I got all of my admissions decisions back and the ones I’m most interested in right now are Rhodes, Purdue, and Sewanee. I’m just having trouble deciding which would be a better long term decision. Can anyone convince me one way or the other? I’m mostly interested in Mathematics.
Congrats! Purdue is a huge university, while the other two are small LACs. Big difference in college feel freshman year and beyond. Purdue will be large lectures for intro classes, and (probably) aloof professors more interested in their research than in teaching you. The opposite will be true at the LACs. More limited curriculum at LACs compared to Purdue.
Yes, one of these is not like the others!
Is there an appreciable cost difference between the schools for you? Have you examined their math offerings and faculty members? Does any of them offer generous AP credits that might give you advanced standing?
These are the questions I would ask myself, assuming you’ve visited all three schools and feel like you could spend four years at all of them.
Where are you coming from?
Are you okay with rural? If not, scratch Sewanee from the list.
BTW, there is a cool Youtube video about a Sewanee math major, “My Sewanee Story: Johnny.” I think he is now a Ph.D. candidate in the University of California system.