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Pomona College is one of the most renowned liberal arts colleges in the United States. Alongside the small colleges that are considered feeder schools for terminal courses such as law, medicine and doctorate degrees, Pomona is a college that selects only the high school graduates that show exceptional promise and potential to do well in their studies. Pomona is a small college in terms of the population size, with fewer than 2,000 undergraduates, but it boasts of an academic system that has produced some of the brightest minds in the country, in a variety of industries. A student can choose from 45 majors including the Humanities, Social Sciences, Fine Arts and Natural Sciences.
The small classes in Pomona guarantee better student-professor interaction. The faculty is made up of distinguished professionals all devoted to upholding the highest standards of academic excellence that this college is known for. Pomona belongs to a consortium of seven independent institutions known as The Claremont Colleges. This consortium allows cross-registration and the open use of campus facilities by their students. Like Dartmouth, Middlebury, Harvard and Bowdoin, Pomona College is Congregationalist-founded.
School History
Pomona College was founded in 1887, making it one of the oldest co-educational facilities in the country. The name was derived from the original city where the school was first established. The first classes were held in a rented home until the administration was able to move to a bigger location, a building that was meant to become a hotel, in Claremont, CA.
Campus Life
Life in Pomona is a good balance of exciting and rigorous. If you’re not studying, you’re attending a stimulating discussion with your club, or having fun with a group of friends in a concert. The atmosphere at Pomona is mostly laid-back—at least until the exam season starts. Everyone’s friendly, and it’s hard not to run into recognizable faces wherever you are. The student body is small enough that you’re bound to meet familiar people regularly throughout the week.
Even if there are housing options available inside the college, students often bring cars to school so that they can explore neighboring cities whenever they’re free. Commuters can also go by car or via bus to neighboring schools if they wish to cross-register in one of the other schools in The Claremont Colleges.
Claremont is a great town bursting with life, and there are many activities available to students on their break. Whether your preference is gazing at the peaceful surroundings, appreciating art or clubbing, there’s something for you to do to ease the stress of maintaining your top grades in a premier college. Students with enough free time to explore can also go to nearby Los Angeles, where the beaches are always teeming with people.
Pomona students will always be stimulated intellectually wherever they are on campus. There are also entertaining tidbits of information that students will enjoy; Pomona College has many campus urban legends, including the white lady that haunts the Sumner House and the speculation that Oldenborg House, which is the foreign language center of the college, was the direct inspiration for the naming of a Star Trek villain.
Financial Aid
Pomona chooses their students based entirely on talent, grades and potential. Like many colleges all over the US, Pomona offers scholarships and grants to accepted students in need of financial support. This system of acceptance guarantees that the school picks the best students from all walks of life, and not limit the chance to study in a premier university to those that can afford the fees. Loans are not a part of the packages, but scholarships and grants are offered to students that need financial aid.
