Math and Physics at Swarthmore

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>I never really knew that much about Swarthmore until I read a magazine article about it today. It seems like a pretty amazing place -small, good location, top-notch academics, beautiful campus (from the pictures anyway). I haven't looked into LACs so much because I'm a math and science guy, but in the article it says that the science and math programs at Swarthmore are "on par with those in big technical universities." Can anyone confirm this? How do the math and physics programs at Swarthmore compare with those at MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Chicago etc.? How would my chances of getting into a top grad school be affected if I went to Swarthmore?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for your help!</p>

2

<p>The following are the top 25 schools in the United States in percentage of graduates who went on to get a PhD in math, science, or engineering over the most recent ten year period. When, you consider the very high percentage at Swarthmore, keep in mind that only one third of the graduates even majored in math, science, or engineering.</p>

<p>


Percentage of grads getting PhDs<br>
Academic field: All Engineering, Science, and Math</p>

<p>PhDs and Doctoral Degrees:
ten years (1994 to 2003) from NSF database</p>

<p>Number of Undergraduates:
ten years (1989 to 1998) from IPEDS database                        </p>

<p>1   34% California Institute of Technology
2   24% Harvey Mudd College
3   16% Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4   10% Reed College
5   9%  Rice University
6   8%  Swarthmore College
7   8%  Princeton University
8   7%  Carleton College
9   7%  New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
10  7%  University of Chicago
11  7%  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
12  7%  Case Western Reserve University
13  6%  Harvard University
14  6%  Carnegie Mellon University
15  6%  Johns Hopkins University
16  6%  Haverford College
17  6%  Grinnell College
18  6%  Cornell University, All Campuses
19  5%  Kalamazoo College
20  5%  Stanford University
21  5%  Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
22  5%  Yale University
23  5%  Cooper Union
24  5%  Oberlin College
25  5%  Lawrence University
26  5%  Bryn Mawr College
27  5%  Williams College
28  5%  Pomona College

</p>

3

<p>I don’t think these two will have any problem getting into good grad schools after building a hydrogen fuel cell motorcycle for their senior project at Swarthmore:</p>

<p>[Homemade</a> Hydrogen Motorcycle Is Ugly, but It Runs | Autopia from Wired.com](<a href=“http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/two-college-stu.html]Homemade”>http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/two-college-stu.html)</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the stats interesteddad. I’d been looking for something like that. That hydrogen motorcycle is pretty cool too!</p>

5

<p>Could you elaberate some more about the Math Department at Swarthmore? Thanks</p>

6

<p>S, a Swat 08 grad, is now a grad student in physics. He had no trouble getting into grad school, but did find that in grad school there was the expectation that you memorize formulas (not something expected at Swat) & that students who’d graduated from universities have had more breadth in their undergrad courses. These aren’t major issues for him…he passed both rounds of qualifying exams, altho he had to study alot more than he ever did at Swat.</p>

7

<p>I am a math major (well only a sophomore but have applied to me). I like the department, the teachers are all brilliant, although some are better teachers than others. I don’t know about its standing in the community though. That being said, I know a few math and physics majors going on to very prestigious grad schools next year.</p>

8

<p>I’m a math major too. I think the math program here is OK. I’m a freshman, and I’m only in my second math class so far. I’d give the math professors here an A (though not an A+). They are very caring and want you to learn the material. I disagree with some of their teaching styles. My current professor lectures in a really roundabout way that I think only makes things more confusing. The teachers here in general are devoted to their teaching. My first semester math professor wasn’t the best at explaining things, but he wrote all the handouts and made up all the problem sets. Just the other day, my math professor was trying to answer a student’s question by explaining how the graph of a certain function looked like, but he didn’t have his computer, so after class he sent all of us a picture of the graph. The point is, the math professors care about teaching and will go out of their way to help you. Based on a professor review site for Swarthmore and what some of my friends have told me, some of the professors here aren’t great at explaining things. We get new teachers once in a while, and it’s generally a good idea to avoid them. One drawback to math here is that you don’t get experience in graduate school math. The University of Chicago has a directed reading program where you can work with graduate students. If you’re interested in it, UChicago has a great math program. Don’t think that because 8% of Swarthmore students go on to grad school in math, that Swat has a better math program than Chicago, where 7% go on to math. According to a friend who goes there, Yale has a strong math program. Another drawback is that not all classes are offered all the time. Differential equations is offered only in the spring, so next fall I’m probably taking real analysis and then going back to differential equations. But I still would overall give the professors I’ve had so far here an A.</p>

9

<p>Directed reading in math with Profs, not TAs, is very possible at Swarthmore. It’s true, though, that the course offerings in math, as in most other fields, are not as deep as they would be at a big university. But don’t worry that you’ll “run out” of math courses to take. If you take all the courses the math dept. offers, you can do a directed reading or take a course at Penn.</p>

10

<p>Or, if the tees aren’t back far enough for you, there’s always Honors Math, which I suspect is plenty challenging and plenty “directed”.</p>

<p>BTW, physics and math both lose some majors to Swarthmore’s strong programs in Engineering and Computer Science. I think you really have to take Swarthmore’s science, math, and engineering programs as a whole to really appreciate the school’s strength and why it produces such a high percentage of math, science, and engieneering PhDs.</p>

11

<p>Nevertheless, if you come into college with an extraordinary level of math preparation (beyond MV/DiffEq), it is worth discussing with the professors at the schools you’re interested in specifically HOW they can accommodate your needs over four years. This turned out to be a critical part of the decision process at our house.</p>

12

<p>interesteddad, the directed reading program is not at all like Honors Math. Honors Math courses are just more difficult and rigorous than normal math courses. In directed reading program (at UChicago at least) you get paired with a grad student and a mentor to work on independent study projects.</p>

13

<p>Swarthmore’s Directed Reading program is with a professor. It’s Math 093</p>

<p>MATH 093/STAT 093. Directed Reading</p>

<p>Or you can do a senior thesis, also with a professor:</p>

<p>MATH 096/STAT 096. Thesis</p>

<p>Or, for non-honors majors, working with a professor on a specific topic in a directed reading/paper/oral presentation is required:</p>

<p>MATH 097. Senior Conference
This course is required of all senior mathematics majors in the Course Program and must be taken at Swarthmore. It provides an opportunity to delve more deeply into a particular topic agreed on by the student and the instructor. This focus is accomplished through a written paper and oral presentation.
0.5 credit.
Fall 2008. Hunter.</p>

<p>Or, the honors seminars typically meet for three hours once a week and go deep into a particular topic. I’ve put the enrollment for the seminars that were given either in the fall or the current semester. Honors seminars at Swarthmore are often graduate level work. Ideal preparation for PhD programs in most fields.</p>

<p>MATH 101. Real Analysis II (2 sections: 4 students/7 students)
This seminar is a continuation of Introduction to Real Analysis (MATH 063). Topics may include the inverse and implicit function theorems, differential forms, calculus on manifolds, and Lebesgue integration.
Prerequisite: MATH 063.
1 credit.
Spring 2009. Maurer.</p>

<p>MATH 102. Modern Algebra II (6 students/5 students)
This seminar is a continuation of Introduction to Modern Algebra (MATH 067). Topics covered usually include field theory, Galois theory (including the insolvability of the quintic), the structure theorem for modules over principal ideal domains, and a theoretical development of linear algebra. Other topics may be studied depending on the interests of students and instructor.
Prerequisite: MATH 067.
1 credit.
Usually offered spring only.
Fall 2008. Bergstrand. Spring 2009. Chen.</p>

<p>MATH 103. Complex Analysis
A brief study of the geometry of complex numbers is followed by a detailed treatment of the Cauchy theory of analytic functions of a complex variable: integration and Cauchy’s theorem, power series, residue calculus, conformal mapping, and harmonic functions. Various applications are given, and other topics—such as elliptic functions, analytic continuation, and the theory of Weierstrass—may be discussed.
Prerequisite: MATH 063.
1 credit.
Alternate years.
Not offered 2008-2009.</p>

<p>MATH 104. Topology
An introduction to point-set, combinatorial, and algebraic topology: topological spaces, classification of surfaces, the fundamental group, covering spaces, simplicial complexes, and homology (including related algebra).
Prerequisites: MATH 063 and 067.
2 credits.
Alternate years.
Not offered 2008-2009.</p>

<p>MATH 105. Probability (9 students)
Advanced topics in probability theory. Topics may include branching processes, card shuffling, the Central Limit Theorem, generating functions, the Laws of Large Numbers, Markov chains, optimal stopping theory, percolation, the Poisson process, renewal theory, and random walks.
Prerequisite: STAT 061.
1 credit.
Alternate years.
Spring 2009. A. Johnson.</p>

<p>MATH 106. Advanced Topics in Geometry (7 students)
The course content varies from year to year among differential geometry, differential topology, and algebraic geometry. In 2009, the topic is likely to be advanced differential geometry.
Prerequisites: MATH 045 and 063 or permission of the instructor.
1 credit.
Alternate years.
Spring 2009. Talvacchia.</p>

14

<p>CountingDown, I am also interested in studying mathematics, and was impressed with Swarthmore during a recent tour. Where did you wind up choosing?</p>