Top Undergraduate Programs in Mathematics

College Search & Selection
41

<p>I looked around online and counted the number of Fields medalists associated with several top math departments, but I couldn't find any evidence that Princeton has the most Fields medalists. The following list is probably biased in Chicago's favor because I know exactly which of the winners were Chicago graduates. I'd be interested to see more accurate counts if anyone has them.</p>

<p>Institute for Advanced Study: 34
University of Chicago: at least 10
Princeton University: at least 8
Harvard University: at least 5
University of California, Berkeley: at least 5
MIT: at least 2</p>

<p>The IAS has an impressive record considering only 48 people have won the Fields medal. Of course you can't apply to the IAS for college, so it doesn't much matter!</p>

42

<p>The Math at Cambridge is amazing. It's probably the most popular Math dept in the world. </p>

<p>In the US, I would say that it is still Harvard then the following schools:
Princeton, Berkeley, MIT, Caltech and Stanford.</p>

43

<p>Here are all the names, in case anyone's interested.</p>

<p>Chicago: Efim Zelmanov, Stephen Smale, Andrei Okounkov, Lars Hörmander, Vladimir Drinfel'd, Charles Fefferman, John Thompson, André Weil, Elias M. Stein, Paul Cohen</p>

<p>Princeton: Charles Fefferman, Michael Freedman, John Milnor, Terence Tao, Edward Witten, Andrei Okounkov, Gerd Faltings, William Thurston</p>

<p>Harvard: Lars Ahlfors, Heisuke Hironaka, David Mumford, Curtis McMullen, Daniel Quillen</p>

<p>Berkeley: Stephen Smale, Vaughan Jones, William Thurston, Shing-Tung Yau, Richard Borcherds</p>

<p>MIT: Jesse Douglas, Daniel Quillen</p>

44

<p>^ Harvard's Math is better than Chicago. Not even close.</p>

45

<p>I recounted and it looks like Chicago and Princeton are tied for the lead with nine wins each. After that, Harvard has eight, Berkeley seven, and MIT two.</p>

<p>Chicago: Efim Zelmanov, Stephen Smale, Andrei Okounkov, Lars Hörmander, Vladimir Drinfel'd, Charles Fefferman, John Thompson, Elias M. Stein, Paul Cohen</p>

<p>Princeton: Charles Fefferman, Michael Freedman, John Milnor, Terence Tao, Edward Witten, Andrei Okounkov, Gerd Faltings, William Thurston, Curtis McMullen</p>

<p>Harvard: Lars Ahlfors, Heisuke Hironaka, David Mumford, Curtis McMullen, Daniel Quillen, Vladimir Voevodsky, Edward Witten, Shing-Tung Yau</p>

<p>Berkeley: Stephen Smale, Vaughan Jones, William Thurston, Shing-Tung Yau, Richard Borcherds, Curtis McMullen, Michael Freedman</p>

<p>MIT: Jesse Douglas, Daniel Quillen</p>

46

<p>What makes you think Harvard is so much better than Chicago in math?</p>

47

<p>Look at the quality of students that go to both schools. From there alone you can see Harvard has an edge already. There's NO need to argue more about this. This is actually a no-brainer. When it comes to Mathematics, Harvard is better. Then the next school would probably a toss up among Princeton, Berkeley, MIT, Caltech and Stanford.</p>

48

<p>
[quote]
Look at the quality of students that go to both schools. From there alone you can see Harvard has an edge already.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It's true that SAT scores are a little higher at Harvard, and most of the Math Olympiad winners end up going to Harvard. But I don't think it's obvious that Harvard has stronger math students. Chicago is one of the only elite schools with a merit scholarship program, so a lot of math majors who would otherwise attend Harvard choose to attend Chicago instead. If you read my earlier posts, you know that Chicago has produced more Fields medalists than Harvard, and a large number of Chicago's Fields medalists were students at Chicago.</p>

<p>That said, I don't think you've really answered my question. What makes Harvard math so much better than Chicago? Your assertion that Harvard has better students is weak at best, and rather than provide a good reason, you blew off the question.</p>

<p>
[quote]
There's NO need to argue more about this. This is actually a no-brainer. When it comes to Mathematics, Harvard is better.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I don't think any of us is qualified to judge the research currently being done at Chicago, and I don't think you understand the significance of the work that mathematicians at Chicago have already done. Why don't you go read about Andr</p>

49

<p>A student reading this thread for advice on where to apply might just as well apply to all of the top six or seven colleges, not knowing in advance which will admit each applicant.</p>

50

<p>I think it goes: Princeton, Chicago, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, CalTech, Michigan</p>

51

<p>just curious...where would Harvey Mudd fit in to all of this? I know it's not completely comparable, being an LAC...but just a general idea?</p>

52

<p>
[quote]
Chicago is one of the only elite schools with a merit scholarship program, so a lot of math majors who would otherwise attend Harvard choose to attend Chicago instead.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Oh come one. This must be a joke. Harvard's eenrolment yield is 80% and according to the survey which I lost the site but which I will provide as soon as I find it, those 20% that did not accept Harvard's offer have ended up at its rival schools -- Yale, Princeton, Stanford and MIT. Chicago was not even mentioned. Berkeley was though. So, please be realistic. I know Chicago is a fantastic school, but I think you're overrating it. </p>

<p>
[quote]

I don't think any of us is qualified to judge the research currently being done at Chicago, and I don't think you understand the significance of the work that mathematicians at Chicago have already done. Why don't you go read about Andr</p>

53

<p>I'm not going to get into this whole debate but at the undergrad level, the difference between Harvard, Princeton or an a Chicago or Cornell is minimal. </p>

<p>That said, while this:
"Institute for Advanced Study, which is NOT affiliated with Princeton University" is true, keep in mind that tons of IAS faculty teach courses at Princeton and mentor thesis work (at the undergrad and grad level). It might not be formally affiliated but IAS and Princeton are on great terms and its not as though the IAS isn't a great asset to Princeton students who want it.</p>

54

<p>
[quote]
This must be a joke.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No, actually I wasn't joking. I'm not saying that a lot of people admitted to Harvard choose to attend Chicago. I'm just saying that some extraordinary math students choose Chicago over Harvard because we provide very generous scholarships.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I don't think you understand the researches being done at Harvard.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I know very little about the latest math research at Harvard, but I recognize that Harvard has contributed greatly to math research over the past hundred years. The purpose of my last post was not to show that Chicago is better than Harvard in math. I have know way of knowing which is better. I'm just saying that your view of Chicago is unfounded.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Harvard's Math is better than Chicago. Not even close.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
There's NO need to argue more about this. This is actually a no-brainer.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Actually, Chicago and Harvard are very close. It's not at all obvious that one is better than the other; it isn't a "no-brainer". Mathematicians agree that these are two of the best schools in the world.</p>

55

<p>PimpDaddy, do you go to Princeton? I have a hard time believing that undergraduates have access to IAS faculty, except possibly through public lectures. Of course I may be mistaken.</p>

56

<p>I do and there definitely is a decent amount of interaction. A quick perusal of the IAS faculty shows this (Check out: <a href="http://www.math.ias.edu/media/SarnakCV.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.math.ias.edu/media/SarnakCV.pdf&lt;/a> and look at positions, he's still listed as PU prof). I had a grad student advisor when I was Pton and one of her mentors (for her PhD) was at IAS as well. This isn't to say that IAS is pretty much a part of the university but if you want to work with someone there, its definitely a truly wonderful resource to have so very close to campus.</p>

57

<p>That's pretty cool.</p>

58

<p>Harvard is just for a bunch of rich, white, elite kids with legacies while UChicago is for the people that come from many backgrounds and worked their ass off to get where they are now. So no, just cuz Harvard has students with better SAT's, doesn't mean that they are smarter. Those students probably went to expensive private schools that had a very intensive SAT prep. Most students from UChicago come from public schools where the education and prep are not as good . Higher SAT's may mean that they are smarter, or it may mean that they had more money for private school.</p>

59

<p>MIT did a study of top undergrad math programs a few years ago. They listed the following six as first tier, in no particular order:
MIT, Harvard, Chicago, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley. Caltech, Umich, Cornell, UCLA and NYU were in the next tier.</p>

<p>I can think of lots of reasons why a student accepted to Chicago and Harvard might turn down Harvard, and for reasons not having to do with merit $$. </p>

<p>lssd2012, where on earth did you get this drivel?</p>

60

<p>ChicagoScholar, Elias Stein is not a Fields Medalist.</p>