About 4 years ago, 47 graduates out of its graduating class of 196 went to grad schools or professional schools (such as law and medicine) immediately upon graduation (4 to MIT and 6 to Stanford).
I read on Quora that for the first 40 years of the school, roughly 40% of its graduates eventually received a PHD or an equivalence. Lately (in the last 15 years), the percentage of its graduates who immediately attend grad schools upon graduation has declined to about 23% to 25% because of the high cost of college education and the high salaries its graduates can earn.
Here is Harvey Mudd'd grad school placement result for the year of 2018 (39 out of 188 graduates):
Graduate/Professional Schools: California Institute of Technology; Carnegie Mellon University; Columbia University (2); Cornell University (5); David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA; Ecole Polytechnique, Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; King’s College London; New York University; Northeastern University; Oregon State University; San Jose State University; Stanford University (6); University College London; University of Alberta; University of California, Santa Barbara (2); University of California, San Diego; University of California, Irvine; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Maryland; University of Southern California (4); University of Washington (2). Note: One respondent did not indicate a school.
(d) Student mental health issue due to heavy course load and stress. The school has taken steps in the past few years to improve in this area. For example, its core curriculum has been updated.
(e) Its ranking is not high.
Do not apply to Harvey Mudd if the kid cares a lot about name recognition or ranking.
A few positives of attending Harvey Mudd: (A) The school is very safe and so is the city of Claremont, (B) Good southern California climate (a bit hot in the summer but Claremont has a lot of trees), (C) Small classes (except CS introductory classes), (D) A nurturing environment plus caring & accessible professors who are really good at teaching, (E) Shared resources (cafeterias, libraries, and sport facilities) and Cross-registration with other Claremont colleges. (F) Mudd students make friends with students from and attend events (talks, concerts, parties, etc) in other Claremont colleges, which are all within 15-minute walking distance from Harvey Mudd. (G) 找工作找 Intern 学校十分给力，很多公司去campus receruit.
Harvey Mudd is a STEM-focused LAC that is part of the Claremont Colleges, located 30 miles east of Los Angeles.
https://www.hmc.edu/admission/discover/claremont-colleges/#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20limit%20on,also%20be%20taken%20at%20Mudd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claremont_Colleges
Harvey Mudd is known for the following:
1. One of the biggest STEM PhD feeder schools:
https://www.thecollegesolution.com/50-schools-that-produce-the-most-science-and-engineering-phds-2/
About 4 years ago, 47 graduates out of its graduating class of 196 went to grad schools or professional schools (such as law and medicine) immediately upon graduation (4 to MIT and 6 to Stanford).
I read on Quora that for the first 40 years of the school, roughly 40% of its graduates eventually received a PHD or an equivalence. Lately (in the last 15 years), the percentage of its graduates who immediately attend grad schools upon graduation has declined to about 23% to 25% because of the high cost of college education and the high salaries its graduates can earn.
Here is Harvey Mudd'd grad school placement result for the year of 2018 (39 out of 188 graduates):
Graduate/Professional Schools:
California Institute of Technology; Carnegie Mellon University; Columbia University (2); Cornell University (5); David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA; Ecole Polytechnique, Harvard University; Johns Hopkins University; King’s College London; New York University; Northeastern University; Oregon State University; San Jose State University; Stanford University (6); University College London; University of Alberta; University of California, Santa Barbara (2); University of California, San Diego; University of California, Irvine; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Maryland; University of Southern California (4); University of Washington (2). Note: One respondent did not indicate a school.
2. Its graduates are among the best paid:
https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report
3. One of the schools with the highest SAT scores (though it may no longer matter given the current political climate):
https://blog.prepscholar.com/colleges-with-highest-sat-scores
4. Academic rigor
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/02/the-10-schools-where-students-study-the-most.html
Midterms/quizes at 9 o'clock Sunday night are not uncommon.
I personally believe that the above list should have included at least MIT and Princeton.
5. One of the biggest feeders to silicon valley (per undergrad enrollment):
https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-tech
Is Harvey Mudd College more difficult than Harvard?
https://www.quora.com/Is-Harvey-Mudd-College-more-difficult-than-Harvard
The downsides of attending Harvey Mudd:
(a) The school does not have a big name like MIT, Caltech, Cornell, or Berkeleys.
Don't be disappointed when people say they never heard of it.
(b) A small alumni network (though a close-knit one).
(c) The school is among the most expensive colleges in the US but it is not generous with FA due to
its relatively small endowment.
Here is a list of the most expensive colleges in the US:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/244041/most-expensive-colleges-in-the-us/#:~:text=Most%20expensive%20colleges%20in%20the%20U.S.%202019%2D2020&text=In%20the%20school%20year%202019,costs%20plus%20room%20and%20board.
Here is a list of the richest colleges (endownment per student):
http://https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/EndowmentPerStudent/
Harvey Mudd is ranked at 56th while Pomona is at 7th, and Brown is at 52nd.
(d) Student mental health issue due to heavy course load and stress.
The school has taken steps in the past few years to improve in this area.
For example, its core curriculum has been updated.
(e) Its ranking is not high.
Do not apply to Harvey Mudd if the kid cares a lot about name recognition or ranking.
A few positives of attending Harvey Mudd:
(A) The school is very safe and so is the city of Claremont,
(B) Good southern California climate (a bit hot in the summer but Claremont has a lot of trees),
(C) Small classes (except CS introductory classes),
(D) A nurturing environment plus caring & accessible professors who are really good at teaching,
(E) Shared resources (cafeterias, libraries, and sport facilities) and Cross-registration with other Claremont colleges.
(F) Mudd students make friends with students from and attend events (talks, concerts, parties, etc)
in other Claremont colleges, which are all within 15-minute walking distance from Harvey Mudd.
(G) 找工作找 Intern 学校十分给力，很多公司去campus receruit.