POMONA, Calif. – In one Pomona house there are five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and living inside are five college students attending three different schools. They’re living together and taking online classes together in an attempt to recreate the college experience, despite a fully virtual class load.

One of the renters is Claremont McKenna College senior Koss Klobucher. He spent last semester—his first remote semester—with family in Santa Barbara. He knew he couldn’t do that again.

“Distance learning is a bummer and it’s hard and there’s all sorts of difficulties that come with that, but it’s much easier to be going through it with other people,” said Klobucher.

This would have been Klobucher’s final season on the water polo team.

Fellow senior and renter Lincoln Bernard is from New York and doesn’t have family nearby to live with. He’s considering taking a semester off if it guarantees his final weeks of undergraduate study are on campus.

“I don’t think the whole study online classes thing is worth the money at all. I mean I don’t think any school in the country got a discount on tuition and it’s just a massive rip-off,” said Bernard.

Alex Cardenas also lives in the home and is a senior at Arizona State University. It hasn’t been a problem living in a different state than his school.

While some of the men went to high school together or met each other in college, Cardenas knew Klobucher thanks to video games. They met for the first time when they moved in together.

“We live in the 21st century, internet friends become real friends all the time,” said Cardenas.

They’re in a three-month lease, unsure of whether to renew or move on since many schools haven’t made it clear what will happen in the spring.

“I’m very glad I did this. I miss my family, but I think it’s just a much better situation here,” said Klobucher.

Without a college community these men created their own.