The arrival of the interviewers

Chances are, if you come to the admission office to interview during the academic year, you'll meet one of these seven individuals -- our talented, articulate, eminently reliable senior interviewers.  While our full-time staff is traveling during the fall and at home reading applications during the spring, these senior students will be the front line of the admission office.  And seriously, we couldn't leave the office in better hands. 

Introducing our 2011-2012 Senior Interviewers, in the order they happened to be photographed:



Lowell Reade

Engineering

High School: American School in Japan

Likes: tweets, trombones, and tech magazines

Campus Leadership Role: Proctor

 Srishti Nayak

Off-campus major in Neuroscience

High School: Desert Mountain, AZ

Quote: "If the 5Cs were a film festival, HMC would be the science fiction booth."

Campus Leadership Role: Proctor

Lindsay Hall

Math/Computer Science

High School: McDonogh School, MD

Likes: Google, grutors, and (tour)guiding

Campus Leadership Role: Co-Social Chair

Sarah Ferraro

Computer Science

High School: Crescenta Valley, CA

Quote: "This is really a community where a passion for science is celebrated and people are accepted because of all the crazy things they do, not in spite of them."

Campus Leadership Role: Founder/President of the FIRST Robotics Mentoring Club

Roxie Bartholomew

Engineering

High School: Lake Forest High, IL

Quote: "As a senior interviewer I get to look at the incoming class as more than just percentages and numbers on a spreadsheet (i.e. the dreaded SAT score) and see who they are: people with interests outside of studying and school."

Campus Leadership Role: HMC Treasurer 

Hayden Hatch

Chemistry/Biology

High School: Friends Seminary, NY

Likes: ghost hunting, lizard catching, and j-boarding

Campus Leadership Role: Muddraker Editor-in-Chief

 Alexa Noxon

Engineering

High School: South Mecklenburg, NC

 Likes: hammocks, capture the flag, and Mazdas

Campus Leadership Role: Proctor

The hardest part of compiling this list was the editing -- because, good grief, there were so many activities and leadership roles to choose from.  Dorm Mentors.  Orientation Sponsors.  Dorm Presidents.  Summer Institute Mentors.  President's Scholars and Finalists.  Class Presidents.  Honor Board Representatives.  Inner Tube Water Polo Champions.  Club Presidents.  And don't even get me started on the research and internships these seniors have done -- including my all time favorite, Sarah's Dance Dance Revolution for the elderly. 

So if you're lucky enough to meet these Mudders, please, interrogate them about the awesome things they've done on campus.  Ask Alexa or Sri about Science Bus.  Get Roxie or Lowell to share a story or two about their adventures in their semesters abroad.  Ask why they chose Mudd, because they'll tell you, honestly.  I hope to share more of their insights into Mudd, Mudders, and the interview process in the coming year. 

But until then, I leave you with Alexa's assessment of her new role: "I remember what I wanted interviews to be like, and how nervous I was going into them.  I want Mudd's interviews to be the ones that feel like a great conversation."

And that's our sincerest hope for all of you who will be applying this year, and why we hired this particular group of senior interviewers: may all your college interviews feel like great conversations.