Life continues

Apparently there is a world beyond our small lilac conference room, where we're still frantically finalizing the Class of 2016.  Here's what Raissa and I caught on our way to Starbucks:

It's spring break time across the country, which means up to 100 visitors a day and general craziness.  Here is Sagar leading a tour. 

The bubble deck is being installed on the new building.  Mudd students, staff, and faculty got a chance to sign some of the recycled plastic balls prior to installation. 

Humans v. Zombies, round II.



If all goes well then decision letters will mail TOMORROW.  May the technology gods smile upon us. 

PS Thank you to our anonymous contributor of Girl Scout cookies!  Long live Samoas and Tagalongs!

Almost there.

Really.  I promise.  Soon.

Assembling the admit packets

Roxie hard at work

Now if only we had letters to put inside . . .



Progress?

Oh, technology.  This year we transitioned to online reading and a new data system!  Yes, both in the same admission cycle!  While I won't bore you with tales of our export and list-running tribulations (who designs an "export" function that maxes out at 500 records?!?!), they have been numerous -- and have made for more than one embarrassing e-mail stating incorrect information or requesting materials we have already received.  Yikes. 

I'm not quite ready to term our little technological leap "progress," but at least we can all read Raissa's writing this year. Here's how admission committee has changed since last year:

Committee then:

Committee now:

Decision making then:

Decision making now:

As you can see, online reading does not necessarily lead to less physical clutter.  And though it's pretty nifty to have our admission decisions projected onto a big screen (you can't tell from the photo, since I had to crop out all the confidential information, but that ADMIT: UNCONDITIONAL is about a foot wide!), I miss my Red Pen of Power.  A computer mouse just doesn't have the same flourish. 

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There was a question about merit scholarships (and I bet a lot of you are curious!).  Here's when recipients will be notified:

Harvey S. Mudd Merit Award - recipients are notified at the time of admission

So Scholarship - award is included in the recipient's financial aid package 

FIRST Scholarship - recipient is notified in early April

President's Scholars Program - finalists are notified in late March and awardees are selected in mid-April

RIF Scholarship - awardees are selected by the math department and notified in late March or early April

National Merit Scholarship - all National Merit finalists who have not been matched with corporate scholarships and list HMC as their top choice institution receive this award

Need-based financial aid packages are mailed about a week after the admit packet

Rumor has it . . .

. . . that there are some classic Girl Scout cookies headed our way!  Thank you so much!!

And on an unrelated note, I was asked when international students will receive notification.  Good question.  We send e-mail decisions (as well as paper copies) to anyone currently living outside the US.  Usually we give the physical letters a small head start -- so international students can expect to receive their decisions within a day or so of mailing. 

We're still not expecting to mail for at least a week, but I'll keep you posted!

Jeep wins a Watson!

Hot off the press: Veerasak "Jeep" Srisuknimit (you can read about his nickname here) is Mudd's latest Watson winner.  The Watson is one of the niftier fellowships in existence -- awardees travel to four or five countries over the course of the year studying a particular topic.  Past Mudd recipients have focused on tango, martial arts, perceptions of the cosmos, sustainable cities, and earthquake resistant structures.  Jeep's topic is totally Mudd: unicycles!

Where is the Other Half? Exploring the Connections among Unicycling, Cultures and Science
Italy, Ghana, India, Brazil, Japan

"Unicycles are more than just bicycles with a missing wheel. Without gears, brakes, or handles, unicycles free their riders to enjoy the thrill of balancing in all possible ways. Though humans have known how to ride on one wheel for over a century, unicycling has enjoyed its rise in popularity only recently. I intend to investigate what causes some people to ride a unicycle and others not to. I will explore how the decision to unicycle is affected by cultures and people's understanding of physics."

A chemistry major at Harvey Mudd College, Jeep is also a President of their 40-year-old unicycling club. As a freshman who had never seen a unicycle in his home country of Thailand, he initially wondered whether he could ride the strange one-wheeled vehicle farther than a meter. Now he can ride more than thirty miles in a day, backwards, and up stairs. A literal vehicle for explaining physics, chemistry and myriad scientific principles he plans to earn a Ph.D. with a full scholarship from the Thai government and become a university professor in Thailand, where he hopes to teach chemistry and start a unicycling club.


The light at the end of the tunnel

If only we looked this cute reading applications

Well, I wouldn't define it as bright light - more a dim glow, really - but it's clear we're approaching the end.  My first reader queue is nearly empty - all but a few "problem" cases of students missing this important document or that required recommendation.  Close enough. 

At this very moment, we're in full-on decision mode, closeted in our little lilac conference room, laptops and computer cords crowding all available surfaces.  It's intense.  And surprisingly fun.  By this point in the process we know we're shaping an extraordinary class; while there are still many more students to discuss, with such an embarrassment of riches, we can't screw up too badly.

Which brings us to the question of how many.  Despite the fact that we're a STEM school, predicting yield is not a perfect science.  Here at Mudd we start with our target number of students and work backwards.  At a school as tiny as Mudd, over-enrolling even by a few students could create serious havoc.  If we know we only have X beds on campus, and lab sections for Y students, then it's preferable to under-enroll and fill in extra spaces (if any) with students from the alternate list. 

Preferable in theory - but that assumes that talented, supercool students with many college options are willing to hang out indefinitely on our alternate list, just waiting for a phone call from HMC.  That'd be great, but it's not always reality.  So we have to strike a balance between the risk of overloading our small community and the risk of losing students we'd really like to have on campus. 

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I also wanted to once again thank all of you for your patience with my very delayed blog posts - I miss being able to check in more often!  Yes, we are drinking lots of tea (thanks Karthika!), Jamilla has her Snuggie, and we are successfully demolishing Girl Scout cookies by the dozen (speaking of which, what happened to the good old names like Samoas and Tagalongs?).

RE the question about whether ED students are eligible for merit aid - yes, absolutely!  We make Harvey S Mudd Merit decisions at the time of admission, but FIRST, National Merit, PSP, RIF, and even the So Scholarship for international students can all go to early decision students (and very often do). 

As to whether we'll have letters in hand before April 1 - well, that's the goal.  We've already scratched our first (far too optimistic) mailing date; the end of March is far more likely.  Then it will depend on our friends at the US Postal Service; usually it takes about three business days for the letters to reach the entire country.  This year we've considered electronic notification more carefully than ever, but there are so many horror stories of electronic notification gone terribly wrong that this is not something we want to implement last minute.  Plus I've already had the admit packets printed - and the admit folders are awesome.  (Don't spoil the surprise, ED students!  But seriously, aren't they cool?)  So, short answer: we will certainly mail before April 1, and with luck you'll have your decision by that date.

Okay.  Back to committee!