<p>any math majors or minors out there who can share their experiences at WPI? My son is an accepted student who is trying to make his decision. He (as my name suggests) prefers the study of pure math to applied math. Which prof's he is most likely to be dealing with? (he will be visiting campus and can visit with them) Which tend to be approachable and which don't? How large do the upper level math classes tend to be? Any info would be helpful.</p>
<p>What are his other options?</p>
<p>NMTech as well as U of Idaho, WSU and Western WA. and a couple of LAC’s that do not have big math departments</p>
<p>I guess it depends on what you want to do… If your son wants to work in Idaho or New Mexico, it might be prudent to send him there. Likewise if he wants to work in academia you should probably send him to the school which is the least expensive and/or has the most upper level math classes (this is easy to check from the catalog). </p>
<p>If your son wants to be an actuary, WPI is a pretty good choice. </p>
<p>Another option that is worth considering is going to a community college for two years, getting really good grades and studying for the SATs, and then trying to transfer to whatever your state school is or an out of state school like Georgia Tech, Berkeley, etc. That will be much cheaper than going to WPI, and if he wants to go into academia that should be a serious consideration.</p>
<p>Hi al
Can you explain what you mean about academia? Why would WPI not be good for someone wanting go on.
I am sure that is his future - he is a pure math guy - and he will go on to grad school, that is his plan. He will probably work on the side in compsci. which he will no doubt minor in. He has 800 Math SAT scores so he does not need to take those again and has a 34 comp on the ACT. Commnunity College would actually not be a very good option for him as he would be bored silly. We have looked at the classes offered.
Are you a math student? It would be good to know who the most popular (meaning most engaging) math profs are. He could plan to visit with them next week when we are there.
One can read all the catalogues and still not know any more about a math department. (since we have done that) The tech schools and the state schools all have plenty of upper level math courses (seems tied to how many grad students they have). If he decides to go with the best math offerings (as opposed to the LAC route) he needs to get a feel for the department, so I am doing a little recon. here… so when he visits he can pay attention to certain things or ask appropriate questions of attending students. For instance, how strict is the school about making a student go through prereq.s before taking upper level classes, will they allow them to test in? Are the professors understandable if English is not their first language? Are they approachable - do they take an interest in their students or are they only caught up in their own research? Do they appear to grade on reasonable things (one prof at an LAC he visited failed a bunch of students on a test for faulty grammar in their proofs)? Stuff like that. Feel free to PM me if you don’t feel you can be candid on this forum.</p>
<p>By academia, they mean someone who intends to teach on the collegiate level. Try to arrange a meeting with the math department chair or another math professor, if possible. My son got lucky by wandering through the CS department offices and was able to meet with some of the professors. While I’m not sure how up-to-date the information is, you can look at ratemyprofessor.com to get an idea of how popular some of the professors are (be sure to cross-reference against a current list of math faculty, as people do come and go).</p>
<p>Hey there Fireflyscout - LOL <em>I</em> know what academia means - but I was wondering if
al6200 was saying WPI would not be good for someone who wanted to go on to grad school. If one plans graduate school in pure math, that leaves very few avenues for employment other than collegiate level teaching. </p>
<p>I imagine S can help work his way through with some computer tech employment, but that is not the focus of his life. He will be in heaven immersed in crazy math. What can you do with someone like that other than plop him at some college where he can do his proofs all day? LOL</p>
<p>S is scheduled to sit in on a more theoretical math class next week and will visit with that prof. He will also be staying with a student overnight - hopefully they will match him up with a math student of whom he can ask his questions. I’m kinda hoping for some insider info here. Probably not enough WPI students on this board to get a great idea of things though. </p>
<p>Maybe our kids will meet up someday at WPI! That would be cool - yet we would probably never know it.</p>
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<p>It’s not bad per se, but WPI seems to be geared towards people who will go directly into the workforce. </p>
<p>As for getting research, there’s not too much that I can say. I’m a freshman, and I applied for some math research grant this summer. One professor asked me to look over his research papers and tell him what I thought, but alas I did not get a research grant. But it’s probably hard for freshman to get research no matter what school they’re from. </p>
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<p>He’ll probably do really well at WPI. </p>
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<p>You’re probably right about that. </p>
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<p>I’m an EE major who is very interested in mathematics. </p>
<p>Sure. Bill Martin is a very good professor. I have heard good things about Chris Larsen. Art Heinricher is also a good professor but I think that his research area is some type of insurance. </p>
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<p>: ) We actually do not have prerequisites. After your first semester of your freshman year you can take whatever you like (I’m pretty sure). Also it seems to be relatively easy to get an independent study. </p>
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<p>Let’s just say that you should take Chinese before you take Calculus. </p>
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<p>It really all depends. All of the EE professors I’ve had are really good. Math professors have been a mixed bag. </p>
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<p>TA’s will tend to grade based on whether or not an answer is right (simply because of the number of papers they have to grade). Professors will tend to look at the questions more carefully and see if your work actually makes sense. I’d imagine that it is this way at all universities. </p>
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<p>If I were you I’d look over WPI’s catalog carefully. From my experience so far (I am a freshman), it seems like WPI’s math curriculum is focused pretty heavily on actuarial sciences and not pure mathematics. But then again that may very well be the case at all of the other schools he is considering. </p>
<p>I’d also consider that WPI undergraduate students can take grad-level classes, so your son might be able to satiate his interests in that way.</p>
<p>thanks very much for this comprehensive answer</p>
<p>yes every school he is accepted to has more applied math than pure/theoretical offerings. SO the ability to do directed study would be great. My comment had more to do with our son’s plans after college… which is more college. And I am sure in grad school he can do math problems to his heart’s content. I don’t expect he will get to be <em>that</em> focused as an undergrad - and, to me, that’s a good thing. Plenty of time for that later.</p>
<p>LOL about learning Chinese before calc. - a tad worrisome but S is pretty comfy with calc so maybe it will be OK</p>
<p>So how many classes are taught by TA’s or are they mainly used for paper grading?</p>
<p>It is hard to find a school that is perfect in every way. The fact that WPI is more geared to students who are heading into the work force right after college is maybe the only negative that he will have to deal with - and that is not a bad one is it? </p>
<p>As far as the schools he is looking at, I don’t think WPI would be a detriment at all to grad school acceptances. What we are intersted in right now is if this is “the place” for him to find his niche. And it could be - if he feels comfortable in the math department. I guess we will know soon. </p>
<p>How’s the food 
- seems to be an important criterion to a hungry boy</p>
<p>My sister was a very strong math and science student, and she just breezed through her frosh and sophomore years are WPI.</p>
<p>@#Theorymom
I am a freshman this year, so I will try to share my opinion about WPI. I think it is really good school, among the best for Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Robotics. Honestly Math Department is not that good, but I am sure that it is better than those in NMTech,U of Idaho, WSU and Western WA. Someone wrote that we should learn Chinese before taking Calculus. Well, as a International student I have no problems with understanding those professors, even though I am not from Asia. Then, why would someone whose mother tongue is English have problem with understanding them? The point is that if your son wants to study, those minor disadvantages, like accent, will not stop him from learning a lot in math major. All classes are taught by professors, and TAs are there for help ( help sessions and office hours), for labs and for conferences. The thing on WPI that is really good is support system. Professors will always help you when you come and visit them during the office hours or after the class. Hopefully this helped.</p>
<p>Whitesnake
Thanks
S visitied there this past week, sat in on some classes, talked to some math majors, and feels fine about the math department. Western’s (math offering) was stronger, but in reality, he can get most of what he thinks he wants and needs at WPI and move on to grad school for more focused study. He will probably be attending WPI (if we can figure out how to swing it financially) and has decided to double major in CS and Math. He loves WPI’s flexibility, that it is project based and has 7 week terms. He feels comfortable for the most part with the student body. The food is “fine” - no great shakes but good enough. The dorms he thinks are “fine”, the campus “fine” (Western’s won that hands down) but when asked about the school as a whole, it was “awesome”. For him, that is about as good as it gets.</p>
<p>@theorymom
No problem. It’s great that he likes WPI.
Now, when it comes to double major, he has so much time to decide if he is gonna do that. Ppl here change their majors so easily, because before we come to college/university, we have no idea what each major is about, so it’s very logical that ppl change their majors…
That’s why i am telling that it’s too early for any plans…</p>