<p>hey there! these are two engineering programs i was accepted into, and i was wondering if anyone could provide advice regarding advantages/disadvantages of both programs (academics, research, social life, etc.) any info is greatly appreciated!
btw i'm slightly leaning towards chemical engineering, but it's pretty tentative right now. the main concern i have is weighing harvey mudd's focus on engineering, smaller size, and potential better fit against princeton's great undergraduate focus.</p>
<p>Don’t know if it matters, but the current President of HMC used to be the dean of the Princeton School of Engineering and Applied Science…
and HMC is way better than Princeton… warmer too…</p>
<p>Mudd’s engineering department is more well known for it’s electrical, digital, and mechanical programs. Keep in mind that Mudd is small, so the engineering faculty are only about 20 in number. Four teach chemical engineering classes: Lape, Bright, Cardenas, and Spjut. They’re all very good teachers, but Lape is the only one who focuses purely on chemical engineering (Bright also teaches systems, Cardenas does some aero and enviro stuff, and Spjut is the Clinic Director). Lape is also the only one with a significant research group. You can find her research areas here: [Nancy</a> K. Lape - HMC Engineering](<a href=“http://www3.hmc.edu/~lape/]Nancy”>http://www3.hmc.edu/~lape/) . If those don’t interest you, you might be disappointed. That being said, Prof. Van Ryswyk from Chemistry does research in solar cells and materials, so you might find that interesting. If you’re not adamant about research during the school year, you will be competitive for summer REUs by the end of sophomore year. </p>
<p>Princeton has a lot more faculty < <a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/cbe/people/faculty/>”>http://www.princeton.edu/cbe/people/faculty/></a>, but perhaps they’re not as committed to undergraduate teaching as Mudd profs are. </p>
<p>As a Mudd engineer, you wouldn’t get as much depth in the field since Mudd does a general engineering degree. That means you’ll have to take 3 semesters in systems and 2 in electrical and digital engineering. I feel like these are all tangentially useful to Chemical Engineering at least. You’ll have about 5 tech electives under the new core. You can get more if you’re willing to overload or pass out of Core classes. Beyond the Thermo/Mass&Energy Balance class required of all engineers, you’ll want to take:</p>
<p>Advanced Thermo
Chemical Reaction Engineering
Physical Chemistry
Carbon Compounds and Organic Chemistry (O-Chem I and II)
Transport Phenomena I and II (covers fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and mass transport all at once since they’re similar mathematically) </p>
<p>To get all this done with Mudd’s core and humanities requirements, you’ll average 18 credits a semester (6 classes). I heard 4.5 classes is more typical for Princeton ChemE. </p>
<p>As far as teaching goes, the classes I mentioned above tend to be well taught and have sizes around 20-25 students. Your core engineering classes will be larger ~45. I don’t know how this compares to Princeton.</p>
<p>Beyond that, you have to look at social life. Princeton will feel much bigger than Mudd. Mudd’s typical residence halls are 90 students. Each dorm has a personality, and many stay in the same dorm 3-4 years. With Princeton, you have to deal with the eating club dimension, which has the potential to make or break your junior and senior years. Princeton’s student body is also much more diverse… Mudders tend to have a more similar outlook on life. But if you get tired of Mudd, you can always find new friends on the Claremont colleges, which are contiguous to Mudd. Hopefully you’ve toured Mudd…it’s very difficult to know if you’ll fit if you haven’t. Happy decision making!</p>
<p>In terms of quality of instruction and ACCESS to research, there is not really much comparison - Mudd is the place. Plus, they have that Clinic program that ensures you actualy practice engineering before you are minted with a degree.</p>