<p>Refer to thread title!</p>
<p>Both are very strong, so I would recommend visiting each for 2-3 days, and talking with as many students & professors as possible, to see where you feel more comfortable. Yale's undergraduate program is smaller, so it would be a better choice if you want more personal attention from professors or want to spend more time outside your major. Harvard's program is larger and attracts a larger fraction of the national math competition winners (e.g., competitive, 15 year old math geniuses), which could be a very good thing or very bad thing depending on your point of view. I know math majors at both universities, some very well, and this is all based on their experience. </p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that many people intending to major in math eventually switch to something like physics, chemistry, applied physics, engineering or bioinformatics/biology, or sometimes economics, where the knowledge can be more applied. Yale and Harvard each have strong programs in all of these areas, especially at the undergraduate level. In other words, you can't go wrong.</p>
<p>honestly, i feel that the math is stronger at harvard. i don't have much proof, but that is what i sense judging from the kind of people from my school who go onto harvard and those who go onto yale. harvard definitely attracts the competition winners, the math geniuses. MIT attracts many too. yale is not a school in the harvard-mit-caltech-uchi kind of bubble, it attracts more literary types or kids who are well-rounded and not just intensely devoted to math. it is more humanities oriented in my belief, although i guess that's an image they seem to be trying to change. but i believe harvard should have a stronger math department currently and into the near future. </p>
<p>Remember that this is the Yale forum, so the opinions you receive may be unjustly biased in favor of yale. so take everybody's contributions (including mine) with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Well Harvard has math 55, the hardest math course in the country; almost all top schools offer a combined theoretical treatment of multivariable calculus and linear algebra, but Harvard, recognizing that a multitude of its students have surpassed that level, offers math 55 which is an extremely intense theoretical treatment of real and complex analysis as well as abstract algebra, math usually offered only at the 300 level at most colleges except aimed especially for gifted freshman. Only about 10-15 people take the course per year and it greatly differs from the 300 level courses at different colleges as it is treated in a really integrated as well as advanced approach covering a plethora of topics seldom studied even at the graduate level. Although Yale is one of the top schools that does offer a theoretical multivariable calculus/linear algebra combination, it does not, nor does any other college, offer a course like math 55. Harvard attracts more top math students in the country (either those who are national contest winners or those who have already studied upper level undergraduate math) than any other school with Princeton, MIT, Stanford, and Uchicago each attracting more of them than Yale. Although Yale's program is still excellent and you cannot go wrong with either, it does not match Harvard's in prestige or difficulty.</p>
<p>From the math olympians I know, almost none matriculate at Yale. Harvard, MIT, and Princeton take the majority of them with Caltech, Chicago, and Duke being close seconds.</p>
<p>Umm, i'm a loyal yalie, but if math is all you're looking for you should really go somewhere else. Math here sucks. If math isn't all you're looking for you might want to give yale a shot... its merits were enough for me to choose it over harvard, which generally has a better reputation in some of the fields that interest me. Reputation isn't everything.</p>
<p>Harvard definitely has the better math department.</p>
<p>agree with kwijiborjt. math is the worst thing known to mankind here in the have. sorry.</p>
<p>oo man. why do you say that matty?</p>
<p>If math is subpar at Yale, does that mean the Math and Economics major is also lacking in depth? Would just econ suit one better for a prospective Wall Street job?</p>
<p>I've heard that Math and Econ is great for your Wall Street prospects, but that you shouldn't do it over just Econ if it tanks your GPA.</p>
<p>I've also been scared away of our math department. Nightmare story after nightmare story are all I hear. Professors going on tangents during class and not actually teaching the material, no one in the department can speak English, whole classes failing tests, you name it.</p>
<p>Wow...I'm getting scared. A friend of mine who is pretty good at math also has told me quality of teaching is pretty hideous.</p>
<p>starburst, you can either just read pretty much everyone's comments (lol) or you can pm me and ill give you my own stories! feel free (im a freshman btw).</p>
<p>Students often complain about the math department at Yale after taking only one or two introductory calculus courses. As a current freshman I can honestly say that if you are even contemplating being a math major you can easily bypass the introductory Math 115-120 sequence and take Math 230 (Vector Calculus and Linear Algebra), Math 222/225 Linear Algebra, or Math 250 Vector Analysis. For especially gifted math students, analysis courses could easily be your first math class. Regardless, the math department at Yale is extremely small so you will get a lot of hands on attention and keep in mind that you also have the resources of the graduate school should you exhaust the options of the undergraduate math curriculum (which I think is almost impossible). My suggestion would be to visit each school for 2-3 (and even more if it is possible) and talk to math professors, sit in on not only intro courses but upper level courses/seminars, and then make a decision. I will admit that Yale's math department does not have the prestige of Harvard's or MIT's but it certainly does not lack the rigor if you are willing to challenge yourself from the beginning.</p>
<p>Yoshi: are you currently taking one of those math classes you mentioned? How is it?</p>
<p>Math 230 is rigorous but extremely manageable; the level of cooperation is high among classmates. I would say that the level of imagination in doing the proofs is a level that isn't normally taught in the high school curriculum but if you have participated in math contests of any form and done well you should be fine. Math 250 is reputedly very difficult both in terms of the abstract material (rigor) and workload although the professor is suppose to be very understanding and is excellent at explaining the material. Math 222 or Math 225, Linear Algebra with Applications and Linear Algebra with Matrix Theory, are both very good courses as well, not too difficult for the mathematically minded and fun even for non-science majors. Both courses aren't too rigorous when compared to 250 or 230. Keep in mind that 230 is year long while the rest are semester courses.</p>
<p>Is anyone a Math and Philosophy major? If so, how is it? Correct me if I'm wrong, which I probably am, but I'm guessing it would just be like being a Math major with some Philosophy courses on logic and reasoning on the side.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was browsing around the Yale forums in the admits page and saw that some people had "Physics and Philosophy" as a planned major. Now, I had no idea that kind of major existed, and ditto with math and philosophy. These are two majors that sound exciting to me, and might be something I want to pursue. What do they entail?</p>
<p>so who would you say are yale’s math peers?</p>
<p>A lot of ppl trash Yale math because it is quite difficult for those who aren’t math majors or interested in the field. Also, the intro courses may dissuade ppl b/c they are much more difficult than history etc.</p>
<p>Yale grad school is tied w/ Caltech in Math and in the top 10 so it may not be Princeton mathematics but it is very good. I think Yale is perfectly good for most undergrads and math is not at all a weak department imo.</p>
<p>FYI, I’m not a Math major and only Math course that I took was Multi at Yale. But I don’t think the earlier posters were Math majors either… maybe you ought to find a major…</p>