<p>My son is interested in majoring in math and music and his guidance counselor thought Brandeis would be a good fit. I was surprised to see it’s a BA in math rather than a BS - anyway would love to hear feedback on the math and music depts. Thanks!</p>
<p>Brandeis has one of the better B.A. degree Music Departments of the northeastern small colleges. Their music history, theory and composition are absolutely first-rate, and they're quite strong in strings and voice/choral. What aspect of music is your son interested in?</p>
<p>my son is interested in music performance in trumpet. His guidance counselor suggested Brandeis to him.</p>
<p>The math department is interesting. There are a number of very good professors, but at the same time, there are a number that should be avoided at all costs - while I have no idea what their research is like, their teaching ability is non-existent. By asking around, I think I've been able to avoid the worst of it. Then again, given the nature of the profession, you may find this to be the case anywhere you go.</p>
<p>The basic BA in math is pretty light, but this is true of most majors at Brandeis, which is why you see so much double- and triple-majoring. I think what you will find is that most people with multiple majors have one major that they focus on. In a science major, this may mean pursuing a BS instead of a BA. In others, it may mean working for a professor, doing independent studies, writing a senior thesis, etc. The math department in particular offers a degree with honors. See Mathematics</a> :: Catalog.</p>
<p>The fit of the music department depends on your son's needs. If he wants to become a musician, it's not the place for him. But if that were true, there would only be a handful of schools appropriate for him, mostly conservatories and the equivalent. And anyway, the fact that he also wants to be a math major leads me to guess that he doesn't solely want to become a musician, but that it's just something that he finds interesting and engaging, in which case, the Brandeis music department could be perfect for him. A number of the music theory and music history professors are truly great, and the Lydian String Quartet, a professional string quartet in residence, are a great asset - each of the members has their own private studio, and the second violinist runs the chamber music program.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>My s is a freshman physics and math major, which is a common combination. He already had Calc B/C in HS, so his first course was linear alegbra. His professor was a TA, and he was not impressed. I forget which math he is taking this semester, but again he has a TA. Too soon to give an opinion. His physics courses are all taught by professors, and have been very good. We were sold on Brandeis as we thought he would have only professors, apparently we misunderstood. He loves the school regardless of this.</p>
<p>The main classes in which you will encounter TA's are all but one section of Calculus I and II (known as Math 10a and 10b here), and the mandatory UWS (freshman writing seminar). However, I've noticed a few cases of graduate students teaching upper-level classes. I hope that isn't something that will become more prominent with the current hiring freeze. Nevertheless, the number of examples of TA's teaching a class can probably be counted on one hand.</p>
<p>littlemimie: I just took a look at last semester's Math offerings, and it looks like one section of Linear Algebra was indeed taught by a TA, while the other was not. All the more reason to research instructors before registering for classes, though I think it's a poor move by the university to allow linear algebra and multivariable calculus to be taught by TA's.</p>