How Computer Science Fits Into Harvey Mudd College's Curriculum

Updated

Computer science at Harvey Mudd College (hmc.edu) is not a standalone track you enter on day one — it is one of the STEM disciplines woven into the Common Core that every student completes, regardless of major. If you want to understand how CS fits into the curriculum, the short answer is: it appears twice, first as a required foundation for all students and again as an optional major, and it is deliberately paired with humanities, social sciences, and the arts (HSA) coursework.

Computer Science as Part of the Common Core

The Common Core is described as "a set of coordinated courses from every department—biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, math, physics and humanities, social sciences and the arts." Two things follow from this:

  • CS is a core department, not an elective add-on. Every student takes coordinated coursework that includes computer science, so you build computational foundations even if you later major in biology or math.
  • The Core is interdisciplinary by design. The stated purpose is to give "a broad scientific background coupled with academic writing and critical inquiry," so CS sits alongside writing and critical inquiry rather than replacing them.

The curriculum overall has three components: the Common Core, HSA, and the major. CS lives in the first and can become the third.

Choosing Computer Science as Your Major

After the Common Core, the major is where you specialize. The site frames the whole curriculum as integrating "vigorous STEM and liberal arts courses to educate talented scientists, engineers, and mathematicians—inspiring them to become passionate problem solvers who understand the impact of their work on society."

For a prospective CS student, that framing matters: the goal is not just technical skill but understanding the social impact of the work. If you are comparing Harvey Mudd to a program where you declare CS immediately and take almost nothing else, this is the key structural difference.

Pairing CS With Humanities, Social Sciences, and the Arts

Harvey Mudd is a liberal arts college, and students "have the opportunity to major in a STEM field while taking nearly a third of their classes in humanities, social sciences and the arts (HSA)." The HSA requirement covers fields such as philosophy, psychology, political science, sociology, literature, music, photography, and media studies.

Two practical points for a CS-oriented applicant:

  • Roughly a third of your classes are outside STEM. That is a substantial commitment, not a token requirement.
  • You can take courses across the Claremont Colleges, not just at Harvey Mudd, which widens the HSA options available.

What This Means for You

If you want... Harvey Mudd's structure offers...
CS depth plus broad science CS inside a required Common Core across all STEM departments
CS plus humanities/social science HSA requirement of nearly a third of classes, across the Claremont Colleges
To delay specialization Common Core first; the major comes after
A purely technical, single-focus program A different fit — this curriculum is explicitly interdisciplinary

The scale is small: 921 undergraduates, an 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and a 51:49 female-to-male split. If a collaborative, small-cohort environment with required breadth appeals to you, the CS path here is built around that. If you want to specialize in CS from the first semester with minimal non-STEM requirements, this structure will feel like a constraint rather than a feature.