[Y HMC?] Aanya Pratapneni

Hello! My name is Aanya (she/her) and I’m a freshman from Bangalore, India planning on majoring in Computer Science. I’ve only been at Mudd for around a month, but everything I’ve experienced so far has supported the reasons that I chose to apply and attend.

I first heard about Mudd in 2018, when I visited the school with my older brother, who was applying to colleges that year. Although he didn’t end up attending, I clearly remembered two things about the tour: the insanely cool engineering labs in the Libra Complex, and the tour guide telling us about how she couldn’t choose between a dance and music concentration. Later, when I looked up Mudd during my application season, the STEM focus, small size, and unique character seemed to perfectly match what I was looking for, making this my top choice out of all the schools I applied to.

Given Mudd’s reputation as an academically rigorous school, I was a little surprised to discover how many different opportunities there are every week to participate in events and activities outside of homework and assignments! Whether it’s going to a party, a club meeting, or a cultural event, there’s always something I can do with my friends at night, during the weekends, and even in between classes.

One of the highlights of the past few weeks for me was definitely the Fall Fest, where I got to work on puzzles with my friends, pot a succulent, and meet new people!

Before coming to Mudd, I had heard a lot about how welcoming the community was and the emphasis on collaboration. I don’t think I fully believed it at the time, but after being here and interacting with everyone around me, I’m glad to see that the things I had heard are true. One of the best things about Mudd for me is definitely the people; I’ve been able to meet so many interesting people already and am looking forward to getting to know more over the next few years!