colleges for pure math

College Search & Selection
1

What colleges have the best programs in pure math? I am taking logic, number theory, linear algebra, and multivariable calculus next year (senior year) and am considering a math major

2

These colleges appear in a Princeton Review sampling, “Great Schools for Mathematics Majors”:

Caltech
UChicago
Harvard
Harvey Mudd
MIT
Rice
Bowdoin
Hamilton
Haverford
Carleton
Grinnell
Reed
Macalester
URochester
St. Olaf

In your case in particular, you will want to review the respective math curricula at schools of interest to see whether they offer sufficient depth for your level. The option of a Budapest semester should be considered at some point.

3

Merci81’s list is pretty good (post #1), but there are some weird omissions. I’d add Princeton (probably the best math dept in the country), Columbia, Cornell, NYU (outstanding math department), UC Berkeley (almost impossible to get in OOS). I’m sure there are others that ought to be on that list. Leaving off Princeton and NYU makes me doubt the judgment of whoever compiled that list.

4

You need to know the methodology of any ranking system to know if it has any validity for YOU or not.

5

One should also add Williams, perhaps the strongest LAC for math. Also note that it’s a carefully edited version of the list. The full PR list for math includes rather…interesting choices like Agnes Scott, with only 4 math professors, and Randolph College, with a whopping 3 math professors. Princeton Review lists are garbage without a rigorous methodology, but they do include some good suggestions (even a broken clock…).

[ul][]What are your stats?
[]What are your in-state options?
[]How much financial / merit aid will you need?
[]Are you planning on going to grad school for math?
[li]Do you have any preferences in terms of size, location, etc?[/ul][/li]These will better help us help you. Given your advanced level of math, you’ll need colleges that regularly offer a wide spread of upper-level math courses. If you’re planning on grad school in math, you may want to focus on colleges that offer graduate courses (either on campus or through cross-registration with other nearby universities). The math grad school guide at Swarthmore emphasizes this:

6

Regarding the ranking in Post #1, I agree that these are very good schools for math but also that “there are some weird omissions”. I am not quite sure how Stanford got dropped from this list, but it also has a very strong math program. Of course, getting accepted is a long shot for pretty much everyone.

Also, you should take rankings with a grain of salt. There are a LOT of universities and colleges (including LACs) with very strong programs in math. You need to do some research into any university that you are considering and don’t just look at a number in a ranking.

7

All colleges that receive a USNWR rating of “most selective” were included, as might be appropriate for a student at the OP’s indicated math level. St. Olaf was then added as a sort of personal pick from the “more selective” schools. The entire PR list can be found here:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20799631#Comment_20799631

The post was introduced as a sampling, a qualification that comports with PR’s own description for its listings. By definition, excellent programs will be omitted.

The forum, I believe, allows for suggestions beyond that of a single post and source, as was the approach of @sheepskin00 and @DadTwoGirls.

8

While many LACs have good math departments for students entering at normal level (precalculus in high school) or a year ahead (calculus in high school), many of them lack graduate level offerings or larger numbers of junior/senior level offerings in math that a student as advanced as you are in math will probably want to take as an undergraduate. The main advantage of LACs, which is that they tend to offer small faculty-led courses starting at frosh level, is less of an advantage for you in math, since junior/senior level offerings in math are often small faculty-led courses even at big research universities.

Some LACs do have undergraduate math courses on what is ordinarily graduate level material elsewhere (e.g. Harvey Mudd, Wesleyan, Williams?). Others have cross-registration agreements with nearby research universities that can help expand the available offerings (Barnard, Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith, etc.), though convenience of such cross-registration agreements varies.

What you may want to do is check the math course offerings available at each school to see if they are sufficiently wide and deep to keep you interested through your four years of undergraduate study.

Here is a previous discussion on this topic:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1830339-lac-math-p1.html

9

I have not seen Carnegie Mellon mentioned here yet. It has had excellent results in the Putnam Competition in recent years. I’ve heard the math department is quite strong.