<p>pm’d you for one more try. :)</p>
<p>S2’s GF attended FAST in September and loved it. Loved the hijinks, loved the intensity, feels llke she found her people, etc. </p>
<p>Love “prankitude” Geekmom!!</p>
<p>Hello, Motherofperl!!</p>
<p>^
CountingDown, how did she stand it? :D</p>
<p>It seems a good time to “bump” this thread, while a lot of high school students/parents in waiting mode. </p>
<p>My Mom sent me a link today for a students review website. I read it a long time ago. And I tried to reread it today, even though the layout/format is a bit awkward. I realize the ratings/comments are not a scientific cross section (same for CC). But one stat on the front page caught my eye… 35% said they would NOT return to HMC. I’m assuming this means if they had a chance to do things over again. A lot of the discontent does revolve around GPA deflation, one of my concerns. </p>
<p>Any thougths on that 35% number? I spot checked and found others in that range or lower (so a college college thing) but some more favorable ratings too. </p>
<p>(I’m not real hung up on the number, just wanted it to be a conversation starter now that the Mudd students have hit the intense part of the semester)</p>
<p><a href=“I’m%20not%20real%20hung%20up%20on%20the%20number,%20just%20wanted%20it%20to%20be%20a%20conversation%20starter%20now%20that%20the%20Mudd%20students%20have%20hit%20the%20intense%20part%20of%20the%20semester”>quote</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Lol we’re on Spring Break (last day but still D=) so I don’t know about the intense part of the semester thing.</p>
<p>I don’t know about the 35%. I’ll have to get back to you when I graduate. Right now I would say yes with some reservations, but the reservations simply stem from the fact that it’s not a dreamboat school, but what school really is?</p>
<p>And I imagine a sample from a review-site would be a lot more biased than random sampling. One of my friends who calls alumni for donations tells me that actually most people zie talks to are satisfied with Mudd.</p>
<p>“Lol we’re on Spring Break”</p>
<p>My engineering school days were long ago, but I do remember there was lots of work and stress during that period after spring break and before finals! Good luck to all the students. It would not surprise me if replies here are mainly from parents and grads. </p>
<p>The only super impressive number on that studentreviews website was Olin at 5%. And they have such a tiny school that they may have spread the word and stacked the deck for positivies responses.</p>
<p>I went to Mudd (c/o '00) and I am definitely part of the ‘ripped apart/rebuilt’ crowd. I went to a very good public high school, but I had horrible work habits, and they were totally exposed at Mudd. My first semester I managed to pass all my classes. My second semester, 2.23 GPA. My third semester, 1.90 GPA over only 10 units and I was placed on academic probation or whatever they called it. That xmas break I thought long and hard about whether I even belonged, and I finally decided that if my hs teachers wrote me recs, and admissions accepted me, then they all felt I belonged, so I should, too.</p>
<p>So that following semester I rearranged my priorities and got more serious and I ended up graduating on time with a less-than-stellar 2.66 GPA. Looking back though, those first 3 semesters were the best things to happen to me. I feel I’m a lot more disciplined mentally and can fight through adversity a lot better. At the time, I probably would have been part of the 35% of the ‘not want to go back’ crowd, but thinking about it in retrospect, it’s the best decision I’ve made.</p>
<p>malgorium - Thanks for sharing. Any chance that the 2.66 GPA got you a job or a grad school that you liked?</p>
<p>Yes colorado-mom, thank you for asking that question. Actually, I was wondering whether (top) grad schools understand HMC’s GPA policy?</p>
<p>colorado_mom: I wasn’t ever sure that I ever wanted to go to grad school, so graduating with a low gpa didn’t really worry me too much - I was too focused on just graduating, period! </p>
<p>My senior year was during the crest of the tech boom, and so since I majored in compsci/math it wasn’t very difficult to find a computer programming code monkey job. Unfortunately, I soon found out that sitting in front of a computer inside of a cubicle for 9 hours a day, 50 weeks a year really wasn’t as satisfying as I’d anticipated. So I decided to quit my job and become a high school math teacher, something I’d been thinking about doing even before Mudd.</p>
<p>That was in 2002, and I’ve been teaching ever since. I’ve had many students ask why I’m ‘only’ a teacher after going to Mudd, and I think that’s kind of sad. Teachers <em>should</em> be from the best schools. I learned a lot of random things at Mudd but the most important was to never take things at face value - to always ask why things work, why formulas work, where they were derived from, etc., and that’s something I try to convey to my students regularly. So many of my co-workers just go and recite formulas as though they were simply handed down divinely to them.</p>
<p>malgorium - Thanks for sharing your story. I think it’s great that you eventually found a job that you enjoy in such a worthwhile field.</p>
<p>Another parent of Mudder here. My junior engineering male and I were discussing this over Christmas. He indicated that he has never second guessed choosing HMC over MIT. He has many friends who chose HMC over CalTech, and my impression is that they have the same mindset. (Granted, the folks at those other schools probably are happy with their choices as well–none of these schools are “bad”)</p>
<p>Is it hard? Excruciatingly. Is it difficult to make Deans list–oh yeah. Is sleep deprivation an issue? Uh huh. But he loves it–including the new West Magic School Bus that he was among the investors in. In fact, he is agonizing over the fact that he can’t physically take all the neat classes that he would like to experience as a senior.</p>
<p>As a non-techy parent in the fly-over states, I was a bit concerned when he chose a “no name” school over ones that were well-known to me by reputation. What would happen if he decided not to pursue graduate school? His choice, however, appears to have been a good one. And, needless to say, Mudd is far from “no name” to those who count (and who know about relative gpa).</p>
<p>Oh - the Magic Bus. Anyone else concerned about the West Dorm having its own bus? I don’t want to think about it too much, but as son was getting ready to go back in January he found out they were actually getting it he was thrilled.</p>
<p>As to this thread, some amazing opportunities come up for these students. Son will be in Australia for the summer continuing research that he has worked on all year, funded by NSF. Very cool research, and a great place to do it!</p>
<p>“As a non-techy parent in the fly-over states, I was a bit concerned when he chose a “no name” school over ones that were well-known to me by reputation. What would happen if he decided not to pursue graduate school? His choice, however, appears to have been a good one. And, needless to say, Mudd is far from “no name” to those who count (and who know about relative gpa).”</p>
<p>Yup. Mudders go on to do some pretty awesome things, even without grad school!</p>
<p>Mudders account for 1.52572% (hint) of this company: [Blue</a> Origin - Careers](<a href=“http://www.blueorigin.com%5DBlue”>http://www.blueorigin.com)
…in propulsion and mechanical fields.</p>
<p>HMC puts a statement concerning grade deflation on the flip side of the transcripts. In part, it reads:</p>
<p>“The college recently reviewed grade point averages earned during the past two decades. Some grade inflation has occurred in the past 15 years consistent with that at other similar institutions. But this increase began from a relatively low base point (3.12 in 1991). So that the current median GPA (3.35 in 2007) continues to lag as much as two tenths of a point behind many peer institutions. In addition, GPAs at Harvey Mudd tend to be lower during the first two years when students are engaged in a rigorous and broad core curriculum. They typically increase in later years when students are focused on courses in their major.
It is impossible to produce a direct comparison of grading at Harvey Mudd with that at other colleges and universities. However, it might be useful for the reader to know that semester GPAs earned by Harvey Mudd College students while studying abroad are a half grade point higher than those earned on campus for the same types of courses.
FURTHER MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE Given the educational experience at Harvey Mudd College, overall grade point average is a potentially misleading measure of a student’s academic performance. The student’s GPA in his or her major, as well as rank in that major, are better indicators of aptitude and performance in the major field of study. In addition, faculty letters of recommendation often carry more weight, especially with graduate programs, than the transcript. Also Mudd students have traditionally done very well on standardized graduate and professional entrance exams such as the GRE, MCAT, GMAT, and LSAT.”</p>
<p>"So that the current median GPA (3.35 in 2007) "</p>
<p>Thanks, PROXYGC. That actually is higher than I would have expected.</p>
<p>Yeah. It’s a little lower in the last couple years. Gradeinflation.com has a lot of interesting numbers.</p>
<p>Here’s the link:</p>
<p>[GradeInflation.com’s</a> Sweet 16 of Tough Graders](<a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/sweet162010.html]GradeInflation.com’s”>GradeInflation.com's Sweet 16 of Tough Graders)</p>
<p>Mudd is one of the 16 worst!</p>