<p>My son won’t apply until next year, so just gathering info now. How hard is it to secure a Pomona interview? We are in the Southeast, but I have no problem grabbing a nice supersaver airfare and flying out there for 2-3 days with him so he can interview.</p>
<p>Should we call this spring to set something up for this fall? Do we need to do this months ahead of time? Seeing all these folks here who are not able to get an interview has me concerned. Thanks!</p>
<p>I got an interview pretty easily for this past summer. I was out in the LA area visiting schools and friends and I don’t remember having any problems at all scheduling an interview.</p>
<p>I don’t remember when I scheduled the interview, and they seemed not to have emailed me, but I’m pretty sure I scheduled it in late June/early July for a mid-July interview. My interviewer was really nice, too. </p>
<p>I think the reason people are having trouble now is maybe that they left it to the last minute? But in my experience with my summer interview, I had no trouble at all. 
Best of luck to your son!</p>
<p>I got one easily last summer. Just call a few weeks in advance.</p>
<p>I interviewed in October, and I remember that you had to call at least 2 weeks in advance of the date you want an interview, but I easily scheduled one in late September for an early October visit.</p>
<p>i am from the northeast but interviewed at Pomona on-campus anyway, and I just called 3 weeks before I wanted and interview and it seemed to be no problem to secure one. </p>
<p>I know that securing alumni interviewers could be more difficult (other applicants from my school couldn’t get them because of no available alums in the area)</p>
<p>It’s better to visit the campus and plan to stay overnight with students to get a feel of the school. That means no visit in the summer. You can call the admissions office for answers to all your questions.</p>
<p>We are from Northern California, so it was not convenient for us to travel to So. Cal. My son had his interview four hours from our home, in Davis, CA with an alumni. It went very well. Truthfully I think they are trying to assess a student’s commitment to the school as well as a student’s basic maturity. My son was accepted last year.</p>
<p>If you could afford it, you could fly to Pomona, but I think your chances are just as good with an alumni back there.</p>
<p>thanks for your perspective west coast mom. i was thinking that we had darn well better find the money to fly him out there if he was to be taken seriously by the admissions committee. feels a little better to know that your son was successful with an alumni interview.</p>
<p>only thing that concerns me is that my son’s UW GPA us about 3.7, weighted 4.1, but with that lower unweighted GPA, I was thinking it couldn’t hurt to show as much interest as possible. all honors and APs (10 by the time he graduates) and strong scores and activities, but you never know. he has a pretty fun, dynamic personality in an interview setting, so an interview would probably be a plus and we ought to find a way to get him out there.</p>
<p>I would think that an applicant who shows enough interest in Pomona to travel a great distance for an on-campus interview and tour would have a small advantage over an equally qualified applicant who fails to interview or who chooses an alumni interview. I may be dead wrong, though.</p>
<p>However, the rigor of your son’s high school may warrant the lower GPA.</p>
<p>I think the fun, dynamic personality (along with an amazing brain!) is exactly what they are looking for.</p>
<p>The trip would be great…the weather is amazing and there is so much to do, but they understand not everyone can afford it. BTW…my son did a campus tour as a junior, but the interview was in early fall of senior year.</p>
<p>Should you decide not to visit campus, you can request an alumni interview beginning late August/early September. Another option is to contact the Admissions Office now to ascertain whether there are alums in your area. If not, then you could schedule an on-campus interview during the campus visit.</p>
<p>D wasn’t ready to interview when we visited during her junior year, so she went with the alumni interview. The alum, who was a recent grad, had been a student interviewer when he was an undergrad, so he definitely knew what he was doing.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>