My son received admissions from some of his top choices and we have to start narrowing down the options so that he can visit a select few to make his decision. He wants to work in the intersection of AI, and physics and wants to develop fundamental knowledge geared towards computational physics and wants to go for graduate studies.
He got admissions into both Caltech and Harvey Mudd. Looking at the curriculum, it looks similar for undergrad in the two schools and even the student outcomes seem similar. However, in Caltech he will get an opportunity to do research in labs at the forefront in their fields. We think he will enjoy that a lot. Of the two, is there any reason to choose Harvey Mudd, or is it a no-brainer for Caltech? Finances are not an issue.
Another way to look at it is that the faculty are undergraduate-focused at HMC, and he could take advantage of that experience, and the resources of the wider consortium in Claremont, and Caltech would still be there for grad school.
The “vibes” have some things in common but are also quite different.
Has he visited, or if not, will he? I feel as if it wouldn’t be surprising to get clarity by experiencing both environments and talking with people in both settings.
Does your son enjoy the humanities? The HMC core is very humanities heavy and the school is super small, and may not be a good fit for someone looking for a more varied STEM/engineering education. Additionally, Caltech has significantly broader curriculum as well as the ability to specialize in a major without humanities taking too much space on the academic calendar.
He is definitely visiting Caltech during the Discotech and we will swing by Harvey Mudd but won’t have too much time there as he has some other visits on the weekend before and after. We have heard Harvey Mudd has better quality of teaching. Is it remarkably different?
Caltech requires twelve total classes in Humanities and Social Sciences (at least four of each). Mudd requires “at least 11” courses in Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts. The way these are distributed is somewhat different but the overall weight given to non-science classes is not markedly different.
As for size, Caltech has roughly 1000 undergraduates, and Mudd has roughly 900. There are about 6000 more undergrads, combined, on the other four Claremont campuses. So the undergrad community overall is much larger at Mudd, and the cohort at Mudd is only 10% smaller than Caltech’s.
Caltech uses graduate assistants much more heavily. The faculty are focused on research and grad students, with undergrads generally taking third priority. Mudd faculty are much more hands-on with undergraduates.
It’s true that Caltech students can specialize more. But your son’s interests are interdisciplinary anyway, so the Mudd curriculum might serve him very well.
I’m not here to argue for one over the other. I just think both are worthy of consideration, and of enough direct exposure during visits to experience the differences firsthand.
He has looked into this and from courses point of view, it will be similar in both places. However, in Caltech, there are about 5-6 researchers of world class quality (leaders in the field) working in his area of interest and getting a research position with anyone of these could be transformational. However, he has not sure of the difficulty level which Caltech is famous for and whether he will have time to do his own thinking.
My kid attended a different Claremont College, but took classes at all five schools and found the vast majority of professors very supportive and willing to engage with students. If I were you, I would try to get in contact with one or both of the profs mentioned in this article, who developed the new CS+Physics major: HMC Introduces Joint Major in CS and Physics | Harvey Mudd College News They just put a lot of work into crafting the combined program, so I’d think they would be interested in promoting it and speaking with students who are specifically interested in that focus.
We are visiting Caltech during Discotech but will only have half a day or so to visit Mudd. We are from Canada, so it is not so easy to travel there. He has visits to some other campuses just before and immediately after Discotech. He has some other options he is looking into which will be quite different experiences from these two Universities; so I have been trying to help him narrow down his choices a bit.
Our son attended Caltech.
Caltech is a research institution.
Your son will be around some of the brightest young people who will be working independently for a majority of their time there.
The professors lecture, then go back to their offices to work on their research or write their books. The course tests and assignments will be developed by GA’s, many with limited experiences in generating tests, the answers, and grading/teaching.
It is a RESEARCH INSTITUTION. He needs to visit. Our son was eventually disappointed by the school because it wasn’t the college experience that he thought he wanted.
He made friends and was popular but it wasn’t a good fit. It was a lonely experience for a number of his classmates who were so focused on studies and graduate work that they were largely independent. Lots of Uber-eats meals.
He transferred out to a large comprehensive university, that allowed him to tailor a double major, have conversations with his professors and explore “fun” coursework that would not have been available at Caltech.
It is a research institution.
I just wanna say the Claremont Colleges is a FUN environment and no compromise on academics. More diversity of opportunities?? Better undergrad experience-cal tech later. That’s what I’d want for my kid.
Caltech has a better “brand name”. Many in the US view Caltech as equivalent to MIT or just slightly below. Harvey Mudd, while excellent, is not as well known because they don’t do as much research. Grad school admissions committees probably view the two schools similarly, but Caltech is better known in the broader world. I point this out because it sounds like you are Canadian and may not be aware of how these two schools are perceived in the US.
Caltech can be a very rough environment, so it’s not for everyone. Harvey Mudd focuses on supporting undergrads. The Claremont colleges are great for social life because there are so many students.
For what it is worth, Caltech is the more popular choice by a significant margin. Are students hoping to be exposed to world-class research and professors? Are they chasing prestige? Are they making a mistake? I don’t know. But many people want to attend Caltech. It is extremely difficult to get in.
Thanks a lot. Social isolation is what we are concerned most about Caltech. My son does love research and has been working in a Prof’s lab at a local university for the last four years and loves the experience. Knowing him, he will probably be spending most of his time in a lab. But we went through the courses and what they are teaching in junior year, it is not even been covered in graduate classes here. So it seems, it can be really transformative or really soul crushing.
He is also considering some “traditional” Universities besides Caltech/Harvey Mudd and will be visiting those too.
