Son is evaluating these two schools for ED. Major is CS/math. He is also a recruited athlete (swimmer). What are the differences between them (student life, academics, outcomes)? He is having a hard time deciding which school is right for him.
Has he visited? Talked with potential teammates?
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I’m confused. Didn’t you already list two other schools where he is being recruited and deciding between? Has he received any offers? Made offficial visits? The athletic piece often drives the decision in large part. Can you share if he’s received offers from any of them? If not, this may be a premature question.
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So at Mudd, everyone has some sort of STEM primary major. In the last NCES cohort, there were 37 graduating primary majors (about 18%) in CS, 7 (3.3%) in Math, 52 (25%) in CS and Math (a special joint major).
At Pomona, there are a lot of HASS majors, not just STEM majors, but it is also a much bigger college. There were 65 (14%) in CS, 26 (5.8%) in Math. So a similar overall total (96 Mudd, 91 Pomona), but a much lower total percentage at Pomona (about 20% versus 45%, consistent with no HASS at Mudd).
I would think something in this comparison might be sufficient to form a preference. Schools like Mudd make sense for STEM kids who really want to be in a STEM-focused student community. Schools like Pomona make sense for kids who want strong ST-M departments (no E for Pomona) but as part of a broader overall mix of students.
And of course kids who are unsure whether they want any sort of ST-M major, and instead might consider HASS majors as well, would logically prefer a Pomona. If you would also want to consider E as well as HASS, then neither of these really.
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We are trying to visit in early August. He has talked to both coaches.
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The recruiting is moving fast. He has spoken to both coaches this week. Offers will be made in the next few weeks and decisions will have to be made. Not sure if he will get an offer yet but he won’t be given much time to decide.
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Pomona College confers only the Bachelor of Arts degree while Harvey Mudd College confers only the Bachelor of Science degree. This could make a difference as your son evaluates these two potential options. I would expect Harvey Mudd to be a bit more rigorous for STEM than Pomona.
The BA or BS degree title does not matter. The content of the degree, in terms of required and optional courses, is what matters.
Harvey Mudd College has an extensive core / general education requirement, and an 11 course humanities, social science, and arts requirement.
Pomona College has general education requirements that are less extensive.
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I know grads from both that got good jobs. Not better or worse, but HMC is more of a grind. You really can’t determine “ best” without visiting.
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But you can tell a lot from the degree requirements and courses listed on the web site. You can tell from that the HMC is more likely to be a grind than most other colleges, including Pomona.
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I would recommend you look at the swim team roster and see the proportion of swimmers on the team from each school - it may be balanced or not and could provide another data point.. Each school most likely will get a number of recruits and the coach most likely will steer to one school or the other. (I think Mudd and Pomona are the same team with CMC and Scripts the other?)
It appears your son is very strong academically to have both of these schools in the running, as Mudd is known to be quite intense with the STEM focused student population and the right fit for the right student.
It sounds like your son has never visited and hopefully this can happen soon prior to making a decision, as I would imagine he has other schools interested too.
I agree it can be really useful to actually try to map out a four year curriculum plan. Like, see what it looks like if you fill all your intended major requirements, including in light of required sequences, and then also all your gen ed requirements.
If you are happy with how this looks at each college under consideration, then cool. And now whichever one you end up at, you have a head start on your first conversations with your academic advisor.
But in the event you have a preference for one curriculum plan over another, that is pretty useful information! Not necessarily the only consideration, but one well worth having in front of you, as this is the sort of thing that really does have an impact on your college experience.
Athletic teams align with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps or Pomona-Pitzer.
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This is a great idea… especially as an athlete, where an extra heavy semester or 2 may land extra hard… AND especially with problem-set heavy majors..
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