In three sentences
Attending Mudd is like having a full-time job: you study hard and you are paid in knowledge! The classes and professors encourage you to be curious and hardworking all year long. Fellow students are both nerdy and brilliant, awkward and friendly.
Tips for prospective students
You will hear from everyone how challenging the curriculum at Harvey Mudd is. It is probably more challenging than you currently imagine it. But the material you learn, and the intelligent and enthusiastic people you work with every day, makes all the tough studying worthwhile.
Academic Rigor
One of the most difficult colleges in the nation, at least in terms of homework and academic expectations.
Dorm Life
Freshmen and upperclassmen live together, so you get to meet many different people of all ages and majors. Dorms have their own parties, activities, and study groups. Many of the dorms have their own personality types, which aren't really stereotypes but differ from year to year, and you really bond with your dorm. While the buildings look old on the outside, there are plenty of amenities and excellent janitorial services every week.
Food and Dining
The Hoch Shanahan dining hall is always clean and has a positive atmosphere, with good, edible food. If you get tired of the Hoch, there are nearby dining halls on the other college campuses within walking distance, which are also good.
What to do for fun
Play board games, go to parties, play rec sports on your dorm's team, go on cross-country runs all over the town of Claremont, take ballroom dancing lessons, do homework (really, it's fun!) and drive an hour to Los Angeles for city life if you get really bored.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
History of pranking, dorm rivalries, and unicycling! Harvey Mudd even does a unicycling circus every year.
Great for these types of students
Someone who . . .
Likes doing their homework.
Likes math and science more than they do humanities.
Likes math and science, and likes being better at humanities than all the engineers are.
Needs approachable professors.
Wants to form close bonds with professors and students over four years.
Won't ever lose their passion for learning no matter how tough it gets.
Clubs and Activities
Some activities are planned specifically for the freshman experience, so it's a lot of fun at first, but the college as a whole has less club involvement than most places.
Greek Life
None! It's great because although your dorm culture substitutes for greek culture, it's less exclusive than a fraternity or sorority, so every student can be friends, study, and party with all the other students and no one is excluded.
