<p>Hello everyone,
I am making this thread for my friend. He got into both University of Chicago and Princeton. He is split 50/50 whether to major in economics or mathematics<br>
(applied mathematics). He also got some financial aid from U of C and some from Princeton. He is having a hard time deciding. Which one should he go to?</p>
<p>With two great institutions at hand, it should really come down to fit. They are about equal in both these fields.</p>
<p>but what about the math programs? which one is better Princeton or U of C?</p>
<p>Both are considered classic powerhouses in Math. I think other CC members can support that statement. I know Chicago has one of if not THE hardest freshmen Math course-Honors Analysis-which is on par with Math 55 at Harvard. Regardless, they are both really excellent for Math and if he wishes to go on to grad school, both will provide the resources. Like I said:FIT.</p>
<p>I have a friend at Princeton who is rather disappointed with the Princeton math courses. I can't defend or oppose his position, as I don't know much about Princeton, but I'll tell you that the math at UChicago is hardcore. I'm a freshman math major taking Honors Analysis, and I'm taking an additional 2 math courses this quarter. All three books for these classes are graduate texts, and I work, oh, about 50-60 hours a week doing math.</p>
<p>You will almost undoubtedly be expected to do more [theoretical] math for a degree here in both mathematics and economics than you would have to at Princeton. We also have a special degree called "Mathematics w/ Specialization in Economics", and people who graduate with such degree usually have their pick of graduate schools at hand.</p>
<p>Regardless, overall, you'd probably get approximately the same education at either institutions.</p>
<p>Princeton and U Chicago are both excellent for math and economics. The Gourman undergraduate rankings have Princeton as 1st in math, Chicago at 5th and Chicago as 2nd in economics, Princeton at 4th--clearly they are both incredibly strong in these subjects. I really think that in this case, it has got to come down to fit. Princeton is located in an upscale suburban town, equidistant between New York City and Philadelphia. It has a beautiful contained campus and has enormous strength in most academic areas. The students are extremely bright, very involved in extracurricular activities and generally friendly and fun. Social life is generally found on campus, either at eating club parties, many of which are open to all students, or by attending any of the numerous artistic events occurring on campus. </p>
<p>Chicago is located in a large vibrant city in the Midwest and the campus is lovely (although depending on which way you travel, there are some not as nice areas reasonably close to campus). I don't know anything about its social life, but I think that since both schools are excellent, your friend should try and visit, or if that's not possible, contact the admissions office to see if they can put him in touch with students and faculty members in areas of interest. In addition, this thread provides some links to websites you can use if you can't visit
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/485952-what-do-when-you-can-t-visit.html?highlight=unable+to+visit%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/485952-what-do-when-you-can-t-visit.html?highlight=unable+to+visit</a></p>
<p>It comes down to other facotrs besides pure academics. they are almost equal to each other on the undergrad level for econ and math, and now everything else you look for in a college should come to play...</p>