I was just wondering which one of these schools would be good to major in MATH ?
As long as you go to a reputable school, the difference in ability to use your degree will be very trivial. Choose a school not just based on what it ranks in US News, but also factors like cost of attendance (e.g., consider your state school too), reputation of other majors which you may potentially be interested in (many students change their minds after they actually become a college student), whether or not you feel that you will be happy on campus, etc.
As umcoe16 points out, you can get a good undergraduate education in Mathematics at any university, let alone elite institutions such as GT, Michigan and UVa. However, Michigan’s Math Sequences and undergraduate curriculum in Mathematics are considered truly exceptional (I would say slightly better than the other two).
I would say whichever is cheapest. If you have in-state tuition or an excellent FA package at one of the three and are admitted, I would pick that one. All are excellent.
The math major at uofm is the #1 ranked hardest department.
https://www.michigandaily.com/news/university-michigan-grades-easy-hard-class
B- is the most common and average grade for math. And for some classes, a C+ is considered average. Keep in mind, this is already a mostly self-selected population which is comprised of math/engineering students. Most people with non-quantitative majors will not take math.
The academic requirements also has the most number of classes required.
You need Calc 1, 2, 3, and Linear Algebra ( Math 217 the hard version which is more proof based, Math 214 the easy version doesn’t count). These classes all must be taken sequentially and cannot be taken at the same time. You also need a programming course such as EECS 183. If you choose to do Actuariall/Finance/Risk Management route, then you will also need both Econ101 and 102. OR if you choose to do Numerical/Applied Analysis/Mathematical Physics, then Physics 140 and 240 along with their respective labs (2 other additional classes) which equates to 10 credits of Physics credits.
Oh btw, that was only the prerequisites.
The real meat of the program can be at least 10 classes required or roughly 40 credits depending on which math track.
So it could be potentially up to 68 total credits (17 classes) required related to the math major. Then all your classes outside of that needs to be at least 52 credits to complete the 120 credits needed to graduate.
So if you take Calc 1 your first semester fresman year, there’s a good chance you won’t graduate in 4 years. Theoretically you can if you plan right and do very well, but uofm’s math rigor is nightmare mode, so its extremely common to fail/drop multiple classes along the way. Unless, you’re the best of the best at Michigan, you will need to give up weekend parties, football tailgates, television, and late night sleep to complete this program. The professors are notoriously unforgiving. It’s fairly common for exam averages to be lower than 50%.
I recommend taking as many prerequisites as you can at community college during the summers and LSA distribution requirements as online transfer credit (check with your academic advisor first) to ease up the workload during the fall/winter semesters.
Every major at Umich can provide a sample four-year plan assuming no AP credit, so if you talk to the math department’s advising office early enough, they can help you figure out how to get a math major done in four years if you were to start from scratch. However, most math majors I know tend to have done calc BC in high school, and then go straight into calc 3 their freshman year.
You will often hear that calc 2 is the most failed class at Umich, but it is not because calc 2 is the most difficult class at Umich. I would say that anything calc 3 and beyond mostly consists of self selected students, but not calc 1 and calc 2. There are some majors, such as bio, with people who really cannot do math, but then calc 1 and calc 2 are required for them. Such people account for the higher failure rate seen in those classes. You might hear some people say that calc 3 is easier than calc 2, but that is not true.
Calc 1, 2, and 3 are all computation-based (unless you take the honors versions). For most non-math STEM majors that only require one more math class (including all engineering students), they usually take a computation-based differential equations or linear algebra course. Computation-based math is what you do in high school. After calc 3, math majors start taking abstract math (proof-based) courses, which will feel quite different from what you are used to. For some people, abstract math clicks, and for others it does not - it never really clicked for me.
Most math courses at Umich do curve to a B-. Some upper level (300+ level) ones may curve to a B, or B+ if the instructor happens to be more generous.
If you plug in Math courses (or any in LSA for that matter), you can see the grade distribution. For most Math classes, including tough ones like Math 217, it seems to be curved to a B. But still many A’s, B’s and C’s.
It doesn’t tell the whole story. You need to take into account the chunk of students who dropped the class after the 3rd week who would’ve otherwise failed the class. There are always students who are actually taking the class the 2nd time around so they get a better grade.
The Math sequences at Michigan are amazing. 295 and 396 in particular.
@betoh I get your point but those that drop the class are not part of the curve for final grades. The data here are the facts.
@wayneandgarth those who drop before the third week (i.e., without a W) are not included. For some classes, the curve includes those who drop with a W. And yes, there are always repeaters, especially in the lower level courses.
i assumed that michigan daily link was only final grades at end of semester? Including mid-term grades would be misleading because of some exams are weighted more than others plus that would not include homework grades, lab assignments, and other points.
and i’m just giving context and limitations to the data gathered.
For a department such as Psych, Sociology, or Communications, this tool would be better at assessing how well their students do in those classes than this tool’s assessment ability in those harder departments such as math, molec/cell bio.
Oh, you were talking about that. I misread, I was talking about how the final curve is usually determined (like whether or not those who took a W are factored in) when instructors assign grades.
It does seem that grades in the social science and humanities departments tend to be more determined by one’s mastery of the material, whereas those in the STEM departments tend to be more determined by how one ranks among their classmates.
Betoh - good point. In many of the math classes, a good share withdraw after the first exam. So their percentages rent taken into account in the published curves.