<p>Hi. So I just posted this on the main message board and I thought that I might get some good responses here too.</p>
<p>What would people say the major differences are between math and science (math esp) at a liberal arts college and a university?</p>
<p>It seems that the best mathematicians all went to universities for their undergraduate education. I know McMullen went to Williams (harvard phd) and went on to get a fields medal, but are there any other prominent LAC undergrad mathematicians?</p>
<p>Is Williams the only LAC that compares?
Does it truly compare to an MIT/Harvard/Princeton? If so, how?</p>
<p>I don’t know exactly - but here, you can be assured that the profs want to teach, and they teach very well. The bottom line is that I think you have to be an excellent student mathematician to have Fields potential, and there are a few places that can develop that kind of talent. Williams is one of them, but more importantly, it is also a place to develop math for those who aren’t all of Fields potential.</p>
<p>If you are a highly promising candidate for a future Fields medal (e.g. an IMO gold medalist or you’ve gotten a Putnam honorable mention as a high-schooler), and you want to develop that to the greatest extent possible, you should go to MIT/Harvard/Princeton and work with the best mathematicians in the world.</p>
<p>If you don’t fit that description – you’re just a kid who’s good at math and wants to make a research career out of it – then Williams is a fine choice, as are MIT/Harvard/Princeton of course. Williams has plenty of strong math professors and strong math students, and sends people every year to top grad programs. The differences in experience are more qualitative: an LAC will give you a broader peer group, while at MIT you’re more likely to hang out with nerdy math kids (not making a value judgement here; there are genuine reasons to prefer both options). MIT will make available tons of advanced graduate classes, whereas an LAC will give you the opportunity to work closely with professors and do independent studies on topics you want to push further on. And so on. </p>
<p>As far as LAC math departments go, I think Williams and Harvey Mudd are the strongest contenders. Harvey Mudd is more of an engineering school, so in that sense it’s sort of a “middle ground” between a place like Williams and a place like MIT.</p>
<p>If you want to go into mathematics, you probably can’t get a better undergraduate education than at Williams: unlike at most colleges, mathematics is one of the most popular majors, a credit to the teaching amd mentoring skills of the faculty.</p>
<p>This list provides a pretty good sense of typical destinations for Williams math majors, although as you can see there really is no typical destination. Still, if your goal is to gain entry into (and succeed at) a top grad program, you’ll have no trouble doing so coming from from Williams:</p>
<p>My son was having an agonizing few days deciding between Williams and Harvey Mudd. When he spoke to a professor from Harvey Mudd about having a hard time deciding between Williams and Mudd, the professor at Harvey Mudd said that Mudd was the best math education on the west coast and Williams, the best on the east. He said that would be a tough choice to make. While Mudd would probably be a better social fit, he chose Williams mainly due to the proximity to home (we live in New England). I was very impressed that this professor called my son in response to his email from an airport to chat.</p>
<p>Everything is what you make of it. Williams has a great math department where profs care about personal development and always leave their office doors open. If your hung up on prestige (as I think your concern about Fields Medalists suggests) go to MIT. If you like Williams, go to Williams.</p>
<p>Williams is in the absolute top tier of undergraduate prestige. If you’re interested in an intensive and rounded college education in addition to an outstanding math department, you can’t do better. Any idea how competitive it is to be a math professor at Williams? Imagine having such amazing people focused on your undergraduate education (without the significant distractions of graduate and post-graduate students).</p>
<p>Dad2, I agree with most of everything you said except that the OP seems to want a recognizable college name and mathematically recognized alumni (for now lets just ignore the fact that the OP seems to be assuming that these things will necessarily be a benefit). Williams offers a superb education, but for someone so concerned about prestige, Williams may not be the best fit.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m missing something, but being #1 in USNWR and #1 in Forbes, etc. doesn’t constitute some measure of “prestige”? Williams is indeed one of the most prestigious colleges in the country; I guess you mean to the man in the street, for whom a Cadillac would be more “prestigious” than an Aston Martin because the latter is less in the public eye (but cooler to those who appreciate fine cars).</p>
<p>I never said that Williams was not in any way prestigious. I meant that for MATHEMATICS (which seems to be what OP is after) there are more prestigious schools (MIT, Caltech, Stanford, etc).</p>