Harvey Mudd Class of 2020 Results Thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvey Mudd College
1

Just curious how everyone else fared.

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FFA500]Decision: Deferred [/color][/size]**
[aB][asize=4][acolor=#FF0000]Decision: Rejected [/color][/size]**

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis):
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load:
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
Job/Work Experience:
Volunteer/Community service:
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?:
Intended Major:
State (if domestic applicant):
Country (if international applicant):
School Type:
Ethnicity:
Gender:
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected:
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments :

2

**Decision: Rejected **

Applied: Computer Engineering

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 2330 (One time) (800-M 800-W 730-CR)
ACT (breakdown):
SAT II: 800-Math2 750-Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): QPA - 94.88
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): Chem (4) Mechanics (5) AB (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: AP Calc BC, AP Spanish, AP Lit, AP Stat, AP E&M, AP Gov, Honors Intro to Architecture
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National Merit Finalist

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Robotics (Spirit Captain), NHS (VP), Class Council (VP), Multicultural Club (School Rep), Chess Club (Secretary)
Job/Work Experience: Public Library and Doctors Office
Volunteer/Community service: Hospital, Tutoring, Church hours
Summer Activities: Volunteering, working
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 8-9/10
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): 7-8/10 8-9/10

Teacher Rec #1: AP Gov Teacher, taught me World History in Freshman year, performing better in Gov than World History
Teacher Rec #2: Calc BC teacher, doing as well/better than AB last year
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Believe I did not
Intended Major: Computer Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Magnet/Vo-tech
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: High
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths: Stats
Weaknesses: I am just one of many?
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Maybe not the proper student profile of HMC
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: NEU Honors, CWRU, Rutgers Honors Full, UCSD, Georgia Tech

General Comments: Good luck to everyone else and I hope the best for everyone else :slight_smile:

3

**Decision: Accepted **

Applied: Chemistry

** Objective: **

SAT I (breakdown): 800M 780CR 700W 10E

ACT: 34C 35R 35M 35S 32E 8E

SAT II: 800 M2, 770 Chem

Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.79U/W 4.53W

Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 6/850W 23/850UW

AP (place score in parenthesis): Calc BC 5, Chem 5, Physics 1 5, Macro 5, US Gov 4, Lang 3

Senior Year Course Load: AP Bio, AP Physics C, APUSH, AP Lit, AP German, Calc 3, Linear Algebra, Diffeq

Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): WYSE 2015 Chemistry State 4th place, National German Exam Gold AP Scholar with distinction, NMF, National Chemistry Olympiad Qualifier

** Subjective: **

Extracurricular: Scholastic Bowl Varsity Captain, WYSE Team, Science Club, Math Team, German Club, German Honor Society, Chem Olympiad, Founded Paintball team

Job/Work Experience: Seasonal Worker at Bestbuy 2014/2015

Volunteer/Community service: 25 hours tutoring

Summer Activities: Summer Research Internship at Notre Dame with grad students in chem department.

Essays: Common App 9/10, Why HMC 7/10 (I thought it was great when I wrote it, but then after submitting it I though it was kind of cringey. I guess they liked it though.

Teacher Recommendation: Physics C Teacher 6/10 (generic), German teacher 10/10

Counselor Rec: 10/10

Additional Rec: PI at Notre Dame internship

** Other: **

State (if domestic applicant): IL

School Type: Large (4000 students) Public

Ethnicity: White/Polish

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: 70K

Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): First Generation

** Reflection **

Strengths: ACT/ SAT Score,

Weaknesses: GPA, Class rank

Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Likely combination of stats and rec letter from professor

Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: Alabama, UIUC, UMN-TC, Notre Dame, Harvey Mudd; Waitlisted: UChicago; Rejected: Northwestern

General Comments: Very happy since I was very disappointed because of the Northwestern results yesterday.

4

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**

Applied: Engineering

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): 780M 770CR 700W (2250)
ACT (breakdown): 35E 34M 32R 35S (34)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 730 Physics
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.98
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (5), Calc BC (5), Computer Science (5), Physics I (5)
IB (place score in parenthesis): N/A
Senior Year Course Load: Calc 3/Linear Algebra, AP Physics C, AP Chem, AP Compsci AB, English Electives, Studio Art
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity 2 Tennis (captain), Math League/other math contests,
Job/Work Experience: 1 summer lab intern at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 1 year independent research at National Center for Atmospheric Research
Volunteer/Community service: 20 hours at an eye clinic for the homeless
Summer Activities: Above work/research experience, 2 years Stanford EPGY
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 8/10, encapsulates who I am but may have sounded too arrogant, Why HMC 9/10, I had a lot of good reasons
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: 10/10, Math teacher who knows me very well
Teacher Rec #2: 8/10 English teacher, I think she had some good things to say about me
Counselor Rec: 10/10, incorporated elements from lots of parts of my life and excerpts from a recommendation from my research supervisor
Additional Rec: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Engineering (undecided)
State (if domestic applicant): CO
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Small private
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): None

Reflection

Strengths: I have an application strong in STEM but still well-rounded, also my research
Weaknesses: Not enough structured extracurriculars
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: They must think I’d fit in well with the community, I’m sure I’m no more or less statistically qualified than anyone else
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted CU Boulder (Engineering Honors), UCSD, Case Western; Rejected Stanford; Waiting for Tufts, Brown, Dartmouth, Berkeley

General Comments : The more college decisions I receive/hear of from my friends, the more I’m convinced luck and factors out of our control have a lot to do with who gets in and who doesn’t. I’m just happy to be one of the lucky ones, I guess.

5

Congratulations to all the chosen ones! My son got WLed. I am having difficulty in distinguishing between my son’s stats and the ones posted here, they all look almost identical. Yes, the essays may differ a little… @potemkin42, you are absolutely right about your comments!! Good luck to you.

@Ksty1098, good luck to you as well. BTW, my son got accepted at UChicago !!!

6

Decision: Accepted

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): 34 (32 E, 36 M, 33 R, 34 S)
SAT II: 800 Math II, 800 Chem, 780 Bio M
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.87
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology (4), Chemistry, Chinese, Calculus BC, APUSH, Physics C Mechanics + E&M, Computer Science (all 5s)
IB (place score in parenthesis):
Senior Year Course Load: AP English Language, AP American and Comparative Politics, AP Statistics, Anatomy and Physiology, Princeton Math (Number Theory + Linear Algebra)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): US National Chemistry Olympiad High Honors (top 50), 3x AIME qualifier (scored a 9), several Science Olympiad medals, NJ STEM Scholar, National AP Scholar

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Math Club, Science Olympiad, Future Problem Solving, Violin (school and private teacher), Tennis
Job/Work Experience: Taught at local math circle. Taught at Science Olympiad Summer Camp.
Volunteer/Community service: School tutor, hospital volunteering, local Chinese school volunteering
Summer Activities: Science Olympiad Summer Camp teaching, research internship, hospital volunteering
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App: 9 talked about my origami hobby, loved it, Harvey Mudd 9
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: English, teacher loved me 9/10
Teacher Rec #2: Math, knew me for two years and knew my passion for competition math, 9/10
Counselor Rec: Knew me more than other students, but probably cookie cutter 7/10
Additional Rec: N/A

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Chemical Engineering
State (if domestic applicant): NJ
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Competitive Public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: M
Income Bracket: 200k+
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): lol

Reflection

Strengths: STEM extracurriculars, essays and recs
Weaknesses: ACT Score
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: my essays and recs made me stood out, top 50 chemistry olympiad award
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Accepted: JHU, Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Rejected: Caltech, MIT

General Comments: thrilled to be accepted by JHU then Harvey Mudd later yesterday! Really needed them after being rejected from both Caltech and MIT

7

D’s info (she’s not on CC thankfully):

**Decision: Accepted **

Objective:
ACT (breakdown): 35C (one sitting, range 34-36)
SAT II: >700. no 800s
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9+/4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): top 2-3% (rank is unweighted)
AP (place score in parenthesis): WH 5, USH 4
Senior Year Course Load: AP Stats, AP Govt, AP English, French 4, Physics 2, Psychology
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): NMF (if one can call it that)

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parentheses): Debate, NHS, science bowl/olympiad
Job/Work Experience: overseas job last summer
Volunteer/Community Service: just through clubs etc.
Summer Activities: Nothing special
Essays: I thought they were excellent. Mostly lighthearted but showed her intellectual curiosity, resilience and resourcefulness. Why Mudd: wrote on her appreciation for non-academic special characteristics of Mudders, very personalized for HMC. Probably made adcoms smile. None of the essays had any STEM bent.
Interview: On campus, went well. Went back for second visit for the interview as first time, it was not available.

Teacher Rec #1: Chemistry: Should have been good.
Teacher Rec #2: French: had 4 years. Should have been good
Counselor Rec: Should have been decent. Very few kids apply or go to top schools

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: No
State (if domestic applicant): sparsely populated state
School Type: Public
Gender: F
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): geography?

Reflection

Strengths: Essays, I expect. ACT and GPA solid.
Weaknesses: SAT2’s were not strong. Also, her only non-A’s were in science/math :). ECs pretty weak with not much in science/math
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: Showed good fit and appreciation for HMC culture in essays and interview. On paper, not a pointy STEM kid but a fairly nondescript well rounded bright kid, so wasn’t sure it would fly with admins.

General Comments : I think essays (and maybe interview if possible) are YUUUGE. Small school, interested in assembling a cohesive class that will get along, work well together, and want to be there. Only way to show that is in essays and interview.

8

My daughter got wait listed for computer science.Any idea about her chances?

9

@seemasam

According to inparent here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19431302/#Comment_19431302

10

I doubt her major makes any difference in her WL status (Mudd does not admit by major, and they know many students change their major once they are exposed to the core courses in all areas).

11

Thanks a lot…will wait and see.Not sure where she is in the waitlist. @ClaremontMom @intparent

12

They won’t tell you – and it may depend on how their yield turns out anyway (by gender in particular). If she is interested, she should accept the spot in the waitlist, and send updates on any ECs and accomplishments leading up to May 1. They don’t go to the waitlist (if they do) until a week or two into May when they can see how many accepted students decide to come.

13

[aB][asize=4][acolor=#008000]Decision: Accepted [/color][/size]**
Applied: Physics
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): Didnt submit
ACT (breakdown):33 Super Composite, 32C, 31E, 33R, 35M, 31S
SAT II:750 Physics 720 Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.94
Weighted: 5.20/5.00
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):3/50
AP (place score in parenthesis):School didnt offer
IB (place score in parenthesis):School didnt offer
Senior Year Course Load:

College “Calculus 3”
College “British Literature 1+ 2”
College “Inorganic Chemistry 1 + Lab”
College “Psychology”
College “Microeconomics”
College “Differential Equations”
College “University Physics 2 + Lab”
Senior Seminar
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):None

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Skateboarding, Science Club (founder/president), National Honor Society (Vice President), Summer Bridge (Team Building Coordinator), Math UIL / Robotics Club (Member), Midland College Honors Program, Midland College Research program, Youth and Government (only as freshman)

Job/Work Experience: Los Alamos National Laboratory (Intern for Nuclear physics from Jan-May 2016), Texas A&M-Kingsville (Theoretical Mathematics / Engineering Intern), Tutor/Lab Assistant/Peer Mentor/Student Instructor at Midland College, Visitor Services for Museum of the Southwest, Lifeguard, Cashier at Kohls

Volunteer/Community service:150+ hours at The Museum of the Southwest (mainly volunteered at Planetarium, ran planetarium shows on the occasion, would also complete odd jobs around the campus, given an award for volunteer efforts), 100+hours at Midland College (tutoring, help with science events), 40ish hours at Petroleum Museum (helped with science events)

Summer Activities: was able to open up summer classes at the college that our highschool was a part of and took Calculus 2 and University physics 1 Junior year summer
Essays (rating 1-10, details): Common App 9/10, 9/10; they really shed some light on my background and how I respond to a challenge by someone who has more authority than I do. Why HMC: 5/10 spent like 30 minutes on it but I guess it illustrates my unorthodox thought processes

Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):

Teacher Rec #1: Senior Physics professor 9/10 - talked about my work with Dark Matter calculations
Teacher Rec #2: Junior English professor 10/10 - probably mentioned my 15 page paper on the significance of the Higgs Field that I wrote for his class
Counselor Rec: 6/10 generic
Additional Rec:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes
Intended Major: Physics
State (if domestic applicant): Texas
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: Early College High school, Public Magnate
Ethnicity:White
Gender:Male
Income Bracket:<25000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):First Generation College, Associates Degree in Science straight out of High School, Adopted by grandparents due to parental drug issues, hardcore ADHD

Reflection

Strengths: Hooks, School rigor, Internship at a National Laboratory, Research Experience
Weaknesses: Test scores, rank, GPA
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: I guess I was able to portray my passion for theoretical physics very well.
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: Rejected: MIT, UChicago, Caltech Accepted: UT Austin Deans Scholars Waiting on: Harvard, Princeton, Cornell

General Comments : I did not think I would get in especially after three rejections. Im glad to have applied and encourage all interested parties to do the same.

14

^I think Skateboarding was your hook. :wink: Nice ECs, too. Congratulations, I hope you decide to attend!

15

Haha thanks, Ive been lurking for a while and decided to finally post.

16

Decision: Accepted

Objective

SAT I (breakdown): 2300 (800 math, 760 writing, 740 reading)
SAT II: 800 math2, 780 chem
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/A
AP (place score in parenthesis): stats (5), macroeconomics (5), gov (4)
Senior Year Course Load: AP calc bc, AP spanish, AP physics, AP psych

Subjective

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): swimming (club for 10 years, varsity all 4 years of high school), club officer, school newspaper
Job/Work Experience: lifeguard every summer
Volunteer/Community service: peer tutor, church lector
Summer Activities: lifeguard
Essays (rating 1-10, details): 10/10 I’m a pretty good writer and I really made specific points about HMC
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details):
Teacher Rec #1: 10/10 from calc teacher who loves math like me
Teacher Rec #2: 10/10 from spanish teacher who was impressed with my spanish skills as a white kid
Counselor Rec: 10/10 from lady I’ve known since freshman year and loves me

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: no
Intended Major: engineering
State (if domestic applicant): CA
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: private, Catholic, competitive
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): swimming recruit, dad attended HMC

Reflection

Strengths: grades, test scores, personality from interview (I’m not your average nerd)
Weaknesses: my job experience isn’t academic, haven’t done any internships or outside research
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: athletics, add personality diversity while still having good scores
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected: CMU (accepted), MIT (deferred then denied), UCSD (accepted), Princeton (denied), Northeastern (accepted), CWRU (accepted), RPI (accepted), Tufts (waitlisted)

17

**Decision: Rejected **

Objective:
SAT I (breakdown):
ACT (breakdown): One time: 33C, 35E, 30M, 36R, 32S 31 M/34C supersocre
SAT II:
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 93%
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): N/a
AP (place score in parenthesis):AP Calculus
IB (place score in parenthesis):N/A
Senior Year Course Load: English, Bio, Physics, Functions, AP Calculus, Strings, Drama
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Director of School Play, Lead in School Play, 800 hours of dance lessons
Job/Work Experience: Summer job after 10th grade
Volunteer/Community service: 400+ hours of volunteer service
Summer Activities:
Essays (rating 1-10, details):
Recommendations (rating 1-10, details): Didn’t read

Teacher Rec #1:
Teacher Rec #2:
Counselor Rec:
Additional Rec:

Other

Applied for Financial Aid?: yes
Intended Major: math
State (if domestic applicant): US citizen abroad
Country (if international applicant): Canada
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Asian/Caucasian
Gender: F
Income Bracket:
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):

Reflection

Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Why you think you were accepted/deferred/rejected: No STEM extracurriculars
Where else were you accepted/deferred/rejected:

General Comments : D16’s guidance counsellor and teachers had rarely written references before. None of her previous years’ English teachers remained at the school. The guidance counsellor was not familiar with the common app and had to be reminded to upload midterm grades. One of her science teachers couldn’t figure out how to upload his reference and we had to switch to her 12th grade English teacher after several weeks. We had the ability to move back to the States for 11th and 12 grades. If I’d known how difficult her college application season was going to be, we may have moved back.