I am struggling between whether to ED Pomona or Carleton for CS and Physics. (I’m also considering Harvey Mudd but, honestly, am intimidated by their grade deflation and rep for overworking students - but let me know if that view is wrong.) Most posts comparing these on CC are more than a few years old. Are there any current or recently-graduated CS students at Pomona, Carleton (or Mudd) who have loved, hated, etc their experience?
Pomona CS is filled to capacity and cannot guarantee that any interested Pomona student can major in CS: Computer Science Frequently Asked Questions | Pomona College in Claremont, California - Pomona College
Carleton currently does not appear to have limitations on entering the CS major: https://www.carleton.edu/computer-science/new-students/ . Recent past class schedule indicate that CS courses do not all appear to be completely full or overenrolled (although some are).
In terms of Harvey Mudd “overworking students”, it has a large and rigorous core curriculum ( HMC Common Core - Harvey Mudd College - Acalog ACMS™ ) and requirement for 10 additional HSA courses ( Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts - Harvey Mudd College - Acalog ACMS™ ), in addition to the major.
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This is a style question that no one other that you can answer. I do know CS grads from both Pomona and HMC. They’re happy and gainfully employed. I also know Carleton grads, but pre-med who did well and are now in medical school. I’d go to the one that speaks to you the most.
As for the grind at HMC, it’s real. They seem to embrace it as a collective though in a work hard, play hard way. My son’s former roommate did his undergrad in CS at HMC. He’s has nothing but good things to say.
Good luck!
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Thank you - very helpful
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I can’t speak to Pomona or Carleton, but have a kid who just finished their first year at Harvey Mudd. Entering as a frosh, the plan was for engineering but now it’s looking like CS or a joint CS+?(maybe math?) major is the more likely path. HMC recently added a joint CS + Physics major to their selections.
Grade deflation: per my kid the average GPA is 2.5 and the outgoing college president mentioned many times that as parents we can’t expect the 4.0s that our kids have gotten in the past. A lot of students approach the “grind” as a part of the social fabric there; study sessions are half socializing half studying. Ok, maybe not half and half but it still is a time to get to know and hang out with classmates.
My kid really ate up their first year, and due to a recommendation from their CS professor they have a remote CS research position for this summer. Still got 7-8 hours/night of sleep, trips with friends, clubs, work on campus…it’s all possible with good time management and not procrastinating.
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Thank you. Great to hear these positive experiences with Mudd.
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There are a handful of schools where 4.0s are so rare that they are celebrated in the local newspapers. Both HMC and the College of Engineering at Cal Poly graduate a 4.0 about once a decade. People who hire know this.
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