Greetings everyone!
I am a transfer student who was accepted to a number of great colleges and I narrowed down my list to Yale and Stanford. My preferred major is Applied Mathematics. At Yale, I did apply as an Applied Math major and will have an opportunity to have a concentration in Machine Learning as well as have a certificate in Data Science. For Stanford, I applied as a Mathematics major (they also offer Mathematical and Computational Science, should not be a problem to switch), and I am currently trying to find what they have to offer. On one hand, I have Yale with these cool concentrations and certificates, on the other hand, I have Stanford located right in the heart of Silicon Valley and with a very highly rated Mathematics Department. I guess my questions would be:
First, is Stanford’s Mathematics or Mathematical and Computational Science major similar to Applied Mathematics major
Second, what should I look into when comparing these two amazing schools together.
Third, have you been in this kind of situation and what did you choose and why (doesn’t have to be about Stanford or Yale for this last part)
Location, weather, or student environment are not a problem for me as I easily adapt to new situations.
The tuition is also not a big deal because I have a national scholarship that will pay for the majority of my tuition (have not received my financial aid from either of schools yet, but I strongly believe that I would have a full-ride or 95% of my tuition covered by the institution and I have my scholarship to cover the rest)
Any opinion matters and helps! I would greatly appreciate your input :))
I do not know if this helps but you might also look at what both schools have in the way of Operations Research. I was an OR major at Stanford for my master’s and the program is very good. I do not know whether they have undergrad courses, or if you can take a graduate class or two as an upper year undergrad.
Either school is going to be academically demanding. As long as you work hard and keep ahead in your classes I do not think that you can go wrong at either school.
By the way, I liked the quarter system at Stanford. The plus is that you get to take more courses in a year. The downside is that the end of the quarter comes up very quickly, and you really, really do not want to ever fall behind in your class work and studying. Since I was a graduate student with some work experience I was mature enough to know to keep up.
Thank you very much! I did not think of looking to see which one of them offers OR courses. I did talk to one of Stanford’s transfer advisers and asked her if undergrad students can take graduate courses and she said yes!
I am used to the semester system and quarter system is going to be something new to me but I will do my best to not fall behind. Thank you very much for all your advice!
Another question I have, after reading your comment is what degree did you pursue before applying to OR MS program? I am currently thinking of majoring in Mathematics instead of Applied Mathematics and I am wondering if I would need to take extra courses before applying for the OR: Financial Engineering M.S. program.
“what degree did you pursue before applying to OR MS program?”
I did my undergrad at MIT. I decided to be a math major somewhere in the middle of quantum physics. I ended up with a degree in math from MIT focusing on applied math. I also took quite a few computer science classes. I then worked for a couple of years, and went to Stanford for my master’s degree. Having some computer science experience and ability was quite helpful.
OR was merged with EES and IEEM in late 90s, and is now a "branch" of MS&E.
2.As for MS in “FE”, (MS MFE, Stanford version), please check the link below for details: https://mcf.stanford.edu/
(Side note: The nearby UC Berkeley Haas has one of a kind MFE program, if you are set to pursue FE later.) IMHO, Berkeley’s MFE is the best in the field so please check the link for details: https://mfe.haas.berkeley.edu/
Due to proximity to Silicon Valley and great flexibility to choose from CS, MS&E, ICME and many others, I highly recommend you to choose "the farm" for your UG degree. Since you mentioned FE, so I'd like to let you know that proficiency in PDE is crucial in this discipline as Stanford Math Dep't has one of the best, if not the best PDE guru, Prof. T-P Liu on campus. Moreover, you can take Investment Science and Adv. Investment Science from MS&E so you would have a basic taste of what quant is all about.