<p>Both are great programs. HMC is much smaller, but it's part of the Claremont Colleges and is in a great climate in So Cal. CMU will have more research opportunities and is a larger school. Both cost about the same. HMC doesn't offer AP credit.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon should be the obvious choice for engineering if both cost the same.</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd may offer fewer research opportunities, but the quality of professor - student interaction within the research may actually be higher. I don’t think either are “obvious choice[s]” for this student’s major.</p>
<p>Nice choice to have. Not an easy decision to make. </p>
<p>OP, your post reflects a solid understanding of the tradeoff between the two schools. </p>
<p>The only place left you have to look for for information is within yourself. </p>
<p>What matters most to YOU? Which will make YOU grow more. </p>
<p>Think hard and think often, then decide and don’t look back. </p>
<p>Life is full of hard decisions. There is no right answer.</p>
<p>How about the reputation of the two schools? HMC seem less known in the East. Is CMU well known nationally?</p>
<p>My sophomore Mudd student just got a truly amazing internship in NYC, in his field, with a pay rate higher than mine. He turned down a funded research position to take the internship. He has also interviewed (not just sent a resume) with Google. Bill Gates has visited Mudd a few times and the president of HMC is on the board of directors at Microsoft. </p>
<p>Mudd has a Clinic program where the seniors in most majors do a funded project for a real company. This page [Clinic</a> - Harvey Mudd College](<a href=“http://newwww.hmc.edu/clinic/history-sponsors.php#]Clinic”>http://newwww.hmc.edu/clinic/history-sponsors.php#) has links on the right which, when you expand them, show a list of sponsor companies for those projects.</p>
<p>Mudd may not be as well known as CMU to the general public, but does the general public who knows of CMU even know what it’s good at? Mudd is known where it needs to be. And if you end up at a place that hasn’t heard of Mudd, then you still have a great education! :)</p>
<p>I’m in the Boston area and I know both. We’ve had interns from both, though the interns were local kids who attended Harvey Mudd. </p>
<p>We don’t recruit in California at all. Too many people afraid of snow.</p>
<p>I worked for engineers at UC Irvine, a major research university, and they encouraged their daughter to look into Harvey Mudd. To academics in the West, HMC has PLENTY of prestige, though I’m not sure about the East.</p>
<p>Honestly, your great-aunt Nellie may not have heard of either one, but the people who count - the hiring managers and the grad school admissions committees - will know and be impressed by both of these schools.</p>
<p>Each of them has advantages and disadvantages, but they have one thing in common: they will both kick your butt! So, go where you think you’ll be happiest . . . you’ve got a challenging four years ahead of you!!!</p>
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<p>LOL! You got that right, but it will hurt so good!</p>
<p>Any thoughts on HMC only offering a general engineering degree rather than specific disciplines? I was thinking of Mech E but also considering Electrical and Chemical.</p>
<p>If you’re thinking of both, maybe you’d do better with a general degree where you can collect the most interesting parts of both. Mudd’s position is that 1) the most interesting stuff is happening in the intersections of the disciplines, 2) because Mudd’s degree is so good, with knowing something about everything, graduates don’t have a problem catching up on whatever depth they missed out on, and 3) when you know something about everything, you can handle changing responsibilities over time.</p>