<p>How is it?</p>
<p>Thrill3rnit3- We were just having a discussion about the Math 171-174 sequence.
I would be pleased to continue this discussion and a more general discussion
of the Rochester Math program. For the types of student that Rochester attracts
it looks to me from the outside a very good program. </p>
<p>I would be interested in comparing the program with other math programs as well.
I am not interested in rankings but in how well the program works for the
students who attend that university.</p>
<p>I will see if I can solicit a friend of mine to post on CC regarding this topic. He graduated with a math degree just over a month ago and as far as I know had a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>Though I am still learning about the department, I can tell you that approximately 8% of the students at Rochester take at least an introductory level math course, which is compared to a national average of about 2%. If nothing else this speaks to the level of interest in math at Rochester, and is perhaps indicative of the students’ perception of the quality of the department.</p>
<p>It also speaks to the number of kids interested in science at UR and perhaps the number of pre-meds.</p>
<p>Thanks Mconklin. I do not however think that you mean 8% take an introductory class.
Perhaps 8% major in math which would be very high compared to 2%.</p>
<p>There are approx 50 math majors per each class year. (Or 200 out of 5000 undergrads–or about 4% of the school. Number derived from looking at the degrees granted over the past 3 years. Some of those math degrees go to students who double major.)</p>
<p>Not sure if that is a high percentage compared to other schools or not.</p>
<p>UR’s math department is very solicitous of it undergrad majors and has given D excellent advising and help with schedule planning.</p>
<p>I am a math major at UR, so I can answer specific questions. One thing the department does now is focuses on hiring professors not just for research, but also for their teaching ability, which is a huge plus in comparison to some other departments. As far as research goes, though, I would say Rochester is very strong for algebraic topology in particular (but that’s not really that important for undergrad).</p>
<p>And the 8% figure is math majors (that includes all the bio/engineering/etc. majors who take a few extra classes to get the BA in major, but it’s still a high number). About 4/5 of all UR students take at least one calculus class in their four years.</p>
<p>There are plenty of excellent professors, and it’s really not hard to get to know them.</p>