Mathematics Transfer looking to find a reasonable number of schools to apply to

Applying to College
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Hi All,

So I’m definitely a non-traditional student. I dropped out of high school at 15 and started college, taking about a year and a half of gap during covid (still have a year to go). I plan on majoring in general or applied math, with a double major or minor in either comp sci or physics (probably physics). I’m having trouble finding good target schools, and I’m limiting myself to applying to a max of 15 schools. A little about me:

3.952 GPA (Bard college at Simon’s rock) in college, 4.0 in high school, volunteer and self-employed tutor, long-time guitar player, and trained writing tutor.

Currently my schools are as follows:

Reach: cornell, colombia, brown, harvard, MIT (top choice), williams
Target: NYU, BU, UMich, U of Rochester, (empty slot I need help with)
Safety: CU Boulder, UWash, UMass Amherst, UMD

Looking for a tight-knit community with very involved staff, collaborative instead of competitive, and a liberal arts style education with a lot of freedom. Also, I want to continue in Academia, with the end goal of getting a PhD. Schools I was considering for the target slot: Wesleyan, Reed

Any advice on schools I should consider adding, schools I should consider removing, or anything else would be super helpful. Thanks!

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The current chair of Wesleyan’s dept., David Beveridge, was recently rated among the top 1 percent of the world’s scientists:

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The majority of your current choices have been highly recognized for the study of mathematics: For Students Seeking a College Strong in Mathematics.

For its superb math department, collaborative aspects and notably flexible curriculum, consider adding Hamilton. Amherst suits your criteria as well. Reed also would make an appropriate addition to your list based on your goals.

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Cost constraints and state of residency?

For math specifically, compare the breadth and depth of offerings in the math department at each school.

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No real cost constraints, money put aside expecting full tuition. I’m not technically a resident of any state (my parents are diplomats), but I could push to be a resident of MD. Also, I’m thinking of dropping harvard and adding Bowdoin, since I have functionally a 0% chance of getting into harvard purely based on statistics. Thoughts?

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Placing your bets on a NESCAC instead of HYPSM can be a very pragmatic decision, especially when one considers the cost/benefits of essays, LORs, interviews, and lost sleep at night. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Note that Bowdoin accepted just 4.4% (7/158) of its transfer applicants in a recent year (although as a non-traditional, full-pay student, your chance of admission could be significantly greater than suggested by this figure). In general, you should include schools on your list that seem to genuinely welcome transfer applicants. Reed, for example, recently accepted 30% (70/235) of its transfer applicants.

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University of Utah may be worth a look as a likely or safety, due to its relatively low selectivity for undergraduate but with a large and strong math department.

If you are interested in the UCs in California, they have some transfer admission stats by major at Transfers by major | University of California . Note that they only admit transfer students at the junior level (i.e. ready to declare a major, 60 semester credits complete by the time of transfer).

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Hamilton’s math department does appear to be rather small in course offerings, even compared to some other highly selective LACs. https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/departments/Courses-and-Requirements?dept=Mathematics lists the following regular upper level math courses:

  • 7 pure math: 304, 314, 315, 318, 322, 325, 363
  • 4 applied math: 335, 337, 355, 361
  • 3 statistics: 351, 352, 356
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Based on what you have written here and in other topics, you do not appear to have recognized that some math departments maintain “cleaner” course listings than others. Also, you did not count Hamilton’s Senior Seminar courses, which approach material in a more advanced way than many typical junior and senior level courses, and therefore easily should be considered “upper level,” in my opinion.

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Your post sounds like you’d prefer an LAC like Pomona, CMC, Bowdoin, Carlton, or Amherst. There are probably some LAC’s with acceptance rates above 30% that could be matches.

Your list is also east coast heavy. Is that a preference?

Pitt might be a nice option. Good math program, not a huge school plus close to east coast. CMU is next door.

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I definitely would rather be on the east coast, or PNW, definitely not the south or southern california.