<p>Can someone give me more information about the quality of the Math, Statistics, and Computer Science Undergraduate programs? How are the professors and class sizes?</p>
<p>I am a high school senior and I have to make my decision in the next few days. And I am considering Double majoring in Math and Comp Sci with a Minor in Stats.</p>
<p>They are all considered Top 20 programs with Comp Sci Top 10. Enrollment in CS seems to rise and fall with the job market. Math and stats are more steady. Most advanced CS classes today are 10-35 people. Same for math and stats with many under 20 for advanced classes.</p>
<p>I’m a math major at UW-Madison and have found the professors to be very sub-par on the whole. Teacher reviews are not taken seriously and professors look out for one another, protecting and denying accusations against poor professors. That being said, there are a few great professors. They are all brilliant and you can learn tons from any of them if their teaching style suits you. I’ve found ratemyprofessor.com very useful. Don’t take a class with a professor with overall ratings below 3.3 unless absolutely necessary.</p>
<p>Two professors who are simply amazing are Professors Alexander Kiselev and Alexander Nagel. There are a few others that are tolerable also, but everyone else have drawbacks - some are rude to students with questions, some are too arrogant to condescend to explaining material to undergrads, and some are just not able to relate or communicate with humans. I recommend being very careful about what professors you chose. I’ve heard great reviews of Isaacs, and I know that Denissov, Maxim, and Zlatos are all pretty good depending on your style of learning.</p>
<p>As for class size, classes below the 400 level are generally 40-70 people large. This is not a problem because most professors give you personal attention during office hours. Higher level classes are anywhere from 10 to 25 people large averaging around 18 in my experience. The better professors tend to be saved for the 400 and 500 levels, so even if you get a few rotten eggs at first, don’t worry because there are better professors in your future.</p>
<p>You can learn a lot, there are great research opportunities if you talk to the right people, the math department here hosts many great lecturers from across the U.S. on a daily basis, and the students are all motivated to learn and are usually very nice people. If you can avoid certain absolutely wretched professors, then you can have a great experience. I have. Just avoid Professors Sean Paul and Xianghong Gong at all costs; you don’t want to deal with them.</p>
<p>If you want any more advice, then I can definitely provide it. I, however, know nothing about the statistics or computer science departments.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the info!</p>