<p>We are from the midwest, looking at visiting Harvey Mudd for D2. Seems like a good fit in terms of test scores, academic focus, culture, etc. I was reading the Fiske description of the campus last night, and, well, it seemed faintly damning. It did not sound physically attractive at all. I notice that it is actually difficult to find pictures of the campus (especially closeups of buildings) on the website. Can someone comment on this? D doesn't need the most beautiful campus, but if is a dog it would be good to know... It is a long/expensive trip for us to visit, and I'd just like to have a better idea of this aspect.</p>
<p>It’s a dump! And it’s wonderful. I posted some photos here on CC last year as examples of HMC’s idiosyncratic charm. (see Campus Vibe, Harvey Mudd, photos). The Campus Vibe forum also has virtual tour videos.
And-- HMC is fifty feet away from Scripps College which many people think is one of the most beautiful campuses in the country.
The Claremont consortium has so much to offer-- has your daughter considered any of the other colleges?</p>
<p>She might want to visit USC as well.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, I will check out the campus vibe. She might visit one of the others if we are making the trip. She is a kid with a huge passion for biology, and looking for someplace with an intellectual vibe like U of Chicago, Swarthmore, etc. I think the fact that Mudders are also encouraged to indulge their humanities interest will appeal to her, too.</p>
<p>I think for undergrad she is planning for more of an LAC type experience, intending to go on to grad school at a large research university. So USC probably isn’t a fit for undergrad for her.</p>
<p>It’s small, and the buildings are plain. But it’s in a lovely area. There aren’t a lot of pictures partly because there aren’t a lot of buildings. I think there is a virtual tour on you tube as well. But it is a school that you really should visit before applying - the vibe is very strong and you need to experience it to judge for yourself if it is a fit.
The other Claremonts would be worth visiting - and you can easily see several in a short trip. They are all very closely connected.</p>
<p>The Mudd campus is attractive and functional. It isn’t gorgeous, but it is nice. It is NOT a dump. It has trees and open grassy spaces, but no great huge gardens or teeny forests or stuff. It has at least one fountain. It doesn’t compare to Rice or Caltech, but it is much more attractive than a moderately attractive office park. The buildings are separated but convenient.</p>
<p>I knew using the word “dump” might provoke reaction-- but you have to admit the sagging couches, battered armchairs, pirate flags and tire swings outside the dorms are not something you’d see in Architectural Digest. But it sure looks like a fun place for really bright kids to go to school.</p>
<p>The Claremont village is just a short walk away and is considered one of So Cals most charming towns. With its bakeries, restaurants and great shops it certainly adds to the college town feel many students are looking for.</p>
<p>The dorms are a bit dumpy, but they are wonderful dumps. The saggy couches and the remains of whatever just got burned, or launched, or otherwise turned into something it wasn’t originally, is part of the joy and charm of the creative environment. (Plus, a sign that so much goes on outside in the wonderful SoCal weather). But the academic buildings are fine and there is plenty of green. The campus is also snuggeled up against the rest of the Claremont Consortium. Just across the street is Scripps, which is lovely, and if you want a bit of the Ivy on the West Coast, you can stroll over to Pomona. The fountain at Hixon Court is lovely. As the mom of very happy Mudder, I wouldn’t be put off by the warts (the bumps on the outside of certain buildings where Mudders hang their skateboards, etc.).</p>
<p>You might search YouTube for “Virtual Tour of Harvey Mudd” to satisfy some of your visual curiosity.</p>
<p>I don’t get people who say Mudd is ugly. I think it’s an attractive campus. It’s not all sandstone and what-not, by any stretch of the imagination – but the buildings are serviceable, the warts are functional, and the landscaping is really lovely. Aside, the dorm rooms are vacuumed and the dorm bathrooms cleaned weekly, or maybe it’s twice weekly.</p>
<p>As azalia said above, the “run-down-looking” parts are the choice and traditions of Mudders – yes, they burn things at West and they build cardboard/duct tape forts at East and they grow things at (South?) and they’re fond of ugly old couches everywhere. Well, my generation had furniture made of milk crates and cinderblocks. It’s a college student thing, and in that respect it looks good to me.</p>
<p>To me, though, the best-looking thing at Mudd is the spring in my son’s step every time he sets foot on campus after he’s been away. He’s at home. My house isn’t a model home, so maybe that’s why I see Mudd as beautiful. Or maybe it’s just because I’ve caught a glimpse of it through my happy, grateful Mudder’s eyes. :)</p>
<p>I think that for many folks , beautiful campus translates to one of:
Neo-Georgian - brick and white columns
Campus Gothic - stonework and gargoyles (it’s a stretch to put Stanford in that class, but it works, I suppose)
So, since HM is in a very different style, and not what they expect, it can seem ugly.
It’s a modern style - subdued and simple. There are good stretches of lawn and garden as well. The courtyards of the dorms serve as outdoor commons rooms and have the same disheveled look of commons rooms everywhere - perhaps a bit more so since the sofas do suffer a bit from exposure.
We all liked it.</p>
<p>Yep, one of the most pleasant evenings I have spent was in the courtyard at Case this fall, sitting on one of the dumpy couches chatting with my son. Kids walked by and said hi, one offered us brownies. It was very comfortable. And to this East Coast mom, close to nervana as far as the weather was concerned. The kids just seem so content (tired maybe, but content). This is their space and their family. Who needs red brick, when you can have pink!</p>
<p>When we visited HM four years ago I was a bit taken aback by how small the campus is (I went to Michigan State, a gigantic campus) and I have to admit by the disarray around West especially. But it is adjacent to the other Claremonts, the town of Claremont is very charming, and while the HM campus is fairly utilitarian, Scripps looks like the garden of earthly delights, and Pomona is simply beautiful. The Claremont Colleges are one contiguous campus; each school has its own unique architectural vibe. My son was a Westie for two years and I’m sure did his part to contribute to the messes, and he has loved going to this school. I think if the school is the right fit it is an amazing experience. He is on to a Ph.D. program next year and is definitely well prepared for what happens next.</p>
<p>As parents we thought the Mudd dorms were the worst we’d ever toured. But truly it was a non-factor for my son. He liked the geeky vibe.</p>
<p>“I think for undergrad she is planning for more of an LAC type experience” - Mudd is a great engineering school with an interesting emphasis on Humanities. But my impression is that it is much more intense than a typical LACs. The Claremont consortium helps round that out, if the busy student has time to take advantage (many do). .</p>
<p>^ FWIW, I definitely thought Caltech’s dorms were worse. But I only saw my son’s dorm, so I can’t speak to the universal condition of Mudd dorms. (West doesn’t count; they like trashing stuff there.)</p>
<p>In the context of dorms, it may be worth noting that a student is most likely to end up in a dorm well suited to his or her personality and living preferences. Meaning, a super-straitlaced neat freak kiddo isn’t likely to end up in the dorm where they trash and burn things for fun. Mudd uses a pretty extensive survey and review process for dorm and roommate matching freshman year, and the Room Draw process for existing students is highly complex and generally satisfactory to most if not all. There’s some moving around from year to year, but geek_son reports that most frosh are happy with their first-year accommodations.</p>
<p>(Keep that in mind if, like one parent in my cohort, you are shocked to find that your daughter is sharing a bathroom with guys in a neighboring suite: That doesn’t happen unless the daughter explicitly says it’s ok with her. That parent didn’t even know there was a dorm/roommate matching survey. We’re not supposed to participate in the survey, because we’re not the ones moving into the dorm. :))</p>
<p>OP here. Just thought I would report back now that we have completed our Mudd (and Pomona) tour. As we drove alongside the campus (between Scripps & Mudd), D commented that the architecture of Mudd was “unfortunate”. But as many of you have mentioned, that really didn’t matter once we got going on the tour. She loved the vibe, and I think it is definitely on her list to apply to. Just an FYI, they are building a large new classroom building on campus, and in response to a question in the info session, were told it will not have warts. :)</p>
<p>She didn’t care for Pomona at all, thought the Mudders were smarter/“sparkier”. And though there are some things that are not idea about the Mudd dorms, at least they are all air conditioned & heated (not true for Pomona).</p>
<p>Oh, must admit, D shuddered a bit at the thought of giving her grandmother a tour of campus. Grandma is very much all about appearances, and would likely be horrified. Don’t think that will play into D’s decision (after all, Grandma is not paying the bill), but it was discussed…</p>
<p>This is what the new building will look like:</p>
<p>[Building</a> - Harvey Mudd College](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/building/]Building”>http://www.hmc.edu/building/)</p>
<p>On that page…</p>
<p>"Honoring our architecture, looking forward</p>
<p>The architectural language of campus consists of three primary properties—a balance of vertical and horizontal elements, repetition of the grid and concrete block, and a use of pattern (i.e., the beloved “Wart”).</p>
<p>The new building is designed to evoke the fundamental principles of these architectural characteristics and, particularly on the exterior fa</p>
<p>I am not sure what that means… the info session person was asked specifically about “warts” on the exterior of the new building, and said there would not be. And I don’t see them in the sketches, although obviously you can’t see all angles. Not that it matters much, of course.</p>
<p>The main thing I didn’t like about the Harvey Mudd campus was that I could hardly breathe there. I have never been to LA, and I am used to small towns with clean air, so the smog was a bit of a shock. When I visited, I didn’t have a car, so I walked between my hotel and the campus a few times in nearly 100 degree heat. People who were driving by probably thought that we were insane. This was early August though! I would have to agree that the other Claremont colleges have nice architecture.</p>