<p>B@rium,
S had the same concerns – quirky, relatively small, access to grad math for undergrads. Is now at Chicago and is extremely happy, though Mudd was a very close second. Mudd was willing to work with him on independent studies in graduate-level math.</p>
<p>There were a number of very fine schools that he loed which didn’t make his list because he needed more math than they could offer. He had a lot of UG math in HS, so this is not a typical scenario.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University is also a great fit for what you’re describing.</p>
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<p>I think we hover around 4400 undergrads, though the number has been climbing slightly as CMU’s stock has been rising with the increasing popularity of the Tepper school of business.</p>
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<p>I actually found the campus of CMU to be more attractive than Caltech’s, as most of the architecture is very pretty and the view of the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh is one of the best in the city.</p>
<p>The only busy street you’d ever have to cross to get to classes is Forbes Ave, but about half of the freshman class cross at that intersection every morning, and the light is very friendly to pedestrians, so it’s not a big deal (if you live in one of the dorms up on the Hill then the only street you have to ever cross is one that doesn’t even have a center line).</p>
<p>The campus is also separated from Oakland/Pittsburgh by a large ravine with train tracks at the bottom, so CMU really feels like it’s more in a suburb of the city than in it proper like the University of Pittsburgh is or surrounded by the city like Duquesne is. But there’s a ton of buses that run right by the side of campus which run through Oakland and all the way downtown, so it’s actually easier to take the bus downtown than drive yourself there.</p>
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<p>If you want a late-night party you’ll usually have to go off campus to a house on Beeler’s St. or maybe one of the fraternities. If you want to just hang out in the dorm with friends it’s a great place to do so, though.</p>
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<p>I was expected to start grad classes my junior year within the materials science department. It’s the same for pretty much every technical department at the school.</p>
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<p>Probably our weakest link, but the bio and humanities programs help increase the number of women on campus.</p>
<p>Rice!! You should realllly look into it. It’s very small for a research university (~3,000 undergrads) and it is well known for it’s science and math programs. Undergrad research is extremely popular and easy to get into.</p>
<p>Not sure about the social aspect; dorms may not always be quiet by 11 p.m., but it’s definitely not a party school. No greek system. </p>
<p>And Rice is the definition of a haven. It’s located smack in the middle of Houston, but it’s in the beautiful museum and arts district. The campus is walled off from the city. When you walk on, you would NEVER know there was a major city around you. Thousands and thousands of trees on campus, and there’s really only two roads on campus. They are very small and when I was on tour there I saw maybe two cars.</p>
<p>Definitely look into Rice. :)</p>