<p>Okay, so I’m new to this site and I posted this in the general forum, someone told me to post it here. :]</p>
<p>I’d really appreciate any replies!</p>
<p>I’m a prospective student of Mudd.</p>
<p>I’ve done my research, and there are a few things I’m worried about.</p>
<li><p>I’ve read that since there is no grade inflation, and all the people there are extremely smart, and that you’ll mostly get around a 2.8 GPA there even if you were a straight A student in Highschool.</p></li>
<li><p>I heard that because of the above, it’s hard to get accepted to a good Grad School. Also, since Harvey mudd is so small, not many people have even heard of the school, making it harder to get a job.</p></li>
<li><p>I heard the stress level is extremely high, and that the heavy course load will make you depressed, lack motivation, and self-esteem.</p></li>
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<p>Can you guys tell me your honest outtake on these matters? I’ve heard a lot of good things about mudd, which is why I’m definitely considering it as one of my top choices- however I don’t want to get really depressed because of it and screw myself over. :/</p>
<ol>
<li> More or less correct.</li>
<li><p>Very incorrect. HMC grads can be found in all of the top grad schools, and HMC is one of the top schools for fraction of students that go onto grad school.</p></li>
<li><p>The course load is heavy. None of those other things has to happen to you, plenty of students work hard and thrive.</p></li>
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<p>Wasn't it four students that have gotten 4.0s? An extension to the first question, though, is which area this "drop" in grades tends to come from the most. Is it mainly from the core classes (especially the ones that don't end up being closely related to your future major), or is it from the humanities? I remember reading a post or two about the humanities classes being somewhat easier in order to compensate, but I don't know the validity of that statement.</p>
<p>Humanities courses are jokes compared to our technical classes. I think my humanities GPA is about 3.7, while my non-humaities GPA is much lower. Last semester I put literally 30 hours of work (including studying) combined into my two hum classes and got two A's.</p>
<p>It really depends on the person. I know I am not the only person who has a relatively low hum compared to other grades. In fact, I have a 4.0 in my major classes but I have yet to get a single A in any hum class. </p>
<p>Of course this also depends on the hum classes you take. I prefer getting my money's worth here and taking the ones Ill learn the most from, but others choose to take the ones that have the reputation of being the easiest.</p>
<p>Theres one thing you'll learn at Mudd, GPA is not everything. Its a small school and that means there are plenty of opportunities for students even if you are not doing exceptionally well. I have ~3.0, and I do multiple projects and I think I am getting a lot out of my time at Mudd despite my mediocore GPA. As for your questions...</p>
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<li><p>It really depends on the student. Some students are smart enough and quick enough to get high grades, others will need to make decisions on where it is better to spend their time. Most students (or at least I did) will struggle in adjusting to college, but your GPA will pick up as you get used to it.</p></li>
<li><p>You'll have trouble applying cold to jobs or even grad schools, simply because GPA is a convenient number to list candidates by. That said, there are a number of companies and schools that recruit from Mudd and know what to expect. Ive seen MIT, RPI, Caltech, and other good graduate programs looking for applicants at career fairs. There are also a number of top notch companies looking for resumes as well. </p></li>
<li><p>Yes its hard. I thought about transferring my sophomore and even late freshman year. What helped me is being open to trying different majors and fields early on. Eventually you'll find something you enjoy.</p></li>
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