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I am curious as to how important of a role the interview plays in the application process at Pomona. I am gonna schedule one most likely, but if I dont do it, will my chances of acceptance be reduced? Also, can anyone share some of their interview experience? what kind of questions did they ask?

By Arizonamom (Arizonamom) on Wednesday, September 01, 2004 - 12:10 am: Edit

It is always a good idea to have the interview.It looks like you are not interested if you decline it. My son's was mainly informative and very casual with a recent grad. He was accepted and our neighbor who did not have an interview but had as good stats was waitlisted-maybe coincidence but why chance it. My son did not give me details about questions but it was very low keyed and got him more excited about the school as a result. Classes started today at Pomon so the folks who could answer are probably tied up right now.

By Bmy (Bmy) on Thursday, September 02, 2004 - 10:21 am: Edit

Used to be evaluative and counted, but don't know if that's still true. My daughter interviewed and was accepted. I got the impression that they will let you know in the interview if you need to work on certain areas to be a more competitive applicant.

By Anne205 (Anne205) on Thursday, September 23, 2004 - 08:09 pm: Edit

If you live within 300 miles of the school...INTERVIEW!!! They expect you to...if you don't, it counts against you on your application. If you don't live nearby, try to have an alumni interview if you really want to go here...I get the impression interviews are more important at Pomona than other places.

By Momofthree (Momofthree) on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 02:23 pm: Edit

Boy. Am I glad to read these posts, as my S is at this moment about one hour away from Pomona on a Southwest flight. He spends the night with a Freshman tonight who has been very enthusiastic about being a host for a visiting student. He and a guy down the hall in the dorm are both hosting, and planning a over-night party of sorts. I think it will be eye opening for my S. We are 1500 miles away from Pomona, and this is his first trip to California. He plans to interview at 3:30 TODAY. Can't wait to hear about it!

By Arizonamom (Arizonamom) on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 04:45 pm: Edit

Hope it goes well. Don't forget to fill us in!
Mom of a freshman

By Momofthree (Momofthree) on Friday, September 24, 2004 - 04:52 pm: Edit

Thanks, and I will!

By Momofthree (Momofthree) on Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 10:38 pm: Edit

Well, I am able now to share a little of my S's experiences at Pomona. He just got back a couple of hours ago and is pretty wiped out! The best things apparently happened on Friday afternoon. The tour was fantastic, the buildings gorgeous, the campus impeccable. He was struck initially by the heat, (not for long) but was not at all concerned about smog, something that seems to come up frequently as an issue when people talk about Pomona. The interview was, I think, the highlight of the trip. The interviewer was a senior in the college, who made my S feel completely at his ease. They had a conversation about the interests and activities most important to S, he was asked about his major possibilities (learned that classics would be taken at Scripps, primarily), and answered questions he had. I think my S was extremely impressed by everything organized by admissions. He had called about 2 1/2 weeks before going, received a card in the mail a week later with the times of interviews and tours, and got a call last week giving him the name and phone number of his host to call to arrange a time to meet. The host arrived exactly on time, and was very friendly and helpful. My son's primary concerns were based, I think, on the fact that the host was a freshman, who, having been there just a little while, may not have had some of the info at his fingertips which might have helped. S said there really wasn't too much cultural going on, just a movie he had seen a month before, though he went again, to have something to do. After the movie, the party-hopping began. Seems that the host didn't have much else to suggest, though he himself had seen nothing of the party scene when he was a prospective student. This party scene didn't surprise my S, but he did say he was disappointed that no one talked much about the academic side of life in the groups he hung out with, no one mentioned particularly liking profs or classes. I chalk this up to the newness of this host to Pomona, and suspect that such conversations with other students could be arranged. This corroborates the information shared on another thread about when to plan over-night visits. Go on a Thursday if possible so you can see the profs in action yourself. Clearly all students were happy to be at Pomona, and not over-indulgent in their weekend parties. S did not feel pressured to imbibe.

The evening's activities ended at about 2:00 a.m.

S didn't have a chance to see anything of the athletic life; I think that would have expanded his appreciation of the school as well, as he would probably participate in intramurals at some level at which even school.

The next day S went to Occidental to look around, said it was beautiful but not nearly as impressive as Pomona. Also went to Pepperdine briefly to admire the view, then spent the evening with his father at the Los Angeles Opera. Did I mention that he loves the cultural life? Really wants to be near a major city to be able to be near such things. We are in a very rural area where we live.

I am sure My S will apply to Pomona, and is glad he was able to visit. I would love to hear from others about the more academic aspects of the college to share with him, if anyone is inclined.
Hope this helps others seeking to apply.

By Arizonamom (Arizonamom) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 12:24 am: Edit

My son loves his classes, sizes of clsses range from 14 -20 as his largest. He is very impressed with his professors and classes and books assigned are stimulating. He is already talking about doing research next year. He visited 2 classes during admitted students day in April to get a feel for them, was given a class syllabus to get an idea of the workload expected. There is a lot of work but it is doable. My S who came from a challenging HS said that the difference is that when there were periods of heavy work in HS it was followed by a short break and you had a chance to regroup. There is no pause in college or break but he is extremely happy and very connected with school activities even with the workload. My S just signed up to be a host as he says he loves the school and wants to present that to future prospects. It does seem that all the students are very happy to be there. My S visited Occidental as well and was not as impressed. Thanks for sharing the info. By the way when my S visited and spent a night on campus he stayed with a freshman as well over a weekend night but it was in April and the student was pretty knowlegable by then about the school. I can see your point as the freshman now have only been at Pomona for a month.

By Momofthree (Momofthree) on Monday, September 27, 2004 - 06:18 pm: Edit

Thanks, Arizonamom! I have copied your message and emailed it to my S. (Seems the easiest means to make sure he reads something of this sort.) I think the www.studentsreview.com site is also helpful as a place to find insight from many different perspectives. I will recommend it to S. I am glad your S will be a host, as he will be great. Wish we could have gotten something arranged for last weekend! Maybe next trip.