To all you SoCal hopefuls

If you're from Southern California, there's one thing you absolutely must do if you're interested in attending HMC . . . VISIT CAMPUS. It always astounds me when we receive applications from local students -- some as local as right here in Claremont -- who haven't so much as set foot on HMC soil. Especially baffling because we're a residential college. All first-year students live on campus; upwards of 95% of upperclassmen do as well. You won't just take classes here (although it would be a good idea to check out the lab and classroom facilities as well); this will be your home. Your friends. Your life. For four years.



What happens on a campus visit? It's painless, I promise. You'll take an hour-long tour, led by a current Mudd student. You could chat with an admission rep, attend an information session, have lunch in the dining hall. Go inside a dorm room and a laboratory. If it's during the academic year, you'll see some of my favorite things on campus: study groups at the white boards in Platt. The hammocks in South. The latte machine.

While you're on campus, you might want to think about interviewing, too, but that's a topic for another time. For now, just visit! Especially now, before it's mid-August and approximately 217 degrees outside.