Princeton a good fit for me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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>I haven't yet visited Princeton and don't know whether I'll be able to prior to applying; therefore, I'd really like to gauge whether people think it's a good fit for me and whether it's worth applying to. </p>

<p>I wanted to give some information about things that I like about Princeton from my research and some things that I'm concerned about:</p>

<p>Likes:</p>

<p>I love the look of their Advanced/Accelerated Freshman Sequence (MAT 216 and 218) as they seem to be great, intense intro. analysis classes (which hopefully, I should be able to handle as I'm independently working through some analysis material this year so will have had exposure to rigorous proofs by the time I'm attending).I also really like the look of their 4 part Analysis Series (MAT 325, MAT 335, MAT 425, and MAT 523) which I'd love to have completed by the end of my undergrad. career. Its location is also great in terms of being on the East Coast (and I'd get to be at the university where Fermat's Last Theorem was proven! ). </p>

<p>Concern:</p>

<p>My one concern with Princeton is that unlike universities such as Caltech and MIT, Princeton is not specifically oriented towards math or science. Therefore, while it has a great program, I'm just concerned that it won't have enough emphasis on math/science for me. I visited Harvard, and personally, found that it wasn't a good fit for me as their philosophy seemed to be more oriented towards liberal arts in lieu of depth in one specific area (which was more what I was looking for). </p>

<p>I'm very happy to provide more information if people feel it would be helpful in assessing Princeton's fit for me. I'd really, really appreciate it if people could respond as it's really hard to assess colleges without actually being able to visit. </p>

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

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<p>@mathinduction I applaud the fact that you are thoroughly trying to determine the right college fit for you and that you have such a clear sense of both what you want to study and also do later in life. However, I have to ask what makes you so certain that you will be able to handle the rigors of studying theoretical math? I ask this because I saw in another post of yours that you are a junior currently studying Calc BC. Do you have any experience in proof-based math or real analysis yet? Have you competed in math competitions and are one of the top students in the country? </p>

<p>I ask this because I have seen firsthand kids who have gone on to study theoretical math at places like Princeton, Yale (applied math) and Harvard. My son took Calc BC in middle school and was in a math circle at that time where they were using differential equations to solve some of the problems. He couldn’t hold a candle to some of the kids in the group (one was much younger than him but eons ahead of him). During the summer after middle school, my son spent seven weeks at a top Ivy doing nothing but proofs and in high school he has completed Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus and is currently doing real analysis. He, however, would be the first to say that he probably couldn’t handle the Math 55 course at Harvard (a school which you wrote off as not being math focused enough). The accomplishments of the kids who have gone on to study theoretical math at the colleges I mentioned would make your jaw drop and my son is not in their league.</p>

<p>I may be way off base but I can’t help feeling that you might be putting the cart before the horse in trying to find the most suitable and rigorous college for theoretical math for you. Unless you are an absolute genius, you might not have the luxury of picking and choosing. I hope I am wrong and would love to hear your accomplishments.</p>

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<p>@Falcon1‌ </p>

<p>Thank you so much for your post. No, I would not say that I am anywhere near one of the top math students in the country, and I’m certainly not that far ahead. However, I believe despite some others having a head start, I have extreme passion for and commitment to math and absolutely love theory and proofs. I don’t know with absolute certainty that I will be able to handle it, but I’m gaining an exposure to theoretical math right now (in the hope that I’ll be more prepared) and will be prepared to collaborate with others and work incredibly hard to succeed at the material. I may be behind some others in terms of time, but I firmly believe that with dedication and commitment, I’ll be able to catch up. While I know that it will put me nowhere near the top, I believe that some exposure to proofs and theory will be helpful for me. </p>

<p>My goal is to attend a university which is highly collaborative as I know there will be others who are ahead of me, but I hope to learn from these people and also hope to have something to contribute. I know that sometimes one person in a group may grasp a given concept before others, so I feel like that collaborative environment would be beneficial to me. </p>

<p>With regards to Harvard, I am in no way saying that I’d have the prerequisite knowledge to succeed at Math 55 (and were I to attend Harvard, I’d probably enroll in Math 25 instead). The reason I didn’t feel like Harvard was a good fit was not that they didn’t have extensive enough course offerings (which they did), but I felt that their educational philosophy was too oriented towards liberal arts for my liking (as I’d like somewhere where I’d be able to specialize more). </p>

<p>Thanks for your help, and I hope that this helps to clarify. </p>

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<p>@Mathinduction Yes, it does help to clarify. With your singularity of purpose, I’m sure you’ll be a resounding success. Best of luck to you!</p>

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<p>You may find some great resources and a feel for a good fit at the AoPS discussion boards (in addition to CC). They frequently have admissions folks from MIT and other institutions “drop by” to answer questions via videoconference. Cambridge may be too focused. MIT would be great for both Math and Philosophy. You may like a place like Reed with a joint program to CalTech. They actually have a great number of students continue on to PhDs. Kudos to you for doing the research! Take AMC this winter and apply to one of the summer Math Camps for the summer (e.g Hampshire College has a great one). Sit down with a professor at a local university and talk about it.</p>

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<p>Academically, I think you’d be a great fit for Princeton, considering its decidedly theoretical bent. There is more than enough math/science for your tastes and it’s nice to have a little diversity in academic pursuits as well for a break.</p>