Princeton Maths- how good is it?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
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<p>Hey guys</p>

<p>I've finally decided on a major in either Mathematics or Economics. I was talking about it to my parents and my dad was like "Princeton? didn't that crazy maths guy go there? It must be quite bad for maths". I had to hold in my rage ...</p>

<p>I know its a highly ranked but just how good is it when you compare it with the other ivies and other top schools?</p>

<p>I have a feeling MIT, Caltech might give it run for its money.</p>

<p>Anyone else interested in a Maths Major???</p>

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<p>princeton has a very highly ranked math department.</p>

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<p>princeton's math department is probably the third best in the world...it ranks behind only MIT's and Harvard's (in that order)</p>

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<p>its also excellent in econ (just behind MIT), so you really cant go wrong</p>

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<p>Albertferman1: Actually, according to US News, Princeton and Harvard's graduate math departments are tied. They are both ranked #2, behind MIT i think.</p>

<p>THere are no specific rankings for undergrad mathematics programs that I can find, although they have to exist somewhere. All I know is that Princeton's mathematics department is highly prestigious and extremely rigorous. </p>

<p>Princeton and Harvard's graduate economics departments are also tied according to US News. They are ranked #3 in the country, behind MIT and UChicago which are tied for #1. </p>

<p>Good luck in deciding where to go!</p>

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<p>Econ is very nice at Princeton. Very highly ranked. Also the facilities are quite nice. Fisher Hall is right on Prospect Street and quite modern.</p>

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<p>For undergraduates, the top mathematics programs are Stanford, Princeton, MIT and Caltech. For econ, the top programs are Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT and Chicago.</p>

<p>You can't go wrong with Princeton, really.</p>

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<p>Can you provide a reference for including Yale in your list of top econ programs?</p>

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<p>The big 5 in economics are universally considered to be Princeton, University of Chicago, Harvard, Stanford and MIT.</p>

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<p>Yes, it is odd to have rankings of top math or econ departments that do not include Harvard; do you have references?</p>

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<p>According to the few math professors I know, Pricneton is considered the best in the nation for undergrad study (MIT for graduate).</p>

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<p>Don't look at the US News rankings. Just because Princeton is behind MIT does not mean that MIT is better. Look at Princeton's faculty. Overall, Princeton is also definitely more undergrad-focused than MIT.</p>

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<p>John Nash may have a few problems, but let's face it... he's one of the most brilliant guys out there. You can't go wrong knowing that he teaches (taught?) there.</p>

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<p>what if you're not too good at math but want to go to princeton anyway? can you just finish at calculus and be done with math? and does it look good to the school to take lots of math classes in high school?</p>

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<p>As far as the prestige of undergrad math departments (I don't know about the actual quality) is concerned, Harvard is definitely up there. For quite some time, Harvard has been easily the most popular destination of math olympiad winners and other math superstars. There has, however, been a shift toward MIT in recent years.</p>

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<p>When I went to MIT, I was told the top 5 math schools were: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, UC-Berkeley, and UChicago, in no particular order. If you go to any of those schools, you'll get a comparable (and AMAZING) math education.</p>

<p>Caltech is surprisingly sucky at math. Yale has the best math building, but I believe is ranked around number 8. Trust me on this one: you can't go wrong with Princeton math (especially since I'm going to give super special math major tours when I do Orange Key muahahaha).</p>

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<p>Fear not 4th floor, Harvard along with the other 4 are the preeminent economics schools. To those who gawk at Harvard's math department, there is some merit in your claims but Princeton can more than hold its' own. In fact, look no further than the last great math proof discovered by Wiles.</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.stat.tamu.edu/%7Ejnewton/nrc_rankings/area36.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/area36.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>That should justify Yale's inclusion.</p>

<p>As for Harvard, it is so graduate-focused that the undergraduate program gets little funding or attention.</p>

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<p>According to the NRC, Princeton is #1 in Mathematics. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.stat.tamu.edu/%7Ejnewton/nrc_rankings/area31.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/area31.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>(I dont know when this ranking was compiled, but its from the same time as the economics ranking in zephyr's above post.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
As for Harvard, it is so graduate-focused that the undergraduate program gets little funding or attention.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Browse around on </p>

<p><a href="http://math.harvard.edu/undergrad/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://math.harvard.edu/undergrad/index.html&lt;/a> </p>

<p>to see that the quoted statement has no credibility whatever.</p>