Scientific Progress Goes Thunk

There have been big happenings round these parts.  Thomas-Garrett is no more, and campus looks, well, decidedly different.  More on our newly partitioned and rerouted and darkened campus on another date, though, because I already have a dozen photos and even a video for your delectation.  I knew you'd want to see the destruction in action!  Here's a play by play of the month the walls came tumbling down:

Fencing installed, but otherwise TG looks just fine from a distance . . .

Up close you can see it's missing some key features like warts and window glass.

There are even still fliers and thumbtacks on the bulletin boards -- am I the only one who found this poignant?

The mayhem begins!

Tours continue despite demolition.  Katie is a champ.  If you look closely, you can see the construction guy is actually listening to Katie's closing Q&A.

Caution tape to keep out the rabble.

The water perplexed us at first, but we've since learned it's meant to tamp down the dust and prevent the equipment from overheating.

See the dust in the air?  This was a moment after the big boom of the central roof collapsing.

Half the building is missing . . .

Ah.  Here's where it went.

Dramatic, no?

More roof collapsing . . .

Just one isolated wing left.  TG looks so tiny now.

And broken.  It definitely looks broken.

See this flat expanse of nothing?  That used to be Thomas-Garrett.

And a bonus action video!  There is machinery!  It moves!

If you're still not satisfied with these images of doom & destruction, you can follow the construction's progress at the official Teaching-Learning Building webcam.  It's no panda cam, but there is a nice mountain view.

Meet Jamilla!

We're excited to welcome our new Admission Counselor, Jamilla Jamison!  Jamilla is a graduate of USC and most recently worked at an Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.  Jamilla grew up in Diamond Bar (about 15 minutes from Claremont) so she's happy to be home in Southern California.  In addition to being photogenic, Jamilla is also a great match for our office thanks to her sense of humor and fondness for Thai food and all-you-can-eat sushi.  And she's even a baker!  Although we've been keeping her busy since her arrival with interviews (lots of interviews), HR orientations, and her very first solo information session (yay!), Jamilla was kind enough to answer all my nosy questions about her admission experience thus far.  

Why did you choose a career in college admission?
I started working in admissions as an intern while I was an undergraduate at USC. I found that I really enjoyed talking to students about my experiences in college and encouraging kids who had never dreamed that college was an option to at least consider it. I especially enjoy the cyclical aspect to the admissions office because generally when I start to become bored of traveling a lot in the fall, we transition to reading applications. As soon as I feel that my eyes can’t take reading another application, we transition to working with admitted students and soon enough it starts all over!

When you lived on the East Coast, what did you miss most about California?
I think most people would say the weather, but I actually missed the diversity of California. I enjoy trying different types of cuisines and it’s so easy to do that here (and relatively inexpensive) because we have such a diverse community.

How has it been working at HMC so far? Has there been anything about the college/admission office you didn’t expect?
It’s been fun so far. A bit overwhelming to have to learn all sorts of new terms and quirks that hopefully I’ll be able to correctly share with prospective families. I really feel a sense of school pride at Mudd that I don’t know that I really expected and/or that I’ve experienced at past institutions.

You’ve done a lot of interviews of prospective Mudders in the past couple of weeks. What do you think makes an interview successful?
Wow…this was a difficult one. I think the interviews I enjoy most is where I can just let the student talk about the things that interest them the most. It really shows the student’s passion for an activity or interest when I can just ask one question and the student’s eyes light up when talking about the subject.

Mudd just ranked #3 on a Princeton Review list of “least beautiful campuses.” Why do you think this is?
I don’t actually think it has anything to do with having ugly buildings or anything like that. I actually just think people generally picture college campuses as large, brick buildings with the ivy on them, so when they see something that’s a bit different, it can be somewhat surprising.

You’ve got a long list of travel territories – Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Sacramento, in addition to your local territories. Are any of these places you haven’t visited before? Where are you most excited to go?
I have actually never visited ANY of these territories before…..actually, that’s not true. I did go on a school trip to Sacramento when I was in 4th grade, but I don’t really count that because the only thing I can remember is stopping to eat at an Old Spaghetti Factory on our way home. I hate to say I’m more excited to visit one place over the other because I’m excited to meet students from all of these areas. However, I have heard that New Mexico is absolutely beautiful, so I’m excited to see for myself!

Any must-have travel items?
Definitely have to have the GPS…at all times!

Snacks/attire/music/etc you find conducive to file reading?
So, this is incredibly embarrassing, but I love to read applications at home on the couch in my pajamas with a cup of coffee or tea. It’s what I find to be the most comfortable and it makes the reading process more relaxing for me when I’m comfortable. I suppose my colleagues will soon learn that I have a Snuggie that I bought specifically for the long committee hours last year.

Favorite kind of birthday cake?
So, this is also a new admission to my colleagues, but I’m not actually a huge fan of desserts and cakes are especially too sweet for me. This is quite odd to most people because I LOVE to bake (in fact, I make a mean cheesecake), but I rarely eat the desserts that I bake.

Thanks Jamilla!

A long-overdue post with many photos

It's tough blogging without a camera battery, especially when you know there's a backlog of Discovery Days photographs just waiting for their internet debut.  Luckily, said battery charger has since been located under a pile of quilting scraps, British decorating magazines, and other Colleen-themed ephemera.  So now we can get back to the important business of Discovery Days! 

Katie already posted the glamorous microphone headsets she, Miranda, and Liana sported for Discovery Days (I wore one for my presentation with Kyle on research -- more on that in a minute -- but I'm pretty sure a ponytail is key to successfully rocking the look).  Here's what else you would have experienced if you were one of the 350 or so guests who attended our two Mudd Unveiled: Discovery Day programs. 

 The ever-cheerful Pat ready to greet our guests

The equally ebullient Katie distributing schedules
 

Katie -- who, by the way, is awesome -- hand-decorated each of the tour assignment cards

Falone, Jamilla, and Thyra standing at the ready (who is Jamilla, you ask?  Well, my friends, all shall be revealed next week)

A shady spot by the koi pond, perfect for relaxing
 

Thyra's opening greeting (can you see Peter's glasses at the far left?)
 

The scintillating powerpoint on research, featuring Kyle Chakos '13
 

In between sessions, Kyle gave me a quick explanation of Tropical Algebra and its applications to string theory.  Did I mention Mudd is an unusual place?

From our perspective, Discovery Days were a success -- we had attendees from across the country, we kept more or less to schedule, and nobody fainted from heatstroke.  And three of our five microphone headsets actually worked, which given the usual track record isn't a bad ratio. 

If you're drooling over the glory of Discovery Days, and wondering why you didn't cadge a free meal in the dining halls while you had the chance, let me reassure you on two points: 1) all prospective students get a free lunch pass to the dining hall, provided they visit when school is in session (family members have to pay); 2) there's another Discovery Day!  Come to campus on Columbus Day (October 10) and I can promise you many similar elements, with the added bonus of sitting in on Mudd classes.  Yes.  Life is fortunate.

PS Remember the back story behind the printed invitation?  If you attended the second Discovery Day, you might've even had the prankee in question (Lilian) as your tour guide!  Small campus, huh?

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!