<p>My son, who is interested in majoring in Physics and maybe going on to get his Phd in Physics, was fortunate enought to be accepted at both Pomona and Harvey Mudd. Both are amazing schools, but because of his strong interest in the humanities as well, he is leaning more towards Pomona than Harvey Mudd. However, I wonder whether the presence of Harvey Mudd would enhance the study of physics at Pomona (for example, by giving him opportuntity to take some physics classes with Harvey Mudd profs), or whether it would hurt (are Pomona physics majors considered inferior to HM physics majors?). Does anyone have any experience with the physics program at Pomona, opportunities for research, grad school placement, etc...? Thanks for any insights!</p>
<p>Hi,
I’m a Pomona freshman considering a physics major, and while I don’t know very much about Harvey Mudd’s physics program compared to Pomona’s, I can attest that Pomona’s physics program is pretty excellent on its own merits, and there will definitely be opportunities to take Mudd classes. I know someone who even took her freshman physics classes at Mudd instead of Pomona, although I don’t think they allow Pomona students to complete the Mudd physics major instead of Pomona’s. If your son enjoys the humanities as well, I strongly recommend Pomonahe might not have time to take any humanities at Mudd, whereas Pomona requires three humanities-related courses minimum.</p>
<p>There might be some employers or grad schools who do consider a Mudd degree superior to a Pomona degree, but there are so many variables that it’s really not a useful question. Basically your son should go where he thinks the environment suits him best, as being happy is such an important factor in doing well academically.</p>
<p>I hope this helped =)</p>
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<p>I am not yet a student at either, though I will likely be attending Pomona this fall, so I don’t know a whole lot about the physics programs at either schools. What I do know, is that Harvey Mudd has some very extensive Humanities and Social Sciences requirements.</p>
<p>I believe they require 11 courses in H&SS, 5 of which can be taken at one of the other Claremont Colelges.</p>
<p>Thanks rickmanfan, that information does help! My son is going to the admitted students thing on the 18th and so will try to talk to some of the physics professors then, and maybe even sit in on a class, so that should give him more information about the physics program.</p>
<p>manarius thanks also! We were aware of HMC’s required humanities classes, which is one reason my son applied there. I think he is worried about the quality of the 6 humanities classes he would have to take at Mudd, with students who might not be particularly interested in the topics (I don’t know whether that’s true or not, its just his concern). Also, the options for changing majors are more limited … Pomona just seems like it might be a better fit for him.</p>
<p>SDMom, I visited Mudd twice when I was in my college search process and I ended up not being all that excited by it, partially because of the lack of interest in the humanities. While I did meet and talk to a couple of students who seemed like they enjoyed Hums, one student basically summed it up for me. He said (I paraphrase) “It isn’t that people here don’t like the humanities, and that we wouldn’t normally be interested in them, but that with everything else we need to do it’s hard to care about them.” I felt like that summed up the student body’s attitude fairly well.
Also, when I did my Pomona interview my interviewer mentioned she had taken an Africana studies class at Mudd and that not only was it very easy, but the writing done by the Mudders was pretty bad. Anything she wrote, even if it wasn’t very good, got high marks because it was so much better in comparison. This is, of course, just a story and it might be an exception, but I hope this all helps! Perhaps I’ll see your son on the 18th, I’m also going to be there!</p>
<p>Oh, my bad, I guess I need to talk to Mudd students more. On the 5C class listings there’s only one “HMC literature requirement” mentioned. In that case, I’m fairly sure that they can be fulfilled with classes taken at any of the collegesit’s that way at Pomona.</p>
<p>My oldest son graduated 7 years ago from Mudd and was a physici major. My youngest will be starting Pomona this fall.
Mudd was extremely intense. Yes, he did do some humanities - and might have been able to do more but that was not his interest. He ended up with enough basic engineering to be employed as an engineer on graduation.
So,two questions for your son:
First what is his social “fit”- the students at the two colleges are very different
second - what does he want to do with the physics major- ? academics ? applied physics - with an engineering bent? some mixture of physics and humanities ?</p>
<p>Two good schools with very different students!</p>
<p>Thanks Palmom! As of today, at least, his clear preference is Pomona over Mudd because of fit and other things. </p>
<p>The main question for him now is the quality of Pomona’s physics program, and how successful Pomona physics grads are in getting into graduate physics programs. From what we can tell, the professors who write the recommendations, and the undergrad research a student does, are keys to getting into a good physics Phd program. My son has some other interesting choices outside the Claremont consortium, and I think he’s trying to figure out if Pomona’s physics stacks up to them. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your advice!</p>
<p>If he doesn’t plan to minor in the Hums, and he plans to go into grad school after his BA Physics, then I recommend HM. OTOH, if he wants a rich balance of sciences and Hums, then it is Pomona. Some grad schools may have a slight favor towards a diploma in Physics from HM than from Pomona… I say - slightly… but Pomona ranks higher than HM in everything else.</p>
<p>Actually, I know a lot about the reative strenghs of the two schools. I am a Pomona alum, my son has just been admitted there, and it is a great school. I second the opinion that each school “fits” a different person. But Oclement’s claim that Pomona is better at “everything else” is way off base. In science, HMC surely has the better claim, except possibly in the health sciences, neuro and integrated programs. HMC’s strenght in Math (the language of science) puts it clearly ahead in all areas of “hard” or technical science. Curricular balance is a key question that SDMOM of 3’s son needs ot ask himself.</p>