Etherify

I'm fairly sure that I want to major in physics (or if not that, then math or another science) but I just can't decide between the two.

As a MN girl, Carleton is a convenient hour away, but it would be sort of my "safer" or more "comfortable" option. My parents both attended and I'm very familiar with the campus already because I took a summer writing course there.

Mudd has arguably the best physics program in the country, and the sense of community, friendly people, and 5-C system were very attractive to me. I also wouldn't mind the lack of snow.

So I guess I have to choose whether I want to be with a more diverse student body or one that is mainly focused on science...

Any opinions?

UnleashedFury

You wouldn't have to be stuck with the not diverse student body. Like you mentioned, there are the 4 other colleges around Mudd. If you wanted some diversity, I'm sure you could find it once you got off the Mudd campus.

atomicfusion

There is still diversity within the HMC student body. Mudd attracts students from all over the country. Mudd students are also very well-rounded for tech school students.

You don't necessarily want to go to a "comfortable" school. People are usually encouraged to go to a school farther away from home. If you stay comfortable throughout college then you might not get as many chances to become an independent adult.

And, as unleashedfury said, the other colleges in Claremont make for a lot of diversity at social events. You can make plenty of off-campus friends if you want to.

tiyusufaly

'You don't necessarily want to go to a "comfortable" school. People are usually encouraged to go to a school farther away from home. If you stay comfortable throughout college then you might not get as many chances to become an independent adult.'

I have lived close to home during my undergraduate years and I have to say that this is largely an individual thing. Depending on the person, having relatives and home comforts close by can be a big asset to your emotional and social development. In many ways it can enhance your maturity rather than detract.

Seiken

Science majors come in all different shapes and sizes. At Mudd we have our jocks and partiers, as well as the nerds and gamers you would expect. The only thing that really changes in when you are around predominantly science majors is the sense of humor.

UnleashedFury

How so?

Etherify

Yes, I would like to know how the sense of humor changes as well.

Seiken

Well, when you get a group of people together with close bases of knowledge, the potential for subjects to jokes about increases dramatically.

For instance, in my lounge, a comment came up suggesting that my ***** was so small it had an uncertainty in its position (or something along those lines). At which point, I responded with the reminder if this were so that if my ***** were in the ground state (it was at the time), then the wave function would never go to zero based on the physical impossibilities of an infinite potential. Therefore, my ***** was inside of everyone (I was wearing pants so the function was not collapsed), including myself and my friends mother. It went on from there.

There arent many college lounges in the nation where people would understand the thinking behind such discussions, and hopefully find it amusing. Granted I probably killed it with my syntax in the reproduced version, but it was an amazing 30 minute discussion when it happened.

UnleashedFury

haha.. i see what you mean now.

LabRatInc

{Juvenile laughter under my breath} and the thought bubble reads "oh, i miss my days at mudd!"

To the OP: the Mudd education and experience is awesome; I've heard nothing but good things about Carleton's program as well. I fell on the side of wanting to get away from home (Colorado). Coming from MN, I think 4 years in CA will open your eyes to a lot of interesting ideas and thoughts, and will change how you see the world...in a good way. It certainly did for me.

Good luck with your decision!

atomicfusion

Seiken's situation is unique. I would say that 50-60% of people at Mudd don't joke about science like that. Most people I know will tell someone to shut up if they bring up science when we are hanging out (and not doing homework). Although some nerdy things still do happen even among people at Mudd who aren't that outwardly nerdy. My friends and I have discussed how to best model beer pong while we were playing.

Seiken

I am not claiming that such discussions at Mudd are frequent, just that they have the possibility to happen, and thus, on occasion, they do. We dont constantly apply scientific principals to our genitalia, but we have in the past because we can.

And such 'nerd' moments arent uncommon for any given day.