Does anyone have input on this program? Specifically, I would like to know what the attrition rate is. Also does the rigor stay pretty constant throughout the five years? I would appreciate any and all information.
The attrition rate is pretty high. I’m not certain if that’s due to people just losing interest or getting weeded out of the program, but I know a lot of kids who’ve dropped it. It sounds like a very attractive option and I think a lot of kids are drawn to it in the beginning, but most people end up focusing down to econ. The Harvey Mudd 3-2 option is also the less popular route, most people prefer to go through Columbia.
You get most of your prereqs and econ courses out of the way in the first 3 years. Those are really what you make of it. If you take your gen eds at Keck Science, CMC, and the other 5Cs, it’ll generally be a bit more of a jump in difficulty moving to Mudd. The courses you’ll take around are not necessarily* less challenging or rigorous in content, but the work and harshness of the grading is generally tougher at Mudd. If you take most of your core and prereqs (obviously outside of econ) at Harvey Mudd, the transition probably won’t be all that unexpected.
As for general rigour, it depends on who you ask. Classes get more in depth in content as you go through, but you’re also more comfortable and the professors aren’t as interested in keeping at tight lid on your grades. Mudd also has a nasty habit of weeding students out of some of the more crowded or challenging majors early on.
At the end of the day, your kid? will be doing engineering* through Harvey Mudd*, it will be challenging.