This week: Harvey Mudd, Claremont, California
Harvey Mudd qualifies as a tiny school. With only 800 undergraduates and exactly zero graduate students, they are not faking things with their 9:1 student faculty ration (UVA for example claims a 15:1 ratio, but for freshman that number is 155:1). And yet, Harvey Mudd is one of the premier engineering and math programs in the country. All while still being a liberal arts college. How is this possible?
Harvey Mudd believes in the mission of the Liberal Arts. It’s their goal to produce scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who have a broad education, understand how things work, and appreciate the affect of their work on society and communities. It’s reasonable. After all, music is highly mathematical. Poetry’s beauty echoes the perfection of physics. And history is the story of human engineering and destruction of community.
There are only a limited number of majors at Harvey Mudd. Your choices are bio/biomedical sciences, engineering, physical sciences, computer sciences, math and statistics, or interdisciplinary (math and comp sci). But this does not mean you do not plenty of choices. Harvey Mudd is a part of the Claremont Colleges, a group of 5 colleges in the Claremont area which include Claremont Mckenna, Pomona, Pitzer, and Scripps. Students can take classes at any of these schools which makes for about 5500 students amongst them all.
One of the most important parts of the curriculum at Harvey Mudd though is the undergraduate research opportunities. Fully one quarter of the students at Harvey Mudd are engaged in hands on research, the kind that generally only graduate students do, with professors at Harvey Mudd. They are also publishing their research, which is even more impressive. More than $3 million is spent on undergraduate research every year. Because of this kind of work and experience, Harvey Mudd ranks number one for return on investment of all US colleges and universities.
So what is it like to actually go there? About 99% of students live on campus. It’s a very close knit kind of place and student happiness is important. There are nine dorms and almost all of them are organized around a courtyard. Each has a tradition (many musical) that they participate in and traditions unique to them. DOS Muchachos are in charge of organizing activities which range from a Turkey Trot to Crib Racing (yes, it is exactly what you think it is: design a crib and race with someone in it. From water polo to rugby, robotics to The Muddraker paper, from the Society of Women Engineers to Gonzo Unicycle Madness, Mudders have plenty of ways to blow off some steam. And that’s just at Harvey Mudd. Students can also join groups in the community like the Claremont Concert Orchestra or at the other Claremont Colleges like the Pomona College Orchestra.
Pros:
Harvey Mudd qualifies as a tiny school. With only 800 undergraduates and exactly zero graduate students, they are not faking things with their 9:1 student faculty ration (UVA for example claims a 15:1 ratio, but for freshman that number is 155:1). And yet, Harvey Mudd is one of the premier engineering and math programs in the country. All while still being a liberal arts college. How is this possible?
Harvey Mudd believes in the mission of the Liberal Arts. It’s their goal to produce scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who have a broad education, understand how things work, and appreciate the affect of their work on society and communities. It’s reasonable. After all, music is highly mathematical. Poetry’s beauty echoes the perfection of physics. And history is the story of human engineering and destruction of community.
There are only a limited number of majors at Harvey Mudd. Your choices are bio/biomedical sciences, engineering, physical sciences, computer sciences, math and statistics, or interdisciplinary (math and comp sci). But this does not mean you do not plenty of choices. Harvey Mudd is a part of the Claremont Colleges, a group of 5 colleges in the Claremont area which include Claremont Mckenna, Pomona, Pitzer, and Scripps. Students can take classes at any of these schools which makes for about 5500 students amongst them all.
One of the most important parts of the curriculum at Harvey Mudd though is the undergraduate research opportunities. Fully one quarter of the students at Harvey Mudd are engaged in hands on research, the kind that generally only graduate students do, with professors at Harvey Mudd. They are also publishing their research, which is even more impressive. More than $3 million is spent on undergraduate research every year. Because of this kind of work and experience, Harvey Mudd ranks number one for return on investment of all US colleges and universities.
So what is it like to actually go there? About 99% of students live on campus. It’s a very close knit kind of place and student happiness is important. There are nine dorms and almost all of them are organized around a courtyard. Each has a tradition (many musical) that they participate in and traditions unique to them. DOS Muchachos are in charge of organizing activities which range from a Turkey Trot to Crib Racing (yes, it is exactly what you think it is: design a crib and race with someone in it. From water polo to rugby, robotics to The Muddraker paper, from the Society of Women Engineers to Gonzo Unicycle Madness, Mudders have plenty of ways to blow off some steam. And that’s just at Harvey Mudd. Students can also join groups in the community like the Claremont Concert Orchestra or at the other Claremont Colleges like the Pomona College Orchestra.
Pros:
- It’s very, very, very small
- It’s outstanding for research
- Specialized curriculum for engineering and STEM
- Students are quirky and fun
- It’s very, very, very small
- It’s got a limited curriculum
- It’s really far away from Virginia
- It’s really hard work