of the pacific were this year just to name a few off the top of my head).

No it's not like you can just roll out of bed and get to the beach but one can certainly make a very fun day trip (as I have done several times) out of it.