Harvey Mudd College
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Engineering
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: White Heterosexual Male
Summary
I’m a student-athlete. I’m not in any other clubs because school takes up a lot of time so [my sport] is pretty much all I can handle.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in the suburbs of Chicago, IL with a graduating class of about 750 students – almost as big as my entire college. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Engineering
Minor: None
Extracurricular Activities: I’m a student-athlete. I’m not in any other clubs because school takes up a lot of time so [my sport] is pretty much all I can handle.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
My extracurricular activities have been really important to me from a community perspective. It provided me people to spend time with and an academic outlet.
Academic Experience
Can you describe the weekly coursework for Engineering?
The first year and a half is the Core so pretty much everybody is taking the same classes other than an elective, so it gives you the time to see what you like. You take one class in Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Physics so they expose you to each major that they have here in case that’s something you want to do. I found that time pretty useful because I knew I wanted to do Engineering, but I couldn’t be sure, so I enjoyed the Core classes. It’s always been problem sets, even in the Core classes, but now they’re more focused towards Engineering.
I’m currently in Experimental Engineering, which is kind of like a rite of passage into Engineering here because it’s a four-hour lab on one day and then it takes about two hours to write up your lab on another day. I have that and another course that goes hand in hand with that where they teach you more of the math that you’ll need with Experimental Engineering. For my Engineering classes, it’s a lot of problem sets and team-based labs. For example, the lab I was just describing I’m in a team of four. The task you’re doing may be daunting but at least you have three other people who you can collaborate with. Collaboration is a big thing here.
Is there anything you feel the Engineering department does especially well or poorly?
One thing I think they do especially well is they have the Clinic Program where for one semester your junior year and the entire year your senior year they bring in companies with real problems and you’re put in a team and you have to solve the company’s problem and give a presentation at the end of the year. It’s cool because not only does it give you a chance to make connections with a company and potentially land a job while you’re still in school, but you can also put what you’ve learned to work and see how much you’ve learned. I think that’ll be really interesting because right now it may seem like I’m not learning a lot of stuff that is directly applicable but I’m sure that in Clinic it will all come together.
How would you describe the learning environment? Is it particularly competitive or collaborative?
The school is not cutthroat. It’s more like, I want to do well, you want to do well, so we can work together and both do well. They don’t grade on a curve so if you do well you do well. They want everyone to succeed, so for that reason, it’s very collaborative. I’ve done nearly every homework assignment with someone else. We have an Honor Code because of that and they trust us a lot. The Honor Code is in place to make sure that no one’s taking advantage of the fact that we’re allowed to work together on stuff. It keeps everyone working together fairly and I think everyone takes it pretty seriously.
How accessible are your professors?
My professors are very accessible. I just went to office hours. They all have listed office hours, which are usually at least three hours a week. Because of the smaller class sizes, you can easily ask them a question after class and they’re always happy to answer. There’s also tutoring available.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
Originally in high school, I was thinking of maybe being a doctor, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that much school and ultimately decided I don’t. I’ve always been interested in math and science, which turned me towards engineering even though I haven’t done a whole lot of engineering activities in high school. For a while, I’ve been thinking about going into biomedical engineering, which is not as much school, but still get to deal with medicine and maybe even design the devices that are used by doctors. I’m going to be doing research in biomedical engineering this summer, so I had an idea, and so far, it’s working out.
How was managing both your sport and your coursework?
Playing a sport here and doing well in school as well is definitely challenging, but also forces you to use your time well and become really good being efficient. I still have a lot of fun here and have some free time on the weekends, but especially in season, you have to be better with your time. In season, we’ll have practice four days a week and games two days a week, so six of the seven days I’m spending at least two hours with the team, so I have to play early on in the week when I’m going to get stuff done. A lot of people say in season you’re better with your time, and I think, to a degree, that’s true. I definitely don’t go on my phone as much in season. It’s hard, but it’s rewarding and fun to be on a team, so I think it’s worth it.
Reasons to Attend
1) If you are interested in STEM stuff.
2) If you want to work with people in a close-knit community.
3) If you want to interact with professors closely and learn a lot.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) None
Around Campus
Where have you lived during college?
Freshman: Linde Hall in a suite with five other people. It was three doubles and a common area. I was placed with both freshmen and sophomores, which was fine.
Sophomore: North Hall in a suite with three other people. It’s two double rooms with a shared bathroom. North is a little bit more sociable and people like to have fun and go out. A lot of people in North are also athletes, so they’re in the same boat that I’m in.
How was transitioning from the Chicago area to Claremont, CA?
I got here early for pre-season and it was definitely not knowing anyone and being here before school started and being so far away. But, within two weeks, partly because my teammates became some of my best friends, it was pretty easy. It’s super far away and it would be nice to be able to go home for the weekend, but it’s alright. The weather is also nice because at home it’s freezing but here it’s nice weather all year. The transition was pretty good and I got used to it really fast. My family jokes that I’m going to stay here.
Social Opportunities
What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at Harvey Mudd?
The nightlife at Mudd is a bit different than the rest of the 5C’s. Mudd is definitely more academically rigorous so people don’t go out as much. In season, we can only really go out on Saturdays. Because the majority of my team is at Claremont McKenna (CMC) and most of the parties are at CMC, we go there. Also, almost every college throws a “Five C Party” that everyone from the Five C’s can go to and those are always fun. Out of season, Thursdays are a big night here. It varies from person to person, but I personally like to go to CMC when I go out because I like to see new faces and see my teammates that I don’t see every day. A lot of people at Mudd like to hang out here in the dorm and hang out, but I personally get bored doing that.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out?
Out of season, Thursday and Saturday are as much as I’ll go out. I’ll go to the Five C Parties if that’s where my friends are going, or I’ll go hang out with my teammates at CMC. I’ve never left campus to go out.
What is the impact of sports teams on the nightlife?
The sports teams here are not that important. It’s not like athletes are celebrities here. Though, I would say that there are a large number of athletes at the Five C’s and a lot of people like to support the teams. Being an athlete myself, I know who most of the other athletes are. It definitely helped me make friends and socialize at Claremont McKenna College. If I weren’t on the team, I’d probably still go to CMC because my friends at Mudd would have connections there, but the team has made it really easy to go off Mudd’s campus. [For the 2018-2019 academic year, there were 528 Claremont-Scripps-Mudd athletes and 454 Pitzer-Pomona athletes.]
How happy are you with the nightlife at your school? Is there anything you would change?
It’s pretty good. My only complaint is I’ve gotten to know and see a lot of the same people. I feel like at a bigger school you’d be able to constantly meet new people. I see a lot of the same people out and I get to be closer to them and build those relationships instead of just seeing them once. Overall, I think it’s a really fun culture. Everyone works hard and likes to have fun on the weekends. I’ve never been bored on a Saturday.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
Two of my closest friends came from both being at Mudd with me and were also on my team. We’d do homework together and then go to practice together, so it was really easy for us to be best friends. Some of my other best friends are both teammates who go to CMC and classmates at Mudd who I’ve grown really close with. A lot of my friends at Mudd lived at North Hall while I lived at Linde, so I’d go hang out with them there and that’s how we became friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Harvey Mudd?
Mudd is an interesting place. There are varied interests in terms of what people find fun because it’s such an intellectual place. A lot of the people here enjoy playing board games on Saturday nights, which is totally cool, while others need to go out and meet new people. In terms of the social scene with regards to school, everyone is very nice to each other and helpful. I recognize almost everyone’s face here which is unique. Because of the collaborative nature of people doing projects together, I’ve met a lot of people who I would have never met otherwise and that’s fun.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
That’s definitely a big thing here. There are a lot of people who are different races and have different sexual orientations, it’s a very diverse school. Within my friend group it’s not as representative of the school’s diversity, but I know a lot of friend groups are very mixed in terms of different sexual orientations and race. It’s never a problem to mix and everyone here is very understanding and open to whatever they see, so that creates a good culture here. [The population is 31% White, 3% Black, 20% Hispanic, and 19% Asian, though the athlete population is less diverse.]
How has the size of your school influenced your social experience? [The total undergraduate population is about 890 students.]
I definitely didn’t think I would be going to a school with around 880 people. When I was first looking at schools I was looking at places with 5,000-6,000 people or more but ended up decided that I don’t care that much about it. Now that I’m here, I really like it because I’ve gotten to form relationships with professors and get into research that would be more competitive to get into if there were more students. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people and keep close relationships with them rather than just having a small circle and never really expanding outside of it. The size is really good for making connections and learning purposes. [The student-faculty ratio is 8:1.]
Do you feel like you’re more so a student at Harvey Mudd or a student of the Claremont Consortium?
I definitely identify with Harvey Mudd because I spend so much time there and I find that it’s very different than the other schools. We’re a STEM school and we, in general, do more work. People at other schools will be like, “You’re a Mudder? Wow, you guys do so much work.” It’s funny when people say that because it makes you appreciate how much respect the school gets because I think it deserves it.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
I haven’t taken advantage of the alumni network yet. I recently found out that career services can connect you with alumni that work in certain places, which I think is a really valuable resource that I am going to take advantage of in the future. Because I got involved in research this summer, I stopped looking for internships [in the fall].
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
The career office looked over my resume and gave me suggestions on how to change it. Last year I was a freshman and it was difficult to find an internship because I didn’t have a lot of experience, but I went to the career center and they gave me some websites things I could do to find internships over the summer. I didn’t find an internship but got a job that was in a related field. They definitely know what they’re talking about and can be helpful if you use them in the right way.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that have been or will be especially helpful professionally?
I took a Computer Science class freshman year that used Python. Now I’m another one where we’ve used Raket and Java. I’m starting to learn MATLAB, which is a staple engineering language. We learned R Studio which is a statistics software and also SolidWorks in one of my engineering classes last year to model and prototype our projects. I had a couple of interviews in the fall for internships and they were impressed with the languages we were learning.