Pomona College Athletic Recruiting

otisp
Fri, 28 Jun 2019 03:24:13 +0000

I’m pretty sure I related my kid’s recruiting experience at Pomona on one of your threads last year, but I’ll try to focus on your current situation here. While a few minor things about the Pomona/Pitzer process have apparently changed since my kid went through it, I don’t think they would change my answer (I’d be happy to be corrected if someone has had a different experience in the past couple of years).

1. The entire admissions committee doesn’t even review the vast majority of final admissions decisions (most are made by sub-committees), let alone pre-reads. Pomona has gone back and forth between splitting up sports among different AOs and having a single “athletics liaison” on the committee, but either way the official pre-read is done by someone in admissions.

2. Good question. I know that the disconnect between the diversity of the P/P teams and the general student population has been noted by folks in the athletics dept., but I’m guessing the pre-read is purely an academic exercise. I could go a lot more into how Pomona goes about seeking a “diversity of perspectives” overall, but I’m not sure that has any bearing on what you should be doing or thinking at this point.

3. While I have seen a number of the Pomona AOs at games rooting for students they have admitted, at this point I’m guessing they’re sticking with evaluating academics and letting the coach decide whether you would fill a current need for her team.

4. In my kid’s case, the pre-read came back with a conditional “green light” predicated on test scores being brought up to be within Pomona’s “profile” (at that point it was the 25th percentile of the previous class’ score). Kiddo aced the ACT re-take and was subsequently told that an ED1 application “would be supported at the highest level.” I have no idea what’s communicated between admissions and the coach, but we were told by another parent that Kiddo received one of the two slots allotted for that sport.
I think what’s key at this point is that you should maintain a good line of communications with the coach - you’ll have to do that anyway if you’re going to play for her. If you completely filled out the recruiting form, she already has your transcripts and test scores, and having been at Pomona for about 5 years, she has a pretty good unofficial feel for your chances - and is now taking it to the next level to see if it’s worth supporting you in the fall. Whatever the result of the pre-read, ask her what it means and what it means you should do next. (Don’t worry, she’s been asked that more than a few times before).