MIT a good fit?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>So I posted a question under the general forum describing myself, listing out many colleges, and asking which one/ones were the best fit. After doing that, I realized that it's probably not the best way to get the specific feedback I want about each of the colleges on my list. Therefore, I'm posting under each individual college that I'm looking at and am asking for people affiliated with that college to assess my fit for that particular college. </p>

<p>Firstly, here is some information about myself: </p>

<p>I'm a current Junior who has begun the college search and would like some advice with regards to each college's fit for me. I'm a student who is looking for a top college which excels at math or science. I'm looking at colleges within both the US and England (which is where I'm from originally) and want small to medium sized college (preferably under 20,000 students). Also, the area I want to specialize most in is theoretical math (the sub-area I think I might want to specialize in is real/complex analysis). Therefore, I want a university with great theoretical mathematics options and a theoretical emphasis. Preferably I'd like to have some good humanities offerings (possibly getting a minor in philosophy), but I want my main focus to be in the math and science areas (maybe spending around 2/3 of my time in math & science and 1/3 in everything else). My eventual goal is to go to graduate school, get a PhD in mathematics and become a math professor. Therefore, I'd like a college which gives lots of research opportunities to undergrads and has a great math grad. program, so that I can begin research and graduate level courses as an undergrad.</p>

<p>From doing research myself, it seems like MIT may be a good fit for me as I've visited MIT twice now and love it each time I visit; the size and location also seem to suit me really well, and I know that it has a fantastic reputation.</p>

<p>However, my one slight concern that I always have with MIT, which I'm hoping that people on this forum can respond to, is that it seems to emphasize engineering/practical applications. Therefore, I was slightly worried about whether I'd fit in as I really want to emphasize theory and proofs, and it's my understanding that not that many MIT students go into the theoretical math track at least initially (in terms of not many taking the 18.014-18.024-18.034 to start their freshman careers). I've never been particularly into engineering/building things, so I'm just concerned about whether I fit with their whole mission of "Mind and Hand". Therefore, I still don't know what to think with regards to MIT as I really, really like it every time I visit, but just have this one doubt still.</p>

<p>I'm hoping that people on this forum can respond to my concerns and also let me know whether MIT might be a good fit for me. Also, if any of you have friends or know people at other universities which might also be a good fit, please feel free to comment on that also. Additionally, if you need more information to assess MIT's fit, please feel free to ask me. </p>

<p>Thank you so much in advance!</p>

2

<p>As someone who holds a math degree from MIT, I can take a stab at this. Yes, you are right, MIT does emphasise hands-on problem solving. A large part of MIT is looking at applying science and technology to the problems of humankind. That being said, there is also a great deal of basic research done at MIT, and pure mathematicians are certainly well catered for. Certainly, there should be no problems in getting the focus that you are looking for. Indeed, the math major is famously one of the most open degrees at the institute, in that you have a huge amount of freedom to carve out the degree that you are looking for. You should probably look at the theoretical mathematics option in the degree program (<a href=“Welcome! < MIT”>Welcome! < MIT). And take a look at the course catalog for next term. I think that you will find what you are looking for (<a href=“Fall 2023 Course 18: Mathematics”>http://student.mit.edu/catalog/m18a.html&lt;/a&gt;).</p>

3

<p>Hi @Mikalye‌ </p>

<p>Thank you so much for your reply; that’s really, really helpful. I guess my next question would be whether you would feel somewhat isolated pursuing theoretical math at MIT. Walking down the hallways, would you find people who have that similar investment in this kind of math, or would you really have to search to find that kind of person? I just want to confirm that I would fit well with MIT’s mission as I know it does mention a lot of application. Also, do you happen to know very roughly what percentage of math majors take the theoretical track and what percentage opt for the applied/general tracks? </p>

<p>Thanks once again for your response, and it’s given me a lot of insight!</p>

4

<p>You will have absolutely no problem finding theoretical folks particularly in the mathematics department. There are lots of them (less so in some other MIT disciplines). And they are not considered weird or unusual in any way. The thing about it is, a large proportion, possibly even a majority, of the math majors are theoretical. Most of the folks who want to do applied math for [insert field here] do them in the [whatever that field is] department. So there are some mathematical physicists in the Physics department, etc. A possible exception is the 18C degree in theory of computation/theory of algorithms, etc.</p>

<p>Actually, you will find relatively few math majors take EITHER the applied math stream, or the theoretical math stream. Most take the general mathematics stream given its huge flexibility. It really is arguably the most flexible degree at MIT in terms of the breadth of choices that you have in fulfilling your degree. </p>

<p>I was looking at the blog post <a href=“MIT Undergraduates by Major | MIT Admissions”>http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/mit_undergraduates_by_major&lt;/a&gt; (which I haven’t managed to validate, but have no reason to suspect) This would suggest a community well in excess of 100 undergraduate theoretical mathematicians which feels right to me.</p>