<p>I was surprised to learn that engineering degree from HMC is in general engineering. Is it more difficult to find a job with this degree vs more traditional electrical , bio-medical, chemical, etc. engineering?</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd grads in any major do not have trouble finding jobs. </p>
<p><a href=“Best Value Colleges | Payscale”>http://www.payscale.com/college-roi/</a> </p>
<p>There was a student panel at accepted student days last year when someone asked the panel (all seniors) about their post-grad plans and those of people they know from Mudd. They said everyone one they knew, with possible a couple of exceptions of students who truly hadn’t tried, had a job in their field or grad school lined up. Mudd students also get great internship and research opportunities. My D is on campus researching this summer after her freshman year (and so are all 3 of her best friends from freshman year).</p>
<p>This might help, too:</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.hmc.edu/career-services/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2013/10/OCS-Impact-report-AUG13-9-30.pdf”>https://www.hmc.edu/career-services/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2013/10/OCS-Impact-report-AUG13-9-30.pdf</a></p>
<p>Thank you @intparent. Very interesting information. Visited HMC yesterday and D loved it immediately. How difficult is to declare major? I would think that computer science is very popular one.</p>
<p>Students do not have to declare a major until 2nd semester sophomore year. As far as I know there are no limits on how many students can be in a major. Yes, CS is quite popular. My D2 was undecided going in (maybe physics?), but loved her intro CS class and is doing CS research on campus with a professor this summer. I am pretty sure she will end up as a CS major. Glad to hear your D loved it – it is not for everyone, but for some students it is perfect. :)</p>
<p>They let you major in whatever you want, but computer science majors have a harder time registering for classes in their major. Yes, they have priority for registering for CS classes over non-majors, but the class sizes are almost too small to allow even CS majors to take the classes when they want. Many of my CS friends express frustration about only getting into 1-2 CS classes per semester.</p>
<p>Also, because the curriculum is so broad for the first 1.5 years, it is fairly easy to move around majors. It is usually recommended that potential engineering majors start taking engineering classes during second semester freshman or first semester sophomore year, but it is fairly easy to switch from engineering to another major. By second semester sophomore year, you should really know what major you want to be so you can be on track for the classes, but some of my friends did switch their major after second semester sophomore year and are doing fine.</p>
<p>They have added some CS profs lately, hoping that will help with the crunch.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. Also during orientation they told us about study abroad program. Is this a required part and what are the benefits of it?</p>
<p>Do you mean the info session (vs. orientation, that is when students are coming to campus in the fall right before classes start)? Study abroad is certainly an option for Mudd students who want to do it, but I would say a smaller percentage study abroad from Mudd than other schools. I think there is just so much to do at Mudd – my kid went in thinking she would study abroad for sure, but now says she wouldn’t want to miss a semester at Mudd to do it. But quite a few students do. </p>
<p>Most colleges offer study abroad options. My older kid (at another college) spent a semester in Finland during college. You get the experience of attending a university in a foreign country, meeting students from that country and probably other parts of the world, and expanding your horizons. If you arrange study abroad through the college you attend (Mudd or other), the credits generally transfer back and apply to your graduation requirements. </p>
<p>I’d say it’s fairly difficult to do study abroad if you’re an engineering major, just because there are so many requirements for the major and so many cool classes to take at home. It is a bit more common for math and CS majors to study abroad. I don’t know about any other majors. The Claremont Colleges in general have a large study abroad culture. I think almost all of my friends from the other Claremont Colleges have or will study abroad, usually during junior year. It’s definitely less common at Mudd though. I never really thought about study abroad at all, mostly because Mudd has such great resources that I wouldn’t want to lose a semester of taking classes here. I’m also an engineering major. There is another way to get study abroad experience at Mudd without missing a semester, though. The engineering department has a summer program where a handful of students go to China to take one engineering class and a couple of Chinese language/history classes. People usually do that between freshman and sophomore year, but some also do it after sophomore year.</p>
<p>Last year at accepted student days (or orientation? Can’t remember now…) they had a panel of a few students who had studied abroad. I think one or two were engineering majors. I am sure it would help to take summer math after freshman year to get those courses out of the way if you wanted to study abroad. But like @musisat said, I think most students want to squeeze in all the classes and time at Mudd that they can. Which is a contrast to many other LACs we visited. Students there often commented that they were ready for a break from their campus by junior year. Mudders don’t seem to feel that way as much.</p>