What about a summer abroad, just for a summer abroad. That’s what our son did.
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HSA is pretty important to me which is why I liked Mudd sm, however I’m not sure if it weighs over all the other pros of Purdue. I know I’ll still be able to study HSA (and more upper level of those due to AP credit transferring) at Purdue as well, but I will say the 5C HSA curriculum is probably better.
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“A distinctive feature of the Harvey Mudd College experience is the opportunity for students to major in STEM fields while pursuing wide-ranging interests in the humanities, social sciences, and the arts (HSA), both on campus and throughout the Claremont Colleges.”
It’s simply packaging. You’ll have opportunities to take other classes in these fields at any engineering school, especially if you come in with credits and still plan to take four years to graduate.
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Even at same costs I would pick Purdue as the small LAC environment isn’t for me.
Please talk to your parents. If they are able and willing to pay for either college, then make your choice. Some parents are very willing to pay for higher priced colleges because they can. Others won’t even if they are able to. If your parents are willing to pay $80,000 a year for Harvey Mudd, give them a big hug and a huge thank you.
Neither of our kids went to the least costly college in their acceptances, and we were fine with that…because we had the resources to do so. Without parent loans. So…see what your parents say…if they have to take parent loans for HM, I’d say…Purdue is a fine choice. But see what they say. This is a personal family decision.
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It’s not. Engineering is very sequential with a prescribed path for ABET accreditation. Students in ABET accredited programs take some mandatory classes -typically 2 Writing, 2 Arts/Humanities, 2 Social Sciences.
At Purdue, that’s 6 courses and there’s very little space to take more.
HMC is very intense (in the same way that at MIT 3 semesters’worth of material are packed into 2) so that all the ABET required classes plus Clinic and Capstone workshops leave space for 11 HSA classes (from all the Claremont colleges) plus writing and they must have a non science concentration in addition to their Engineering major. It is EXTREMELY demanding and all the students are there because of it.
HMC produces the most researchers per capita (excellent placement at any grad school’s PHD program) because doctoral programs know what a degree from there means in terms of intellectual power.
Purdue is different - extremely high level in its technical and scientific aspects but their goal is not educating intellectuals and renaissance scientists, but rather excellent engineers.
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Purdue is very generous with AP credit. My D had no gen eds to take and she skipped some intro classes. She had room for a concentration, a certification, plus all kinds of electives outside of her Chem e requirements.
Purdue has a well funded incubator for start ups and plenty of friends are doing PhDs now. And a whole cohort doing leadership development programs at their companies.
Purdue is very hands on learning but that doesn’t mean they aren’t turning out intellectuals too.
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That too! Personally, I have lived my life in a process-oriented rather than a purely goal-oriented way.
It’s just that a lot of people feel they must get something tangible from any experience to put on a transcript or a resume, for the time and money spent. There are pros and cons of either way of looking at things. My daughter is different from me in that respect (and the world has become more competitive). She feels she must account for practically every month of her life now that she is gunning for a career. OP has choices (lots of good ones!) and it’s good for OP to see the full array.
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I think the AP credit policy is important, in that it’d provide more flexibility to take any class OP wants and of course it’s not impossible to combine a strong HAS curriculum with a Purdue degree if one has sufficient AP credit.
But the cohort effect is different - HMC is unique among Engineering colleges, just like CalTech is. They’re niche schools - the student has to really want what they offer. If they do, it’s perfect for them. It doesn’t take anything away from Purdue to say it’s not HMC (nor CalTech).
It’s good there are colleges for everyone, including niche colleges.
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I understand - my kid was a MechE.
But when you come in with AP credits, and you plan to stay four years, you have time to explore. The engineering classes will be laid out for four years - but then there are holes for other things in the schedule. My kid had a minor and almost a second minor - two classes short.
In the Honors College, which he hated at his school but did for the dorm and early course registration, he did not take the required humanities stuff that OP could take at Purdue.
I agree - engineering via an ABET program leaves little wiggle room but OP is not coming in as a first semester Freshman from a credit POV and notes most intro GE classes will already be gone.
So they will have wiggle room to explore other areas.
When my son was initially headed to Purdue, he was going to get a minor or even possibly double major in atmospheric sciences. It was possible.
The point being - OP will have a chance to explore at Purdue - because that’s really what Mudd is offering under their HSA name.
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This is what I’m trying to say. Thank you.
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ABET is not prescriptive. They do not require any specific courses. The require 30 hours of basic math and science, 45 hours of engineering topics, a culminating design experience, and “a broad education component that complements the technical content of the curriculum and is consistent with the program educational objectives.”
How each school delivers their complementary classes to meet ABET requirements is highly variable. There’s no doubt there are more at HMC than at other schools. Depending on your perspective that can be an advantage or a disadvantage, it does come at a price though…fewer technical classes. There’s only so much compressing that you can do and so many hours in a day. This is not a knock against HMC. It’s the lane they chose, and for many it’s the right one.
Purdue offers far more engineering classes than HMC does. They offer more aerospace courses than HMCs total engineering catalogue. Their facilities dwarf those of HMC. Given the OPs advanced standing from AP, they will be able to get a much deeper technical education at Purdue.
At the end of the day this is a stylistic and financial choice. You can’t say one is better than the other for all.
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Yes, HMC is a more intense academic experience with more total courses and content (e.g. 11 HSA courses), because they pack more into courses with smaller amounts of credit than most colleges (e.g. they pack single and multivariable calculus with theory into one 4-credit course MATH 019, although they expect incoming students to have seen calculus in a “regular” calculus course before, and some other courses that would ordinarily be 4 credits elsewhere are 3 credits at HMC).
However, a student at some other college like Purdue can somewhat emulate the intensity and content volume by taking more courses (e.g. 18-20 instead of 15-16 credits per semester). Purdue has 8 HSA-type courses* in the engineering curricula, so overloading can allow taking more.
*Which are 1 writing, 1 oral communication, 1 world cultures, 1 economics, and 4 others (including 2 upper level courses).
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I’m a little worried about how demanding it is tbh, as I heard the work-life balance at Mudd which I heard is extremely demanding and straining.
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that’s mostly why I’m learning purdue. Although I’m not 100% sure i’m going to do mech/aero I’m fairly certain that’s where my interests lie and having to take classes in EE, bme, other aspects of engineering bc of the lack of meche classes kind of bothers me.
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Are you saying you’d have to take those at HMC? Not sure I’m following.
My son (BS/MS ME Cal Poly ‘19) lived with a HMC alum for over three years. My understanding is that it’s intense, but very communal and nurturing, with some hard partying to balance it out. Again, as I understand it, it’s not like Caltech.
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HMC attracts a very specific type of students, who want that intense, stimulating experience. So, if you don’t really want that… the decision is made: Purdue. You will get a superb technical education,lots of opportunities, and you’ll be able to add HSA classes as you feel like it.
Congratulations 
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And make no mistake…engineering is hard at Podunk U. It’s hard everywhere, just different levels of hard. They don’t call it pre-business for no reason.
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I def enjoy that experience, Engineering is hard anywhere anyways. Still just not sure how ‘worth it’ everything that Mudd offers will be for me, as I’m trying to find if I like the idea of being a ‘Renaissance man’ as they call it, but am not a fan of the fact most only take 3 higher technical MechE electives.