<p>I am a pure math and environmental science major, and I want a larger undergraduate body. So that’s in favor of Cornell. But I also kind of crave the incredibly personalized experience and old tradition at Brown. Though that exists at Cornell too. (I was accepted to both.)</p>
<p>Which school has the best-looking women?</p>
<p>did you get a major commitment extension? i was deciding between those two as well but my cornell extension lasted only until may 11th. i chose brown for its location, people, environment, freedom and resources. i'm an independent person who also likes the intimacy of a smaller school, so i would be more comfortable at brown. both are great schools, of course. the draw for cornell for me was that it made me a tradition fellow, so that had its perks. i think cornell has a better support system/network (though i don't know much about the brown alumni network). at cornell, students have the option of being paired with graduated mentors who share commonalities with their mentees, and many more cornell alumni called me to talk about the school. both campuses are beautiful, but i prefer brown's classic charm and elegantly-aged brick buildings. i like how brown is five minutes away from Providence and has its own secluded campus. ithaca isn't a very happening place.... brown's population is definitely a lot smaller in size than cornell's, but it's not as if it's tiny. (approx. 1500 per class) though, i heard that at cornell, people usually stick with the students in their schools, as opposed to intermingling among the others. the stereotype is that cornell is cutthroat (at least for premeds, anyway), but actually, according to my friend who's currently an animal science major and an alumni who graduated, people are very willing to help others. there are required classes at cornell, but it doesn't seem like they're a cumbersome load. yet, brown doesn't have any load. most of brown's resources are devoted to its undergrads since its graduate population is a minute component. brown will allow me to explore intellectually, and it appears to be the place i will be the happiest. of course, your interests and needs are different, but i hope this helps. (you're going to be a bear either way...just either red or brown!)</p>
<p>I would personally choose Brown in a nanosecond over Cornell.</p>
<p>I have not heard anything about the environmental sciences, but rumor has it that Brown's applied math is terrific, but pure math- not so good, for undergrads. Any Brown math types care to comment?</p>
<p>Our pure math is great for research, but teaching has a bad rep which comes entirely from professors not wanting to teach calculus. Because there is a separate and very strong Applied Math dept, almost no one in pure math has interests that lie directly under calculus and so they're not really happy about having to teach those classes. My friend is a pure math major and loves it, and hte access he has to graduate level math classes which won't happen as easily as Cornell, without a doubt. Higher level math classes are never over 20, as far as I know, and typically more like 10 kids at Brown, which is definitely a plus.</p>
<p>We have a ton of support for the environmental sciences. I'd check out things like the Urban Environmental Lab, etc.</p>
<p><a href="http://envstudies.brown.edu/Web/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://envstudies.brown.edu/Web/index.htm</a></p>
<p>please, go to brown. then go to cornell for grad school.</p>
<p>If as an environmentalist you have any outdoorsy streak whatsoever, Cornell will have far more physical space to roam around. </p>
<p>re: the math departments, Cornell has more of a mixture of faculty interests whereas Brown has clusters of faculty interested in a small number of specific areas. Partly that's just the relative size of the departments. If you aren't interested in something that several Brown math faculty are good at, you're probably out of luck. If you don't want to take overly advanced courses that won't lead to much difference between the schools.</p>
<p>Between math and applied math, brown has ~70 professors. That should tide most people through undergrad</p>
<p>Are you willing to study hard? Do you want to honor the expenses placed upon your parents and do your best? If you answered yes to any of those questions, go to Cornell. Otherwise grab a blunt and come to Brown.</p>
<p>MomCanITransfer is full of it.</p>
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Between math and applied math, brown has ~70 professors. That should tide most people through undergrad
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</p>
<p>It does not have ~70 professors. No way. </p>
<p>Whatever the number, for a pure math student such as the OP, applied math is effectively a single specialty within the math offerings at Brown. Brown is more a collection of several clusters of specialists than most math departments. If you want to write an undergrad thesis in number theory, you have your pick of advisors and probably some grad students to talk to. If you are interested in something outside of Brown's areas of strength, you may not have those things. If you want to take just standard math courses available at any research university, none of this will matter.</p>
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Otherwise grab a blunt and come to Brown.
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</p>
<p>I lol'd</p>
<p>Seriously, though, Cornell is your best bet for environmental studies and/or math. From what I've heard, you will endure large intro courses during your freshman year at Cornell, but as your classes become more specialized -- and they will, considering that the two majors you're considering aren't very popular, unlike something like general bio or business -- their sizes will decrease dramatically. If you were looking at a liberal arts major, this question would be more of a toss-up, but I think that in this case your choice is pretty clear. At the risk of starting an argument, I think it's pretty safe to say that Cornell is stronger than Brown in both the areas you mentioned, and by your sophomore year, you will have already begun to receive the personalized attention that Brown offers since both of your prospective majors are relatively obscure. </p>
<p>Just my two cents; keep in mind that I'm only a pre-frosh.</p>
<p>I'm not really sure what makes you feel Cornell is stronger in either area, but I don't know too much about Cornell's programs here. Anything that points you in that direction?</p>
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It does not have ~70 professors. No way.
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</p>
<p>Take another look:
List of faculty in Applied Math (32, not including post docs, visiting profs, or adjuncts)
<a href="http://www.dam.brown.edu/people/%5B/url%5D">http://www.dam.brown.edu/people/</a></p>
<p>List of faculty in Math (35, not including post docs, visiting profs, or adjuncts)
<a href="http://www.math.brown.edu/faculty.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.math.brown.edu/faculty.html</a></p>
<p>Given the size of the faculty, hard to believe more than a handful of math students nationally could find themselves exhausting the worthwhile opportunities. </p>
<p>Remember, we are talking about undergraduate here. Most people are not going to specialize that much at this level. Nor will any useful research experience be wasted if they go on to graduate school and focus on another area. </p>
<p>It makes sense to choose a graduate program based on depth in ones specialized area of interest. This presumes that by the time a student is applying to graduate school they have such a focus. For someone heading for an undergraduate degree this is much less important.</p>
<p>
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List of faculty in Applied Math (32, not including post docs, visiting profs, or adjuncts)
List of faculty in Math (35, not including post docs, visiting profs, or adjuncts)
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</p>
<p>You need to count correctly. Quite a few of those are emeriti, double listings (both pure and applied), or double-listed with other departments. The latter category can be half-time or rarely teaching in the math department(s). Brown does not have in the neighborhood of 70 math professors.</p>
<p>I count two listed on both sites. Did you find more?
"emeritus" = professor
"Listed in other departments"= professor, provided they are appointed in math or applied math as well. This is what you see with people who are interested in interdisciplinary fields. Appointing someone another department does not mean they do not enhance the math/ applied math opportunities in those areas.</p>
<p>If we must distinguish between 67 (as "about 70") and 65 ("not in the neighborhood"), then we have to add in the visiting profs who change year by year but are part of the department while they are there, the research faculty, and the post docs, who contribute to the intellectual life of the department.</p>
<p>Applied math lists >20 such people, more than making up the difference between 65 and 67.</p>
<p>The intent of the exercise was to evaluate the depth of the programs in the two departments, using the number of people involved as a proxy. Anyone who participates in teaching or research enough to be appointed in a department counts. If you restrict it to "people whose sole appointment is in one of these two departments-thus eliminating any with joint appointments in support of their interdisciplinary work, who are tenured or tenure track, who are not on leave in any given semester, and who regularly teach undergraduate classes" then it will be a smaller number, but also an arbitrary limitation. The fact is, all of these people are part of the math or applied math departments.</p>
<p>i know a woman who went to brown and shes smokin</p>
<p>re: number of math professors,</p>
<p>The list already includes all postdocs who teach classes, such as assistant professors in 3-year positions. Research postdocs are relevant to the grad students, but not to the undergrads.</p>
<p>As I said already, the list also double counts faculty who spend half or all of their time teaching in other departments, it counts emeriti who are not obligated to teach or do anything else related to undergraduates, and it counts a joint appointment in pure and applied math as two professors. Brown simply does not have in the neighborhood of 70 math professors.</p>
<p>If you ever visit their campus, take note of how many professor offices could fit in the math building. It's not a big space.</p>
<p>There are probably 15-20 math professors that teach undergraduates each semester, and probably a tad less, 10-15, that teach undergraduates in Appl. Math each semester.</p>
<p>I'm not even sure why this is a necessary debate...</p>
<p>This is the typical small college/big college discussion. It should be fairly obvious to a student applying to university whether the small college, or in Brown's case, the university-college, appeals to them or whether they want to go to the "state college", big college atmosphere. They're very different socially and academically and one is typically obviously preferred over the other for most students.</p>
<p>My brother hated Cornell (attended) and I love Brown if it helps...I also had to decide between the two.</p>