<p>Where would you go for:</p>
<ul>
<li>Electric engineering</li>
<li>Computer science</li>
<li>Engineering in general</li>
<li>Mathematics</li>
</ul>
<p>Either Mudd or Cal, although Cornell also has good engineering programs.</p>
<p>Cornell…</p>
<p>what about UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, WUSTL vs. Cornell
for Biology major?</p>
<p>OP: All of them are great for what you’ve mentioned. At this point, I think you should concentrate on fit more than academics, and find which place you would most enjoy. Mudd is a very small, rigorous school. Berkeley is a large state school. Cornell is a midsize private. These are the most basic factors that come to mind; there are obviously a lot more that may interest you.</p>
<p>Suggest for one thing, count the # courses in engineering actually offered at Mudd, in the current semester for example. Then at the other schools. That should give you some indication of the relative breadth and depth of what you can learn, in this field, at Mudd, vs. the others.</p>
<p>If you do a search, on both the Cornell and Berkeley boards, there are other theads that compare these two. One thing I personally do not like about Berekeley’s program, if it’s true, is that you must choose your specific area/major within engineeing from the get-go, and transfer to a different area later on is not guaranteed. At Cornell you have two years before you must commit to a specific area.</p>
<p>There are numerous other differences among these three, in terms of location, environment, size, student community, etc.</p>
<p>I am pretty familiar with Mudds engineering curriculum so let me clear a few things up. They only offer a “general engineering degree” but essentially the students triple major in electrical, chemical, and mechanical engineering. The engineering disciplines are all structured around the fact that almost everything in engineering is modeled by differential equations, so all you do to switch between disciplines is learn how to apply diffyQs in different situations. The upside is that you learn a ton of engineering, and you can essentially solve any engineering problem (IE, it teaches you how to relate between the fields, and essentially become some kind of freak turbo engineer). The bad side is that it is a F***load of work. Almost the entirety of your UG experience save a few precious moments will be dedicated to engineering.</p>
<p>“Suggest for one thing, count the # courses in engineering actually offered at Mudd, in the current semester for example. Then at the other schools. That should give you some indication of the relative breadth and depth of what you can learn, in this field, at Mudd, vs. the others.”</p>
<p>This statement makes nothing. You know nothing of the rigor or the approach of the courses.</p>
<p>Example: Compressible fluid dynamics is quite a specialized topic and as a “General Engineer” from HMC, I happen to be one of the more competent young dynamicists in at least SoCal… How is this possible if Mudd didn’t have the “depth”?</p>
<h1>of classes offered is a terrible indicator.</h1>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not if you are undecided as to whether or not you want to concentrate in mathematics, computer science, applied physicals, or electrical engineering.</p>
<p>“This statement makes nothing.”
Wrong.</p>
<p>There are some things you an extrapolate about via knowledge of some general principles, but their are many other subareas with bodies of specific knowledge that have to be taught to be known.</p>
<p>If they don’t teach it there you aren’t going to know it.</p>
<p>But I can see why a school with no course catalog would be incentivized to assert that course offerings don’t matter. Readers may decide for themselves.</p>
<p>Sporty, for biology, I would go to Hopkins or Cornell. I chose Cornell over Hopkins for bio (I am no longer a bio major) because I thought a larger school would offer better research opportunities. Cornell and Hopkins are both well known for bio, and have good feed into premed. I think the two schools have a pretty different feel (hopkins is small and pretty quiet). I love all of the diverse opportunities and people at Cornell. </p>
<p>UCs are having huge problems with funding (but if you are from California, it might be good to take advantage of reduced tuition). In my opinion WUSTL is overrated, and hyped up because of its well known admissions wait list games used to reduce acceptance rates and boost yield.</p>
<p>Excuse me, monydad, but I can’t just let a bald-faced falsehood slide.
[2008-2009</a> Catalogue](<a href=“http://www.hmc.edu/academicsclinicresearch/catalogue1/catalogue0809.html]2008-2009”>http://www.hmc.edu/academicsclinicresearch/catalogue1/catalogue0809.html)</p>
<p>Regarding the OP, I completely agree with sumzup that academics really isn’t the issue. All of these schools are at the very top of each of the fields mentioned. I have exactly the same decision to make (UCB vs. HMC vs. Cornell), and I’m looking at basically the same fields of study (except I have math at the top). I’m currently leaning towards Harvey Mudd simply because I’m uncomfortable with the tremendous size of Berkeley, and because I enjoyed the quirky semi-nerd culture and personal feel I perceived on my visit to Harvey Mudd. I unfortunately can’t speak to Cornell’s culture simply because I didn’t get a chance to go (I live in the Bay Area).</p>
<p>On engineering at HMC: I find it difficult to believe that the #2 ranked college in engineering in the country (US News & World Report), excluding universities that offer doctorates, provides insufficient depth of education in the subject. My contact with the tech world is extremely limited, but of the few people I’ve talked to, everyone knew and respected Harvey Mudd approximately coequally with Cornell and UCB. For a LAC to reach that level of recognition was, well, quite startling to me. It certainly wasn’t the kind of recognition given a mile-wide, inch-deep education.</p>
<p>ok I didn’t literally mean there was no catalog. Good, you’ve found it. Now, count the courses. one, two, three…</p>
<p>Actually what’s needed is to go to the registrar’s list of what they actually offered last semester, rather than what is plopped in a catalog. At another school I’m familiar with not everything that was in the catalog was actually offered, except maybe every other year or sporadically.</p>
<p>Then, go to the registrar’s list of courses at Cornell University. and count the courses, if you have enough time.
And post back here the total number of courses offered at Harvey Mudd last semester. and the total number of courses offered at Cornell. If they don’t teach it, you can’t learn it.</p>
<p>To make it easy take a particular subject.</p>
<p>If it’s the same amount, then there’s no difference in this regard. Which I would think would be good information.</p>
<p>What you don’t want is to get interested in some subspecialty of a major and find that there’s no faculty interested in it. Or only one guy, who necessarily offers only one section of it,which you may not be able to take due to scheduling conflicts. Or he teaches something only every other year, then if he goes on leave nobody teaches it, etc. Or, there’s only one guy in this subspecialty and it turns out you hate this one guy.</p>
<p>Or, not be able to get interested in some subspecialty in the first place because it is simply not offered.</p>
<p>These are some of the things that can be generic issues at a small program. I am not planning to attend Mudd, so I am not going to count the courses. But , based on Ds experience at a different small school, I think people considering such might want to.</p>
<p>I guess you should count the #sections offered too, come to think of it.</p>
<p>Use Registrar’s class listings,that’s what they actually offered; not just catalog.</p>
<p>I am most likely going to attend Cooper Union but I was wondering what others thought. I am majoring in EE at Cooper, and EECS at Cal.</p>
<p>Which do you guys recommend?</p>
<p>depends on what you like…big school lots of diversity? social life can make or break you…whether you think so right now or not…</p>
<p>Okay, mom here. We pondered the same questions, and our son is about to graduate from Mudd. There is no shortage of courses, trust me. Beyond that, Clinic gives you an ENORMOUS exposure to the engineering concepts you need for the real world. He left high school with no solid study skills or work ethis, because it all came easily to him. He would have skated through Berkeley, watching the classes from the dorm on his computer (as many of his friends did). Much too big a school for him anyway. Mudd is all about hard work, with little social life. It’s the price you pay. It’s not for everyone, but many math & science students like “small” anyway, and enjoy the relationships they have with their professors. Mudd profs are extremely dedicated, and known to answer emails at 2 am when you have a question, or stop by to chat while you’re at dinner. Proof is in the pudding, anyway. In this economy with graduates wondering what the heck? Where are the jobs? He had THREE job offers, all over $60k a year to choose from. So, what’s important to you? Parties, catalogues of courses you can’t possibly take anyway, or your future (challenging job with a good salary)? It was a very tough four years with little sleep, but the learning was incredible, and the end result … well, let’s just say we as parents are no longer questioning why we paid the big bucks when Berkeley and UCSD would have been a fraction of the cost, and he could have graduated in three years. (UC’s accept your AP scores for credit; Mudd does not.) Again, Mudd is not for everyone. Visit and get the feel. Better yet, visit when kids are getting ready for finals and stressed out, so you know the worst of it. Good luck no matter what … if you got accepted to HMC (less than 200 frosh a year), you’re already on your way to success!!!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There’s absolutely no reason why somebody attending Cornell needs to make that trade-off. You can very much have both far above Cayuga’s waters.</p>
<p>And thanks to Cornell’s freshman writing seminars and ample offerings in the humanities and social sciences, even our engineers can put together better written paragraphs than what readers will find above.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Except every Mudd engineer is required to take at least 12 semesters of Humanities courses. How many semesters does the average Cornell engineering student take? I’m sure it’s less than that. Most Mudd students have a strong interest in Humanities, which is obvious by our incredibly high SAT writing and reading scores. We are a LAC, after all.</p>
<p>There is a social life at Cornell, but not for the engineering students. Its worse to go to a school where all the other majors have time to party. Also, it’s worse to go to a school with a bunch of pretentious pricks.</p>
<p>^^True that. Engineers basically have their 4 year schedule set for them with little room for other, more interesting classes…</p>
<p>
</p>
<ol>
<li>I believe, including the writing seminars. </li>
</ol>
<p>
</p>
<p>Except plenty of Cornell engineers are able to balance a great education with extracurriculars and a social life. Don’t believe me? Just ask some of the Division I athletes in the engineering school, like the football team’s quarterback.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I agree. Good thing neither of us attended USC.</p>