geek_mom

Giving and receiving help is integral to the culture at Mudd. I suppose there are a few who could manage without it (Muddslinger comes to mind), but most would not. If your son is bent on "suffering in silence" and refuses to take advantage of the many resources available to him at Mudd (including faculty office hours, AE tutoring sessions, and his classmates and upperclassmen in his dorm), then that is not a fault of the college. It is something he will have to change in his own behavior. And if he won't because of this "cultural difference" you say is such a problem for him, then if you care about what happens to him, I'd suggest that you contact Mary Cardenas and ask her to intervene.

BcM, is it your understanding that your son asked for an extension on the Physics midterm because of the flu? Because if he had asked, he would have received it. All flu-related requests have been granted throughout the semester. There were no flu-related requests for the frosh Physics midterm. If that surprises you, perhaps you should have another conversation with your son. That might be more productive than continuing your sniping at HMC in this forum, where they're not around to respond with constructive action or to defend themselves from groundless accusations.

rocketDA

BcM-
You know, SOMEONE has to be the bottom of the class...which is unfortunate but true. If that is the way it is, your son has nothing to lose by asking for help. It isn't like he would have to worry about his reputation... the only place to go is up!

tiyusufaly

This is it.

BicoastalMamma, if you are a truly caring parent, you will email Mary Cardenas NOW. If you don't, then so help me, I will email her myself directing her to this forum, where she can read your accusations and seek out your son (if he exists).

You have 24 hours to email Mary Cardenas (and I will check with her myself to make sure a parent has sent an email) or come clean, or else I will send her an email. If your son does exist, he is a member of the Mudd community, and by the Honor Code and culture/spirit of the college, I have a responsibility to watch out for all members of the HMC community.

Ready, set, go.

rocketDA

One of the caring parents on this forum has already inquired to Mary Cardenas regarding this matter. Dean Cardenas is unaware of this student needing additional considerations as the student has not approached the dean. The dean was concerned and has started asking around to find out who this mystery student is. The message was sent at 7PM on a Friday night and responded to by 8:30PM the same night.

If they didn't care, why would they respond to some random parent within 1.5 hours on a Friday night???

tiyusufaly

Alright, way to go Dean Cardenas. And thank you RocketDA for telling me this.

BicoastalMamma

It is nice to know that there are informants on this site. Sorry, you missed your chance to join the Gestapo or the KGB. I just wanted to warn students who go to bad high schools that it may be difficult to compete with students who were taught math, science, english. I don't blame HMC Admissions for knowing just how bad some of our high schools are. What are you paid lurkers?

BicoastalMamma

I just hope you have not ruined my child's chance to survive at Harvey Mudd. There was always the chance he would recover and do well enough on the final to pass. It is horrible that you have tried to out him as being scared. I hope you do not succeed.

rocketDA

"I just hope you have not ruined my child's chance to survive at Harvey Mudd. There was always the chance he would recover and do well enough on the final to pass. It is horrible that you have tried to out him as being scared. I hope you do not succeed."

Wow. Just wow. We don't even know who this person is... we just know someone needs help and they are not getting it. And no, we aren't getting paid to sit on here...

It appears that part of the problem is you. You seem to be very good at blaming your [son's] troubles on other people. I don't care about appeasing you. I want you kid to succeed and at this point if he is to make it through Mudd (and not "ruin" his life by your words) you need to let people who have been through Mudd help your son.

Why do we care? Because believe it or not, we Mudders actually know almost every single person at Mudd when we are students there... and make it a personal obligation as alums to help people through... since it wasn't a cakewalk for many of us either.

geek_mom

According to my son, Mudders don't compete with one another -- at least, not on the academics. At inner tube water polo, ultimate frisbee, and interdorm megaphone wars -- sure. At math, physics, and chemistry -- they help one another. They're in it together.

You'd rather see your son overwork himself and die from the flu, in your words, than receive the assistance of the HMC personnel whose job is to help students in his situation recover and succeed at HMC? Just when I thought I was beginning to understand you... oh, wait.

rocketDA

"Sorry, you missed your chance to join the Gestapo or the KGB. "

Low, just low. This is so offensive on so many levels. The Gestapo murdered many of my people and those that tried to help them.

tiyusufaly

It is indeed offensive to me too ... but more than that, it makes me sad for you, BCM, that you would feel the need to sink to such a level. You have my pity.

Seriously, that's the lowest thing I've seen anyone say on collegeconfidential (which is really hard to do, there's a lot of stupid stuff written here, but by golly you have succeeded).

BicoastalMamma

I already talked to the administration and hopefully, they will help if necessary. Right now, they seem to be hopeful that he will do OK once he recovers. As I said before, I am here to warn kids who went to terrible high school that they will be at a disadvantage. Also if you are poor, you will feel really poor. If you are religious, you will feel like you better hide it. And yes, reporting people to the authorities is consider really low in many cultures. rocketDA -- then you should knowbetter than to be an informant. geek_mom -- I am glad your son is doing well at Mudd. Not everyone has the same experience. Just be glad for his success and leave me alone. I am sure I would be less frantic if I could afford to visit. College Confidential is free.

geek_mom

On a Saturday night, no less. That is excellent news, and really the only thing of great importance here. I look forward to your retractions. More importantly, I look forward to celebrating your son's graduation in May 2013!
Here we go again. Let's see... Special meal accommodations for Ramadan... A 5C-wide Eid Al Fitr dinner... Email messages from Dean Gary to the HMC community explaining the significance of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah... Inter-dorm/inter-campus Christian prayer groups... An off-campus "Religions in Conversation" conference introducing the health codes of Islamic, Jewish, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Protestant, Catholic, Coptic and LDS faiths... Yup, sounds like a pretty scary place for religious folks.
So is making slanderous statements in a public forum. Just sayin.
AFAIK, he wasn't. If he had been, then you should be thanking him. The alternative, as you've described it, would have been for you to sit helpless on the sidelines watching your son suffer in silence.
So is an email to the Dean.

If your son has been identified and is in contact with the administration, I'm confident that he'll enjoy some success, and thrilled that he will get the attention he needs. About your own apparent need for attention... not so much. I'm not convinced that you are what you say you are, but I've struggled to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Perhaps you really know nothing (or next to it) about the college your son attends, in which case I could understand some of your fears. But not your attacks on everything and everyone Mudd. If this is the heart of the problem... please take some time to read the orientation materials you were given, talk with some of the staff and faculty there, and learn about the resources available to your son. There is a Yahoo group for HMC parents; you might find that group to be a source of comfort and useful information. Email the Parents Association at parents@hmc.edu for details and other possible resources.

As tiyusufaly said earlier, this is a community of people who help and support one another. All ya gotta do is ask. Note, a string of anonymous public attacks is not an "ask." Whatever your culture, I'm sure you know that.

BicoastalMamma

Classes on Yom Kippur -- the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. One more thing to make up. I have not check for Good Friday yet. I am sure the Moslems have something to make up too. The student body is hostile to religion. Not a big surprise at a science school. All of the minding each other's business, like turning me in, is suffocating. How about a parent comes to warn other parents and seek suggestions and instead is attacked? Couldn't just say my child got help. For all I know, your child has sailed and you have no personal experience whatsoever. Leave me alone. Everyone is anonymous here, including you. Obviously, bringing up issues and problems is also a taboo. HMC is not for every one. Working day and night is not everyone. The orientation did not hide that "Fs" are handed out like candy, but why wait until orientation to share that information. It should be part of the information with acceptance letters.

tiyusufaly

I am a Muslim, I never felt ostracized at Harvey Mudd because of my faith. Neither did any of my fellow Mudder Muslims. Like RocketDA, I feel that if anything HMC tries a little too hard to be welcoming and culturally accepting of everyone, to the point of being ridiculously PC.

If you are looking for a school in this country that makes the days of Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha or any other number of religious holidays official school holidays, you will be hard pressed to find one.