Draper Center FAQs

The Pomona College Academy for Youth Success (PAYS) enrolls up to 90 local high school students (30 rising sophomores, 30 rising juniors, & 30 rising seniors) and seeks to support them in preparing for admission to selective and highly selective colleges and universities. We select a new class of 30 ninth graders (rising sophomores) every May. PAYS participants engage in a thought-provoking combination of faculty-led courses, activities, workshops, projects and field trips during the intensive 4-week, residential program as well as throughout the academic year.

Pomona College Academy for Youth Success (PAYS) aims to increase the pool of students prepared to enter selective and highly selective colleges and universities who are from historically underrepresented backgrounds, including first generation college students, those from low-income backgrounds, AND/OR those who are African American, Latinx, Native American, Pacific Islander, and/or Southeast Asian.

Ninth graders attending high school in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

High achieving students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, including first-generation college students, and/or those from low-income backgrounds.

About 30 ninth graders from Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. Each scholar is part of PAYS for three consecutive years, from acceptance at the end of their first year of high school until graduation.

90 students from Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. We support 30 rising sophomores, 30 rising juniors and 30 rising seniors.

An elite/highly selective liberal arts institution located in Claremont, CA, about 30 miles away from downtown LA.

In its 22^nd year, PAYS (previously known as Summer Scholars Enrichment Program [SSEP]) recruited its first cohort of 30 students in the summer of 2002.

Unfortunately no. Each grade cohort is currently full.

Yes, if you are a ninth grader attending a high school in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino or Riverside Counties.

Unfortunately not. PAYS is only committed to local students in the surrounding Pomona College community (students attending high school in Los Angeles, San Bernardino or Riverside Counties).

Monday, November 11, 2024

Monday, March 3, 2025

All applicants will be notified in April.

1. Personal Information Form (online preferred)
2. Two complete essays (Max 500 words each)
3. Two letters of recommendation
4. An official transcript

We prefer for your Personal Information Form to be submitted online. However we will accept physical forms, if internet access is an issue. A paper copy of the application is available on the application page.

We prefer that you submit the above application items # 2-4 together in one of the following ways: mail, email, or fax. Please put your name on every document you submit to us.

Draper Center for Community Partnerships
Pomona College
Attn: PAYS
735 N. Dartmouth Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711

PAYS@sydotnet.net. If submitting materials via email, please submit only PDF files, labeled accordingly:

Transcript: Last Name, First Name Transcript
Recommendations: Last Name, First Name Recommendation
Essays: Last Name, First Name Essay 1

Fax: (909) 607-8006

Sunday, June 22 – Friday, July 18, 2025

PAYS participants engage in thought-provoking Math & Critical Inquiry courses taught by Pomona College professors/faculty; students also have the opportunity to take 2 electives taught by TAs (Pomona College students and or PAYS alumni). In addition, students partake in cultural events, workshops, projects and field trips during the intensive 4-week residential program. Beyond the faculty-taught courses and the Pomona student-led electives, rising 12th graders are given the rare opportunity to work on a significant research project under the direction of a Pomona College faculty member. On occasion, the research is published in academic journals.

Here’s our general residential schedule from Monday through Thursday:

On Fridays we have fieldtrips or the day off.

In a dorm on Pomona College’s campus.

During your first summer at PAYS, you live in a dorm by yourself. Every summer afterwards, you share a dorm with a roommate.

Yes, you leave on Friday night and return to campus on Sunday from 6pm to 8pm.

No. Neither college nor high school credit is awarded for participation in PAYS. What you gain from participating in PAYS is much more rewarding and helpful than credit.

There is no cost for participation in PAYS. Pomona College covers all costs including housing, food, activities, and transportation to field trips. Students will only be required to bring basic school supplies, such as pencils and paper.

No. PAYS provides all meals.