Hi! I currently live in Texas and want to get a BS in Applied Math. My instate safeties are Texas A&M and UT. I’m ranked 2 out of 775, so I’m basically in at those schools. (Texas takes top 10% and 6% at those schools. I’m top 1%)Anyway, I have a ton of reaches that I love (Rice/Uchicago/Northwestern) but would like a list of schools that I have a better chance of getting into! After all, those are hard for everyone to get into. I need to be realistic. I am not all that excited about UT and TAMU because they’re HUGE! Great schools but just so darn huge. I want a smaller school, probably private because they offer more financial aid if I go OOS (and yes, I will go OOS…pretty much anywhere) and preferably one with a bit of a nerdy vibe. I’m a very liberal and open-minded, middle class kid but nerdy. My sister would say “REALLY nerdy”. Not antisocial though. I like having deep conversations and playing video games. I’m friendly but a dork. Not interested in parties and Greek life. Looking forward to making friends with people from all over the country.
I guess I should give a little about my stats:
GPA 4/4
Rank 2/775
SAT 1500
EC’s violin and STEM stuff
Seems like these days everyone has stats like mine, so my reaches feel very out of reach. I just want a school that can make me happy and has friendly students and approachable profs but is also great in math. Hope that’s not too much to ask for. Thanks for any suggestions.
(PS I love NYC and Boston but I’m not a huge fan of a campus that’s right in the middle of the big city, like NYU.)
Look into the AITU schools. Students like you describe yourself to be are very comfortable there. They are not too big but often in big cities so maybe not to your liking.
Reed, in Portland OR might be a fit, and meets full need.
Harvey Mudd, in the Claremont Consortium in CA.
U of Rochester, especially since you’re a musician.
Also Case Western in Cleveland, if it doesn’t cross the “too urban” line.
St. Olaf in MN is more “music nerd” than “nerd nerd” but has a very strong math department and meets full need as well so worth checking out.
Carnegie Mellon, RPI, and WPI could all be worth a look but full-need-met aid wouldn’t be guaranteed.
Reed College in Portland is exactly what you are looking for. Just about the nerdiest school in the country. And the math department there will kick your butt. https://www.reed.edu/math/
For suggestions of colleges especially appropriate for your academic interests, look into a sampling in the print edition of The Princeton Review’s Best 385 Colleges, “Great Schools for Mathematics Majors.” This list is specific to the selection of an undergraduate college and includes recommendations across a range of selectivity levels and types, with examples such as Harvey Mudd, MIT, UChicago, Caltech, Harvard, Brown, four NESCACs, URochester, Rice, Reed, Bryn Mawr and St. Olaf appearing.
Great ideas up thread.
Swarthmore came to mind as I was reading this (and Haverford.)
Princeton might also be one you’d like but not easy to get into.
Carnegie Mellon is a little more urban but sounds like the right vibe.
Carleton? RPI?
None of these are so easy to get into though.