<p>I went to prefrosh weekend recently and ehhh... lets just say I wasn't as impressed as some people semed to be. That mathmagics guy was amazing, but other than that, we basically just got lectured all day in subjects, I at least, only understood up to my basic high school education and then it was alot of banter that seemed really interesting but I didn't know why they were trying to explain such complicated stuff that we weren't prepared to know yet. So yes, all day, lectures, I didn't get a feel of what life was like outside of school, even in student panel, they mostly talked about how they delt with the workload.-not that thats a bad thing, I just wanted to see them let loose more.<br>
Then late at night when all the scheduled activitied were over I went back up to my dorm with someone else i'd met and my host was sleeping and just told us to go off and do whatever. We ended up at the improv night which was incredibly funny, and then went over to the silly girls pj party thing. The party was pretty dull, no one was talking at first and again there were hardly any current students to talk with.
Then the next day we had to wake up and go to class- I went to several random ones including gen chem, public speaking, dif equations, and quantum physics. Again a little lost in the last two, but it was ok.</p>
<p>Overall, I found that I deffinately would be able to do all the work. I am not a genius like some of the people in our class, but I work my but off and I actually understood all of gen chem because I had the background knowedge from AP chem. But other than that, I did not find that Harvey Mudd was really ofering up the non-academic side of life, and I am concerned that there isn't one. I know some kids do it and balance stuff out, but I was told by several people that that is a lie for most normal individuals, that you don't have time for many out of school things. My other big concern is the social scene. I felt like I was walking into a class very socialy akward people. There were a few exceptions, but people were a little crazy. That game WOW or whatever, was their life and at lunch my friend said the kids at her table couldn't stop talking about it. The other bad thing, all the girls I got along with decided at the end of the day that they probably were not going to atend. I on the other hand feel forced to do a double take because of the amazing Opportunities that would be thrown at me if i did attend. I would have to live in north though I think, because they seem more normal being that they are athletes. Although I am unsure how I feel about being surrounded by many nerdy, not showering, akward people. <I know not everyone is like that, but there are so many!! Help?</p>
<p>Our family was at the pre frosh event as well. My son had a lot of fun, but he does speak "world of warcraft" (although he didn't play.) In his free time he played a game in the lecture hall/classrooms that involved running around and capturing people (until 2 in the moring), as well as ultimate frisbee.</p>
<p>I think this is a school with intense academics, much more than the usual. You won't find some of the trappings of a more typical college experience - everyone going out for the "big game" or the greek scene. And yes, kids with strong intellectual/science curiousity may appear to be socially awkward - especially when thrown together for just a few hours with lots of kids they don't know. It can take a while to warm up, to feel comfortable enough to have a really good time together. But certainly the older kids we met were very impressive communicators, not awkward in the least. And they seemed to care very much about each other as well, which I think happens when you work together so closely.</p>
<p>So I really think some of your impression may just be the result of some slow to warm up kids having to interact. I think the possibility for fun is definitely there, but you have to decide if it is your kind of fun.</p>
<p>I skipped every lecture during Prefrosh weekend last year, mostly because I was up all night just talking with like a group of Mudders and other Prefroshes. However, Wow was not mentioned once so I know there is that side of Mudd as well, you just have to search/get lucky and find it. </p>
<p>And as for the partying being dull, the real ones are a lot better. I went to a lingerie party which was awesome until the very end when it got busted up. Sadly from it though all i got was a hatred of screwdrivers and the memory of being half-molested by a gay black guy in a man-thong (he snuck up on me). </p>
<p>Also keep in mind, you were only introduced to Mudders; there are plenty of other people of different social types at the other CCs. </p>
<p>As for Wow conversations, it may seem like people only talk about that, but thats only because they just met and its a very easy thing to talk about since everybody from around the world is introduced to the same environment/mods/videos and so they can easily talk about it. Hell, I had a 5 hour one last night that made me late for Lin Alg. this morning, but they are very rare and once you get adjusted to people conversations will probably be much more normal, even among WoW junkies.</p>
<p>As for Mudders letting loose, what were u introduced to about Mudd "hacks?"</p>
<p>"Oh, 2much2do"
I am going to be cruel...by reading your other posts and noting you had a low sat scores and the unimpressive lists of other schools that accepted you and looking at the ones that rejected you (Pomona, CMC, Stanford), It appears that you are one of the less qualified females that Harvey Mudd is accepting and perhaps one of those who will drop out too. Maybe Scripps or Occidental is for you, and you should free up space for someone who really appreciates Harvey Mudd.<br>
Sorry, but it does not look like you belong nor deserve to be at Mudd....And by your own words...it is "crazy" that you got into Harvey Mudd. Shame on Harvey Mudd for really going out of its way....they are trying too hard to accept females at whatever cost. Maybe, it has to do with the new president of Mudd....I am going to have a chat with that woman.
For the record our son had M790, V700, W760 MII790 Chem790...and most grateful for the opportunity.<br>
Have fun at Scripps</p>
<p>I think that was over the top; you cannot judge somebody based on their stats alone, especially when they are writing a topic on not understanding why they got in. Her tone alone would contribute to a lowered esteem of her stats. There must have been something that the adcoms saw in her that caused her to be admitted. True she is a female, but I doubt HMC would admit somebody who does not have the possibility of succeeding there. Yes, people drop out, but thats because they probably were not giving their full effort, something almost mandatory at HMC. If the OP is willing to compensate for somewhat below-average stats by adding extra effort, more power to her. </p>
<p>And I really would refrain from bringing up SAT scores to compare a students right to acceptance.</p>
<p>Seiken, read her other posts and you will get a better flavor. Besides, the people I blame is that admssions office who is trying sooooooooo hard to get a 50 50 ratio of males/females that they are sacrificing quality over quantity. It is your typical affirmative action debate. My problem with the poster is that at first she was shocked she was accepted....not she is not impressed. This candidate is not going to cut it....my son understood the lectures, she thought it was over her head.</p>
<p>I'm sorry but your perception of Mudd is wrong. There ARE a lot of socially awkward, annoying, weird people. But there ARE a lot of completely normal people. The problem is that the weird people are a lot of times obnoxious and so the focus of attention is on them. </p>
<p>There is a great social life. You should have checked out Linde, North, and West. You do realize that you came on a Sunday night, right? Even if you were here Saturday night, there wasn't much. Maybe that's because the campus was DRY from saturday night to tuesday afternoon because Mudd doesn't want us scaring away prefrosh. I think it's dumb, but there have been a lot of crazy incidents that have happened in the past with mudd partiers + alcohol + prefrosh. If you really want a taste of the social scene at Mudd, come back on saturday for "Frosh slosh." 750 dollars of alcohol and marijuana, if you drink or smoke, but people have fun even if they don't. </p>
<p>I've said this so many times already before. Why don't you look in old threads where people ask about the social life at Mudd. Every non-nerdy freshman comes in worried about the social life, but there is no need to be worried. The social life might be lacking from sunday-wednesday due to the homework, but from thursday-saturday it is completely awesome.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Seiken, read her other posts and you will get a better flavor. Besides, the people I blame is that admssions office who is trying sooooooooo hard to get a 50 50 ratio of males/females that they are sacrificing quality over quantity. It is your typical affirmative action debate. My problem with the poster is that at first she was shocked she was accepted....not she is not impressed. This candidate is not going to cut it.
[/quote]
And yes I agree, the admissions office IS TERRIBLE at Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>Oh I am by no means supporting the HMC 'lets get chicks' approach, however taking it out on the OP is unnecessary. True, she probably would not have gotten in under a balanced decision, but that does not mean she will drop out as you have implied. I have indeed read her other posts, and responded to them, but just because she will start below the avg Mudder is no reason to say she is unworthy of attending Mudd, it just comes off as immature elitism, especially when you compare her to your own son.</p>
<p>All I have to say is that there is more to life than intelligence, which by the way I do have alot of. In this world, maybe my test scores aren't so hot, but I know many people who would kill for stats like mine. The Adcoms know that it takes more than inherent talent to be sucessful and I know for sure that I could put forth the effort and do well at Mudd. I work my but off to get scores some people get without much studying, either way we still got the same score. But you have solidified my belief that there are too many people who would underestimate me here. Not all, infact I know the majority of students are kind accepting people (thanks seiken). Aberam, who is to say admissions sacrificing quality for quantity, all they are doing is finding a different type of quality to create a more diversified environment. You know what, you upset me, alot, more than you probably should have, but i can't help it :( You have succeeded in driving me away.... I hope you're happy.</p>
<p>half the people at mudd are below average. :)</p>
<p>let's try to not get haughty. mudd is a unique place that is accepting to new and different individuals. this person may have some talent that we do not know about... it is not our place to judge.</p>
<p>anyways, mudd is definitely not antisocial or terribly weird. yes, everyone is a nerd but some of us let it shine more than others.</p>
<p>All I have to say is that there is more to life than intelligence, which by the way I do have alot of. In this world, maybe my test scores aren't so hot, but I know many people who would kill for stats like mine. The Adcoms know that it takes more than inherent talent to be sucessful and I know for sure that I could put forth the effort and do well at Mudd. I work my but off to get scores some people get without much studying, either way we still got the same score. But you have solidified my belief that there are too many people who would underestimate me here. Not all, infact I know the majority of students are kind accepting people (thanks seiken). Aberam, who is to say admissions sacrificing quality for quantity, all they are doing is finding a different type of quality to create a more diversified environment. You know what, you upset me, alot, more than you probably should have, but i can't help it You have succeeded in driving me away.... I hope you're happy.</p>
<p>And glad your son had a good time.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Are you really going to decide your college choice based on one post on an anonymous college forum by a prefrosh's parent? That is quite ridiculous. Hopefully you will reconsider, but if you don't it's fine. We wouldn't want someone here who would just decide against our school from "mean" one post anyway.</p>
<p>Aberam: I hope that your son doesn't share in the Mudd-elitism evident throughout your posts. Yes, HMC is a fantastic school, and I'm sure he'll love it. Do not forget, however, that he'll be sharing Claremont with four other undergrad colleges, and he will only benefit from having them there. As a Scripps student (and yes, one on par with your son, if we're basing this on SAT scores), I'm truly offended by your attitude.</p>
<p>Furthermore, it's not up to anyone in this thread, no matter how cruel or kind his intentions, to judge whether the OP should or shouldn't have gotten accepted to Mudd, or why she did. It's a pretty well known fact that Mudd is willing to take some "risks"--accepting promising, truly intelligent and passionate students who might not shine through on paper. I haven't seen the OP's other posts or stats, but I know numerous Mudders with surprisingly low numbers who can't have their admissions chalked up to affirmative-action. Quite frankly, when it comes to the OP's acceptance, none of us know, and it's none of our business. Nothing but congrats are in order, regardless.</p>
<p>2much2do: It's unfortunate that you had a negative-ish experience at prefrosh weekend. I do know a few students who opted for Scripps over Mudd because of the atmosphere and the fact that many of the same (or similar) opportunities would still be available to them. But both are excellent schools, and I'm sure that you have other promising options, as well. Good luck with your decision :)</p>
<p>"In his free time he played a game in the lecture hall/classrooms that involved running around and capturing people (until 2 in the moring)"
And he left early. ;)</p>
<p>On the impression note:
I really liked HMC, especially ITR games (see above), and the general atmosphere, etc. And yeah, I was kind of disappointed by how only a rather small portion of current students took an active role in pre-frosh weekend: but then again, it WAS Sunday and Monday, so many were either doing homework, sleeping, or taking/studying for tests. :/ I was expecting some more excitement around pre-frosh weekend.
The students I did get to meet and talk to were all awesome, open, friendly, etc. :) I think you actually had to go to the dorms/lounges/etc., etc. to meet people who, y'know, weren't asleep or studying. Or were not studying hard enough to resist conversation. The pre-frosh were a lot more reserved and quiet compared to the current students, so...</p>
<p>On the forum note:
aberam, honestly, how would YOU feel if your son got in somewhere he didn't expect to, was surprised and happy about this? Would you like someone to tell him that his SAT scores or GPA or ECs were too low to attend and that his admission was 'underserved' and that he should 'make space' for other people? Honestly? My SATs are higher than your son's: does this make me worth more as a person, or more capable of making a contribution to Mudd? Does it make me more 'worthy' of that place?
In fact, I'm pretty sure 2much2do would fare a lot better at Mudd than I would, because she's hardworking and isn't frightened away by work or having to put in an extra effort or things like that. She wasn't accepted because someone rolled some dice and got their favorite number; she was accepted because the adcom saw potential or ability or personality or something they would like to see her add to Mudd. Part of it may be diversity, but nonetheless, I don't think Mudd would accept people unless they thought they were capable of handling it. I also don't think you're the one to make the judgement on whether someone 'deserves' to be there or not.</p>
<p>2much2do, I really admire you for handling this with so much grace. :) And honestly, after this, I'd want to go to Harvey Mudd a whole lot less. I should certainly hope that most of Harvey Mudd does not reflect aberam's attitudes. They are just one pre-frosh parent. :/ Best of luck making up your mind about colleges, though. I'm confident you'll do great wherever you go. :)</p>
<p>Making your decision based off of Aberam's comments is indeed stupid, but I suspect you are just saying something you do not really mean or are using it as en excuse. Either way, time will indeed tell. </p>
<p>For the record, I would like to say that I just like the OP, only scored above 700 in one of my SAT reasoning sections, yet was admitted to Mudd as a male. There is just so much more to the whole process and plus the SATs really mean crap about intelligence and potential so using them as anything beyond college admissions is just retarded. Hell, she was ranked 2nd in her class; does that mean nothing about her effort output?</p>
<p>Anyways, Aberam, you have mentioned your son's motivation and love of Mudd. I would like for you to have him read your responses in this topic and perhaps give his soon-to-be-Mudder opinion on your animosity toward a prospect.</p>
<p>"nd yeah, I was kind of disappointed by how only a rather small portion of current students took an active role in pre-frosh weekend: but then again, it WAS Sunday and Monday, so many were either doing homework, sleeping, or taking/studying for tests. :/ I was expecting some more excitement around pre-frosh weekend."</p>
<p>I must apologize to everyone for me not being involved AT ALL. I had a massive expedited project to finish and deliver to Pasadena by Sunday night. I worked for 2 weeks straight and ended up driving to Pasadena at 2AM Monday morning (and missed all my classes that day).</p>
<p>I really would have liked to meet everyone. If you went on the tour and there was the "Rocket Development Lab", most likely I was in there or around there all weekend.</p>
<p>Also, the machine shop was the most busy this last weekend I have ever seen it. With clinic project deadlines approaching, people were having to work on the ground. I'm afraid that Mudd made this last weekend a horrible one for many of us. I'm glad many of you had fun...but I for one was losing hair.</p>
<p>Atomicfusion and RocketDA,
Gotta say DS is a little concerned with all the drinking/smoking/WOWing as social activity. Folks keep saying you can do other things, but what do people actually do? I find it hard to imagine having fun at a party when many others are in altered states. Do folks ever talk about things besides the workload?</p>
<p>Sorry if I have been a little confusing and failed to mention other activities. There are sober parties also every once in a while at East Dorm. Also, there are plenty of people who DON'T drink, or don't drink to get drunk, and still have lots of fun. I certainly go to parties sober sometimes and I still have fun there. There are friday forums once every week where students go to discuss a whole range of issues. There is the Leonard fund which lets us go out to dinner with profs for free. There are lot's of random activities that go on also. Like shoe-throwing golf, bed races, pranks, intermural dorm athletics (water polo games draw a lot of dorm pride). </p>
<p>People don't really talk about the workload that much here. I think it's just when people break down that they bring it up. As a freshman, each student is likely to have a breakdown from experiencing a demanding workload and non-perfect grades for the first time in their lives. But, I think we stress it on these forums because we want incoming students to be aware that it WILL be difficult. It makes them less shocked if they go here and see it for themselves. I know that I would have had no idea that Mudd was so challenging if it weren't for what students were saying on this forum. Consequently I wouldn't have been able to prepare for Mudd and would have fallen on my face.</p>