Who said anything about HMC ceasing to exist?
It just might become a less desirable place to go to school relative to MIT (and other better funded schools) in the future if fiscal realities catch up to colleges and universities, which they inevitably must.
Thanks for the replies; other parents like myself are benefitting from the discussion here, even if the OP’s situation is a specific one.
You’ve adjusted all these numbers to reflect the fact that ~7,000/11,500 MIT students are (mostly) non-tuition-paying graduate students, right?
There’s a limit to how much endowment should factor into college selection. Princeton endowment per student is roughly 2x that of Harvard, Stanford, MIT; ~3x Notre Dame and Dartmouth; ~5x Penn and Northwestern; ~8x Brown and Columbia. Should a kid who fits better at Stanford or Brown, and does not expect to receive financial aid, choose Princeton because of endowment size? Probably not, because these are all financially healthy schools.
HMC is well endowed for its size and undergrad focus, and operates within a consortium of other well-endowed small colleges. With a relatively low admit rate and a decent yield, along with a fantastic reputation, this is not a school that is likely to face a financial pinch due to the coming enrollment crunch. I’m a big fan of MIT, and the endowment does offer some advantages beyond the great FA. But let’s not pretend that we’re comparing it to Hampshire college or one of the hundreds of other SLACs that are likely to face financial trouble. HMC is not in that category.
Also: endowment size does not affect the weather in January, at least so far.
If I had a daughter with an interest in CS, and who felt a better fit at HMC, I’d consider the “financially healthy” box checked at both schools and look at factors like this (just for example):
Having said that, the ability to weigh fit and admissibility at both schools is a great opportunity. Congrats to OP and daughter for what looks to be a thoughtful and positive recruiting process.
HMC and MIT are two very different schools. Both very prestigious and both very supportive of women in engineering. In all honesty, HMC was the only school that our S (recent Stanford CS grad BS and MS) removed from his application list after touring. Please note that his decision was based solely on his perceived fit and not necessarily on academics. Just one data point.
Did the coach indicate that ED1 or ED2 does not matter to the AO as long as the coach gives full support?
Do you believe that the coach had more flexibility in offering support for ED2 to HMC since the support was not a hard slot like for CMC, but rather a “tip”?
Your D has amazing cards in this high stakes game, but there is an itch that can’t be scratch here. Thank you for sharing!
I just pulled the numbers out of their published financials as linked and did not make any further adjustments or calculations.
@SweetCoffee She seemed to indicate the process and support was the same as ED1. Correct that there are not “slots” at HMC so it is indeed more of a “tip” and the coach submits supplemental material and also advocates directly for the athlete in a special session. As opposed to Claremont where I guess the five “slots” are applicable to ED 1 only and if she does not use them they go away.
What kind of college academic workload does your daughter want? It is conventional wisdom at my kids’ BS that the only two schools harder then this BS are MIT and UChicago in terms of work grind. My kid is already grinding during highschool and while definitely not looking to coast in college is not looking for the same kind of crushing rigor and grade deflation that the college counselors are warning of. That kind of grind makes a difference.
Just something to consider - do you want the extreme grind or do you want challenge that feels realistic and manageable? I would not discount the experience/advice of top college counselors.
@one1ofeach It’s a good question although everything I have researched HMC is every bit as much of a grind. Although they did modify the core curriculum at HMC this coming year to try and make that a bit more manageable. D22 is a grinder for sure managing marching band, select/travel team and high school team along with academics for last 3.5 years. Not saying she is “looking forward to it” but she is as ready as anyone can be. Post our school and team visit at MIT a few weeks ago she has decided on the game plan of MIT EA (submitted this week) and HMC ED2 application if denied OR deferred. The coach indicated that deferral is a common outcome but D22 doesn’t want to wait or play those odds
D22 was deferred from MIT EA. Note from coach indicated that of 15 supported athletes 5 were accepted, 9 were deferred and 1 was rejected. She also indicated that she thinks another 2-3 will be admitted from RD. Not unexpected and D22 is sticking with her game plan of applying ED2 at HMC with (thankfully) coach support. A bit of regret and second guessing at not going this route to begin with but it was worth a shot. Onward!
Sorry for the disappointment of the deferral. If she hadn’t given MIT a shot, she’d be second-guessing that decision, so it’s good she gave it a try. Kind of unfortunate, in a way, that they’re still dangling the 20-30% chance of still getting in RD, but that surely doesn’t seem worth the gamble when she has the coach support for ED2 at Mudd. MIT had its chance at her! I’ll bet she will love her HMC experience; and MIT will be there for grad school!
Interesting! My D22 a recruited athlete also deferred from MIT EA. Not sure how many in total supported. Heard 5 accepted and expect 2-6 more RD. Definitely agree it was worth the shot but sounds like you have a decent game plan. I wonder though if the odds could still be decent as others also choose to ED II to other schools, My D22 is realistic though and knows she needs to explore other options.
Thanks for sharing, sorry it did not work out perfectly but it sure looks like it will at the end. I wonder for the deferred recruits, do they still have some edge in the RD round, or the boost from support were primarily from at EA?
My S22 is in the similar situation. 2-6 more in the RD seems pretty high, considering the odd of deferred applicants in the general population being admitted is very low. Right?
Thanks for sharing. My daughter is a recruited athlete also deferred from MIT EA. Not sure how many are supported. It was worth a try! Good part is, she is okay with the deferral than denial. She is still hopeful!
You’re probably right. Maybe the coach based that number on the range over many years. Would be interesting to know historical percentages on how many recruited athletes are accepted during RD deferred or applying for the first time after possibly not getting in any of their ED choices,
Agree that 2-6 RD acceptances seems too high if only 5 early acceptances. I would look to the low end of the range as most likely, unless some of the 5 accepted decline the offer - unlikely given MIT’s process, but theoretically possible given that it’s early action, not early decision. The key piece of info that you need from the coach is how many supported recruits were deferred. If the coach is not saying, or being vague, chances are that number is pretty high. Coaches are incented to try to keep the pool as strong as possible and limit attrition. Unfortunately, this is a really tough year with the number of spots available generally lower due to bigger rosters as a result of Covid, and more recruits chasing those spots. Kudos to the original poster for locking in ED2 support from HMC if MIT early didn’t work out – what a great move. I would seriously consider ED2 options if possible.
Agree, based on our experience, coaches generally assume 50/50 with supported athletes that have qualifying academic credentials.
The problem is some of those EDII options don’t have support from the coach. We know their education is what is important and the sport is secondary but tell that to a teenager…