Big news arrives today for the newest members of the Pomona College family, the Class of 2027. Student applicants across the U.S. and the world will receive their decisions via a secure portal starting at 5 p.m. PDT on Friday, March 17.
Pomona will offer admission to 757 students who come from 48 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa and 50 other countries. Seven of the 757 students were admitted in a previous year and deferred enrollment until this year, while one Downing Scholar was admitted to Pomona on a one-year program from Downing College, Cambridge. While the responses of applicants admitted through the regular round are not due back to Pomona until May 1, the outline of the Class of 2027 can already be seen through the broad, statistical profile of those offered admission.
In addition, the College admitted 31 transfer students who selected 21 different first-choice majors. Eleven of the admitted transfer students are first-generation-to-college, and 65% are transferring from a community college. They were admitted from ten states and three countries. One newly admitted transfer student is a Kaplan Leadership Scholar, and one is associated with Global Transfer Scholars. Eight military veterans were admitted through the transfer process this year. Three of these admitted military veterans are affiliated with Service to School (S2S), and the admitted veterans represent three branches of the U.S. Armed Forces: the Army, Marine Corps and Navy.
The new Sagehens of the Class of 2027 represent an extraordinary cross section of talent from across the U.S. and the world,” says Seth Allen, vice president for strategy and dean of admissions and financial aid. “The Admissions Committee spent the winter discovering the most promising young scholars who are also problem-solvers, community-builders, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs and leaders to bring to Pomona to work alongside our faculty to address the world’s grand challenges.
One new member of the class, Corina Yi from Mililani, Hawaii, is eager to combine her interests in Asian American Studies and English to better understand how the immigrant experience is portrayed in media around the world. Growing up on military bases around the world, Yi will explore careers as a journalist or English professor after college.
Raised in urban Minneapolis and on a farm in Wisconsin, early admit Collin Sande has seen firsthand a growing cultural divide. Intending to pursue politics or public policy analysis at Pomona, he plans to draw upon his experiences within urban and rural communities with distinct values and perspectives as he refines a balanced approach to advancing political change.
About the Class
The admitted students are 53.1% female and 46.9% percent male (sex assigned at birth). Just over five percent do not identify on the binary gender spectrum.
The group is the most diverse in the College’s history, consisting of 62.5% domestic students of color. International students make up 14.3% of the admitted students, while 19.6% identify as Asian, 14.1% as Black or African American, 18.8% as Hispanic, 8.9% as multiracial, 21% as white, and 2.2% declined to state. There are three Native American students (American Indian or Alaska Native) and six Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students, while 13 additional students have Native heritage as part of a multiracial identity. First-generation college students—meaning neither parent has a four-year college degree—make up 23.1% of those admitted to the Class of 2027.
Academics
Class of 2027 admits identified a broad range of academic interests, with 23.5% indicating their first choice major in the humanities, 23.1% in interdisciplinary fields, 24.4% in the natural sciences, 23.8% in the social sciences and 5.2% undecided about their field of study. In identifying their future academic focus, nearly 60% chose two top major choices from different academic disciplines (i.e., humanities, natural sciences, etc.). Twelve percent of applicants submitted an optional arts supplement in the fields of dance, music or theatre. Students admitted to the Class of 2027 are academically exceptional, with 94.7% of those who attend high schools that rank students ranking in the top 10% of their class.
Where They Come From
Students were admitted to the Class of 2027 from 663 different high schools in 48 states (as well as the District of Columbia and American Samoa) and 50 other countries. The top U.S. states where admitted students come from are California (201), New York (47), Illinois (41), Washington (33), Texas (32), Massachusetts (23), Florida (21), Colorado (17), Oregon (17) and New Jersey (16).
Interest from students around the world continued to grow this year, with students admitted from 50 foreign countries, including China (14), the United Kingdom (9), Canada (7), India (7), Japan (7), Brazil (6), South Korea (6) and Singapore (5). Admitted students worked with many global college access partners, including the Sutton Trust, the Davis Foundation, the Yanai Tadashi Foundation, and the Misongi College Access Program, among many others. In support of the recently launched Global Haven Initiative, nine refugees were also admitted, with citizenships from Congo, Syria and Ukraine.
Recruiting the Class
Reaching out to a deep and talented pool of prospective applicants, Pomona admissions officers recruited in person and virtually this year. They visited more than 650 schools in 35 states and 8 countries and interacted with over 5,000 students through online events. Through outreach efforts, they met with more than 3,700 students while traveling and with more than 7,000 students, parents, community-based-organization advisors and high school college counselors online around the world. Alumni played a key role in recruiting the class as well.
Pomona’s commitment to increasing access bore fruit, with five admitted students from surrounding Los Angeles communities having participated in the Pomona Academy for Youth Success (PAYS), an intensive, three-year college preparation program run by the College’s Draper Center for Community Partnerships. One hundred sixteen admitted students reported working with a community-based organization, including Chicago Scholars, College Horizons, College Match L.A., Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), Palouse Pathways, Teen Sharp and Thrive Scholars. In addition, 17 students in the Class of 2027 were matched through Pomona’s partnership with QuestBridge, and 20 students were admitted through the Posse Foundation.
QuestBridge Scholar Vicki Cao, from Oakland, fell in love with Pomona's emphasis on interdisciplinary learning. “I look forward to receiving a liberal arts education at Pomona, where I can explore my major in neuroscience and passion for Japanese Literature concurrently in the next four years,” says Cao.
“Our outreach strategy this year focused on two things: collaboration and innovation,” says Adam Sapp, assistant vice president and director of admissions. “We offered new opportunities for students to visit campus, spent more time recruiting in U.S. high schools, reengaged with international travel that connected us with students on four continents, and worked more closely with our colleagues in financial aid to amplify our access messages and outreach. I can say without any hesitation that the Class of 2027 will be one for the record books—they are truly an impressive group.”
Diversity of Admitted Students