pomona college

How I Made My College Decision Without Visiting Pomona

Posted on April 8, 2021April 7, 2021 by Chris Meng

illustration of Cecil the Sagehen with a Pomona parachute

By Chris Meng ’23 Getting a phone call telling me that I was admitted off the Pomona waitlist was incredibly exciting. The downside: I had just one week to make my decision, and I would not have the opportunity to visit campus in that week. Let me lay out my rough recollection of my actions that fateful week in mid-May in hopes that they will be helpful to you. Celebrat...

Just Do It: Applying for Internships

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Sonam Rikha

laptop shows a guide to writing cover letters

By Sonam Rikha ‘24 Clarification: This post is not sponsored by Nike or Shia Labeouf, though if you are a Nike representative looking to collaborate please contact me at… “Just do it!” an overly dramatic and visibly angry Shia Labeouf screamed through my screen. While this phrase was definitely not coined by the outdated celebrity, his uncomfortable “motivational” video h...

From Study at Home to Study Abroad

Posted on March 11, 2021March 9, 2021 by Chris Meng

By Chris Meng ’23 When I returned home from campus in March 2020, little did I know that I would spend nearly every single hour of every day in my house for the next year. Having grown up in a small town, I had always valued experiencing different environments. So much for that. It’s no wonder I became interested in participating in Pomona’s domestic exchange program with Sw...

I’m a Tom Boy

Posted on February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 by Bryce Kelly

Bryce holding a bunch of college brochures

By Bryce Kelly ‘23 My mother kept staring at me, trying to judge my feelings. We were driving away from an admitted student’s day at a university I’ll call Hardstone College, and I was refusing to share even an ounce of emotion about it. Not because I had none, but because I knew that if I showed eagerness or disapproval, so would my parents, which would only loop back to me...

Memories of Mentorship

Posted on February 19, 2021February 15, 2021 by Oluyemisi Bolonduro

By Oluyemisi Bolonduro ‘23 People are oftentimes surprised when I say I don’t like working in teams, it’s strange coming from someone who frequently does group activities. This is because I grew up in competitive environments. My high school ranked the students with the top 25 GPAs, and many students in my class invested time into tracking who applied and got accepted into w...

It’s the Culture for Me

Posted on February 15, 2021February 8, 2021 by Sonam Rikha

By Sonam Rikha ’24 Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of going to Los Angeles and walking down Hollywood Boulevard. When, as a high school senior, I stepped out of the LAX airport, I was greeted by California palm trees and the L.A. heat. Even though Pomona is in Claremont, 35 miles from the glamorized city of Los Angeles, the laid back and sunny environment in Claremo...

4+7 Things I Realized About Pomona as a Sophomore

Posted on February 9, 2021February 8, 2021 by Chris Meng

By Chris Meng ’23 It’s hard to believe that I am starting my second semester of my sophomore year. At the end of May, I will be halfway done with college, and I will have somehow reached the age of 21. Over my nearly two-month winter break, I spent a lot of time with family and friends (mostly virtually), having conversations with them and myself that gave me a chance to ref...

A Day in the Life of Zoom University: Freshman Edition

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Sonam Rikha

By Sonam Rikha ’24 When I received the email on a Friday in early March telling students that, after Monday, my school would be taking a temporary break due to concerns of COVID-19, I didn’t think much of it. On Monday, fellow students jokingly said, “See you next year!” I scoffed at the idea that this break would last longer than two weeks. Surely it wouldn't last for the r...

The Art of the Cold DM

Posted on December 28, 2020December 21, 2020 by Sonam Rikha

By Sonam Rikha ‘24 Having your first semester of college be online is no easy feat. Whether it’s juggling time zones, Zoom fatigue, or the slow loss of sanity from being at home, Zoom University is definitely not how I imagined my first semester of college. As a person who was heavily dependent on friends and fellow classmates to get through difficult classes in high school,...

Application Do’s and Don’t’s From the Experts

Posted on December 14, 2020December 14, 2020 by Nelia Perry

image of college application with coffee cup

This is a special group post, with Oluyemisi Bolonduro, '23 Bryce Kelly '23, Chris Meng '23, Nelia Perry '24, and Sonam Rikha '24 conversing about their college application processes, in hopes you can benefit from their wisdom (and their mistakes). Bryce: What’s the strangest piece of advice you got when you were going through the college application process? Sonam: Be f...