Harvey Mudd College 2020-21 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Harvey Mudd College 2020-21 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 500 words, 1 short essay of 100 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why, Oddball

What influenced you to apply to Harvey Mudd College? What about the HMC curriculum and community appeals to you? Please limit your response to 500 words.

In a marvelous feat of engineering, Harvey Mudd has managed to craft a Why essay prompt without ever actually using the word “why.” The two halves of this question offer you two potential points of entry: (1) The external factors that influenced your decision to apply, like your passion for trigonometry, the Mudder alums in your life, or your craving for vitamin D; and (2) The intrinsic aspects of a Harvey Mudd education that appeal to you, like the faculty in your department, the research opportunities, or access to Claremont consortium. Whether you take approach #1 or approach #2, you’ll want to set aside an hour or so to do your research. Dig through the college website to figure out how it will meet your needs or trawl for cool facts and exciting programs. The more specific and personal the details you include, the more unique and memorable your essay will be.

Many students choose HMC because they don’t want to give up their interests in the Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts – or HSA as we call it at HMC. Briefly (in 100 words or less) describe what you’d like to learn about in your dream HSA class.

If you’ve been looking for an opportunity to geek out, then look no further! What are your favorite things and how would you want to learn about them? What’s the most interesting class you can dream up? This is your shot to not only wax poetic on your many passions, but also to show admissions how well-rounded you are. Maybe you’re passionate about environmentalism and looking #fabulous and would jump at the opportunity to take a class called Sustainability in a Fast Fashion World. How do you unite your many interests? And how would you go about drawing those connections for others? Perhaps you love to paint watercolors of the local flora and fauna and would love to take a class in which the final project was a herbology-focused picture book. Once you decide on your topic, commit to the planning process. Craft a comprehensive syllabus and try to come up with a memorable course title. In other words, take this opportunity to build your brand!