I’m trying to decide between Yale, UChicago, and Columbia (if someone has a very strong case for Penn I’d like to hear that too).
I will probably be doing math with economics focus, or applied math. UChicago is probably the best for both math and economics of the three, but I’d like to hear what your thoughts are on that, because they’re all pretty amazing academic schools.
I also value school spirit and athletics a bit, which I worry Columbia and UChicago lack (this isn’t a major factor, but cmon Columbia football went 0-10 last year). But Yale has a more laid back attitude from what I hear than the intensity of UChicago. I don’t want to never have fun, but I think that’s more a reputation based thing than anything. And cities are a nice asset, but there seems to be plenty of stuff on campus at Yale all the time. I also am a John Jay Scholar at Columbia, which means my advising will be supplemented and summer research is funded, among other things. Something I don’t know about is how good the career and grad school advising is at each school.
The schools would each cost about the same for me, so it’s really just about which I like best. I’m super torn! Any thoughts, comments or advice is greatly appreciated, especially on the math there! Thanks in advance.
Try to visit each to decide. All three are academically strong and weak in sports, Yale is better, but not by much. Academically you cannot go wrong with either.
Regarding the math program at UChicago, this is a thread started a few months ago which you may find helpful - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17742730/#Comment_17742730 . Some UChicago parents and math students (including me) have posted in it. If you’re interested in math and economics, UChicago has a Math with a Specialization in Economics degree.
I don’t know much about the program, but from what I’ve read, being a John Jay Scholar at Columbia sounds pretty great to me…
Regarding school spirit, I definitely get the sense that Yale has the strongest school spirit of the three schools you’ve listed.
First of all, I’d like to congratulate you. They are three excellent choices.
I’m a current third year student of Mathematics with an economic focus (and some philosophy). You know the academic quality of these two fields at Uchicago is great, and I can attest to that. My experience in math and economics has been nothing but positive. The math program has it’s own summer research initiative for undergrads and the professors and coursework are great, and I know of multiple people including myself who have opportunities to work for professors as research assistants. I don’t know what other benefits the John Jay program gives but I think if you are a top student, you will be able to find research jobs and be able to build relationships just fine with or without it.
That’s great! The math program at UChicago sounds incredible, it’s going to be so hard to choose between them. I definitely will look into seeing if the other schools offer similar programs, because the opportunities UChicago math offers seem amazing!