Caltech v. Harvey Mudd

College Search & Selection
21

<p>These are not very good takes on the two schools. Caltech is a better school, without a doubt. The students are some of the best in the country and the faculty is top notch. The work load is heavy, concentrated and intense. Pasedena is a nice city, but it is really hot and smogy. Old town is really fun at night. The connection to Occy is silly. Its like a highschool for the Caltech students, and they stick out like sore thumbs.</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd is a step below Caltech primarily based on reputation, and the fact that it isnt research driven. More mudders were rejected by Caltech and fell back to mudd then chose mudd over Caltech. Still Mudd gathers the elite student and the school does not fail to challenge. Many students choose mudd for some important reasons: Mudd faculty concentrates on teaching, not research; the claremont colleges are very diverse and offer a complete college experience; all of the 5c's has its own distinct identity and offers challenging courses in the arts, humanities, economics, etc...; Mudd kicks Caltech's *** at any sport, at any time, on any field.</p>

22

<p>CalTech is sui generis and comparing it to any other institution is faintly ridiculous. The only place that comes close is MIT and even MIT is an institution with a much broader academic focus.</p>

<p>CalTech is for those who are simultaneously brilliant and weird and totally focused on the sciences. </p>

<p>I have great esteem for Pomona, Harvey Mudd, UC Berkeley, and Stanford for undergrad but I believe that CalTech is in a league of its own. The people I've met who flunked out of CalTech are smarter than most of those who have graduated from Berkeley. All imo.</p>

23

<p>Oxypomona, that makes no sense at all.</p>

24

<p>The gap isnt as large as you say. Many people, such as myself, got into both. It really is an issue of a research college vs a teaching college. Without a doubt caltech is more selective, has a better rep, has some of the best students in the country, more nobels, etc... compared to Mudd, but the life at Mudd, and the 5c's is much more varied and diverse. The students are excelent, and the work chalenging. Its a different focus.</p>