<p>UCBChemEGrad seems to know what he’s talking about :)</p>
<p>
Of course…</p>
<p>I made that statement, because Houston is a hotbed for chemical engineering jobs…energy, chemicals, oil, tech, etc. Los Angeles/inland empire has fewer of these opportunities…HMC is more widely recruited by firms that hire electrical or aerospace engineers…which [was] a hotbed in Socal.</p>
<p>You can get a job anywhere with a degree from HMC or Rice…you just might have to do more leg work if you want a job outside the regional base.</p>
<p>Everyone I know who has attended Mudd LOVED it. But you can’t make a bad choice. Go with the place you feel most comfortable.</p>
<p>Go with Harvey Mudd, much focused in science and engineering than Rice.</p>
<p>"By contrast, I haven’t seen one single Harvey Mudd paper in any major conference or journal in my area in ages . "</p>
<p>Here, I’ll give you some of MINE:</p>
<p>2008-SPIE 7012. presented in Marseille, France this summer (paid for by the school)
2009-AIAA JPP end of the year</p>
<p>…Not to mention a potential patent with my name on it in the near future.</p>
<p>If you knew the first thing about comparing institutions you’d know that Mudd is undergrad only…and thus any papers that we write come out of our undergraduate experience NOT graduate school! </p>
<p>Furthermore, let me ask you: What is your area? Sociology? Business?
Surely, you are not an engineer because i you were you would have figured out that the volume of papers are going to be coming from institutions with lots of grad students… Wow.</p>
<p>How about this for facts:
34% of Mudders go on to get PhDs
Mudd is the only institution to get the top prize continually in the last 10 years of MCM/ICM
Even with only 720 students, 2 Mudd students this year are Churchill Scholars. Northwestern is the only other school to have 2 scholars. Per capita, it appears Mudd is unparalleled.
Mudd student in 2006 was the Apker prize winner
Mudd prof got the APS award for undergraduate research
We enjoy our share of Hertz, Watson, [etc] fellows
We enjoy employment at many of the top hot companies in the US
Dozens of papers are published every year by students…</p>
<p>Do a little research before blabbering away on here.</p>
<p>What UCBChemEGrad should be considered heavily if you plan on going into industry. If employment is your primary concern, and you do not want to take unnecessary classes: DO NOT COME TO MUDD. Rice would be perfectly suitable in getting you a job in chemical engineering in Houston right after graduation. It being ranked 20th in the field of chemical engineering might be cause for concern, but if you put effort in you will get rewards out wherever you go. And more importantly, Rice would be much easier on your soul than Mudd. The engineers there that I met while doing research at Rice over the summer seemed quite relaxed with the major (I met EE and CE). Note that at Rice you take one class LESS per semester on average than you would at Mudd. Your GPA will also be higher at Rice most likely.</p>
<p>Anyways, if you are actually planning on going for a pHD eventually, then Mudd is probably the better institution for you. Within the field we are considered top (not THE top of course); go to the MIT engineering department and ask if they like to get students from yes. “You guys produce the best undergraduates.” Part of that reason, I believe is that our engineers have that general engineering degree that gets some heat from UCBCEG. Our engineers have develop a VERY broad knowledge of various fields in engineering, which becomes vital when doing original research in engineering at the graduate and doctorate levels. </p>
<p>Also, regarding undergraduate focus at Rice vs Harvey Mudd, Mudd wins with regard to research. Sorry, but graduate students get the best projects - its something you have to deal with when graduate students are around. A common sight I saw in the labs around Rice was undergraduates just soldering and the like for the graduate students they were assigned to. They might get their name on a paper, but I doubt anyone would be able to actually claim that it was THEIR research. And Mudd research is certainly good (cutting-edge) enough, despite what some people might say about research at an undergraduate institution. A CC post from someone named Aibarr might be helpful right now. As for teaching, I did not take any classes at Rice, but the professors all did seem friendly enough, so Ill just leave it at that.</p>
<p>PS Rocket your location is out of date isnt it?</p>
<p>fwiw, my friend chose rice over amherst.</p>
<p>fyi- I chose Rice (still hoping for Olin though)</p>
<p>I like the points made about what you plan to do after grad. If you think it is likely to go out to the work force for a few years before grad school, Rice makes a lot of sense. If you think you would go the graduate track immediately and then come out, Mudd. </p>
<p>What Seiken posted is gold. My sister did W.P.I. undergrad as a M.E. then came out to work for G.E. and then M.I.T. grad. She felt she benefited from a faculty focused on undergrads at Whoopee and she felt she benefited from faculty focus and research opportunities at M.I.T.</p>
<p>If you still need a tie-breaker … Houston sucks. ;)</p>
<p>Rice is far and above the best school in your predicament, and of the ones you applied to, second to only Yale. Rice is one of the most prestigious schools in the nation and probably the most prestigious in the entire South, let alone Texas. Graduating from Rice would make you a lot more connected to the chemical engineering profession to, being in the middle of the Oil Capitol of the World, Houston…which alone is a great reason to go to Rice. Houston is everything someone would expect out of the 4th largest city in the country. Diverse, huge, busy, ritzy, and did I mention diverse?</p>
<p>However…you did say that Olin is your top choice. No clue why. In this case, you probably ought to go with Mudd. I know that the school I chose off of my list wasn’t the most prestigious, but the one that I liked the most in the end!</p>
<p>Good choice 432… enjoy your experience there.</p>
<p>osucowboys- my top choice is Olin for several reasons- the size of the school and the fact that it is only undergraduate means you will be dealing individually with profs and be able to do research. The educational philosophy of the school also really attracts me, because instead of just working to solve a problem, he curriculum is designed to help students find problems, solve them, and market them afterwards. The food and dorms are great, Boston is under an hour away, and of course, tuition is free. I also really liked the kids there, who were all very smart, very interesting, had many interests outside of engineering, and were nice and outgoing people. The main differences between Mudd and Olin are the location, the tuition, and I think most importantly, the attitude. Mudders seemed less happy and like they were taking massive workloads to punish themselves. They were really stressed. Oliners seemed more happy and like they enjoyed pushing themselves. They worked together like Mudders, but seemed to be much less stressed and more excited to experiment. I got the feeling that after Olin you would be prepared for anything that didn’t bore you to death. </p>
<p>Even if I don’t get in though (which is likely I’m afraid), I am still very excited for Rice, and I feel like Rice will be much more fun and rewarding. If I want to push myself to the level of Mudd students at Rice I can, but I won’t be forced to do so. Rice also seems to have more opportunities, and if I work my ass off I shouldn’t have issues with grad school even if I decide to pursue a PhD (I’m not entirely sure if I do…) at a school like MIT. Also, Rice just seemed like a better fit. Thank you everyone for your input, and no matter what happens I am excited for college this coming Fall.</p>
<p>Rice.</p>
<p>/thread</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd by far</p>
<p>Seiken’s post is quite nearly correct-</p>
<p>However, the employment opportunities after Mudd are quite non-standard. Many crazy exclusive companies give Mudd special consideration when looking to hire. For instance, I’m accepting a position at a company whose name I am not at liberty to discuss in public forum… you haven’t heard of them and they want to keep it that way.</p>
<p>So, it really comes down to trust. Do you think that Mudd would be pitching itself as is without the substance to back it up? No. Period. End of discussion. Stop wasting my time.</p>