<p>(list time!)</p>
<p>Not final yet, but son still defies "conventional wisdom" and has HMC > MIT. MIT CPW next week, followed by visit to Mudd the following Tues/Wed will tell.</p>
<p>I'm deciding between Harvey Mudd and UT-Austin Plan II Honors, but I have HMC over Plan II for now. My main concern at this point is whether HMC's demanding courses and their respective increased difficulty in obtaining a high GPA will affect medical school admissions. I'm planning on e-mailing a faculty member for more info.+ the admit weekend visit for a better feel of the best course of action.</p>
<p>I'm deciding between Harvey Mudd and Dartmouth right now. It's a rather nasty choice... both are quite good.</p>
<p>Taupin, I am making the same decision; I'm leaning more towards Dartmouth though.</p>
<p>Taupin and MChong: many moons ago (10 years to be more exact) I had to make the very same decision to make. It was a nailbiter. Dartmouth has the ski resort. California has the sunshine.</p>
<p>I think both are great schools, and I know a few people who went to Dartmouth and were very happy with it. And, of course, I know many people who went to Mudd and were happy with it.</p>
<p>For me it ultimately came down to the atmosphere of the school. I perceived Dartmouth to be more of the ivy-league elitist/stuffy, whereas Mudd was CA-style layed back. The thing that really tipped the scales away from Dartmouth was actually mailed from them...it was basically a certificate --clearly meant for hanging on the wall-- that said something like "[LabRatInc] congratuations on your admission to the class of 20XX to Dartmouth."
I perceived that as a bit elitist, and much preferred simple "junkmail" anyday. </p>
<p>I've never regretted for one second that I went to Mudd (though it is only natural to wonder what life would be like had I chosen otherwise).</p>
<p>Good luck with your decisions!</p>
<p>My son will be a Mudder...smart boy. He thought...if I take the name of the school away (for those who's parents seem to be so wrapped up in a name), where will I have the best teaching, education, greatest chances of getting into a graduate school/job, and where will I be the happiest?....his answere was easily mudd over CalTech, Cornell, and a bunch of other schools with pretty names. If you can't think beyond the name....then maybe you should go to those other schools....your loss.</p>
<p>TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,<br>
And sorry I could not travel both<br>
And be one traveler, long I stood<br>
And looked down one as far as I could<br>
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5</p>
<p>Then took the other, as just as fair,<br>
And having perhaps the better claim,<br>
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;<br>
Though as for that the passing there<br>
Had worn them really about the same, 10</p>
<p>And both that morning equally lay<br>
In leaves no step had trodden black.<br>
Oh, I kept the first for another day!<br>
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,<br>
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15</p>
<p>I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:<br>
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—<br>
I took the one less traveled by,<br>
And that has made all the difference.</p>
<p>Ah, Robert Frost....we need people like you at Harvey Mudd</p>
<p>Our son was deciding between Rice and HMC. He ended up going to HMC admitted students weekend, and we put down the deposit before we left. He had been there (done overnight etc) Oct, 2006, and the weekend confirmed his belief that this is the place for him. I was also very impressed by the profs, the current students and the pre-frosh we met. Everyone was smart (duh), social, articulate and friendly. My only reservation is that we live on the East Coast, so he won't be coming home as often as if he was going to Rice or other schools on the east coast. He turned done Cornell, Rice scholarship, Princeton, CMU scholarship along the way. but I am sure he made the right decision for him.</p>
<p>
[quote]
so he won't be coming home as often as if he was going to Rice or other schools on the east coast
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Isn't Rice in Texas? Once you have to fly to go to your college, the distance is all basically the same. That's how I see it at least. Harvey Mudd is the same distance from home (Ohio) as say... MIT because both of them require flights of basically equal price, just Mudd is an extra two hours or so.</p>
<p>Decision made. Son will be Mudder. Although he really enjoyed MIT's preview weekend and came away confident that he'd enjoy attending that university, his subsequent visit to Mudd (last tuesday and Weds) sealed the deal. Much of this is the result of the folks he visited with at Mudd, from Professor Su, who had asked to see S on his arrival, to the freshwoman who faced the same choice last year (and who also has her S.O. in Boston)--and I can't omit the members of the Ultimate team, who let a prefrosh practice with them on Tuesday night.</p>
<p>Like Oldman60's son, he'll be flying in--but flying SWA to Ontario is much less hassle (and usually cheaper) than flying into Boston.</p>
<p>Now for the hard part of his month--avoiding embarrassment on the USAMO.</p>
<p>
[quote]
freshwoman who faced the same choice last year (and who also has her S.O. in Boston)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I know her and yeah she doesn't regret it at all.</p>
<p>Well after visiting Swarthmore and Northwestern in the past couple of days, I believe my son is leaning in the Mudd direction. He is still thinking it all over - he would be in the Integrated Science Program at Northwestern which is quite unique and compelling, and he loved Swarthmore and its students, but I think he really fell for the Harvey Mudd faculty in a big way. I think his biggest hesitation is that reserved pre-frosh group he was with on the two day visit, but what an un-natural situation that is. So just a few more days of dwelling, and then the initial check has to be sent somewhere.</p>
<p>ElphDriver,</p>
<p>"I think his biggest hesitation is that reserved pre-frosh group he was with on the two day visit, but what an un-natural situation that is."</p>
<p>As a fellow parent, I agree with the un-naturalness of the prefrosh weekends. MIT's was apparently an overwhelming extravaganza, which my son felt he had to discount quite a bit. For good or ill, his visit to Mudd was a "mere" overnighter the week after CPW. Too bad he wasn't there though--no one has ever mistaken him for "reserved." ;^)</p>
<p>Stevedad,
We know a few kids this year who turned down MIT after CPW. Was it that over the top? Was was it like? Was it too much towards the intensity of the program or too much "we are not nerds"?</p>
<p>I have always taken the campus tour and accepted students weekends with a grain of salt -- of course the school's going to put out their best spread. They care now that you may affect their yield! On the other hand, it's also a good chance to start meeting some of the people you may be spending four years with. And, obviously, taking long trips all over the place isn't finalnically or scholastically feasible, so the tour or thorough online reseach/talking to folks often must suffice.</p>
<p>DS is going to visit in the fall and sleep over, sit in on classes, talk to profs, etc. We've found those visits to be far more influential in his thinking process.</p>
<p>CountingDown,</p>
<p>Son actually enjoyed MIT's CPW weekend a lot and came away knowing that he'd fit in and enjoy that school. Just discounted it when trying to decide between his top two choices. Perhaps the MIT weekend would have been more successful if he had been assigned to stay in a dorm rather than a frat house and actually ended up meeting the student who was providing lodging and supposedly showing him around, but I don't think those were big factors. (Apparently, MIT's CPW attendees have a historical yield of 80%, so my kid and those that you know are likely outliers?)</p>
<p>The overnight at Mudd was much more natural--even though one would expect a bit of salesmanship on the part of the students and faculty that he spoke to. Not much discounting needed. Your son's plan to overnight in the fall is a good one--our S's schedule was such that he just wasn't in a position to do overnights until we knew for sure where he was accepted. </p>
<p>Given the quality of his choices, the final decision came down to the size and feel of the schools. S says he has a little voice in his head saying: "how can you turn down MIT," but he realizes that if he were to go the other way, that same voice would be saying: "How can you turn down HMC?"</p>
<p>ElphDriver, I think I met your son at ASP. Unless, of course, there was someone else from the Minneapolis area who was considering Swarthmore. I'll be going to Mudd next year:-)</p>
<p>And Son Cullen has decided on Harvey Mudd! We are so excited, tried not to influence his decision and would have supported whatever he wanted, but I think he is a Mudder. And I'm the mother of a Mudder!</p>
<p>We went to Northwestern earlier this week and it was impressive, but there was something so interesting about the whole HM thing. We were waiting for the Parent's Breakfast and there was a boy fast asleep stretched out on one of the couches with his work spread around and his laptop sitting there; it was a completely trusting vibe to it. The couches spread out across the dorm lawns, the way the Honor Code manifested itself. It just seemed comfy and intense and had a real personality that was very appealing. Plus my son said that the classes he sat in on were so great, and that the professors were obviously very involved with the students as people.</p>
<p>So we are thrilled. The logistics from Minneapolis stink, but oh, well! So happy day, plus he turns 18 today.</p>
<p>ElphDriver,
Congratulations on making it through the college decision process! Finally, you can breathe a bit... although now you have to worry about tuition stuff :)</p>
<p>Lol, meh, the Mudd experience is well worth the money.</p>
<p>and... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CULLEN!</p>