Swarthmore vs Haverford vs Harvey Mudd

<p>My primary interest is biology and chemistry but am interested in all science including neuro science and CS. I also however want the opportunity to pursue music, a language and perhaps a language. Suggestions???</p>

<p>Have you looked at the academic departments and offerings at each school? You can easily check the academic offerings from each college's website.</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd is a math/science specialty school. It doesn't have music or language departments at all. It offers one music course in its "Humanities and Social Sciences Department". Mudd is a great science/math school, but it is not a place where students who wish to purse multiple disciplines congregate. Kind of like saying you want to pursue art history and going to MIT.</p>

<p>Between Swarthmore and Mudd (a choice many students make each year) is really a fundamental decision: do you want a full-range college or a specialty science/math school. Sure, you can take courses at the other Claremont colleges, but you will be living 24/7/365 with science math majors. One of the distinctive characteristics of a school like Swarthmore is that you are living and hanging out with students majoring in everything from art history to engineering to economics.</p>

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Mudd is a great science/math school, but it is not a place where students who wish to purse multiple disciplines congregate.

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<p>On the contrary, Mudd is a great place for students who know that they want to study math/science/engineering, but who would also like the opportunity to take music, language, art history, etc. courses. Whether or not Mudd makes sense for the OP depends in part on what exactly he means by wanting "the opportunity to pursue" such courses. If he wants the flexibility to change his mind and major in music or languages, then no, I don't think that Mudd would be the wisest choice. But if he just wants to supplement a science major with music and language electives, then Mudd seems to make perfect sense.</p>

<p>I know that this clarification doesn't help rule anyone out, because of course Swarthmore and Haverford provide well-rounded opportunities for their students. interesteddad's point about difference in atmospheres is a fair one, and should certainly be considered (of course, it isn't an all or nothing issue...Mudders do tend to have friends throughout the consortium--art history and econ students among them--but the overall campus "vibe" is basically what you'd expect at math/science/engineering-focused school).</p>

<p>OP: Mudd does not offer an on-campus major in Neuroscience. Make sure to look over Mudd's core, available majors, and degree requirements. FWIW, the school does participate in a Joint Music Program with Scripps, Pitzer, and CMC.</p>

<p>Of course, the other huge difference in "vibe" is Southern California versus East Coast. Different climate. Different terrain. Different transportation options. Different cites. Different vibe altogether.</p>

<p>Again, that's kind of a fundamental personal choice that nobody can really offer guidance on.</p>

<p>Haverford's engineering will be weaker than Swarthmore's or Harvey Mudd's, unless you want to take eng classes at Swat. I'm not sure about the rest of the sciences.</p>

<p>This is probably of less concern, but I have visited all three and Swarthmore and Haverford are substantially prettier than Harvey Mudd, which is very institutional, as you might expect a school with its focus to be. The other Claremont Colleges are lovely, however.</p>

<p>If you go to Swarthmore, you can spend a semester at Harvey Mudd (they have some sort of exchange program).</p>

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Pretty sure a Harvey Mudd student can take all the music classes he wants at Scripps, Pitzer, Claremont-McKenna, or Pomona.</p>

<p>My only suggestion to the OP is not to pick Haverford. If you absolutely must go to a TriCo school, you may as well make it Swarthmore.</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd students take non math/science classes at Scripps/ Pitzer, and only if they are not available there, take them at Pomona or Claremont McKenna. There is a significant gap in quality between classes at S/P and at Pomona/ CmK.</p>

<p>While I prefer Swarthmore, I think there could be several reasons to pick Haverford over Swarthmore, and increased prestige is not a good reason to pick Swat.</p>

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While I prefer Swarthmore, I think there could be several reasons to pick Haverford over Swarthmore, and increased prestige is not a good reason to pick Swat.

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Yeah, OK, Haverford is in a slightly better community and the food is also better. It's also better if you want an easier workload throughout college.</p>

<p>Pitzer and Claremont-McKenna don't have music departments, either.</p>

<p>Doest one of the schools offer an exchange with Cal Tech to finish off their engineering degree? i think it was haverford, but I am not sure.</p>

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Pitzer and Claremont-McKenna don't have music departments, either.

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That still leaves Scripps and Pomona.</p>

<p>very few people ever complete 2-2 or 3-2 exchanges. Part of it is that it is usually better to get a BA (or BS, at other schools) in physics and get a masters in Engineering.</p>

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Harvey Mudd students take non math/science classes at Scripps/ Pitzer, and only if they are not available there, take them at Pomona or Claremont McKenna. There is a significant gap in quality between classes at S/P and at Pomona/ CmK.

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<p>First of all, no there isn't. Generalizations can be made, but they're not nearly so black and white as that one. Second of all, my own HMC friends (and Claremont peers in general) took their off-campus courses wherever they needed to in order to get the classes that they wanted. Most kids who are smart + hard-working enough to make it into HMC aren't going to balk at high-quality humanities courses, even if that isn't their primary area of interest. Finally, a significant portion of the HMC hum requirement must be completed on-campus. </p>

<p>Pitzer and Claremont McKenna, like Harvey Mudd, participate with Scripps in the Joint Music Program. There's some more info here: Scripps</a> College : Academics : Music Department.</p>

<p>OP: You're choosing between some pretty different places, all of which I understand to be academically excellent. What are your thoughts re: student body, campus atmosphere, etc.? Have you visited the schools?</p>

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<p>my thoughts exactly.</p>

<p>Collectively the 5 C's offer a huge variety of courses and it is VERY easy to cross-register at all of them (except occasionally CMC).</p>

<p>I am not certain what the dispute is here.</p>

<p>A side note: although it's easier to cross-register at the Claremont Colleges, if you are worried about going off-campus to take something genuinely obscure, the tri-co (and UPenn specifically) is probably going to be more up your alley. I'm thinking particularly in terms of languages, anyway. But the 5 C's do permit a lot of individualized major-tailoring.</p>

<p>When we visited Haverford I asked about the 3-2 engineering program with Cal Tech. The admissions person said no one actually did it. It turns out (according to the Haverford admissions person anyway) that no one wants to leave their friends after 3 years, miss their senior year at Haverford, etc. I've heard similar stories about 3-2 engineering programs at other LACs. If you want to combine engineering and a LAC you are better off going to a LAC that offers an engineering program.</p>

<p>Financial aid is problem with the 3-2 programs. Five years of college instead of four and you often turn into a financial aid orphan or step-child with the transfer.</p>

<p>what is a financial aid orphan or a step-child with the transfer?</p>

<p>Which college is your "financial aid parent" after you transfer for the last two of your five years of college? How much do they really care about your financial aid package?</p>