Colleges with strong applied math/data science?

She loves trying new food! My friend has a son who goes (went?) to St Olaf, I’m going to try and find out a bit more. Good cafeteria food is great :+1:t3:

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Great point about LAC and math. Aside from multi variable junior year, she’ll probably do linear algebra and an another math class senior year. I suppose we just look up the math sequence in each LACs?

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These are a great lists!! Thank you! This forum is such an amazing resource. And I really like the Hamilton article.

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Linear algebra represents a gateway course to true college level math. Your daughter will be more advanced than, but not much more advanced than, other students at her future college who are considering a math major. Most LACs with strong math and statistics programs (as referenced in this thread) offer a sufficient array of courses for your daughter’s level and intended path. Colleges without an available statistics major or minor may be less desirable, however.

Thank you for the recommendations! Any more thoughts on target/safety schools with strong applied math/data science? I know that without SAT might be difficult but we would love to get more ideas.

Typically your targets and safeties will be the public colleges in your state, so if you’re in the PNW and say Washington, then UW would be a target for data science, WSU a safety.

Dickinson has a data analytics major that she could shape to her interests and a food studies certificate with an experiential component. Also has a college farm that produces food for the college and donates food to a local community food bank.

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I second the recommendation of Tufts. At it’s core, it is an LAC because that’s exactly what it was not too long ago and much of what it was continues to the present. It’s not too big and it’s student:faculty ratio is 9:1, much like what anyone would find at a top LAC.

Tufts has a Community Health major which is very research oriented and where courses would include quantitative methods for research. It also has a minor in Food Systems & Nutrition and an entire graduate school of Nutrition Science & Policy. Their Economics Dept. is top shelf.

NYU is another school worth investigating. It has multiple programs both undergrad and graduate for food sciences and policy.

In the PNW, Whitman would seem to be the natural choice. They have a major in Data Science and their Economics/Environmental Studies major deals a lot with food and nutrition both as a global management issue and a public policy issue. In the section on their website regarding “Life After Whitman”, they specifically target careers in public policy development for food systems that Whitman prepares its graduates for:

https://www.whitman.edu/after-whitman/student-engagement-center/plan-your-future/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/wayfinder-environment-and-sustainability/wf-food-systems

Another LAC which takes an interesting approach to the subject is Connecticut College. Their curriculum is built around the concept of “Connections” and “Integrative Pathways”, which you can read about on their website. One of their Integrative Pathways is “Food”. Study culminates in a Thematic Inquiry for which they give an example in their discussion of the Food Integrative Pathway. Conn College has a very good Economics major and an Applied Statistics minor.

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My wife is a data science prof at SMU. I’d recommend SMU as an addition to your mix. With great grades and leadership, your D23 seems like a strong candidate for a President’s Endowed, Hunt Leadership or Dedman Scholars scholarships. The data science field is growing and full of interesting opportunities. It’s also easy to double major in math and data science plus add some business and engineering courses. SMU professors regularly work with undergrads on research and I know of one that’s now at a top Ivy in a DS Masters program. Keep up the great work!