<p>Can anyone who knows please share your experiences with the undergraduate math and/or applied math professors at Brown? Son was there for ADOCH and STEM programs and has mixed feelings about what he saw.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I havenāt had great experiences. I gather the Applied Math Department is great; Iāve run into 2 mediocre (bordering on sub-par) professors and poorly taught classes. Perhaps this was the nature of the courses (statistics), or perhaps it says something else. I have heard good things about 35 and 36, so I would take my observations from that department with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>As far as math, I have an amazing lecturer right now. Unfortunately, heās a third year graduate student. I know at least one professor is amazing, but the other professor Iāve had was very poor. Not a horrible lecturer, but the logistics of the course were confusing. We had no idea how we were doing in the course or how we were being evaluated. No exams, 5 problem sets where we were explicitly told he didnāt expect us to be able to solve the problemsā¦I havenāt had great experiences. If your son is looking at Brown just because of pure Math, there might be better schools on his list. If heās fine with coming to an alright, but hardly excellent math program because of other aspects of Brown, heāll probably be able to look past the professors.</p>
<p>Uroogla- S is actually thinking of Applied Math specifically. However, during visit only got to see a little bit of one professor and a TA who actually led the break out session for admitted students/parents. A professor from the Math dept. led the Math break out session and he was pretty horrible :(</p>
<p>He generally loves Brown but really didnāt get a good sense of the Applied Math faculty quality. He would probably still attend without knowing anything further but it is still somewhat of a concern. His other option is Johns Hopkins, btw.</p>
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<p>Iām a future Applied Math major and I have no regrets. Iāve only heard good things about applied math and that it is an extremely strong department. Pure math, on the other hand, I hear is horrific.</p>
<p>Iāve got a lot of friends considering math and applied math, and they tell me about professors in both departments they think are amazing (no names are coming to mind right now, but I could scrounge some up if you wanted). The thing with math, and to some extent subjects like physics, is that youāre likely going to do most of your learning outside the classroom, when you do your problem sets with friends. While that doesnāt mean youāll learn the same from a good teacher as from a bad teacher, it does mean teacher quality is likely to be less important than, say, in anthropology.</p>
<p>swim2daend said he heard the Brown pure Math department is āhorrificā. Can you elaborate? Calling a whole department horrific is a pretty severe statement. Can anyone else tell of their experience with the math department professors? Here is a list of the math professors - is this the group that is horrific? [Brown</a> University Mathematics Department](<a href=āhttp://www.math.brown.edu/faculty.html]Brownā>http://www.math.brown.edu/faculty.html)</p>
<p>My son is a freshman and is a math guyāloves regular math, not applied, does math just for fun, etc. He knew that applied math was the stronger program at Brown but wanted to be here as he has other broad interests. He has been in math classes mostly with upper classmen and has really liked his math professors this year very muchāhis math professors have been among his favorite at Brown.</p>
<p>Horrific is a strong word. It depends on what youāre comparing to, though. Compared to the other Ivies, my understanding is that the department is, at best, subpar. The professors may have wonderful credentials, but if they are poor teachers, make it unclear what course expectations are, and (occasionally) struggle enough with English that they have to stop quite a bit and so donāt cover the material, there are problems. Itās true that a lot of the complaints come from students in courses below the 1000 level (who are effectively scared away from the subject by teachers/grad students who donāt explain things in a way that they understand and either donāt try to seek out help or arenāt cut out for the rigorous proof-based mathematics). Iāve heard amazing things about Professor Silverman, as well. With that said, heās the only professor Iāve ever heard complimented by an undergraduate student. As stated, though, the professors donāt matter nearly as much in fields like math where youāll be learning by going through the book with others in the class and doing the assignments. Of course, if the professor chooses a book poorly translated from a language you donāt know (as was the case in my differential equations class), that could be problematicā¦</p>
<p>@luv2plant: As a whole, the applied math department and its professors seem very good. I know the two professors I took classes with and mentioned were rated fairly low only the Critical Review and so are likely outliers. I wouldnāt worry very much about professors in that department.</p>
<p>Iām a freshman at brown majoring in something math-y, hopefully I can provide a different perspective on this. Some background first: In my first year, Iāve taken 4 math courses (no applied math though): multivariable calc, linear algebra, analysis, algebra. </p>
<p>Hereās my take on things: a lot of the complaints in the math department come from people in the lower level courses (multivariable / linear) that have to take them for concentration requirements (econ, CS, etcā¦). The complaints arenāt unfounded, my multivariable course (the honors version) was incredibly bad, but it really depends on the professor. Last year, Banchoff ([Thomas</a> Banchoff - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=āhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Banchoff]Thomasā>Thomas Banchoff - Wikipedia)) taught the class, and Banchoff is basically a god at teaching. </p>
<p>But once you get past the calculus sequence, math gets, surprisingly, pretty good here. Sure, itās got nothing on Harvard or Princeton, and Iāll complain about it with my friends for fun, but every time I look at the course catalog Iām reminded that most of the upper level classes are very well taught. Thereās nothing terribly special about the department (besides Banchoff), but it really gets the job done and my friends and I have been overall highly satisfied with the teaching. </p>
<p>Applied math on the other hand has a very good reputation, and although I havenāt taken any classes in it yet, I only hear good reviews. Some examples, Mumford has a fieldās medal, and I hear is a good teacher. Geman, who teaches information theory, is just amazing (and where else are you going to get an undergraduate course in info theory). Basically I havenāt heard anything negative about applied math professors, but thatās all second hand information.</p>
<p>good luck.</p>
<p>applied math here is phenomenal. combine it with cs, the second strongest science department here, and you will have any career open to you at graduation.</p>
<p>cool professors, rigorous classes, smart students. canāt go wrong.</p>
<p>My daughterās experiences are the same as pk6391ās experiences, though not as many classes. The MV Calculus (honors) professor was ineffective. Linear Algebra (honors) seems to be a lot better. Her section is being taught by a grad student.</p>
<p>MA35 (MV honors) is a notoriously difficult course thatās rarely taught very well. Beyond that class, Iāve heard few complaints. I only took through linear, but had 2/3 great experiences in the math department and Iāve heard nothing but praise for Applied Math.</p>
<p>Two of my friends who were math concentrators got into the top programs of their choice and didnāt complain much about faculty, they were more interested/happy about all the graduate level work they were able to do while here.</p>
<p>I donāt have personal experience with the Applied Math courses, my friends tell me theyāre good, but the math professors are hit or miss. I donāt mean to make them sound bad. The lecture experience relies predominantly on the teaching style of the professor. Last semester, my professor was a little bland, and to make up for this, I had to learn material out of class. This semester, I have a very articulate lecturer who is able to convey the topics in a much more lucid manner. Remember, for many math and science courses, half of the learning is through problem sets outside of class.</p>
<p>@mom58: This graduate student is, by far, the most amazing teacher I have had at Brown (Iām in this class at the moment). With that said, I have the sneaking suspicion that this is the exception and not the rule, especially since this comes in part from his more laid back and humourous approach to the subject that I havenāt seen from other professors.</p>
<p>I am by no means a math person so I donāt know if Iāll be of much help, but for what itās worth, I shopped quite a few math courses last semester for about two weeks (math17 and 18 mostly) and I thought many of the grad students were better than the professors. Much more laid back and āmommy/daddyā like (what I mean by that is periodically checking in to make sure everyone was on the same page). Iām not sure if we can mention names on this forum, but there was one grad student who I found exceptionally helpfulāin fact, students were lining up at the door begging him to let them in his classācourses taught by grad students are capped at 30 (he was nice enough to let about 5 more people in though)! I hope heāll be here for a little while longer because when my schedule opens up, I would absolutely love to take a math class with this guy!</p>
<p>Sorry if I used too harsh of a word. I just repeated what I heard. I donāt know anything about the department really, to be honest.</p>
<p>Hey, Iām applying next year and interested in the Applied Mathematics program. Is it common to pursue an Applied Mathematics and Economics degree? Iām interested in ultimately going into business so going for an Applied Mathematics and Economics degree is a win-win situation for me.</p>
<p>Applied Math-Econ is an existing, single degree at Brown thatās very popular and quite strong.</p>
<p>Applied Math - Econ is a great choice to study at Brown, as the two fields are among the best at Brown. </p>
<p>Regarding pure math at Brown: I disagree completely with the premise that pure math is horrific here. Interestingly enough, the best class I have ever taken (despite probably being an applied math concentrator) was a pure math class. First, Brown math has a great reputation, even its graduate program which is ranked in the top 15, and especially for undergrads. IMO the extremely well-known applied math department tends to overshadow the excellence of the pure math department in peopleās minds (CS which is top 20 was cited as one of the best departments here, but I think the math department is better; this is what I mean by āovershadowingā). Second, lower-level courses are, from what I hear, not taught particularly well; however, this is not a problem for you prospective math majors who will probably not be taking Intro to Calculus here. By the way, as an alternative to the typical calculus sequence, I would encourage anyone interested in taking a math class to give Number Theory (MATH 42) with Joe Silverman a shot. This course would give you an idea of how amazing Brownās math class can be, and it has no pre-requisites but is still taught very rigorously. </p>
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<p>Banchoff was visiting Stanford this year, but heās going to be teaching Differential Geometry (MATH 106) in the Fall if youāre interested. But there are other great teachers here too. I consistently hear that Michael Rosen is one of the best teachers ever, so Iām probably going to take his Number Theory (MATH 156) class in the spring. </p>
<p>I agree with you that pure math here is awesome (once youāre past calculus). However, I would say that there are compelling reasons to do math at Brown over H or P. The open curriculum is great because it lets undergrads take the courses at their own pace without having to deal with prereqs. I know at least six students who already took graduate courses as sophomores, and many more juniors and seniors doing the same. Thatās probably possible at other schools, but itās very common here at Brown because getting into any class is as easy: just ask for permission. The department is very encouraging to its advanced students and that makes it a great environment to get something truly valuable out of your studies. I have been extremely satisfied with teaching here, and I even have a couple of friends doing research with profs in the department. The fact that its smaller and more undergrad focused, like the rest of the university, makes opportunities like this more plentiful and thatās why I think Brown is a fantastic place to study pure math.</p>
<p>Forgive me if Iām repeating anything, I actually am taking a study break from a series of 2-hour-long practice exams and my brain canāt really tolerate much exertion at the momentā¦ Hereās a freshmanās take:</p>
<p>Iām currently a first-year student at Brown, who is planning to study Applied Math - Biology. I have taken a class in linear algebra and the introductory applied math sequence (APMA0350/0360).
So, I actually enjoyed my experiences very much! Iām guessing you have to be choosy when it comes to the pure math department, because my boyfriend currently hates his linear algebra professor for being condescending and rude whereas my professor was very thorough and helpful (though somewhat dryā¦ when it comes to making class exciting). But, not all math professors are like this. My advisor (a professor in the math department) is really nice; I tried taking a class with him, but I decided that it wasnāt for me.
The best part of my mathematical experiences here is definitely focused around the applied math department. The current professor for the intro APMA sequence is a genius(! heās like mid-to-late-twenties with a PhD and heās teaching us stuff that āis not in the textbookā but he kind of came up with and it works) and funny(!) and gives difficult exams (he gave us 8 hours to do our final exam last semesterā¦ and some didnāt quite finish by the end), but you canāt have everything, right? The APMA DUG (Department of Undergraduate Group?) holds a bunch of lectures showing what interesting things APMA professors research. It really lets you get to know the APMA professors that you wouldnātāve planned to come across.
Nonetheless, there is so much support here. Math Resource Center, my APMA 35/36 class has 3 TAās with rescitation and office hours in addition to my professorās office hours, WiSE study groups, blahblahblah you name it!</p>
<p>:) Hope this helps! Forgive my scattermindednessā¦</p>
<p>P.S. APMA DUG always has free samosas at their lectures, and theyāve just started this cool annual non-calculus math competition called āBrain Power Hourā.</p>