<p>Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, Clariano. I am indeed happy with my decision to attend Mudd. That happiness has waned a bit since freshman year and there have been times when I’ve seriously considered transferring, but overall I’m still happy with my decision. </p>
<p>In more detail:
Languages and linguistics are my nonscientific passion, and while at Mudd I often feel that I love them much more than my actual major of Computer Science. When things get bad, it’s easy to imagine myself at the top of my class at the state flagship, with an internship in Germany through their international engineering program. Or at Pomona, doing collaborative CS/Linguistics research (not open to Mudders due to lack of funding), only needing to take 4 classes per semester to graduate, and still able to take whatever Mudd courses strike my fancy. At either place, I could much more easily double major, or even switch my major entirely if that seemed reasonable. When I’m failing classes and not getting jobs, it’s easy to feel like I’d be much better off somewhere else. </p>
<p>However, that’s probably not true. My work ethic has increased tremendously since coming to Mudd, just to keep up with the classes. Failure and some intense conversations with friends have brought me to think more seriously about school and learning. Outside of the classroom, I’m more involved because it would feel strange not to contribute when I’m already receiving so much from my peers. I participated in an REU last summer because that was a normal thing for my Mudd peers to do, while most of my friends back home had never heard of such a thing and spent the summer chilling at home with a part-time job. If I’d gone to one of those other schools, I probably would not have grown in the ways that I have at Mudd. The opportunities that I now covet would be there, but I wouldn’t have the tools to see them and seize them.</p>
<p>So, in theory I could be better off somewhere else. In practice, I would just be sitting around getting A’s because it feels good to be the best, not doing much of anything outside of class because I “wouldn’t have the time”, and not at all prepared for the more important things of life because would never have been challenged. This is probably an exaggeration, but for a student like me it’s close enough to true. I’m lazy, and I needed some good Harvey Mudd butt-kicking to get me up and running.</p>