Does a wart harvest sound gross to you?

That was the phrase that caught my eye in the invitation to the Thomas-Garrett Commemoration Party.  Remember this photo I posted before my vacation?

Well, TG is still standing, albeit shrouded in plastic, surrounded by caution tape and neon orange cones, and stripped of anything even remotely reusable.  It's currently scheduled to go boom (or, more likely, kerplop) on August 1.  Although I don't know many folks who harbor nostalgic feelings for the building itself -- the only big regret is the Shakespeare performance space, although that was a major design consideration of the new building -- there is nonetheless a goodbye party scheduled on July 30, where, yes, you can harvest your own wart.  I kid you not.  To quote the invitation:

What about the warts?

This is perhaps the most-asked question with regard to the demolition of Thomas-Garrett. All the warts on the building will be harvested; many will be saved for use as replacement warts on other campus buildings. However, a limited quantity of 500 of these warts is available to our HMC community and friends.

Those who choose to make a gift to HMC on or before July 30, and who also attend the event above, will be able to remove their own wart from the building (hard hats, safety goggles and power tools will be provided). Those who do not attend the celebration event or who wish to make the gift after July 30 will receive their wart by mail.

Pick your own strawberries -- been there, done that (Emma, anyone?  Anyone?).  Pick your own wart?  With power tools?  Zowie!  Although, come to think of it, receiving a concrete block in the mail would also have its own level of awesomeness.  Does it come with a commemorative plaque?

The Colleen Smith Fund for the Acquisition of Warts is now accepting donations . . .

PS Mudd Loves You

Michael Edwards, campus life coordinator and ice cream peddler extraordinaire.

To appropriate the words of Ben Franklin, the ice cream bike is proof that Mudd loves you and wants you to be happy.  As heartwrenching as it is to see the coffee cart and the espresso machine closed for the summer, all resulting misery vanishes when I hear the jingling bell of the LAC ice cream bike.  For the miserly sum of twenty-five cents (basically, enough to break even) you can treat yourself to a popsicle or ice cream sandiwch -- or, for another twenty-five cents, really go to town with a fancy-dancy drumstick.   

 Notice anything unusual about Erin's attire?

 

Every Wednesday, through the end of July, the ice cream bike will be making its rounds through the academic and residential sides of campus.  And you'd better believe that I'll be ready with my quarter every single time.

First Blogiversary: A Year of Outtakes

It's been more than a year since this blog made its debut.  In that time, Admission Edition has been referenced on College Confidential, incensed applicants with its depiction of babies reading admission files (the dog reading admission files somehow managed to escape censure), been perused by a diverse audience including the college president and my mom, and otherwise offered superior investigative reporting into the life of the HMC admission office with no bias whatsoever in favor of chocolate, fluffy mutts, and ad nauseum photographs of the Kingston Hall conference table.

Although Hannah Hoersting and I were the only official contributors, the entire admission staff has embraced the blog wholeheartedly, and more than a few Kingston conversations have been punctuated with an excited, "you should blog this!"  It's been a joint endeavor, and I couldn't blog without the assistance of colleagues willing to let me post embarrassing photos for the entire internet to witness.  Thanks guys!

And if you're reading this, thank you for visiting Admission Edition.  Any topics you'd like to see for the 2011-2012 academic year?  Do share!

As we prepare to start recruiting the Class of 2016 (well, everyone except me is prepared, I'm still in denial), let's take a moment to reminisce with some outtakes from the 2010-2011 academic year.

What the file room really looks like mid-reading-season.  That's Aileen's desk buried under file tubs.

The admission staff beverage of choice, featured in the foreground where it belongs.

Raissa, I think I promised you this photo would never appear on the internet.  I'm sorry.



Nothing like sitting in a small cinder block room eight hours a day to keep you alert.

My failed attempt to show you what time my day began in Marin County.  4:45 am, people -- I was out the door at 6.  Good times.

Sometimes there are lizards on the wall outside my office!  Squirrel fights too, but those are harder to photograph.

Hannah and I had a joint birthday celebration!  Thyra made us an applesauce cake with cream cheese frosting.  Mmm-mm.

The festivities continued at The Back Abbey in Claremont . . .

. . . with burgers, fries, and a happy Hannah.  Raissa's arm is not this large in real life.

The financial aid staff doesn't make it into the blog nearly often enough.  Pictured are Les, Monica, and Gilma.  (Not shown are Jean & Richard.)  Les is the best singer on staff, so he's indispensable for any birthday gathering.

June staff retreat!  We explored the amenities at nearby Pomona College.  It was a very comfortable room, but we had to bring our own Cheez-Its.  

At the risk of sounding like your parents . . .

. . . I thought I'd mention to all you rising seniors that summer is a great opportunity to start your college essay!  I know, I know, you have plenty of time, it's not due for months, and hello, Harry Potter is eleven days away from release.

Here's the thing: first semester senior year will be like nothing you've experienced before.  It's not that the homework is harder, or that you'll suddenly be rendered incapable of writing 500 words in a single sitting.  But chances are, you'll be busy.  Maybe it's the first time you'll have those leadership positions you've been working towards the past several years.  Maybe AP Physics really is as challenging as legend portrays it.

Regardless, here's the truth -- college applications will take more time than you expect.  Requesting transcripts, visiting colleges, asking teachers for letters of recommendation (the earlier the better, please -- and extra credit if you give each recommender a resume and/or muffins), retaking the SAT, scheduling alumni interviews, copying and pasting your curriculum vitae onto endless stacks of supplemental forms, remembering where you stuck that little scrap of paper on which you wrote down your social security number that your parents told you not to lose . . . it adds up.  Fast.

Since you're still taking tough classes that require homework and staying involved in extracurriculars, you're going to be mighty busy, even without the mundane demands of the college process.  And eventually, it will be the very end of Christmas vacation, you will be writing your college essays on your grandparents' computer in western Pennsylvania (hitherto only used for playing solitaire) and making frantic phone calls to find the only post office open past 5 pm in the greater Pittsburgh area so you can somehow make the postmark deadline, even if it means submitting your essays with multiple typos.

Not that I would know anything about this personally.  But hypothetically, I hear college essays can seriously suck the fun out of winter holidays -- although at least online submission means you're spared the intimate knowledge of post office closures common to previous generations of college-going students.

The point is, your parents might be onto something.  Starting your college essays in the summer, six whole months before the deadline?  Not so crazy.  You've got time to explore your wackiest ideas for essay topics, to reject ideas that simply aren't working, to polish and refine something that is truly you.  

I posted my best essay tips last fall (and within the standard 500 word essay limit, just for kicks), so I won't repeat those now.  What I will tell you is what to write about -- or, at least what your options are.  While HMC's supplement isn't live on the Common Application website yet (it will be, so be patient), the essay questions will remain constant.  So if you're a student chomping at the bit, or if you're a parent who wants to thoughtfully tuck these questions in your child's sock drawer as an oh-so-gentle hint, here you are:

In addition to the Common Application essay, choose any one of the essay topics below.  

1. What is one thing we won't know about you after reading your application that you haven’t already reported in the Common Application “Additional Information” section?   

2. Describe an experience that sparked your interest in mathematics, science or engineering.  

3. In a world where technology continually adapts and progresses, Harvey Mudd College expects that our students will be aware of the impact of their work on society. How would you use new advances to improve your life and/or the lives of those around you? Describe your idea and its potential impact. Feel free to be as creative or as practical as you like. 

Consider it my Independence Day gift to you.  Happy writing!

Why there are very few photos of me on this blog

Several individuals (okay, maybe just Marcus and my cousin Kate) have wondered why there are so few pictures of me on this blog.  Well, there are two glaring reasons:

1) This blog isn't really meant to be about me.

2) This is a lucky thing, because here is what happens when I attempt a looking-busy-and-important-at-work photograph:

Cameras and I don't fare so well together.  Something about that lens pointed my way brings out my most fidgety tendencies -- or maybe I'm just inspired by my favorite comic hero:

My resolution for the 2011-2012 academic year: learn to shoot better photographs so I can appear on the blog even less often.  This will benefit all of us.



Thanks to Raissa for her patience and her many valiant attempts to steer me towards less-idiotic facial expressions!

Where have all the juniors gone?

If you are one of the (many) students who has interviewed with me over the past week or so, I have a confession to make: I am not ready for you yet.  You've decided, very sensibly, that the summer before your senior year is a fine time to start your college search process.  You're asking about regular decision deadlines and essay questions and first-year housing, and I hope I'm giving you rational responses.  But what I'm thinking is, "Heavens to Murgatroid, you're a senior already?"  Because, you see, you're applying to the Class of 2016.  And according to my memory, we admitted the Class of 2015 approximately yesterday.  When did all this growing up and graduating happen?

This is all a lead-in to say that I am very sorry for my lack of recent blog posts, but summer has not yet settled down into a normal routine.  We've had a well-fed staff retreat, interviewed job candidates, escorted 80 middle school students through the labyrinthine basement hallways . . . and to top it all off, apparently there are rising seniors who want to apply to Mudd next year.  This year.  Yipes!

My vacation to balmy, beautiful New Jersey starts Monday and I hope two weeks is enough for my poor kerfuffled brain to make the transition from the Class of 2015 to the Class of 2016.  It's also very possible that by the time I return, this will be gone:

Yup.  Exciting times here in Claremont!

Farewell, Hannah!

It's the sad truth. Our beloved Hannah Hoersting '09, Admission Counselor, competitive ballroom dancer, and valued blog contributor is leaving HMC for greener pastures.  While I'm sure she'll greatly miss maintaining her college fair spreadsheet and devoting all of her weekend hours to file reading (ha), the truth is, she's been a wonderful colleague with a killer sense of humor and excellent taste in birthday cakes.

In honor of Hannah's very last day in the office, we felt lunchtime festivities were in order.  First, it was off to the Pita Pit in the Claremont Village.

Can you identify all six admission staff members hidden in this picture?

Oh, the joy.

But the main event was Hannah's favorite Claremont destination -- Yogurtland!  If you're from California, then you're likely familiar with this phenomenon -- self-serve yogurt in a dozen or so flavors, oodles of topping options, endless fun.

Aasim and I display our creations.  Am I the only one who likes Cap'n Crunch on my yogurt?

Warning: day not as warm as it may appear in pictures.  It was only in the seventies.  Brr.

Katie Shepherd '14 (right) is our full-time summer tour guide and student blogger.   

Hannah, we'll miss you.  Do great things, come back and visit, and feel free to leave behind your chocolate.