<p>Does anyone have an opinion of or information about the math department at Wesleyan? Im looking for opinions based on either personal experience or someone-you-know (as opposed to what youve read online, in books, etc.). </p>
<p>Please note that Im not looking for comparisons with other schools. Have you employed or worked with Wesleyan math grads? Do they know their stuff? Did you or do you currently attend as a math major? Or your son or daughter? If so, what did you think of the department? Robust? Interesting classes?</p>
<p>I’m a math major, and I love the math department immensely. It has its pros and cons, though. It’s a fairly small department, especially compared to larger research universities, and that means that the course offerings each semester are a little more limited. That said, I’ve always found interesting math electives to take this semester. (This semester I’m taking Graph Theory and Error-Correcting Codes, which applies abstract algebra and field theory to the practical matter of constructing codes that can efficiently detect and correct errors). There are a couple of professors who are stand-out excellent, and a lot of very good professors. There’s only one professor that stands out in my mind as one to avoid. Keep in mind though that the department is heavy on the pure mathematics and not so heavy on the applied mathematics, though if you’re interested in pursuing something in the financial field or something, the Math-Econ major is available. If you want to study algebra, though, (the most fun math in my opinion :D) it’s a fantastic place for it. Also the entire math department is just REALLY NICE and really fun.</p>
<p>In terms of what my math major friends are up to now, a few are heading on to grad school in math or computer science. One of my friends is actually considering the PEace Corps. And I’m considering teaching math through Math for America or pursuing policy research (I’m also a soc major).</p>
<p>Hope that helped a little! Feel free to ask more questions if you want :D</p>
<p>Thank you! Yours is the perspective I’m looking for. And I believe I’ll take you up on your offer. Does the math department encourage collaborative learning? In other words, do students work together to help one another master the material? Or is the environment more “one on one” competitive? Thanks again.</p>
<p>BTW… I thought Graph Theory was great fun when I took it as a grad student.</p>
<p>Oh, gosh. I don’t even think I can explain the extent to which Wesleyan math is NOT competitive. Intellectually challenging and rigorous, yes, but I’ve worked on tough problem sets with friends in all my more difficult classes - and everyone does. It’s weird to say, but there really is a math community of sorts - people hang out in the Math Lounge sometimes, or the Math Workshop in the Science Library (where upper-level math undergrads and grad students are available to help students who come in with questions about their math classes - mostly it’s students in calculus/Vectors&Matrices/statistics classes who come in for help, but sometimes higher level courses). I have never, ever, EVER felt like I was competing with the other students in my math classes.</p>
<p>Also, while some of the intro classes (calculus, linear algebra, real analysis, etc) are large (30 students or so - maybe even more for real analysis), most of the upper-level courses are much smaller (10 or so). Either way, students definitely work together.</p>
<p>And yeah, I’m having a lot of fun with Graph Theory! I studied abroad on a math program in Budapest, where graph theory is very stressed in all types of math classes, so it’s interesting to get that perspective now.</p>
<p>Thanks again. I have no doubt that you’ve potentially made my youngest daughter’s decision easier. (She’s already been accepted RD & loves the school.) And believe it or not, courses like Graph Theory have wide application – especially in computer science. My older daughter is taking Graph Theory this semester as well.</p>