<p>One of the main concerns I have about Harvey mudd is that I don't know about the research aspect of it. Let me explain. Mudd is an undergrad school, so there are no grad students doing research. Other places like MIT or caltech do have grad students. So I want to know do current mudd students ever think about that? Is there ample opportunity for research? </p>
<p>I'm thinking about comp sci. I already know a lot about it. At a big univ, I think I'd be able to do research while taking classes since I have so much knowledge already. But at mudd I'm scared I might only be taking classes, which is good, but I don't want to take classes about things I might know and not be able to apply it in the field. Because well let's face it: I can learn standard comp sci in my own. I'm looking for professors who are well respected in their field and who will introduce me to state of the art topics</p>
<p>You could say I'm scared of the unknown. I know about the big univs, but what about mudd? Also, why does us news rank grad and undergrad engineering schools separately? </p>
<p>I would appreciate your advice.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Though I’m not yet a student, I have to say that I am impressed by the quality research done at HMC.</p>
<p>[2010</a> Summer Research in Chemistry](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/academicsclinicresearch/academicdepartments/chemistry/research1/summerresearch.html]2010”>http://www.hmc.edu/academicsclinicresearch/academicdepartments/chemistry/research1/summerresearch.html)</p>
<p>Though this is not CS, you’ll probably notice that this is no simple chemistry research</p>
<p>I’ve talked to my chemistry teacher at school (chem PhD) about these researches, and it is indeed impressive. Not to forget that this is basically UNDERGRADS with professors, meaning ur role in research will be quite significant despite the complexity of the research.</p>
<p>To keep it short:
Yes, Mudd has tons of research opportunities for students. For instance, here are some of the summer research opportunities:
[Research:</a> Projects](<a href=“http://www.cs.hmc.edu/research/projects/]Research:”>CS Research | Computer Science | Harvey Mudd College)</p>
<p>In addition, CS majors are required to take 1 year (I believe) of clinic. Clinic is funded applied research for a corporation to solve some problem they have approached Mudd with:
[HMC</a> CS: Computer Science Clinic](<a href=“CS Clinic | Computer Science | Harvey Mudd College”>CS Clinic | Computer Science | Harvey Mudd College)
[HMC</a> CS: Clinic Projects for 2008-2009](<a href=“CS Clinic | Computer Science | Harvey Mudd College”>CS Clinic | Computer Science | Harvey Mudd College)</p>
<p>Also, students sometimes publish by themselves on their own research:
[HMC</a> CS: Publications by Student Publications](<a href=“http://www.cs.hmc.edu/publications/student-publications/]HMC”>HMC CS: Publications by Student Publications)</p>
<p>You can also receive credit for doing your own research at some point:
[HMC</a> CS: Course Descriptions](<a href=“CS Course Descriptions | Computer Science | Harvey Mudd College”>CS Course Descriptions | Computer Science | Harvey Mudd College)</p>
<p>I think the research opportunities are amazing at Mudd. My son (junior-Engineering) has been working all year with a professor, mainly because he took a computer imaging class last year (one of four students in the class). He went to Seattle to do a poster presentation at a conference in February, and will be spending the summer in Sidney Australia as part of the team. He is also presenting the work on Presentation Day (early May). This is a NSF grant project. My impression is that the professors are very engaged in research, know how to get the funding, and heavily involve students.</p>