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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I have always though Mudd seems a lot like going to TJ. It’s an amazing education— but only  if you are going for the hardcore STEM experience.  I would send my hardcore STEM TJ kid to Mudd over Columbia in a heartbeat. The merit money is an added bonus.  I think the Mudd name is as strong as or stronger than Columbia among people in engineering, who make decisions on grad schools and hiring.  Especially since Columbia is not a T10 Engineering school (Mudd is ranked separately from Columbia by US News because no doctoral program.  It is first in its category).

Interestingly, Mudd has the “Wow” factor at TJ among the students.  Getting in is considered to be very impressive.  But the parents  may be a different story— see below.  For engineering, Mudd is perceived as stronger than Columbia Engineering, which comes in behind CMU, U. Illinois, GA Tech, Perdue, UT Austin, some of the UCs, etc. in rankings.

Also Mudd only takes a handful of TJ kids.  Since their freshman class is only 200 students, they want diversity.  Last year, Mudd had 11 applicants from TJ, took 4 students (impressive for a school with a 12% admit rate), and 2 enrolled.  Everyone accepted had a 4.35 & 1500 or higher— often much higher.

For contrast (and to provide info on where top engineering students from the DMV are admitted and are headed), some  of the T10 engineering schools: applied/ admitted/ attended numbers from TJ last year were:

MIT: 93/10/8
Illinois: 68/48/11
Michigan: 135/62/17
CMU: 140/36/15
Cal Tech: 26/4/1
Berkley:  97/34/11
Purdue:71/46/7
GA Tech:  111/35/1 (not sure what’s up here)
UT- Austin: 28/9/1
USC:  40/12/4

Stanford and Columbia both have lots of kids apply and attend something other than engineering.  And Naviance does not separate out acceptances on applications for the engineering schools vs Arts and Sciences.  So, it is much more difficult to get a handle on their engineering numbers than it is for the schools above.  But, to fill out out the picture:

Stanford: 121/7/5
Columbia: 90/9/4

I am the poster who said Mudd does not have the name recognition among Asians, and I should clarify.  I agree that Mudd has a lot of Asian students.  But, if TJ is any indication, among the 1st gen Asian parents at TJ, it just does not have name recognition it deserves.   I would guess that a lot of the strong Asian applicants are probably kids from the West Coast, where it is better known or have parents who are now t 1st Gen.  First  Gen Asian parents at TJ with kids who have the stats to get into Mudd are pushing the Ivy’s and UCs instead, apparently because of name recognition and perceived prestige. At least some of the parents really want their kids at colleges that impress relative back in their native country.

Agree that for a kid who is certain they want STEM, Mudd is a no brainer.  A kid who does well there will be able to get into Columbia— or better—  for grad school.  And will have excellent job placement choices.  They will be taught by full professors who know their name, not have to compete with grad students for research opportunities, and have to take some humanities classes to graduate (which I view as a positive— I think a well rounded education is a strong education).

Two things to watch though. First, Mudd is known for being very difficult and stressful, and for resisting grade inflation. Their was some type of large student protest about these issues this year. You can google and get the details.

Plus,  Mudd only offers a limited number of STEM majors. If your kid is on the fence about math, engineering, etc., and might change their mind, they should go somewhere else where they have more of an ability to change their mind. The CMC schools give you some flexibility in course scheduling, but you can’t just transfer between the schools or take all of your classes at a different school or get a major not offered by your school, in most cases. And you would probably lose the merit aid if you transferred between schools. .

Good luck..  for the right kid, Mudd could be awesome. Just make sure it is right for your kid.

[/quote]

[b]GA tech gives terrible merit and financial aid[/b]. Same with UT- Austin.  That is why very little matriculate there. [/quote]

This is true.  DS got in for aerospace engineering but no aid at all.  Expensive for OOS.[/quote]

Both GA Tech and UT Austin are oversubscribed with qualified in-state kids, and their in state tuition is relatively cheap.  They take out of state kids for revenue.  UT Austin has a cap (something like 10-15%) on out of state students by state law, so they need those that come to be full pay.  [/quote]

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