<p>Anyway, I've recently fallen in love with Caltech because of its academic rigor. Until I discovered MIT OCW, I was frequently bored with my schoolwork, so Caltech's rigor strongly appeals to me. What other schools, prestigious or not, have similar rigor in mathematics and the sciences (including CS)?</p>
<p>So, Stanford, Harvey Mudd, and Berkeley EECS, as well as Harvard (since IIRC you can cross-register with MIT) should be focuses along with Cornell/CMU (for CS) and UChicago (for Math).</p>
<p>Grinnell, Rochester, Brandeis, and Case Western are other private “match” possibilities. </p>
<p>I’m assuming the cost of these schools is not an issue (either because your family can afford $50K-$60K/year, or because you qualify for financial aid and can cover the expected balance). If you needed to get the price down to $40K or less without aid, then some OOS public universities (like Wisconsin or Maryland) would make more sense. </p>
<p>For safeties, look first to your in-state public universities (for affordability and broad course selection).</p>
<p>Berkeley EECS and L&S CS majors take the same CS courses. L&S CS majors can more easily take a second major in math, since math is also in L&S. Frosh applicants can get into L&S more easily than EECS, but declaring L&S CS requires a 3.0 GPA in the introductory courses.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That school has a very pre-professional reputation (not surprising given its co-op emphasis). USC also seems to have a more pre-professional reputation to some extent.</p>
<p>What may be relevant is how advanced the OP will be in math and CS courses. If the OP is very advanced, then s/he may need to seek schools with strong graduate level offerings in those subjects, since very advanced students often want to take graduate level courses and do graduate level research as undergraduates.</p>
<p>All of the colleges listed above have rigorous curricula, but if you are interested in more individual challenges you could consider Franklin Olin college of Engineering. It might focus more on applied science than you want, but students have opportunities to pursue self-designed projects. Another school that is often overlooked on threads like this is the College of Creative Studies at UC Santa Barbara. I think it’s viewed as a hippie school, which it is to some extent, but it offers majors in Math, Computer Science, Physics, etc. Students are allowed to create their own curricula, and may pursue combined majors with other university divisions. You have the resources of a large research university, but a small, quirky, college which allows you to collaborate on all sorts of exciting projects.</p>
<p>On Reed: Even though the course selection is limited, any math prof. at Reed can teach you far more than you could learn in four years (the course sequence a math major takes at Reed is untypical and interesting – two multivar calc courses instead of one, and multivar calc 2 required for enrolling in linear algebra; no calculus 1, 2, 3-- just calculus, and very proof-based; analysis, taken after calculus, explores concepts unusual for a typical freshman). There is no placement test, which is unusual as well (placement tests are offered for physics, econ, etc etc). Reed is also planning to increase its computer science offerings (just hired a new prof), so keep an eye on them. Swarthmore is worth a look too, but it is highly selective.</p>
<p>Thanks to @tk21769 and @International95 for suggesting Reed College. While Reed’s rigor originally appealed to me, I immediately discounted it because of its lack of a computer science department. Because of your suggestions, I spent more time researching Reed’s offerings, and I discovered the 3-2 program with Caltech. Based on this information, I am strongly considering applying to Reed.</p>
<p>Note that 3+2 programs are only rarely completed, perhaps due to uncertainty of admission and financial aid at the “2” school, or the student not wanting to transfer away from a “3” school and friends that s/he likes.</p>
<p>To the OP: how advanced are you in math and CS? Put it another way, what level of college math and CS will you have completed by high school graduation?</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: If I am happy enough at Reed not to transfer to Caltech, then I would consider my education a success. Of course, the competitive admissions program bothers me, but I can also apply for 3-2 at Columbia, UW, or RPI (in order of preference).</p>
<p>Post-AP Math Classes: Multivariable Calculus (MIT OCW Scholar), Linear Algebra (MIT OCW Scholar), Topology (MIT OCW), WOOT (AoPS), Olympiad Geometry (AoPS). I’ve also studied graph theory extracurricularly.
Post-AP CS Classes: Computer Science with Theory (Coursera, MIT OCW, CLRS, etc.), Cryptography (Coursera and MIT OCW).</p>
<p>Depending on the college I attend, I may choose to repeat “elementary” mathematics courses such as single-variable calculus. For example, if I attend MIT, I will take Calculus with Theory (18.014, 18.024), which is a more rigorous alternative to single- and multi-variable calculus.</p>
<p>Seems like it would be pointless to repeat non-honors frosh/soph level math courses. Even if honors courses are offered, it may be more worthwhile to go directly to more advanced math courses.</p>
<p>But you may want to check prospective schools’ math departments on their policies for placement through MIT OCW, Coursera, etc. courses, or if there is placement by exam or interview for situations like yours, so that you won’t have to repeat courses you already know.</p>
<p>As advanced as you are in math, it would be a good idea to choose a school with good graduate-level offerings in math. LACs’ main advantages for smaller courses are at the frosh/soph level, but you may be able to skip those courses (or take honors courses if skipping is not allowed), so you would avoid the giant lectures in frosh/soph math courses at big universities.</p>
<p>Note that the popularity of CS can mean that introductory CS courses can be large. For example, Harvey Mudd’s introductory CS course has been enrolling about 200 students recently.</p>
<p>Reed has an arrangement with The University of Washington as well. As you probably know, UW has a “top 10” computer science graduate department in America, and I wager that quality filters down to its undergrad program too (UW grads go to work at Microsoft in huge numbers). 5 students from Reed are allowed into the program every year, but rarely anyone ever does it because people end up in love with Reed (i.e it’s not going to be competitive), and explore computer science just through math.</p>
<p>UW CS is normally extremely competitive to enter, so one should not assume that admissions for transfers from Reed’s 3+2 program will be non-competitive. Contact the UW CS department to check on the competitiveness of transfer admissions from Reed’s 3+2 program.</p>
<p>Where is this documented on either a Reed or UW web page? Such a situation would be highly unusual – typically, it is the “2” schools that set transfer admission requirements (either transfer admission based on courses and grades, or competitive transfer admission).</p>
<p>“The university will admit up to five students per year on the recommendation of Reed College. Recommended students must satisfy the university’s GPA requirements for transfer students, which may differ from year to year and which are not necessarily the same for Washington residents and nonresidents.”</p>
<p>For Caltech, however: “Admission to Caltech is not automatic upon recommendation, but is subject to review by Caltech and may depend upon factors that cannot be anticipated.”</p>