Nationality: Indian
G. P. A 4.40
SAT:1490 (E-700 M-790)
APs:Physics 1-5 Calculus BC-5 Physics C-5 Microeconomics _5
Subject tests: Math 800 Physics 800 Chemistry 800
Extra-curriculars:Run my own organisation that uses funds from recycling to promote sustainable development goals. Raised almost INR 20000 as of now. President of School eco club and quiz club. Vice-president of another organisation that plants forests using a scientific manner. Raised about INR 55000. Wrote a research paper on environmental and financial effects of the plastic ban in my state
Awards- Nil
SAT is a little low for Mudd. You’d really need to make your case for fit in the essays. Are you male or female?
Male
And what about pomona?
Please please help. It would be a great favour.
Can you full-pay for a private US college/university, or do you need someplace that’s either less expensive or offers financial aid?
If you can pay, I would suggest applying to Pitzer, which is also in the consortium with Pomona and Harvey Mudd. It’s still very competitive, but slightly less so than those other two, and it’s also very much focused on environmental justice issues, so they’d probably love your EC’s.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t apply to the other two, just that your chances at Pitzer would be better. Also, it’s a relatively small cross-section of students who would apply to both Pomona and Mudd, since they are so different. What are you hoping to study? Presumably not engineering or you wouldn’t be interested in Pomona… but also not humanities/social sciences or you wouldn’t be interested in Mudd. So… math/science…?
But the question of your budget is crucial. Need-based aid for international students is fairly scarce.
What if I apply Early Decision. Also, I want to learn Computer Science and plan to take econ classes from CMC. But due to the lack of facilities in my region, I have most of my ECs directed towards the environment.
I came to know about LACs only a few days ago and loved the close knit environment there. So, I just wanted to know that HMC being a tough school to get into, what are my chances at Pomona, where the reviews for CS are also pretty good.
Pomona is an even tougher admit than Mudd. You can look at this year’s stats here: http://tsl.news/news/7540/
The CMC Econ department is the one exception to cross-registration access - it is VERY hard for non-CMC students to get into CMC Econ classes. If you really want that department, you should consider applying to CMC. They have their own CS sequence in their math department. There’s also an Econ+Engineering major that’s joint with Mudd. CMC also has 17% international students, considerably higher than the other colleges in the Consortium.
This could be a useful list to give you an idea of LAC’s that set aside a lot of spots for international students:
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/most-international
Earlham, Franklin & Marshall, Macalester, and Beloit could be good ones on this list to look at. U of Minnesota Morris is a small, high-quality public LAC in the U of Minnesota system; it’s very affordable and provides opportunities for internal transfer to the large flagship, UMinn Twin Cities, if you were interested in doing so.
In addition to the LAC’s, there are some on the National Universities list that are smaller and have a LAC-like vibe. U of Tulsa for example, has less than 5000 students, 24% of whom are international! Brandeis and URochester are also smaller U’s that are strong in your areas of interest, and take lots of international students.
Good luck - hope that helps!
So, is it possible to attend CS classes at other colleges in the consortium when I am at CMC?
For a male, Mudd is as tough as Pomona. You didn’t answer the question about financial aid. Can you afford to be full pay at these colleges?
Nope. But 60-70% of the fees is possible.
And if necessary, even 100% fees can be paid.
Yes, it’s possible to register for Mudd and/or Pomona CS classes as a CMC student. BUT there have been major supply-and-demand problems with CS classes in recent years, so it can be hard to get into those classes. It’s allowed but the access isn’t necessarily easy.
If your budget is really more like 50K/year max than 75K, definitely look more closely at U of Tulsa. It’s less expensive and it’s a really nice school with an LAC vibe.
And UMinn Morris is even smaller, is even less expensive, and is a true LAC with a solid CS program.
Other affordable but high-quality public LAC’s include Truman State (Missouri), UNC Asheville (NC), and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Also, maybe think about applying to UMass Amherst. It has a highly-ranked CS program, and it’s also in the 5 College Consortium with four small private LAC’s: Amherst, Hampshire, Smith, and Mt. Holyoke. So you could pay a public-U price but be able to cross-register for LAC classes in addition to the excellent academics at UMass.
No, the problem is that I am a bit inclined towards attending college in California.
With all due respect, I am a really hardworking student and also great academically. The only reason I wasn’t able to ace the SAT was due to lack of time. Also, I am planning to take 4 APs in my senior year too. The ones mentioned have just been taken this May. So, if hardwork is what is needed to attend CS Classes at Pomona/Mudd I think I will be able to do it.
Your academic profile is qualified for either school. What you need to focus on now is writing a compelling enough application for these colleges to understand why you’d thrive in a liberal arts community and what you could uniquely bring within your class compared to other applicants. There are scattergrams available which clearly show that these schools have far more qualified applicants by testing/GPA than they have room to accept, so decisions come down to other factors. Take a close look at the factors these colleges seek out in order to put forth the best possible application you can (Pomona: https://www.pomona.edu/admissions/apply Harvey Mudd: https://www.hmc.edu/admission/counselor-page/)
Applying early decision is sound because you are an international applicant, from a highly competitive country, desiring financial aid. I would advise focusing on Pomona for your Early Decision 1 choice for two reasons:
Pomona is much more generous than Harvey Mudd in granting international financial aid, according to the Common Data Set. The effect that you will be penalized for needing aid as an international student is smaller at Pomona than it is at Harvey Mudd.
Pomona’s early decision numbers seem to indicate a better chance for early decision students. Some 20-25% of ED1 applicants at Pomona are admitted, compared to 5-6% of RD applicants. At Harvey Mudd, some 17% of ED applicants overall are admitted, compared to ~14% of RD applicants. Pomona also favors male applicants slightly, whereas Harvey Mudd disfavors them.
Even though Harvey Mudd has a higher acceptance rate, I would wager that your chances are higher at Pomona for these reasons.
Your interest in environmental concerns might also be worthwhile in referencing within your Pomona application, since they offer an environmental analysis program (which Harvey Mudd does not). Note that whatever program you decide to apply under is not binding and the full extent of Pomona’s programs are available to you should you get in. The admission officers are used to seeing the computer science or economics narrative (they are Pomona’s two most popular majors), so perhaps you could integrate your experience with environmental science with the things you’d like to do through CS or economics. It will help you have a more compelling, interdisciplinary application that will better stand out to them.
Harvey Mudd is available to you as an early decision 2 choice in case Pomona doesn’t work out. I would add Claremont McKenna as another option to review. Even though it doesn’t offer a computer science program of its own, students have rights to major in computer science at either Pomona or Harvey Mudd. Their economics program is distinctive and exclusive. CMC may be more interested in your entrepreneurial accomplishments and leadership, and you might like the range of programs and opportunities which they tout. Do some research on them and see what you think. At CMC, early decision helps even more than it does at Pomona, and they are especially dedicated to seeking out international students.
These are 3 extremely selective schools with acceptance rates nearing 10% or lower, so you do want to have a listing of affordable alternatives to apply to. Many of the above suggestions are excellent. Best wishes.
Thank you @nostalgicwisdom Pomona’s CS Program has good reputation right? Not like that of Harvey Mudd ofcourse but in general? Also, how hard is for a Pomona student to attend classes at Harvey Mudd?
Yeah, students have good outcomes from CS at Pomona. There’s a report out there putting Pomona in the top 25 schools for best CS outcomes, including major universities. Getting into Mudd CS in general isn’t too hard, but getting into a specific class can be. If your goal is to take some classes there and you are flexible with what you get, it’s totally possible to take 4-6 Mudd CS classes or more. If you are interested in specific popular courses, there’s a lottery involved with only a few seats reserved for Pomona students.
And which one do you suggest go for in terms of Financial Aid and my realistic chances? @nostalgicwisdom