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Product Description: Introduction from the Author

After deciding to go to Harvey Mudd, I spent much of my last year in high school dreading the unavoidable question that everybody seemed to be asking seniors—“So, where are you heading next year?” I would tell them, and then wait for the look of disbelief and confusion that my school’s name normally brings. “Harvey what?” I’d explain that Mudd is just a little school in California (not Harvard Med!), but the college happens to be a particularly awesome choice for people who are interested in science and math related fields.

Harvey Mudd has the distinction of being solely an undergraduate institution. Since Harvey Mudd lacks a graduate program, it is often overlooked in the college search. But I found that whenever I went looking at other schools, it was mostly the graduate programs that claimed all of the glory. I certainly didn’t want to fight for a professor’s attention with a student trying to get a post-doctorate, and I didn’t want to go to a big school where I would become lost in the lecture halls. One of the best things about Mudd is that it combines the charm and intimacy of a small college with all the benefits of a large university. Mudd itself has only about 700 students, but there are four other undergraduate schools surrounding Mudd, known as the Claremont Consortium, which pool all of their resources. This setup is ideal for a college town. I have gotten to know about every student at Mudd, but I can always find new friends at the other colleges if I need to. My tech classes are highly focused at Mudd, but I take a bunch of humanities courses at the other four schools to find new perspectives and opportunities.

Be warned, Mudd is definitely not the place for every student. The workload here is immense, and you really have to love what you’re studying in order to pass. Every student who goes here is intelligent (that in itself is something to get used to). It’s nothing special if you were the valedictorian in high school, or if you got a perfect score on the SATs. It’s hard to come here and focus on a “fresh start” in your academic life—you’ll eventually get used to not being the brightest pupil in all of your classes anymore. Once you accept that, you really begin to grow and challenge yourself. In the end, you understand how wonderful it is to be surrounded by such smart and interesting people all the time, and how sad it is that you can only spend four years of your life at such a wild and wonderful place!

Moana Evans, Author
Harvey Mudd College