Pomona College Top Questions

Basketball and football are popular sports, but Pomona is a division three college, so no one outside of Pomona really gives a damn about our athletics. Most students probably do leave their doors open since a lot of people are trusting on campus, but their are reports of robberies every so often. There is absolutely no dating scene at Pomona. I met my closest friends the same way you'd meet friends in high school or at work, you just talk to people and find out who you think is fun or something. Even though people are dumbasses and PRETEND that they are part of a sorority or frat, they are just lying to themselves because their is absolutely no Greek life at Pomona. People might get mad at me for saying this, but I'd like to see what happens if they tried to join a real frat or sorority, it'd be a whole different story. People party Wednesday, Thrsday, Friday, and Saturday nights, and sometimes the other nights too, depending on work load. Their is some stuff to do on Saturday nights, sort of, that doesn't involve drinking, but why the hell would you do that? Just kidding, haha, but really I'm not.

Oh boy...Pomona's kind of a weirdo in terms of teams/organizations/etc. Our most successful sports teams are typically Men's XC, Women's Water Polo, and both Rugby and Tennis teams. This means that athletics and athletes occupy a less-important position socially than they would otherwise, although basketball and football games are still pretty big draws. Theater productions are usually fairly successful, if somewhat infrequent. The improv comedy and acapella groups on campus have regular shows which are generally well-attended and worth attending. Guest speakers are almost uniformly big-name and worth going to. The Smith Campus Center organizes a lot of pretty cool events, like a free arcade night, $1 movies, DDR and foosball tournaments, etc, and other student groups organize tons and tons of different kinds of events. Another great resource is On The Loose, which gets groups of kids to various cool parks/camping/adventuring types of things. Whatever your taste on the weekends, chances are you can find something to do on campus. Also, if you have access to a car, the range of stuff to do in the LA area is pretty crazy. Concerts, theater, opera, clubs, rallies, food, national parks, sightseeing, beaches, etc. LA is a big, intense places, and once you start to get a feel for it there's really a lot of cool stuff to do. You just need a car. At least in the freshman halls, open doors and lots of interaction is very common. I'm still close with kids I lived with freshman year. I met some great kids on the XC team, and a fair amount in classes and music extracurriculars. The dating scene is, for lack of a better term, kind of bipolar. It's commonly said that there are two speeds for Pomona dating, either just sleeping together or in a really serious relationship, which I've found to be pretty accurate. People tend to be inwardly-focused enough such that there's not much room for relationships of other types, although the rest of the spectrum IS there if you look for it hard enough. Partying depends a lot on who you talk to. I know people on every end of the partying spectrum, from five nights/days a week borderline alcoholics to people who are completely sub-free. Wherever you fit in, there's probably a group for you though.

Sports teams tend to stick together and other groups tend to stick together, but in no way is any group on campus cliquish. There are two main fraternities on campus that each throw a weekly party (one on Wednesday and one on Thursday). The best parties are the 5C ones put on by the activities commission. There are only a few of them every semester, but there will literally be a couple thousand students there. Maybe the best part about Pomona parties, though, is that the college will buy kegs for students. The administration figures that it's better for students to be drinking beer on campus instead of hard alcohol (either on campus or not). And, they supply someone to dispense the keg so that they can ensure that it is only given to students who are 21.

Over half of the Pomona student body is into partying. You know, the drunken college kind. If that's not your thing, it's going to get annoying, but it's nowhere near as bad as other schools where the numbers are more skewed. If that is your thing, knock yourself out, and enjoy the fact that everyone's "student fees" go towards buying you alcohol.

There are so many clubs on campus that I am not sure which are the most popular and the people on my hall were involved in outdoor clubs, dance clubs, language clubs, theater clubs, the school newspaper, environmental clubs, and perhaps others. Students do not spend most of there time in the dorms because there is so much to do outside of them. While athletics are not very popular and frats/sororities don't really exist on campus (there is a small group that lives off campus) there is still a party scene. While that isn't really my thing it doesn't mean that my social life has suffered. There are plenty of things to do all around school for different kinds of people as well as stuff in L.A.

Social life at Pomona is exactly what you make of it. There are so many opportunities, that it's hard to pick just a few. Most people are overcommitted, and they love it. Some of the most popular and well-known groups on campus are the Campus Climate Challenge (focusing on environmental preservation) and the Pomona Student Union (promotes guest speakers and events that center around healthy discourse on campus). I'm really looking forward to doing Mock Trial next year, it sounds like a fabulous team. When it comes to dorms, students forget to lock their doors sometimes. I'll never lock my door if I'm just down the hall, but I try to always lock it when I'm not on the floor. If I'm in my room and awake, my door is open. It's a great way to meet people - they just stop by and say hi. There isn't really a specific "popularity" level for athletic events, guest speakers, or theater: it all depends on the event, and people go to what they're interested in, whether there's ten people there or one hundred. The dating scene is fine, like what you'd expect at any college. There isn't much in-between ground: people are either attached at the hip or randomly hooking up. I met my closest friends mainly through my sponsor group: most live down the hall from me. A few others I met during orientation, and merged into our hall. We have a very close-knit group of friends, and I miss them so much right now (over the summer). If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm most likely talking to my friends in my room. We all love to talk, and late at night is often the only time we can find to catch up with the events of the day. Some of the special traditions Pomona has to offer are best described on their website. The one I like most is the tradition of fountaining people on their birthday. At midnight (generally) when a birthday rolls around, a person is kidnapped by their friends and/or sponsor group, carried to the nearest fountain, and thrown in. I know it seems unpleasant, but it's really a lot of fun. The amount people party varies: for many, it's Thursday through Saturday night. We don't really have frats or sororities, which is nice. If drinking isn't your thing, there is plenty to do on campus. An organization called "That Saturday Group" puts on substance-free events every Saturday night which are usually a great time - and they're always free. There isn't much pressure to drink, people generally do what they're comfortable with. I don't go off campus very much, there's no real need with all the stuff there is to do on campus. Some people go to LA, which I'm sure is a good time.

Good parties come and go, and sometimes you can wander up to the other 5C's when there is nothing good at Pomona. Smaller things with 8 or 10 people can be easily put together and are usually a lot of fun, so I personally am happy with the social scene.

Pomona students definitely like to shake off studies and party. Actually, what I really like about Pomona students is they really don't talk about classwork outside of class. They actually want to do other things! They love to come to CMS games and taunt them, wearing blue and orange. Fraternities are practically non-existent. One throws parties every week, or so, but I imagine it is nothing like a big school fraternity. It's basically a small bunch of football players who formed a club with the intention of drinking. I met my closest friends through cross country or through my freshman dorm.

People get into ruts at Pomona College in terms of social life. There really isn't much to do on campus besides drink.

It takes me about half an hour to actually make it to my door from the end of my hall sometimes because I spend so much time stopping in other peoples' room. People tend to leave their doors open. In high school I spent at least 5 hours every day online talking to friends. During my entire frist year at Pomona I have IMed one person once. There is so much more actual human interaction here at Pomona, because the people are so cool, and they're right there in your hall or down the street. Guest speakers are really popular. If I'm awake at 2 AM I'm either finishing food from the Coop after a party, doing homework, or talking to a friend. Greek life is practically non-existent, which is awesome. There is a group called That Saturday Group specifically designed to come up with fun, sober activities for Saturday nights. My favorites have been laser tag in the SCC, tie dye, and a performance by a "psychic" who was once featured on Oprah.

The newspaper is a great organization to get involved in if you want to make good friends and publish something of value each week. Students often leave doors open. There are TONS of traditions, but there almost all open, non-offensive celebrations like pancake supper during finals and Harwood Halloween. There's plenty to do in the area since it's relatively close to LA and some students go into the city every or every other weekend. There is no Greek scene.

Partying is pretty common at Pomona, but it is easy to avoid it. If you want to go off campus, the best place to go is the village, and sometimes it's fun to drive to Pasadena.

If you're awake at 2am on a Tuesday you're probably sitting out in the hall playing cards/ Catch-phrase/ Cranium with your friends, or pretending to do work while really discussing your future/ the state of the world/ politics.

Traditions? On your birthday, we throw you into a fountain. And then give you a towel and cake so you forgive us. I'm on the swim team and love it. My closest friends are on that team, and even when we're not in season we hang out all the time. Just last night I fell asleep on my training buddy's bed while she was writing an essay. But sports definitely don't dominate the campus. if anything, I wish there was more school-spirit centered around sports teams. I also don't think sports teams are clique-ish or exclusive. I hang out with lacrosse players and basketball players and non-athletes all the time. People usually stay on campus on weekends, which is nice. Day trips to the beach or into LA are also common. Because we have the other schools, sponsored-parties are usually big and well-attended. There is definitely a drinking scene, but you can get away from it without much effort.

Most popular group is the outdoor club, and then the committee for campus life and activites, etc. Most students leave their doors open except for the students that live in substance free halls. Athletic events aren't that popular. guest speakers more so, theater not very much. You might feel limited in your dating choices but there are 4 other schools to choose from! I've met my closest friends by living with or near them and through friends. If i'm awake at 2am on Tuesday i am most definitely studying and wanting to be asleep. We have a ton of school sponsored parties that happen every year, and people party thurs/fri/sat nights and sometimes tues/wed. frats/sororities practically do not exist. on a typical weekend i'll go on an outdoor trip or stay on campus and party. there's the saturday night group which sponsors non alcoholic activites.

I don't know which group is the most popular--each one kind of has its own members and they're really not limiting. I'm involved in Nu Alpha Phi, one of the 3 fraternities on campus. Ours is co-ed and filled with hippies, and it is really more of a social organization than any sort of serious frat. In general, frats just aren't very important--half of the student body probably doesn't even know that they exist. If I were awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I would probably be drinking. I might be studying, but I'm a nerd at heart and tend to get most of my work done early in the evening. I met my closest friends in random ways--some were in my sponsor group, some are in my frat, and some I discovered just wandering drunkenly through campus. It's a small school, so you get to know people quickly. Last weekend: I spent Friday afternoon at the Wash (my frat's weekly party), and that night I went to a party in the Mojave Desert (only about 2 hours away) and then went to an Honor-Society Induction the next afternoon. After that, I went to an alumni-thrown party.

Despite an increasing rash of thefts and burglaries across campus, there are still students who leave their doors unlocked. More often in the freshmen dormitories the students leave their doors open to visitors when they're there. Athletics is NOT a big thing here, but it's available if you enjoy it. People seem to party almost all the time; free alcohol is readily available six nights of the week. A good number of people start getting drunk and rowdy on Wednesday night and continue through Saturday night. Other than drinking, you can catch a $2 movie at our movie theater or go off-campus for food. There's a group here that tries to sponsor non-alcoholic events, but I don't know anyone who goes. Also, there is no real dating here on campus. The general trend is that people study together, eat together, party together and then wind up in bed together: "Oh, I guess we're dating now!" but no actual DATING happens.

OTL on-the-loose is the outdoors organization of the Claremont Colleges. It's a great club. They lend camping, surfing, skiing, biking, ... outdoors gear to students who want to get off campus. Its all free and we'll even provide cars for transportation. The club runs hundreds of trips per semester and its a really friendly bunch of people. Sports are mostly there for the enjoyment of the athletes. Friends attend games/events but there's not an exceptional amount of school pride. Its mostly apathetic. Guest speakers are very popular. There's also a farm where you can grow you're own food and there's a chicken coop! The dating scene consists mostly of long term relationships and random hook-ups. There's not much in between but of course if you're looking for something, you'll probably find it. One of the best traditions is on you're birthday where you're friends/ hallmates throw you into one of 4 fountains on campus. It's lots of fun. You should also get out to Joshua Tree National Park and summit Baldy (our local mountain). People party constantly. The biggest ones are on Thursday and Saturday nights. The school funds most parties and people get pumped about the themed ones like Harwood Halloween and Smiley 80's. Frat's are not important at all though they do exist. As for non-alcholic events, That Saturday Group throws events every Saturday night like lazer tag, tie-die, carvivals, movies, etc. that are sub free. There's also substance free housing where you can meet a bunch of people who are not super into drinking and hang out, play games, have bonfires at Huntington beach, go buildering...

The Football team at Pomona is fairly popular, especially with the administration. They are definitely not a good team, yet they garner most of the athletic emphasis from the administration. It's nice to have athletics recognized at Pomona, but when it's only one team, and not even one that's winning, other sports teams often feel marginalized. The administration and student body have gotten better about this since I've been here, but the discrepancy is apparent to some athletes. I'm sorry guys, but there are very, very few attractive girls on this campus. The few that there are will seldom talk to you, unless you're a football player or a complete asshole. Luckily, the other 4 Claremont Colleges are adjacent to the campus and there are a lot more people to meet than just at Pomona.

There is no Greek system here. After visiting friends at big frat schools, I think our lack is a very good thing. The nightlife here is pretty laid back, but everyone has a great time.

I am involved in Sigma Tau fraternity. I think that it is a great group of guys and we try to throw parties and charity events where everyone can participate. It would be great if the school allowed us to throw larger parties or have our own social room to host events. I think fraternities can help the social life on campus and be a great resource. Dating on the 5 C's is tough. I don't like to hook up with people but for the most part our campuses are not about dating. Athletic events aren't big except for games against CMS. They are fun and I think it is enough. I would love to have more fans but I really value that our athletes are students first. I take pride in the fact that unlike other top schools we do not lower our standards for most athletes.

The campus is very safe, open and lenient about parties for the most part. It's obviously not a huge party school, but people know how to have a good time. There are countless things to do in the surrounding areas, beaches, skiing, LA etc.

The women's lacrosse team is going through a transition period. Two years ago the team was club, with no recruiting power and a less hard-core attitude. Since becoming a varsity program we have the challenge of playing some really good teams, while staffing a roster made up of students who came to school to do other things besides lacrosse. As we get more recruiting classes, the level of play should rise to be more and more competitive with East Coast lacrosse - we know it'll happen because right now CMS's program is only a few years older than ours (the other 3 colleges have a separate set of varsity teams) and can compete with any East Coast team out there. However, teams at Pomona face the constant problem of finding recruits who can get in, since admissions is pretty strict about who it lets in.

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.

I'm involved with the Varsity softball team which is very competitive in itself, but in general sports are pretty much ignored by much of the student body. Lots of guest speakers come to Pomona--Bono was recently here and Bill Clinton came to speak a few years ago to name two. Dating often occurs when people start consistently hooking up drunk and it seems like people are either in long term relationships or single. Many of my closet friends are in my sponsor group, a group of 10-20 people who live together with two sophomore sponsors which is a group Pomona has for freshman to help them adjust to college. On people's birthdays they get thrown in a fountain. Also the school pays for Death by Chocolate every winter in December, which is where students are given an absurd amount of free chocolate. People can party or not party as much as they want to. There's something going on almost every night and there are also substance free events thrown by That Saturday Group weekly.

as a two sport athlete, i spend a lot of time with my teams and with other athletes. most of my friends also play sports, and many of my best friends are on my sports teams. this is partially because sports take up so much time, and partially because we share similar experiences. i've loved playing D3 sports here because while it may take up a lot of time and definitely demands sacrifices, i've had the opportunity to be part of extremely close teams. we all share a passion and a goal. sports have been a great break from my academic life here. sports also limits the "partying" we can do, so i've had plenty of experience staying in on weekend nights, which is no big deal. plenty of people here don't drink at least one night a weekend, and there are organizations that have non-drinking events on saturday nights including movies, baking, etc... there are also a lot of big theme parties hosted by the 5 colleges combined that have djs and drinks provided.

The most popular groups on campus are sports teams and musical groups. There isn't really a dating scene...people either hook up randomly or are in a relationship. There really isn't any in between. And it can be very frustrating being single here. I met my closest friends on my lacrosse team and on my freshman year hall. How often people party varies a lot. I would say some do it never, some do it up to 5 times a week. Frats and sororities don't exist. Last weekend I went to Dallas to play two Lacrosse games. On Saturday night, there are a bunch of events put on by the sub-free group "That Saturday Group." These include things like karoke or cookie baking, etc. Off campus, I go camping, go to the beach, go to dinner, go to the movies, go shopping.

There's a lot of participation in athletics here but sports games don't seem to central to social life. Football and men's basketball games get really crowded but most of the other sports don't draw too many spectators. One of the groups I'm involved with (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) is actually trying organize ways to get more focus on sports and more involvement from students. There are only a few Greek organizations. The most popular is a frat that is made up of mostly football players and other athletes. The On-the-Loose club is also pretty popular. They go on a variety of outdoor trips (camping, surfing, hiking, climbing etc). I like the snowboarding trips. You can pretty much find people partying every night. The school has an alcohol fund that provides kegs for registered parties. Aside from random parties and get togethers, there's a regular party almost every night of the week. I think Sunday and Monday nights are the only nights without organized parties. My favorite week night party is "Pub" which is held by the frat I mentioned earlier every Wednesday. I usually go to parties on the weekends which are pretty tied to alcohol. I've heard complaints from people who don't drink that the party culture at Pomona is too alcohol centered. I know they organize some substance free parties. I don't really agree with their ideas. On nights I don't drink, I still go to parties and have fun. I guess they feel uncomfortable being around it, but distancing themselves doesn't solve anything. And it's very unrealistic because in the real world, you can't shelter yourself from things like this. You can't ask for sub-free housing or sub-free parties after you graduate. There's a lot to do off campus but I think people stay on campus most of the time because the alcohol is free, you don't have to go far or worry about getting DD's. In the immediate area, there's few bars and concert venues, and a lot of great dining places. And of course the clubs in LA aren't very far.

Everyone finds their own little group. For some, this is a sports team or a frat. For others, this can be a club or academic organization. The best thing about Pomona is the student body is so diverse, there are likely many students with interests common to your own.

I'm a part of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company, or the CCBDC. Its a 5C organization, and a fun, great way to meet other people. Dorm doors are always open. My friends are constantly popping in and saying hi, people are very friendly. People say that at Pomona there are only two kinds of dating: either you;re practically married, or you're hooking up randomly. I fall in to the former category, and I love it. It was easy to meet someone I instantly connected with and wanted to spend my time around. My boyfriend lives just upstairs! If I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I'm probably studying. Parties are pretty frequent, usually one a weekend. Often they are school-sponsored, but that doesn't make them any less cool. We have really great theme parties, like "Smiley 80's," a huge, all-campus, 80's themed party that draws tons of people each year. Fraternities and sororities mean nothing on this campus. I think we have one or two "fororities," but they are pretty much just party-making bodies.