<p>My son is interested in engineering, and got accepted to Rice ID with a merit scholarship and also as a Century Scholar (which gives him 2 years of funded reasearch as freshman/sophmore). He also got a merit scholarship offer for Harvey Mudd. He is leaning toward Mudd right now, in part because of a very personal note on the acceptance letter. Any others who looked at those two schools? He is an extremely bright kid, who is strong in Science and math, but has much wider interests as well- including writing novels each year as part of National Novel writing month.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what are your son's possible long-term interests? (What might he major in?)
This may be helpful in determining where he'd be happy in the long-run.</p>
<p>He is definitely thinking engineering of some sort, but he hasn't narrowed it down yet. He had to write an essay for a merit scholarship about where he saw himself in 10 years, and he said that professionally, he saw himself at a company like google, where he could devote part of his time to his own research. The century scholar gives him just that, which is why Rice is on his short list. But it seems there is also a lot of opportunity for this at HMC.</p>
<p>Well, for engineering you know what my response is going to be...</p>
<p>I see how you may be torn between the two since he is a Century Scholar. However, in all honesty, I've been doing research here at HMC with no problem for the last year (I'm a sophomore). I have my "own" lab and a heafy budget that is hard to deplete. Most students don't have problems finding research here at HMC early on. Eventually, everyone must do research as a graduation requirement (clinic).</p>
<p>In terms of extra-curricular jobs and opportunities, I've been more than lucky with my opportunities. I've worked at JPL, Caltech (hypervelocity laboratory), had an offer from SRI, and currently work as an associate engineer for an aerospace company doing classified design work. The opportunities are endless as long as you keep your connections alive. Many of these come from Mudd alum-networking and the rest come places like JPL or Lockheed Martin - connections that are forged through research, clinic, or geographic proximity.</p>
<p>Anyways, I know Mudd is expensive. I pay full price...$46k/year. However that is a small price to may for the superior education and opportunities here.</p>
<p>Thanks rocketDA, that is very helpful, especially coming from someone who is there! Sounds like you are exactly the kind of student HMC is hoping for!</p>
<p>Except my grades aren't great...</p>
<p>2.7 GPA</p>
<p>"He is definitely thinking engineering of some sort, but he hasn't narrowed it down yet. "</p>
<p>Why choose one when you can do ALL? Mudd only offers one degree in engineering, so I doubt your son would have to choose his concentration anytime soon.</p>
<p>excellent point Seiken!</p>
<p>Hey, I hope you guys don’t mind, but I’m going to ride off this topic 2 years later because I’m in a similar predicament. (Oldman, I saw from your previous posts that your son chose Mudd, how is he liking it?)</p>
<p>Quick rundown on my situation: I’ve also been accepted into the larger state schools here in Cali, but I’m more attracted to the intimacy both Rice and Mudd offer undergrads. I’m shooting for engineering (MechE or EE) or CompSci. I’m hoping to pursue an advanced degree, at least a masters, perhaps back in a UC if possible. Right now, I really value research experience/opportunities to know your professor in my undergraduate education. Rice and Mudd are my top two choices, and I have a couple waitlisted schools I’m going to ignore right now. I’ve visited both, Rice through Owl Days, Mudd through the Changing Faces program (though I’ll be going back to Mudd for ASP), and I can easily see myself as a part of both student bodies. My financial situation at Mudd will be a little worse, but a couple extra thousand in loans isn’t too much to complain about when taking into consideration the excellent education I’ll receive.</p>
<p>All of the above points are excellent in defense of Mudd, so I guess what I’m going to bring up are what I see as negatives. (You’ll note at lot of these are in comparison to Cal, which is what I’ve set as my benchmark school that I don’t think I’m going to go to.)</p>
<ul>
<li><p>RocketDA mentioned his GPA, and what strikes me is that despite how brilliant many Mudders are, many seem to have undesirable GPA’s. Part of what dissuaded me from my other options like Cal is the idea of the “sink or swim” competition. My thoughts are that a small school like Mudd should provide an environment where “hard work + smart students + getting extra help from profs who know you” should correlate to a relatively solid GPA, no matter how difficult the curriculum. Where am I going wrong in this equation? Is there are curve or something? This also is an important factor for me considering my aspirations for grad school.</p></li>
<li><p>While Mudd certainly enjoys the benefits for the California environment, it seems Rice has a happier student body. Yes, this is partly based on Princeton Review rankings (as if you could quantify happiness), but many Mudders also own up to the fact that there are multiple times when the workload stresses them out to the point of giving up on certain assignments/classes. Sure, you could argue that this builds character, but while I certainly value academic rigor, (or else I wouldn’t have applied to the schools I did) I don’t want this to come at the cost of four years of undue stress. Basically, is the pressure worth it?</p></li>
<li><p>Rice probably has the edge for me in terms of size. I’ve heard about the 5C’s through the brochures, I know you can take courses in the humanities outside of Mudd, and I realize that there are clubs that bridge the gaps… but how tangible is the connection in practice? During the Changing Faces program, I realized just how small Mudd was when we kept on rubbing into the same students in almost every class, and that’s something that doesn’t really even happen in my high school (~2500 students).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>For those who may be jumping the gun here, I’m not trying to talk down Mudd, and I understand that there are also distinct advantages Mudd has to offer also. I’ll be cross-posting a similar analysis of Rice in their forums. Thanks.</p>
<p>I have a strong feeling oldman is no longer active. haha</p>
<p>Regarding our GPAs, despite Rocket’s GPA I understand he is doing quite well when it comes to post graduation plans. But I will let him talk about it if he chooses it. </p>
<p>As for our academic rigor, if you plan on going on to graduate school I would say its almost a necessity to build character. Otherwise industry and lots of money are probably better for you.</p>
<p>Our son is finishing his second year at Mudd. It has been a fantastic educational and personal experience for him. His grades are excellent, but I know that he works very hard for them. He likes Mudd so much that he stayed on campus last summer working in the CS department. He has a good relationship with several of the professors and feels that they are there to help him succeed. While Rice was very tempting, he made the right decision for him.</p>
<p>Well I feel dumb now.</p>
<p>I’m in the exact same situation. Mudd vs. Rice (replace engineering with physics). I hope I end up at Mudd assuming I like it this weekend, the only downside is that Mudd is 5-10k more a year… But I’ll get over it.</p>
<p>@UnleashedFury: hehe, no worries</p>
<p>@Seiken and Oldman: Thanks very much for the replies. It’s great to hear that your son is doing well at Mudd, Oldman. Seiken, have any of the classes you’ve taken been graded on a curve?</p>
<p>@JTM: Well, maybe we’ll run into each other tomorrow!</p>
<p>(I just realized that my earlier post was way too long. Sorry!)</p>
<p>I have not had any* physics *classes that have been graded on a curve. Readjustments are sometimes made if the professors agree that an exam for a particular year is extra difficult, but otherwise curves are not used in the department. Smaller classes have been known to result in no As being received.</p>
<p>As for other science subject matters, Ive heard of one instance in math, and it ended quite horribly (with 97% or so being the cutoff for a solid A) and I dont think that ever happened again. </p>
<p>Humanities courses, such as any economics with Prof. Evans, might be on a curve.</p>
<p>
---- Wait HOW? That’s so incredibly dumb!!</p>
<p>"Regarding our GPAs, despite Rocket’s GPA I understand he is doing quite well when it comes to post graduation plans. But I will let him talk about it if he chooses it. "</p>
<p>LOL. Yeah, talk about a resurrection! Umm, them job prospect is looking real good. :D</p>
<p>In regards to my earlier post: I’m choosing Mudd!!! See you guys there next year, I can’t wait.</p>
<p>Are you on the Facebook group yet :)</p>