<p>Mudd seems like a very unique & wonderful school and my s will be a freshman in the fall. I have gone back and forth as far as worrying about the difficulty of the classes there, but have recently felt more optimistic that it will be a good experience for my s. However, then I came upon this post by RocketDA (who I know is a reputable source) in the Economics & Engineering thread:"...After going through a place like Mudd and seeing several of my classmates becoming depressed, dropping out, or taking 5 or 6 years to graduate,..." and I start worrying again. Can anyone please shed some more light on this topic. Are the students that have a bad experience typically the ones that might be on the lower end statistically (GPA & standardized tests) coming in? Or is it just bad study habits? My s is majoring in math - does this make any difference? Are the students that have a bad experience usually majoring in engineering which might be even more difficult?</p>
<p>Mudd’s a hard school. What RocketDA describes isn’t the norm by any means, but it does happen to people every year. Everyone struggles at times, and people who are less prepared moreso, but people here are willing to lend a hand and there are loads of resources. Bad study habits hurt a lot more down the run, and you either adjust to better ones or you likely won’t do very well. And some people just have a bad experience, not meshing with the place or the workload. It happens everywhere, and Mudd is particularly difficult. But the admissions staff clearly thought your son could do it, and hey, the vast majority of us can. So chances are good. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.</p>
<p>And yes, engineering students are known for having a particularly difficult time, which RocketDA is often referring to.</p>
<p>ladyday, the Core is tough. There’s no question of that. If a student isn’t committed to seeing it through, isn’t passionate about STEM subjects, and/or doesn’t fit in well with the student body, it’s going to be a hard slog.</p>
<p>The last time I saw my son, he was exhausted, slightly undernourished, and visibly stressed. He’s never worked so hard in his life. He’s now so happy to be counting down the final exams. Stressed? Heck yes. Tired? Beyond belief. Thinking about a transfer? Not on your life. He feels that he’s earned his place at Mudd; he’s proud of his work, and happy and grateful to be there. He enjoys the friendships he’s made and is a super-enthusiastic member of a community he’s called “home” from the day he moved in.</p>
<p>There is a vast support system available to your son and all other students at Mudd. In my son’s experience, profs are accommodating in special circumstances (e.g., illness), accessible during office hours, and very responsive via email. AE (Academic Excellence) tutoring sessions are held every week. Grutors and other upperclassmen are very generous with their time, knowledge, and experience. Mudders are encouraged to help and support one another at all levels within the Honor Code.</p>
<p>My son has indicated that the Core has an unexpected benefit: Because they all go through the same tough coursework at the same time in their first year, they form a bond based on “shared suffering.” I think the care Mudd takes with dorm placement also helps; at least in my son’s case, his dorm seems to be a functional sub-community of students with at least some things in common, and they tend to help and look after one another.</p>
<p>One of my good college friends flunked out of his first year at Mudd. Insanely smart, top of his class in his hometown, but (in his words) was too lazy to make it. So he transferred to our local public uni, which is where I met him. Interestingly, when I met him, he was working for one of his Mudd profs on a software project that (if I understood it correctly) was a precursor to today’s SCADA systems. He is a happy, prosperous, fun-loving, well-adjusted fellow with a nice family, a good job, and a very interesting side business that involves jumping out of perfectly good airplanes with a camera strapped to his head (well, maybe that one year at Mudd did have some effect on his sanity :D). So flunking out of Mudd doesn’t have to be the end of the world either.</p>
<p>From what my son has related to me, there does seem to be a fair amount of angst and drama in certain segments of the freshman class – but it seems to correlate more with lifestyle choices, not so much with grades or ability to succeed in the coursework.</p>
<p>ladyday, I will echo what geek-mom says. My son is finishing his sophomore year. When we last Skyped, he looked exhausted and seems to look forward to coming home. At Spring Break he was skinnier (I think he lives on Red Bull), and slept nearly around the clock – two days, I had to wake him for dinner. The core and enginneering is tough. But when I asked him if he regretted going to Mudd – he looked at me like I had two heads. He said, they’re teaching me to think. Has he gotten some grades that were inconceivable in high school. Yep. Do I worry about him – all the time-- but that’s cause I am a mom. But, I can tell that my son thinks this is the best education he could get. Whatever he does next, he will prepared. I would be worried if he decided to climb Mt. Everest, but if he wanted to, I would support him. The only way to grow is to stretch out of your comfort zone. As geek-mom described,there is lots of formal and informal support, so it is not like they are out on the ice flow. So, is he having as much “fun” as some of his high school buddies who party starting on Thursday night? Maybe not in the traditional sense, but I don’t think he is the type – nor are many Mudders – where this fun is how they want to spend their college years. He would be bored. At Mudd, he’s not bored!</p>
<p>And it isn’t all a grind all the time. He has made great friends and his dorm does seem to be family. They grill hamburgers, they go work out, they hang out. Last Friday, Case had its end of the year “Slippery When Wet” party, where they flood the courtyard, made a two story waterfall, and celebrated the end of classes. Lots of shoes were lost in the water. </p>
<p>When I worry about him, I send food and bug him about taking his vitamins. I know the food gets eaten, the vitamins I’m not so sure about. </p>
<p>The other thing to keep in mind is they are young and resilient. And they have chosen this path, which both they and the Admissions Office thinks is a good one for them.</p>
<p>It is ridiculously hard and painful. Many people including Braden are incredibly smart, probably some of the smartest people in North America. I went to an Ivy league school. The students at HMC are smarter. However, my friends who are engineers say all engineering schools are brutal and everyone is stuck in the core together. A lot depends on how easily your son makes friends and how smart his friends are.</p>
<p>to Ladyday –</p>
<p>At least you know what the situation is at HMC and your son can make an informed decision. I thought the 5% attrition rate at HMC was quite good; most schools have much higher rates of drop-outs/transfers. I thought 5% was a reasonable number of students who found out they did not like technology or the school. It never dawned on me that the 5% could be bright, hard-working, former A students who were forced out or were overwhelmed. Sophmore year is also hard. I understand the good academic experience really starts in junior/senior year for just about everyone. Obviously, a good percentage do enjoy the school and I would think it helps to be at the high end of the standardized scale, have taken a lot of well taught advanced courses, previous experience away from home, etc. Good organization and friendly manner does not hurt either.</p>
<p>BicoastalMamma – I was wondering if your student was able to do the Summer Institute before Frosh year? And, if so, did it help at all? </p>
<p>Did any other parents/students find SI a good prep for the courseload?</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>@Mom2Kids
SI isn’t primarily academic, it’s more of a social thing – make friends, adjust to living away from home, learn more about the surrounding area.</p>
<p>Like Fiona said, SI is social not academic and you have to move at the end of SI. It would help if the students could set up in their final dorm room. SI is basically playing So Cal tourist, though making friends is key to everything Mudd.</p>
<p>Thanks Fiona!
But, they do claim there are academic workshops, yes? Or are the workshops just for fun?<br>
Mostly, do you feel that any of SI (academic or social) made a difference or was helpful prep for your first semester? I’m guessing that you went to SI…</p>
<p>The academic workshops were fun – we did experiments – and we got to meet profs. But how can a one-day workshop prepare me for a semester-long course with tons of new material and homework and tests?</p>
<p>SI was helpful to meet new people, definitely. Orientation is short so talking extensively with many people is difficult.</p>
<p>Again, thanks Fiona, I guess I had the idea that the workshops were longer than one-day each. Being on campus and getting to interact with fellow students & profs sounds like a good experience.</p>
<p>Did you just finish your freshman year? May I ask if you have any tips I could pass along to my D to help with her first few months?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Lord almighty, jumping out of airplanes not meaning the end of the world, what an era I live in. </p>
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<p>My comment, as someone who knows Mudd people and actually considered the school once upon a time is that Mudd will not let you take it easy, especially in a subject like engineering. Other places have highly rigorous options, but options to engage in less rigorous workload too - while still learning to think quite well. Mudd would be a unique experience, and I think the key to getting what’s intended out of it is to have a decent idea it’s what you want. </p>
<p>To put it differently, referring to:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would say it’s most important if he really wants to. Not every hard-working individual wants to be firehosed 
- I don’t know how much of a firehose the Mudd system is, but it’s probably more of one than many other good schools.</p>
<p>@Mom2kids Check out the FB group for Class of 2014 - Xanda posted a bunch of tips. :)</p>
<p>Mudd is survivable.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There’s a lot of work: Deal with it. Plan out your schedule to make sure you sleep enough and then muster the will power to actually stick to it instead of procrastinating.</p></li>
<li><p>Work in groups. There is safety in numbers. You will understand the problems better, get higher homework grades so you don’t have to worry as much about tests, and problem sets don’t take as long if your group stays focused.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t personally know anybody who has had to transfer because of poor performance. My guess would be a mix of bad preparation and bad study habits. Poor work ethic is probably the number one killer. Poor preparation can be mitigated by the abundance of peers taking the same classes, tutoring, study sessions (like the Academic Excellence meetings) and office hours with professors. But if you don’t take advantage of your resources, life will be rough.</p>
<p>All of that said, the pass/no credit grading first semester is your free transition, and none of the classes are particularly difficult so long as you put in a respectable effort. Those of use with the earlier version of core remember HUM 1 as a stumbling block, but the new core has eliminated that (worthless time vampire) class. Second semester will be somewhat more difficult, if only because the addition of grades just makes things more stressful.</p>
<p>Time will tell, but the odds are strongly in your son’s favor.</p>
<p>Can someone point me to a list of the new core requirements? Or what a freshman schedule will look like?</p>
<p>I don’t know if there’s an up-to-date list, but based on Portal, your schedule will look like:</p>
<p>Chemistry, Structure or Energetics, MWF, 8 or 9 am</p>
<p>Calc and Lin. Al, MWF, 9 or 10 am</p>
<p>Special Relativity, MW, 10 or 11 am recitation + noon lecture on Thursday
Technical Writing, MWF, 10 or 11am
(Special Rel. is one half-semester, Technical Writing is the other half-semester)</p>
<p>Computer Science, TR, afternoon, plus lab once a week in the afternoon or evening</p>
<p>Chem Lab, 4 hours one afternoon, or Physics Lab, 2 hours one afternoon</p>
<p>Plus an elective:
Autonomous Vehicles
Energy Engineering
Art and Application of Calculus
These are all brand-new classes, and will probably be Frosh only. I am uber jealous.</p>
<p>There’s also seats reserved in Evanomics–Financial Econ. taught by Prof. Evans. He was on sabbatical this year, but I hear he’s great.
Off-campus foreign language courses should also be an option.</p>
<p>Thanks esquiar this is really helpful!!</p>
<p>I did not realize relativity was only a quarter course. Computer Science meets only once a week? (not including labs) Is it Chem lab or Physics lab?</p>
<p>I thought our elective was suppose to either be to fulfill a HSA course or something such as foreign language or other free-choice elective, not as a major elective (energy engineering)?</p>
<p>Say I want to take a Philosophy course first semester at Pomona… since I am a freshman, how likely will be that I will get a spot? (I know obviously all other classes have selected their courses)</p>
<p>If I have heard correctly, we will start choosing classes in a few weeks, at the beginning to mid June, along with filing out our roommate forms?</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>Edit: Looky at what I found guys! <a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/files/registrar/hmc%20fa10%20schedule.pdf[/url]”>http://www.hmc.edu/files/registrar/hmc%20fa10%20schedule.pdf</a></p>
<p>Why isn’t professor Benjamin not teaching any math courses?!?! D:</p>
<p>Relativity is a half-course. CS meets twice a week - Tuesday and Thursday. AFAIK Esquiar mentioned only Chemistry lab? With the Core changes there’s more flexibility so it seems new frosh can take technical electives too. I don’t know about Philosophy class openings. Prof Benjamin is on sabbatical.</p>
<p>so our introductory writing course would be technical writing huh?</p>
<p>is that new this year??</p>
<p>i like~</p>