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First-Year Applicants

Required Materials

Common Application

  • School Report submitted by your counselor.
  • Teacher Recommendation from a math or science teacher.
  • Teacher Recommendation from a humanities, social sciences or arts teacher.
  • Official High School Transcript.
    • If you use Parchment to order your high school transcript(s), be sure to choose “Harvey Mudd College – Admission” as your selection.
  • College/University Transcript (if applicable). This is not required for any ungraded college enrichment program/courses.
    • If you use Parchment to order your college transcript(s), be sure to choose “Harvey Mudd College – Admission” as your selection.

A personal essay is required within the application.

$70 Application Fee or Fee Waiver

Fee waivers are available to those who demonstrate financial need. Request a fee waiver through the Common Application. The application platform may ask your counselor to complete a fee waiver form to affirm your request. We also honor fee waivers from the ACT, College Board, and NACAC.

Required Additional Writing

An additional essay and short answer response are required.

  1. Harvey Mudd College seeks to educate engineers, scientists, and mathematicians well versed in all of these areas and in the humanities, social sciences and the arts so that they may assume leadership in their fields with a clear understanding of the impact of their work on society. – HMC Mission Statement.

    “Scientific research is a human endeavor. The choices of topics that we research are based on our biases, our beliefs, and what we bring: our cultures and our families. The kinds of problems that people put their talents to solving depends on their values.” – Dr. Clifton Poodry

    HMC’s collaborative community is guided by our mission statement. Through an intentional interdisciplinary curriculum, our students seek to build a skillset adaptable to society’s needs. How has your own background influenced the types of problems you want to solve, the people you want to work with, and the impact you hope your work can have? (500 words or less)
  2. 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 describe what you’d like to learn about in your dream HSA class. (100 words or less)

Optional Materials

  • Admission Interview. For information on how to arrange an interview, see the interviews page.
  • HMC extends optional pilot program for another year, through 2026, see Standardized Test Scores for more details. This applies to students applying for Fall 2026.
  • Counselor Recommendation (when available).

HMC reserves the right to evaluate an application and render a final decision even if all pieces of the application have not been received.

Preparing for Harvey Mudd

We will always consider your academic profile within the context of your high school and what it offers. This means we won’t penalize you for not taking certain courses because they aren’t available and don’t need you to take every advanced class your school offers. However, taking challenging classes throughout high school will not only support your chance for admission but also position you for success at Harvey Mudd. We hope you will choose an appropriately challenging curriculum throughout high school and offer this guidance:

Requirements (for enrollment)+

  • One year of high school calculus
  • One year of high school chemistry
  • One year of high school physics

+ If you are not able to complete these courses before high school graduation, we may offer you conditional admission and you will need to complete a one-semester college course and earn a B or better in order to enroll.

Recommendations

  • Four years of English
  • Two years of social sciences including history
  • Two years of a foreign language

Early Decision vs. Regular Decision

With Early Decision, you let us know we’re your top choice, and we give you a decision earlier than the rest of our applicant pool. Compare the information below to decide if Early Decision is right for you.

Early Decision:

Early Decision is not for everyone since we know that some students may need more time to make that sort of commitment and that many families will want to wait and have the option of comparing multiple financial aid packages that they may receive from applying Regular Decision.  However, if you have done your research and discussed the Early Decision option and processes with your family and with a counselor if one is available to you, Early Decision can be a good alternative for you.  Remember, you should only apply Early Decision to a college if you know it is your first choice. 

  • We have two rounds of Early Decision with two different deadlines (November 15th and January 5th.) The only difference between these two rounds are the deadlines themselves. 
  • Students may only have one Early Decision application active at any given time. If you are denied in the Early Decision 1 round at one school, you are welcome to apply Early Decision to a different school if they have an Early Decision Round 2 with a later deadline. 
  • If you are denied during either Early Decision Round 1 or 2 at Harvey Mudd, you are not allowed to apply under the Regular Decision plan to HMC during that same year. 
  • All students applying for Early Decision (either round) have the opportunity to apply to other colleges via Early Action (non-binding) Plans or Regular Decision. 
  • However, if you are admitted under either Early Decision plan, you are expected to withdraw your applications to other colleges and not start new applications. 
    • The one exception to this policy is if you and your family decide that the financial aid offered is not sufficient. In this case, you may withdraw from the Early Decision process. However, it also means that you are withdrawing from the first-year class. You may not come back at a later time if you find the HMC offer of financial aid was better than others that were offered. 
      • Typically, this is the case for one or two students each year. 

Regular Decision

When you apply through the Regular Decision program, you simply apply by our regular application date. Regular Decision may be right for you if you need more time to get your application ready, or maybe you have your eye on a few schools and want more time to weigh your options. Just remember: Many more students apply for Regular Decision admission than Early Decision so it takes us longer to evaluate these applications.

About 40% of the first-year class will have entered Early Decision so a larger pool of applicants competes for a smaller number of spaces in the first-year class. We want to see grades from the first term of your senior year before we make a final decision.

Home-schooled Students

As a home-schooled student, your application process and requirements are the same as any other first-year applicant to the College. The process begins by completing the Common Application.

What we are thinking as we consider your application

  • Did you follow an established curriculum and if so, from which source?
  • Did you take courses at local high schools or colleges?
  • Have you completed lab science courses? How were they taken?
  • What texts did you use? What about online resources or learning communities?
  • Who evaluated your work and overall learning progress?

Other Helpful Information

  • A detailed curriculum guide.
  • Official transcripts for high school or college courses you’ve completed.
  • Participation in group activities as evidence of wanting to be a part of an active, collaborative community.

Questions?

Please check our Application FAQs before emailing admission@hmc.edu.