Harvey Mudd College Top Questions

There are students at Harvey Mudd that do fall into all four of these stereotypes but some hold more true than others. A) The vast majority of students are very intelligent and hard workers. B) Some of the students (maybe 10% of the student body) are socially awkward - the admissions office specifically looks for people who are more well-rounded however. C) Some of the people will graduate and make a ton of money. Others will be in academia their whole lives. In general though, the starting salary of Mudd graduates is pretty nice. D) This is totally true. :)

At Mudd you work harder than possibly anywhere else (with a few exception). You will leave with a background in all of science, not just your major. But it's not all work. With that many great minds in one place, we throw a large number of really great parties and generally have a lot of fun when we're not working.

For the majority of the school, no.

The ones I know are true, everyone at this school is extremely smart. And everyone is nerdy in some way. Some more than others.

For the most part, the sterotypes are true. There are some very weird people who stay in there room all day and night and play World of Warcraft. Also, I have not met a Mudder who was not very smart.

Yes and No. Mudders are far more well-rounded, a bit less crazy, but just as smart.

Mudders are dorky, but we are also more fun than expected. Other students at the Claremont Colleges don't see Mudders as much, for they get off campus less, but we have a good time on our own campus. It is also well known we throw great parties.

Not really. Study a lot, is true, but have a bunch of fun as well :)

Essentially. People tend to take note of that which they think is strange or amusing; to this end, not even half of the Mudders are socially inept or obsessed with Star Wars. Though most do tend to be obsessed with video games :-)

To some degree. We do host the best parties on the 5 Claremont Colleges.

They are mostly true. Mudd's program, students and professors are about as good as CalTech, but we have more fun. The school's reputation for being antisocial and such only applies to a small number of students. It is true that there are plenty of people who haven't heard of Harvey Mudd, but the most important people in the field have... and hold it in very high regard.

In general, no. Of course there are very quiet and anti-social people, and there are the stereotypical video game playing nerds, but nerds come in all types, and they're all represented here. Most people are very social, and it's guaranteed you'll fit in with some group (as long as you're a nerd on the inside).

The first one, that we are all nerds, is quite true. However going to Harvey Mudd really opens your mind to all the different types of nerds that exist. Some students don't even seem like nerds, until they open their mouths that is. The second stereotype is untrue. It's correct that Mudd does have a higher number students that have very few friends, and don't see the sun very often, but conversely their are many students who have very happening social lives, and are capable of carrying on a conversation with others.

Mudd is quite a bit of work and we do study a lot, but we also socialize more than I think most expect us to.

Yes. Some people at HMC just hide their geeky-ness more than others.

There are SOME people who provide as examples for these stereotypes, but for the most part, Harvey Mudd is a great community for people to just hang out. People lie outside and tan all the time. Everyone is capable of communicating with the outside world, and not just over video game consoles. I did not even know what World of Warcraft was until I heard about it here one day. Really, the only thing that makes us nerdy is that we all like math and science. We are not socially awkward, just quirky.

Yes, although people do not like to acknowledge it. Once they get here, people think being a nerd is a bad thing for some reason.