<p>Is it possible to get a good feel for Harvey Mudd visiting outside of the school year? Because we are on the East Coast AND our school's holidays line up with college ones, going during the school year is very hard.
Would it make more sense to interview out there, or when HM visits out our way? Mudd often visits our very small school - could an interview be done then?</p>
<p>nemom, your kiddo can interview during a visit from Mudd to your school. At least in our case, the regional counselor who visited geek<em>son’s high school (and all the other schools in our area) is the same one who conducted geek</em>son’s interview at Mudd, and the same one who handled geek_son’s application.</p>
<p>As to visiting Mudd, imho there’s enough going on (and enough students still around) in the summer to make it worthwhile. Our visit was in the summer between junior and senior years, and the students there were wonderful to geek_son. Of course a summer visit is not the same as tagging along with host students for a day and spending the night in a dorm room… but that stuff is part of the pre-frosh orientation experience in April anyway. :)</p>
<p>Good luck to your kiddo!</p>
<p>We lucked out and visited Mudd (and Pomona and Caltech) last year during our locsl school spring break. The colleges had just returned from their breaks. We felt lucky because this allowed my son to get a feel for the campuses and attend some Mudd classes. </p>
<p>On the other hand, our east coast college visits have been during the summer, and you can learn an awful lot during a summer tour too. (We missed Carnegie Mellon - so we’ll catch a Sleeping Bag Weekend in January). The top contenders will likely get re-visits this winter or spring. Dreary winter visits will probably give a dose of reality, better learned before decisions. Yes, the visits are expensive. But these are big decisions involving huge investments. </p>
<p>When at Mudd, we did a family info interview. Darn, we missed the local Denver interview - they filled up before my son called. You are lucky Mudd visits your school.</p>
<p>colorado_mom, you can probably get them to visit your school next year. Contact your regional counselor (Falone Serna for CO) and put him or her in touch with your high school GC. They’re happy to find new schools to recruit from, even small ones – in fact, especially small ones.
[Office</a> of Admission Staff](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/contactadmission1/staff.html]Office”>http://www.hmc.edu/admission1/contactadmission1/staff.html)</p>
<p>Oh, and don’t be alarmed… Falone is pretty reserved. Doesn’t mean your kid’s not “showing well” – he’s just not a very demonstrative guy. ;)</p>
<p>From everything I’ve ever heard about college visits, if you are considering attending a school, a visit to the campus while school is in session is a must. I visited last summer, and while there were a few students around hmc campus, the whole area as a whole seemed rather deserted. The tour and information session were boh wonderful in terms of getting a feeling of what mudd is about, but I feel like I definitely did not get a good feel of the people who I could be spending the next 4 years of my life with or what the campus is really like during the year, so I’ve been putting in extra hours at work to finance a mid-February trip out to LA ( I live in Chicago). </p>
<p>On the topic of my possible trip, does anyone know if the admissions office can set me up with a student for an overnight in the dorms? The only other college I stayed overnight I stayed with my brother, but because I don’t know anyone at mudd, I would need to be set up with someone. </p>
<p>Edit: wow I don’t know how I misse the second part of geek_mom’s first post… Guess that’s my question answered. But i’ll still leave my 2 cents about the visit</p>
<p>Yeah NWrnnr5 the admission office can set up overnights (: I didn’t visit Mudd before applying, but I was sure that Mudd was the right type of school anyway.</p>
<p>I have to say that personally, while I was about 95% sure Mudd was the right choice before visiting (and spending an overnight), actually going and staying on campus for about 30 hours, hanging out with people there, eating the food, and going to a couple classes was absolutely critical in me making the jump from 95% to 100%. The classes there are conducted rather differently than at other colleges/universities, with much more interdisciplinarity than some people might be comfortable with. I think experiencing this is an absolute must.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my friend and I missed school to go visit (we also visited UCLA, Caltech, and CMC, and while we had intended to visit Pomona, we were having too much fun at HMC and didn’t end up having enough time).</p>
<p>Early on, a lot of various college visits are helpul for thought process, even if the closer/easier visits are not the initial top choices. </p>
<p>Students should absolutely visit a campus (including class) at some pont before accepting an offer. True for all schools, and probably more so for Mudd.</p>
<p>My S is a Junior and we are going to Calif (CalTech, Harvey Mudd) over Spring Break. I am having a difficult time finding a nice place to stay in Calif. Since we are flying in & out of the Ontario airport, I figured it would be best to stay closer to Harvey Mudd. We need a room for three that is handicapped accessible. We prefer a B&B or non-chain type place if possible. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Colorado Mom - I feel like we are shadowing you. My S is aso considering Olin, WPI & MIT</p>
<p>FlMathMom - Ha, that’s funny. Although we never visited WPI, but we’ve heard some good things about it. If it had been closer to Boston, it would have been on our list. Next week we visit Carnegie Mellon and our last minute addition Case (good for Merit Aid) - have you been to either campus? </p>
<p>In Claremont we stayed I think at the Doubletree. Nice, but not all that cheap. We also visited Cal Tech and spent 2 nights at the Saga Inn… I liked it… nice pool in our courtyard, old/simple place (but with internet connection, bring a cable).</p>
<p>I agree with geek_mom. Although it is optimal to visit when HMC is in session, that wasn’t possible for my son. We went the summer between junior and senior year on our California road trip (Cal Tech to Berkeley in a whirlwind). There was plenty going on at HMC, even in August, to give him a good feel for the school. He interviewed back on the east coast during the school year. The important thing was to be able to go back in April for the admitted students weekend. That was the clincher. After that he was a Mudder … but I know that there were others who as definitively decided that they were not. Mudd isn’t for everyone and they do a terrific job during that weekend giving a good feel for who will be happy there and who is more likely to thrive somewhere else.</p>
<p>There is a fairly nice hotel near the Claremont Colleges called Casa 425. I am not sure about handicapped access, but our room there was very spacious. If you would consider the Caltech area, there are more hotel, restaurant and sightseeing options in Pasadena. We have had good experiences at the Saga Motor Hotel and Courtyard by Marriott. The Saga is close to Caltech and is a very well-maintained classic motor lodge. The rates are extremely reasonable, and while most rooms are standard motel size, one time we had a “family room” that was very spacious. The Courtyard by Marriott in Old Pasadena was a good value, just a couple of blocks from the really nice shopping and restaurant district. There is a B&B called The Bissel House a few miles from Caltech that gets good reviews as well. I’m sorry that I am not sure about the accessibility of any of these hotels.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Because we are coming and going out of the Ontario airport, I think it would be better to stay near HMC. On Spring Break (end of March) we are going to Boston for 5 days then flying to California for three days returning to Florida on the redeye so my hubby and son have a day of rest before returning to their normal lives. I found a great place to stay in Waltham neat Olin.</p>
<p>My S has a Friday off next month (Feb) so we are going up to GA Tech on Thursday after school to visit there. It is a quick 2 hour flight. Next fall he has another Friday off. We’ll do the same for Rice in Houston. Over Election Day weekend we’ll check out CMU in Pittsburgh. That should cover his current choices. I’m beginning to feel like a travel agent.</p>
<p>Colorado Mom - that answers your question about CMU. We haven’t been to Case. I don’t know much about it.</p>
<p>What are your kids doing for the summer?</p>
<p>I think I have found every B&B in the area (Christmas Inn, Artist’s Inn, Bissell Inn, Artesia Inn). All look fabulous, unfortunately none have rooms for 3 people with a shower on the first floor with only a few steps. Casa 425 looks great but looks very pricey. </p>
<p>Thanks to a private message from a CC parent, I finally found the Ayres chain which look like all suites or very large rooms. Breakfast, parking and Internet included at reasonable prices. They have several locations in Ontario and a few just west of there. Is anyone familiar with any of these places? I’m trying to figure out which location & which facility would be the best. Thanks.</p>