The Most Valuable College ... few know much about

Parents Forum
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<p>@ Someoldguy…looking at the title, i actually thought the answer was going to be “Berea”. I know some very successful people out of Berea…</p>

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<p>Deep Springs :)</p>

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<p>I have been to the HMC campus several times now, and I really don’t see it that way. They have that lush green “mall” down the middle with a lot of trees. And there are hills (foothills?) right across the road; I think the botanical garden for the 5Cs is up there. I can think of lots of state universities that I think are much uglier. Don’t want to start a debate on ugliest campus, but I can name a couple of big 10 schools I have spent quite a bit of time at that have ugly and unpleasant campuses…</p>

<p>One new building doesn’t mean much on a big school’s campus, but 70,000 feet of nice new space for a school with less than 1,000 students makes a big difference, too.</p>

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<p>That’s still better than the old posters featuring a downhill skier in a cornfield with the caption “Rose-Hulman: Conveniently located midway between Stowe and Vail.”</p>

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<p>The problem with this idea is that, after freshman intro classes, the HM kids are far ahead of the CMC or PC kids in math/comp sci classes.<br>
D1 toured both HMC and CalTech. Decided to apply to neither. Mudd was too small and too ugly and at CalTech the tour guide (female) kind of said “I wish I had come here for grad school instead of undergrad”. </p>

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<p>We “discovered” Mudd when DS was a junior. It was his gold standard of colleges for almost a year. I too thought the dorms were ugly and trashy. (Part of the reason is that tour guides show their own room, not an uninhabited “model room” .) DS didn’t give a hoot - he loved passinate students and the techy vibe. </p>

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<p>Gosh a whole campus of Edward Durrel Stone, no wonder it’s ugly. Caltech only got one building of his and it’s the stupidest looking building on campus, well in a tie with the library.</p>

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<p>I second Deep Springs</p>

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<p>The name brand recognition - or lack there of - is evidence of an East Coast bias in what makes an ‘elite’ higher Ed place. If you can’t drop the name at the Thanksgiving table and get a jaw dropping ‘Wow’…what’s the point… ~X( </p>

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<p>Did they include the cost of living in those 20 year incomes- ie were they gross or net? Also a return on a small investment may not be as important as the actual amount. Another point- What has changed at schools in the past 20 years- will today’s grads get the same return as those from 20 years ago- will comp sci remain as lucrative? So many variables. And- so many more important issues such as quality of life.</p>

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<p>There are characteristics of Harvey Mudd that evoke polarizing opinions:

  1. The name…
  2. The architecture is love/hate, or perhaps tolerate/hate. The students have made most by using the warts as places to hang skateboards, unicycles or bicycles during class. I hope the new building has places for the various modes of transportation that were improvised at the old TG building.
  3. The old dorms were motel-6-ish, with the open courtyard and dorm rooms that opened onto the couryard. The students demonstrate their camaraderie by piling (discarded) sofas in the courtyard for study, meetings, movies, bonfires, etc. This is an indication that the students are pretty much on their own for governing their dorm space. If a prospective student is a neatnik, this can be a turn off, or the prospect can be thrilled while the parent is appalled.
  4. The intense STEM curriculum will obviously only appeal to a certain group, but then the “liberal arts approach” to science can blunt that appeal for some.
    So, there are lots of things to like or dislike - but for those who like Mudd, the feeling can be intense: <a href=“http://newwww.hmc.edu/admission/2013/12/ohana-means-family/”>http://newwww.hmc.edu/admission/2013/12/ohana-means-family/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;