personally, I’ve never gotten the “benefit” of the consortiums. The benefits of Amherst et al is even harder to grasp. But then my kids did not like the LAC vibe and did not apply.
Exactly.
I think the UIUC campus is pretty nice, though I can’t compare it to Harvey Mudd, since I’ve never been there.
http://engineering.illinois.edu/admissions/visit-campus/
Personally I thought the Mudd campus was the ugliest I had ever seen (concrete dorm buildings… I think maybe no windows?) However I will say that DS neither noticed nor cared. He just adored the whole vibe of the place.
HMC is my choice
As the parent of a female software engineer (MIT grad) the nurturing HMC gives all it’s students but especially the women would tip the scale for me. It is hard enough being female in engineering without being lost in a large university. The sexism in the field may not be overt but it is there. Being at a college that takes it seriously and is trying to design pedagogy that works for all students would be worth the money to me.
So what was the verdict?
In response to questions regarding employer recognition, summer internships etc. This information may be helpful:
Good point. I don’t know if anyone has collected actual data to support it, but I would suspect it is true (that they tend to locate in high cost of living areas).
Not sure what you consider “taking advantage of it” but here is some food for thought. They are part of the CMS (CMC, Mudd, Scripps) athletic teams, they are part of many clubs and organizations that are 5C wide, host (and I assume go) to 5C parties, eat at the other dining halls, take classes on the other campuses. And since the chaplain’s office, health center, library, bookstore and campus security are all 5C’s they probably take advantage of some or all of those as well. And since students from other campus’s take classes at Mudd and eat at their dining hall and go to their parties etc. they are still influenced by the consortium even if they never leave their campus.
Exactly. That’s the factor that would make me think very hard about spending that extra money. If it’s not affordable, then so it goes. But if it is…it would be worth it, to me.
^ @OHMomof2 Agreed!
Yes, there are a lot of facilities and services that the 5C’s have that frankly would not likely be affordable if any of them were stand-alone schools (except possibly Pomona which is twice as big as the others). For example, although this doesn’t apply to Mudd, the Keck Science Center (which is where Pitzer, Scripps and CMC kids take science classes) is a new and spiffy science building that none of those colleges could likely afford on their own. I’m sure the student health services would be less comprehensive if they were only serving the 700+ students at Mudd rather than the 5000+ students at the consortium.
Hope the OP comes back and lets us know what the final choice is!
My Mudder loves the consortium. She is a literature junkie, and was able to take advantage of the broad selection of classes across the consortium to focus in on a couple particular favorite authors.
Food for thought. A close friend took out nearly 85K in loans for HMC over his state school (he had other options that cost a similar amount as HMC, but that was his final choice), but got a software engineering job with a 130K starting salary. He pays off around 20K of his debt each year and paid off maybe 5K or so just with summer internships and such. This school’s outcomes are so phenomenal and its educational offerings + the 5C dynamic so robust that I think it’s worth the extra cost. He definitely doesn’t regret it!