Admissions Office Negligent, Vultures
By Cathy Hwang
Staff Writer

I’ve been at Pomona for about a month, and I never cease to be surprised by how incredibly nice everyone is. I came to Pomona with two general expectations. First, that I would be surrounded by a group of smart, multi-talented people. In that respect, I have not been disappointed. However, I also came to Pomona expecting to be part of an elitist, stuck-up student body, but, I am very happy to say, that expectation has not been fulfilled.

If you are like anybody else I talked to before writing this article, you are probably gaping at my words with bewilderment. No doubt, you are part of the great majority of students who had a wonderful experience when they visited Pomona. Many members of my sponsor group describe their initial impressions of Pomona as “the place where smart kids go when they want to avoid East Coast snobbery.”

My initial impression of Pomona was quite the opposite. I thought Pomona people were the biggest congregation of elitist jerks ever.

My Admit Day experience started out poorly. Perhaps it was my own fault for arriving fifteen minutes early. Perhaps it was my inability to perfectly predict Los Angeles morning rush hour traffic that made me seem like such a disease. Whatever it was, when I arrived in front of Little Bridges on the fateful morning of April 21, 2003, I was duly ignored by every single one of the admissions officers.

Now, it’s hard for me to imagine why I was completely shafted by the same people who supposedly chose me out of a huge applicant pool because they saw in me “evidence of originality, energy, motivation, and leadership potential” (many thanks to the Admissions website). If I was, as they claimed, so very special, why didn’t they come talk to me? Instead, all of the admissions officers—every last one of them present—were huddled in a little corner sipping coffee and eating doughnuts. They reminded me of a group of hunchbacked vultures, backs turned to protect their latest kill from potential competitors.

Although I eventually did get to talk to some of the Pomona admissions officers that day, it was only after I approached them first. Furthermore, they had the tendency to answer only my one specific question and not offer any more insight, detail, or even small talk. This was a drastic difference from the other colleges I visited. At UCLA, I was constantly approached by student volunteers who wanted to share their experiences with me. At UCSD, I had a personal conversation with a provost. At Harvey Mudd, the admissions officers were not only helpful and friendly, but they also seemed like cool people to hang out with.

I got very few of these good vibes from Pomona. The only Pomona admissions officer who was helpful and friendly was Justin Wright, and even he was part of the group of huddled-up coffee-sipping vultures at Admit Day.

Although I did eventually end up here, convinced that Pomona was the place that could offer me the best quality of education, I never cease to wonder how many students were repelled by the snobbery and negligence of the Admissions Office. It is to be expected that the majority of current Pomona students have gotten good vibes from the Admissions Office. However, I wonder, if we could survey a list of students who were accepted but chose not to attend Pomona, whether or not we would find that they had a very different experience.

I think the admissions office does some things well. They convinced me that Pomona was the best place to get an education. However, they missed out on the best selling point: that Pomona is not only home to bright, talented students, but that these students are also some of the nicest, friendliest people you will ever meet.