Don’t know the OP’s stats (might be a good idea to share them so posters could pinpoint school’s that would be good fits in terms of matches, reaches, safeties) but in addition to Williams as a reach (as it is for all), St. Olaf as previously mentioned would be a good option.
Here’s a quote from mathprofdad in the link I referenced back in post #1 in reference to another poster’s request for math/music schools. OP should look closely at the schools mentioned to see if they might be a good fit:
"I am a bit late to this discussion, but thought folks might want to hear from a faculty member at a small school. I am a tenured professor at a top tier liberal arts college. I started visiting CC recently, and find it (mostly this particular forum) interesting and informative, but don’t have time to post regularly. However, I can stick around for a few days if anyone would like to discuss this topic further.
Just a word on the choice of schools, copied from above.
St. Olaf, Oberlin, Kenyon, Amherst, Grinnell, Davidson, Furman, Vanderbilt, William and Mary
All are excellent choices – I know people at all of them except (I think) Furman, and all those I know are excellent mathematicians. In some departments (certainly St. Olaf, Davidson, Vanderbilt, and W&M) you’ll find some at the world-class level, but that doesn’t matter much. You should at this point be focused primarily on teaching quality, and the student’s learning experience. Given the interest in music, I think this makes St. Olaf an excellent choice.
I haven’t reviewed all of the posts on this thread, but looking at the original post:
I think your son would be in a good position to start a math major at my institution, or any of its peers. He would start in multivariable calculus in his first semester, as do the vast majority of our majors. He certainly wouldn’t lack a peer group who are very excited about mathematics, and wouldn’t run out of courses to take.
Our program (like that of many of our peers) is designed around learning experiences, rather than courses, that can be tailored to what an individual wants out of the major (folks at St. Olaf, for example, will tell you they are a “big tent” department, and take this point very seriously). We have students who go on to graduate school and get PhDs; others who work on wall street, as actuaries, as consultants; other students go to law or medical school, or into K-12 education.
On this point, I think an advantage in undergraduate education that a small college may have over a larger university is its flexibility. Since students are our primary focus, and we are encouraged to engage them in all sorts of learning experiences, it is easier for a strong student to get involved in close work with faculty than it may be at a large research institution. Students can sit in on graduate courses at a state flagship, but they can learn the same material from us one-on-one (or in small groups of a few students) if they are so inclined. We routinely offer these sorts of experiences, and have time for them built into our workload.
We are also able to use mathematics to help students develop their basic skills like writing and public speaking (my colleagues and I are discouraged by the fact that, notwithstanding their top test scores, many of our students do not begin with these basic skills). These are important skills even for a research mathematician like myself.
Before concluding, I should mention that the division between liberal arts colleges and universities is somewhat arbitrary from an undergrad’s point of view. I think the advantages that a small college has can also be found to some degree at a smaller university (e.g. Vanderbilt, Yale, Rice, Dartmouth) where undergraduate teaching is valued. I suspect that my department and peers would see more commonalities than differences with those departments in terms of the student experience.
Sorry for the lengthy post (I didn’t have time to compose a shorter one!), but I hope some of that was helpful. Congratulations on making excellent choices for your son, and I wish you both the best of luck!"
