If a student were to take majority of their classes in CS at Harvey Mudd, would they graduate with a degree from Mudd, or Pomona?
You can major in CS at Mudd from Pomona. But it is challenging right now — Mudd has had some overcrowding in their CS classes due to so many students at the other schools “backdooring” into the major at Mudd. They’ve put some limits on signing up for CS electives not required for the major. You’d get a lot more out of it if you can get into Mudd, IMHO.
Regardless of how many classes you take at any school, you graduate with a degree from the school where you’re enrolled.
I was actually just reading further on the Mudd website. Pomona students apparently are NOT allowed major in CS at Mudd. They must major at Pomona. They can take some classes at HMC, although I suspect access is difficult at the moment. Here is the HMC CS Dept web page on this: https://www.cs.hmc.edu/off-campus-students
Pomona does not permit ANY off campus majors. And some departments at Pomona, including CS and Economics, require that you take the introductory core courses for the major at Pomona.
Pomona CS majors must take the three-course introductory sequence at Pomona, but after that they can take Mudd CS classes as well as Pomona ones. As others have said, there is some overcrowding, but CS majors get priority up to the number of classes required. (It can be hard to get extra electives, and there are reports of CS minors being unable to get the classes they need, because they don’t have priority like majors do.) But regardless of how many Mudd classes are taken, a Pomona CS student gets a Pomona CS degree. (Scripps students, on the other hand, can declare a CS major through either Mudd or Pomona.)
You have to get into the Mudd classes, though, and I think maybe those majoring at Mudd get priority.
I agree with @aquapt that CS “minors” may struggle with overcrowding. Although I think it’s still possible to complete a minor if you’re just persistent and willing to deal with having to “perm” into classes which means your schedule can be unsettled until a week or so into the new semester.
My D is a senior at Pomona and an Econ major. She didn’t take her first CS class until fall of sophomore year. Then she found she really liked CS and realized how valuable it was. She tried to do a minor but the combination of a late start and registration priority issues made it difficult. She has ended up taking 5 CS classes and probably could have still completed the CS minor but she was also doing a math minor and decided to prioritize math courses given her interest in grad school in economics.
this was very helpful! Thank you all!!