Harvey Mudd College vs Olin College of Engineering (for Computer Science)

First of all, congratulations on your admissions! I’m an Olin alum, so maybe I could help address some of your concerns regarding computer science at Olin. It is true that Olin does not have an “official” computer science major, but they do have two majors that will allow you to focus heavily on computer science and software engineering: Electrical and Computer Engineering and Engineering: Computing.

As the name implies, Electrical and Computer Engineering has an electrical engineering component, so you would also learn about things like signal processing, circuits, etc. However, you can make that major software-heavy (as I did) and get a strong computer science and software engineering background. If you don’t have any interest at all in the electrical engineering stuff, you can major in Engineering: Computing, which will allow you to focus more narrowly on the software side of things.

As with any major at Olin, you get a lot of autonomy with regard to the things you learn and the projects you work on. For example, even in classes that aren’t explicitly CS related, you will have opportunities to apply things you’ve learned elsewhere to open-ended projects. In just about every one of my math classes, I took the opportunity to explore new CS concepts by using them in conjunction with what I was learning in math.

If you are intrinsically motivated, I certainly don’t think you would be hindered in getting a strong CS/Software Engineering education. Of course, Olin is an engineering school, so you will be pushed to learn and practice strong engineering fundamentals in any discipline you choose. If you are more interested in pure theory or research, it may not be the best fit. In the job market, Olin has a strong track record with placing students at top software companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as with successful startups, so I wouldn’t be concerned about employment opportunities.

Obviously I can only really provide you with information from the Olin perspective, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!