Pomona Sociology Major

Within the 5C community there are stereotypes that say that we think we are better than everyone else. There are stereotypes about us being awkward.

The first one is a half truth in that we think we have better academics and the Pomona is more difficult to get into than the other 5C's. On the other hand, the stereotype makes it seem like we think we are better than everyone else and inherently snobby, which is not the case. We know we are smart well-rounded people but most of us know when we are being ridiculous. The second stereotype is pretty true.

When people hear that I go to Pomona they are immediately impressed or immediately confused. Pomona is a relatively new school that is gaining a household name but it's so small that our name is still working its way up. If they are from California they may think that I go to Cal Poly Pomona-not even close to Pomona College, or they are impressed.

Administration: There are very few departments that have people within them or are on the whole, crappy. Pomona takes a lot of time hiring the people that students have to deal with during their time here. This allows for a great screening process which entails many meetings with faculty, students and staff to evaluate people for higher positions in the institution. They look for people that 'mesh' well with the type of student that goes here which ends up being people that are really nice and knowledgeable.

Pomona students are unique in that they can engage most people in most conversations. They can talk to a five year old about bugs or they can talk to a US President about economic and social change in the US. They attempt to know many things about many subjects but yet are generally motivated in one subject that they are passionate about. At the same time the competitiveness is left mostly on the athletic field against our biggest rivals, CMS (the three schools across the street). We are more competitive internally when it comes to academics and we use the academic success of others to motivate us to do better.

When you come to Pomona you can know exactly what you want to do or you can be open to everything. Although some majors can be limiting most leave you a little bit of discovery room. There are a few majors which have a high percentage of students making Pomona seem to be eared towards economics, politics and english but there are 45 majors at Pomona.

Most of my professors know my name and all of them genuinely care about me and push me to be a better student.

People who do not take learning seriously and people who take it too seriously would not fit in at Pomona. We like to learn and get excited by it but most of us don't think it's the end of the world to get a B-after a while you realize it's about what you are learning and how you apply that to life that really matters.

It may say that Pomona is 50/50 when it comes to political views but most people fall into the middle or middle left categories. If you consider yourself liberal in the classical and at least minutely liberal in the contemporary sense you will find most people will agree with you on most issues. Although there is this agreement the answers different people have for the world's problems are different.

50% of Pomona students receive financial aid. This is kind of deceiving because it can mean a small Pell Grant or a full ride. On the plus side Pomona is going to a 'no loan' policy which makes what used to be loans into grant money e.g. people's loans are taken away. Yes, some people will leave in debt but it will be significantly less debt than before. If you think about it the other way, 50% of our population can afford the $45k plus it costs to go here.

Most people do NOT talk about how much they spent on their $400 Gucci sunglasses, they just wear them and people most often assume they're fake anyway.

Whenever we play CMS there is always a crowd- in most sports especially mens basketball and football. The sports teams try to support each other as much as possible and socialize after the games.

There is no dating here in the traditional sense. People are either 'married', as my friends and I like to call it or they are just 'hooking up'. It kind of sucks unless you some how find a way to date someone from the other colleges and even then it's hard not to fall into the married category. In the end if you have a good group of friends around you, your love life doesn't seem as depressing if you aren't in either category from above. Finding a good group of friends is not too difficult at Pomona. There are so many chances to make friends that you end up knowing most of your grade and being close to a lot of them if you try hard enough.

I am on the lacrosse team and I would not trade it for the world. It has given me a family here on campus and lifetime friends.