<p>How do the math programs (and job placement for math majors) at top notch LACs compare to those of regular universities? If they're comparable, which LACs have the best programs in math?</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>~cneogy</p>
<p>LACs vary all over the place in terms of which subjects they are strong or weak in; there is no one general answer. Harvey Mudd and Carleton, among others, are generally considered to be among the stronger LACs in math. But some other LACs have limited breadth and depth of courses in math.</p>
<p>You may want to check the course catalogs of candidate schools to see if they have good breadth and depth of math courses. Typical junior and senior level math courses for math majors include real analysis, complex analysis, abstract algebra, intermediate linear algebra, number theory, numerical analysis, logic, set theory, geometry, topology, and some applied topics like ordinary and partial differential equations, computability, cryptography, teaching math, probability and statistics, computational biology, etc…</p>
<p>If you are more than a year ahead in math (meaning that you will have completed college sophomore level math like multivariable calculus, introductory linear algebra, and introductory differential equations by the time you graduate from high school), you may want to favor schools that have a graduate program in math, since very advanced students often want to take graduate level courses as undergraduates.</p>
<p>Of all the math majors I knew at my lac, none of them got jobs. They all went to grad school. In either cs, physics, bio, or stats. I myself decided to do computer engineering. </p>
<p>I think math departments at lacs have some of the best pure math offerings available. So, if you’re really interested in pure math, then I don’t think you can go wrong with going to a lac.</p>
<p>As for which have the best math programs, I’m not sure. I think williams might have a good math department (based on the fact that their REUs always look interesting to me)…</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus:</p>
<p>Thanks! I will have completed Multivar calc by the time I graduate, so I guess that is something to consider. Also, I looked into HMC’s math course list and was not too impressed.</p>
<p>@both responders:</p>
<p>I have 2 generic LAC questions</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How is the asian population in general at LACs (overall and in comparison to regular Universities)? I only ask because I have an easier time assimilating in denser asian populations…</p></li>
<li><p>How does the LAC lifestyle differ from the regular University lifestyle (if at all)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, the original question about math at LACs is still up for debate.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Varies by school, both for LACs and other schools.</p></li>
<li><p>Varies by school; the only generalization is that LACs tend to be on the smaller side (but some non-LAC schools are small also).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Like I meant in comparison to schools like ivies, uChicago, Duke, etc… [top notch unis]… </p>
<p>Also, the vibes that I have been getting in general is that non-LACs will provide a much more useful education and better job placement (specifically for math) than regular LACs… Is this notion justified?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It is justified to some degree. However, if you want to be a professional mathematican (ie. someone who holds a PhD), the primary determinant of your job placement will be how well your research is received by the mathematics community. Thus, it’s more important that you go somewhere (even as an undergrad) that will nurture your development as a researcher.</p>
<p>There are too many math areas to really determine how one school is better than another. Many math areas = more professors with different math areas = different accomplishments of professors. Add in how a prof actually TEACHES and then you have another factor. You can have a math department that may be deemed “average overall” by some ranking system but that same department may have the most accomplished operations research prof on the faculty. Different professors’ specialties is also why one school may have 5 types of analysis/real analysis courses but nothing on computational linear algebra but another school has 5 types of linear algebra courses but just one real analysis course.</p>
<p>…just too many factors</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This would be hilarious if you were black, but as it stands, this might be something you want to work on.
I could see it becoming an issue as soon as you get into any sort of professional environment.</p>
<p>Williams and Swarthmore both have good math programs. However, if you are an exceptional student you would probably suffer from the lack of grad classes.</p>