• Do make sure that your password complies with the HMC Password Policy.
• Do read our recommendations about password managers.
• Do pick a password at least 6 characters long - but longer is better.
• Do use a combination of letters and numbers. Letters can be different as lowercase or uppercase - most login passwords are case-sensitive.
• Do use symbols (if you can) such as !, @, #, and so on. One strategy is to replace letters with similar punctuation ($ instead of s, or ! instead of i) or to replace numbers with their equivalent symbol.

• Do not use spaces in your password - while most modern password systems handle spaces fine, you may occasionally run into one that doesn't.
• Do not use your login name (or some rearrangement) as your password. Many of our login systems simply won't let you, and it's very insecure to do so on those that do.
• Do not use a dictionary word as a password - such passwords are easily guessed.

• Avoid choosing easily-associated information as your password, such as your birthday.

One strategy for choosing a password that you can easily remember, but is unlikely to be guessed, is to think of a memorable phrase, and then take the first letter from each word in that phrase - for instance, the phrase "Harvey Mudd is often confused with Harvard Med" would turn into "HMiocwHM".