ASP in pictures (or not)

I'm dying to show you all the photos I took at the admitted student program this weekend.  Here they are:


this one:


and this one:


and this one:


and lastly my favorite:


Nope, your computer isn't having any loading issues.  You just saw the entirety of the photos I managed to snap of the Admitted Student Program.  Well, except for this one, of my beloved tour guides, looking dapper as ever:

But seriously, that's it.  Pathetic.  I committed the classic rookie error of arriving at work before consuming any caffeine, which rather restricted my ability to operate a simple point-and-shoot camera and alphabetize nametags (Hayden has been sworn to secrecy on the latter incident.  I'd like to keep my diploma in English lit).  So I'll just have to tell you about the event.  If I don't have pictures, then I guess I owe you a thousand words.

Saturday.  PSP Event.  After Falone convinced the finalists that they were about to embark on a Jeopardy-meets-Hunger-Games deathmatch, the selection interviews with faculty probably seemed pretty tame.  As a staff we mostly tried to stay out of the way and let our current PSP scholars interact with the finalists; they're much better advertisements for the scholarship and the school than we could ever hope to be.   Personally I'd enroll at Mudd tomorrow if I thought it would turn me into Sarah Ferraro.  And finally we treated our guests to the finest cuisine available in Southern California . . . sushi, three-foot-long burritos, pear and gorgonzola pizza, and In-N-Out Burger.  We're nothing if not fancy.

Sunday.  Admitted Student Program, Day 1.  Goal: get our guests so disgustingly sick of Galileo Hall that they are desperate to see construction on the new building accelerated, and are seized by a sudden desire to donate twenty million dollars to the college to facilitate this.  Okay, that wasn't exactly the scheme, but there are definite downsides to holding a large program at an institution with a grand total of one capacious lecture hall.  Fortunately our visitors were patient, and hopefully the students and faculty were lively enough to make up for the blandness of the physical space.  Mathemagics would be mind-blowing in pretty much any location, I think.  Here's a behind-the-scenes item of note: guess how many bag lunches were left over?  One.  And that was after Raissa increased the order a few days ahead of time.  Whew. 

Monday.  Admitted Student Program, Day 2.  Overall, more low-key than Sunday, but families are starting to ask tough and important questions as they evaluate whether Mudd is the right place for their students.  Students sit in on classes and eat in the dining halls and try to imagine themselves in this setting for four years.  Day 2 may be lower intensity, but it's no less emotional. 

Tuesday.  The guests have gone home, but our work isn't over.  Tuesday is PSP Selection -- a three hour process.  It's admission committee all over again, complete with strongly voiced opinions and agonizing choices. 

And now it's a waiting game.  The power is in your hands, admitted students.  We made you sit (im)patiently for four months; now it's your turn to make us run to intercept the daily mail (Judy and Aileen have been known to chase off overeager staff with letter openers) and lose sleep contemplating all that could go wrong with yield.  We've put our most positive-yet-honest foot forward; now it's your turn to decide whether this is what you want for the next four years.  Whatever you decide, we wish you the best.  (But really, you should pick Mudd.)