Advice for Admitted Students – Page 4

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

Posted on July 20, 2020September 21, 2022 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, 2020September 21, 2022 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...

The Chronicles of “MUDD2FRIED”

Posted on July 7, 2020September 21, 2022 by Sophia Augustine

By Sophia Augustine ‘23 As I’m sure you all know from doing your extensive Pomona research (and from many of my peers’ blog posts) all the first-years at Pomona are placed into groups called “sponsor groups,” which consist of the people you live in a hallway with your first year. Two sophomores (or, in my special case, three because our sponsor group was super cool like that...

The Best Last-Minute Decision of My Life

Posted on June 26, 2020September 21, 2022 by Siena Swift

By Siena Swift ‘22 My journey to Pomona College seems to be a little different from those around me. A lot of my friends applied early decision or knew that Pomona was one of their top choices. In my case, I applied to Pomona on a whim of sorts. My dad suggested that I check out the Claremont Colleges because he knew of them from attending UCLA. However, I had my heart set o...

Making a Change For the Better

Posted on June 23, 2020September 21, 2022 by Ben Reicher

By Ben Reicher ‘22 When I started college, there was a lot I didn’t know, and I’m sure there still is. But I knew that there were a lot of problems in the world, and I knew I couldn’t just stand by and watch them happen. I knew the planet was on fire, and that I had to do what I could, no matter how small, to help extinguish the flames. If you’re an incoming or prospectiv...

Icky Introductions

Posted on June 15, 2020September 21, 2022 by Oluyemisi Bolonduro

By Oluyemisi Bolonduro ‘23 “What’s your name?” “Oluyemisi.” “Do you have a nickname?” “No, just Oluyemisi.” “Can I give you a nickname?” “No, I don’t do nicknames.” My whole life prior to Pomona, I went by a nickname; it was how I tried to assimilate. It was a tool I used to make people comfortable when interacting with me. I decided to go by my full name, ...

Choose Pomona and Be Ready

Posted on April 30, 2020September 21, 2022 by Ebenezer Mensah

By Ebenezer Mensah ‘23 It has been almost a year since I gained acceptance to Pomona, but I still remember reading my acceptance letter as if it happened yesterday. I still remember the shriek of laughter from my English teacher that pierced the still night when she read the letter, my teary eyes as I stared blankly at the computer screen, and the several times I spent readi...

Coming Back Home

Posted on April 22, 2020September 21, 2022 by Hayeon Lee

A trip to Little Tokyo, Los Angeles with my ID1 Class, Mirroring Japan/ese America

Hayeon Lee '23 I am originally from Los Angeles but attended a boarding high school in Connecticut for four years. Although I enjoyed the four years that I spent on the east coast for high school, I had always known that I wanted to come back to Los Angeles for college and that I felt most at home on the West Coast. However, after college decisions came out in March o...

Food, Food, and MORE Food: What Makes Pomona Dining Special

Posted on April 14, 2020September 21, 2022 by Chris Meng

By Chris Meng ‘23 When visiting a college, you hear about academics, housing, and student life, but there’s a significant part of the college experience that doesn’t get the time it deserves — food. Between the 19 meals per week offered at The Claremont Colleges, I probably spend a good 15 hours in the dining halls each week. That’s more time than I spend in class! So, it’s ...

Need Aware Does Not Mean No Aid

Posted on March 16, 2020September 21, 2022 by Ebenezer Mensah

By Ebenezer Mensah ‘23 On 16th February 2019, my English teacher and I huddled up around a computer in my school’s computer laboratory in Kumasi, Ghana around 1 a.m., an hour after Pomona’s admission decisions had been released. The room was dark, and the throbbing of my heart was the only sound that could be heard in the room. The internet was slow, and the portal was takin...