Academic Resources – Page 2

A Pitch for the Liberal Arts

Posted on August 10, 2020 by Chris Meng

students having dinner at a professor's house

By Chris Meng ‘23 “Why would you choose Pomona over a more well-known school?” As a tour guide and summer fellow for the admissions office, my peers and I discuss the most common questions we get during tours and other interactions with prospective students, and this is one of them. While my neighbors in Pennsylvania may not know Pomona, graduate schools and employers cer...

First-Year Reflections: What I Wish I Had Known Before Coming to Pomona

Posted on July 20, 2020 by Ebenezer Mensah

By Ebenezer Mensah ‘23 It seems like only yesterday that I moved into Mudd Hall as a first-year student, but autumn and winter have passed by, concluding my first year at Pomona. Reflecting on my first year, these are the things I wish I had known before coming to Pomona. Professors want to know you Coming from an educational system that was not easily accessible, ...

What’s in a Major?

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Chris Meng

By Chris Meng ‘23 What are you studying in college? What do you want to be when you grow up? Those types of questions came flooding in during my senior year of high school, and I quickly learned it was easier to give a scripted answer than to reveal the honest truth that I simply didn’t know. To all my classmates who knew they wanted to be doctors or physical therapists or v...

My First CS Class (As an Art Major)

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Alicia Garza

By Alicia Garza ‘22 When I think of lab, the first thing that pops to mind is the darkroom, or the drawing studio, or the digital lab. When I signed up for a computer science class this semester and saw the Lab section of the course, I knew I was in for a whole other kind of experience, a different kind of creativity. "Intro to Computer Science with Topics in AI" is my fi...

The Beautiful Flexibility of a Small(ish) School

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Chris Meng

By Chris Meng ‘23 Pomona College has all the amazing perks of a small school without sacrificing the overwhelming variety of resources of a bigger college. If it weren’t for the flexibility and spirit of exploration built into the values of Pomona, I wouldn’t be here today as a first-year student. Let me tell you about my winding path to Pomona. To begin, I wasn’t accepte...

Getting to Kyrgyzstan

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Dakota Crookston

By Dakota Crookston ‘21 My parents met online, I found Pomona through a web search, and I’m flying to Kyrgyzstan in seven hours because I googled “intensive russian study summer.” My trek started late last August, when I was scrubbing the internet for summer opportunities to learn Russian abroad. Unfortunately, the well-known Critical Languages Scholarship was out of the ...

The 5Cs in Real Life

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Daniel Garcia

By Daniel Garcia '21 Daniel Garcia answers some of the most common questions about Pomona in relation to the other Claremont Colleges that form a consortium known as “the 5Cs.” How easy is it take classes at Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, Scripps, or Harvey Mudd College? It's more than easy to take classes at the other colleges, and the schools promote it. By having fi...

How Pomona Shot to the Top of My List

Posted on March 15, 2019 by Libby Rose

By Libby Rose ‘19 Let’s start from the beginning. During my college application process, I knew I wanted a small liberal arts college in southern California. The Claremont Colleges were an obvious option. Everything I had researched about Pomona during my junior year of high school seemed fantastic. But it was during the summer before my senior year that Pomona really began ...

Some Studying Tips (That Almost Guarantee You’ll Pass All Of Your Tests)

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Toran Langford

By Toran Langford ‘21 In short, Pomona is really difficult. To this end, throughout your blood, sweat, and tears, you will have many papers and tests. All-nighters sometimes happen, but try to limit them—these tips should make your life easier. Also, remember that Pomona College has resources available to help students. Practice a little bit every day Example: review l...

The Writing Center: Pomona’s Peer-Powered Model

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Sarah Binau

By Sarah Binau '19 When I was in high school, asking for help with writing meant you were a bad writer. It is (unfortunately) commonplace to be taught that some people are good writers and others are bad writers. But the truth is that everyone starts with a blank page and a wondering mind. When I started college, I thought of myself as a good writer because I’d done well ...