Pomona College, USA is a top-ranked exclusively undergrad institution, highly regarded for its rigorous four-year liberal arts programme: SUMMIYA YASMEEN Sited on a 140-acre campus in Claremont, 52 km from Los Angeles, Pomona College (estb. 1887) is routinely ranked among America’s top private liberal arts colleges. This exclusively undergrad institution is ranked #1 by Forbes in its America’s Top Colleges 2015 rankings while US News and World Report ranks it among the country’s Top 5 liberal arts colleges (2015). Highly regarded for its rigorous four-year liberal arts programme, Pomona offers 47 majors and 37 minors in the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences to 1,650 students mentored by 182 faculty. The college’s teacher-student ratio is an enviable 1:8. The distinguishing feature of Pomona’s fancied liberal arts degree is its Breadth of Study Requirements programme which obliges every student to sign up for one course in six areas — creative expression (two courses); social institutions and human behaviour; history, values, ethics and cultural studies; physical and biological sciences; and mathematical reasoning. Moreover, it’s mandatory for all first-year students to enroll in the Critical Inquiry programme, choosing from a list of 25-30 study programmes requiring rigorous interdisciplinary reading, writing and discussion. Although a small liberal arts college and founding member of The Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five colleges and two graduate schools sited in the eponymous town, Pomona offers its students the shared resources of the consortium. Located within one square mile, the seven college campuses which are only a few minutes’ walk from each other, host an aggregate 7,000 students. The colleges share seven dining halls and the largest liberal arts library collection in the US. Pomona students also have the option to supplement the college’s curriculum by signing up for courses at any of The Claremont Colleges. The over 2,000 courses on offer include intercollegiate majors, 100 math classes and a wide range of languages learning options. Claremont. A collegiate town sited 52 km east of downtown Los Angeles near the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, Claremont is a tree-lined residential community of 35,000. This compact yet vibrant town is often referred to as ‘The town of trees and Ph Ds’ because of its thick greenery and residents with doctoral degrees. Los Angeles is an hour’s drive away and also accessible via the local commuter train or ZipCar. Moreover, within 50 miles of the campus is the best Southern California has to offer — from academic and cultural centres, to the desert, mountains and beaches. Claremont enjoys sunny and warm weather year round, with rainfall restricted to the cooler winter months. Average temperatures in summer range from 23º-33ºC and from 6º-12ºC in winter. Campus facilities. Pomona’s picturesque campus houses over 63 buildings including contemporary classrooms, laboratories, 16 halls of residence and three dining halls. Campus landmarks include the Millikan Laboratory and Andrew Science Hall, Studio Art Hall, the Aramont Foundation Shared Tech Lab, a state-of-the-art music studio, an 85-acre biological field station, and an astronomy observatory. The Claremont Colleges’…
