<p>If he goes to Mudd, could he set up a Skype event weekly with his sister? Could she read out loud to him every Wednesday? Help quiz her on her spelling words? Drop her a post card every Monday telling her what he did for fun on Saturday? He could be present in her life but it may take some effort?</p>
<p>You know, he really sounds like a Mudder.</p>
<p>Can you remind me as to how many kids there are in an average entry at Williams? Do they cluster them by a common interest like they try to do at Pomona?</p>
<p>One reason, we were told, for the extreme rigor of the core is to help the students learn to work collectively and to seek help. From my visits, I have the sense of a strong bonding in each class as they make it through together. There is also a strong proctor system in the dorms which , I think, will help shy kids.
Mine has been far from home before and wasn’t nervous about that. (In fact, he was happy to apply to overseas schools.) ANd, the winter break is fairly long, so he should have time to visit with everyone then.
I would not focus too much on post-grad - it is a long way until then, and he could certainly change his mind. That being said, Mudd certainly does well with math post-grad, based on what I see on the website and the one grad I know about. (math - has her pick of grad programs now).
Mudd’s setting - Claremont is a lovely small college town, and LA is about 45 minutes by train. (Train is a modest walk from campus.) The campus is very small, and not as lovely as most NE LACs such as Williams. There are hiking trails, but it’s not the same sort of landscape at all. There is a small ski area, but nothing compared to the skiing around Williams.</p>
<p>I know he does really sound like a mudder. I really wish we had visited…</p>
<p>at Williams: The entry system has 20 students and they have two junior advisors with them. They share a living room, have gatherings, etc. They are purposely chosen so that they are from all different interests, different geographical locations, different majors, etc. I hear that it helps students have an immediate group to belong to. I have tried to read up on how housing works the next year…it seems a bit confusing but I think they somehow continue the entries mixed with others? not sure…</p>
<p>I know it is not a good idea to think about transfering before he even gets there but I wonder how hard it is to transfer from williams to mudd or mudd to williams…
just he case he wants to give williams “a go.”</p>
<p>Mudd is hard to transfer into and I assume Williams is also. I agree with various previous posters that Mudd will have the superior math department, but Williams’s is certainly an excellent one, so you have to choose a more relevant distinction. Have your son watch this link and see if that decides it for him! [YouTube</a> - Harvey Mudd College’s Rube Goldberg Machine - 2010](<a href=“Harvey Mudd College's Rube Goldberg Machine - 2010 - YouTube”>Harvey Mudd College's Rube Goldberg Machine - 2010 - YouTube)</p>
<p>Disclaimer: my son will be entering Mudd, his first choice, this fall.</p>
<p>I did not do a multiyear research effort. In year 2009-2010 one student was accepted to HM as a transfer and seven were accepted at Williams. No way to know if those numbers tell a trend or not. I googled the college names and the words common data set. Transfer admissions is covered in section D.</p>
<p>As another thought - I have no idea of your area’s geography. Is RPI with in an easy drive? HM has an exchange program with them. If it is relatively closer, he could do an exchange there for a semester and still be able to do birthdays/special events at home.</p>
<p>My own personal bias is that it is good to be trying out a different part of the country. Local issues are different, food is different, styles of interaction are different, etc. I venture to say my daughter didn’t realize the wonders of Minnesota until she went away! (winking face here). But seriously she has been able to camp in the redwoods, hike in canyons with a professor, play frisbee on the beach, eat in delicious hole in the wall asian and mexican restaurants, etc. It has been good for her. Then at Christmas she is home for a month playing in the snow. </p>
<p>I watched the Rube Goldberg machine. It is actually a pretty good campus tour! You definitely see the campus exteriors and interiors.</p>
<p>Mudd is very hard to transfer into - I looked back a few years just out of curiosity. The problem is that most kids won’t have the right set of courses for the core. Williams is less restrictive, so I suspect it would be easier to transfer to.
You can see a few videos at the Mudd site, which might help.
Here’s the HMC youtube channel.
[YouTube</a> - HarveyMuddCollege’s Channel](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/user/HarveyMuddCollege?blend=10&ob=5]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/user/HarveyMuddCollege?blend=10&ob=5)
There is also the Mudd chat room, but it might be very quiet around now.</p>
<p>I’d say Mudd if he really wants a broad science background and Williams if he doesn’t. Since Mudd only has STEM majors it certainly has a different atmosphere than typical LACs as well. Mudd seems to place more students in grad school, but as has been stated, it’s probably more a result of the type of student rather than the school itself. I can’t really comment on the traveling part, I live 30min away.</p>
<p>Re: you son worrying that the rigor of the Smith math classes (not so rigorous) will be similar to those at Williams… NOT. Just take a look at the 25/75 math scores at Smith and Williams and you’ll have your answer.</p>
<p>You can write your ticket to any grad school you want if you do well in math at Williams … browse through this list of alums to get a rough idea of typical destinations:</p>
<p>Williams has not one, but TWO NATIONAL professors of the year on its math faculty. Eph Curtis McMullen won the Fields Medal a number of years back … I could go on, but the point is, fear of an inferior math education at Williams vs. Harvey Mudd should NOT be a reason to pick Mudd. There are plenty of reasons to pick one or the other, but again, the math majors at Williams go on to truly spectacular careers.</p>
[YouTube</a> - Harvey Mudd College’s Rube Goldberg Machine - 2010](<a href=“