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Some of the most essential work our office does each year is building the applicant pool from which we will select the incoming class. We are especially fortunate that the reputation of Harvey Mudd, the success of our alumni, and the outsized impact of the college as whole ensure that we will always have a robust applicant pool. While many colleges are struggling to maintain enrollment, or even closing, at HMC, we have the luxury of working intentionally to build our community. Despite the fact that we are smaller and younger than most of the institutions with whom we compete for students, we are competing at the highest levels for our talented students. 

The Office of Admission is committed to alumni involvement at all points along the admissions process. We greatly value the time and energy our alumni dedicate in helping us reach our goals. Alumni Ambassadors help our office in two primary ways:

• By interviewing students, alumni can provide additional insight on a student’s fit with the College and help the student learn more about HMC from a member of its community.
• By attending college fairs, alumni can help increase the number and range of applicants by encouraging students to further consider HMC for college.

Typically, we are looking to enroll 228 students in each entering class, and we have been fortunate in our ability to come close to that target each year. We are not looking to attract more applicants so that we can deny more students. A 13% admit rate is already highly selective. However, a larger and more diverse applicant pool will help with our efforts to further enrich the academic and social experience at HMC. We hope to continue to attract students of the highest caliber, welcome an increasingly diverse student body (this includes all students who have been historically underrepresented in ÎÞÓÇÊÓƵ) and increase our geographic diversity.

Alumni ambassadors are vital in our efforts to expand our applicant pool. As ambassadors, you help us find and reach these students, and in a very personal way, communicate the power of our program and excitement of our community.

The Admission Process

The admission process can be viewed as a funnel that narrows at each progressive phase of the cycle:

Inquiries

A student is categorized as an inquiry if they request to be in our contact list. Once a student is an inquiry, they will receive print and electronic communications, as well as invitations to visit campus and attend events in their area and online.

Applicants

A student becomes an applicant when they begin to complete an application to HMC.

Admitted Students

Regular Decision applicants are notified of their decision by April 1 and have until the first week of May to commit to an institution for the upcoming fall semester.

Waitlist

Students on the waitlist are competitive for admission but are unable to be offered initial admission due to class size limitations. Once we have an idea of how many students have committed to the first-year class, available spaces are offered to students on the waitlist.

Enrolled Students

Students who accept our offer of admission become enrolled first-year students. They officially matriculate when they arrive for first-year orientation in the fall.