<p>Hi, I am a motivated freshman in college aiming to transfer to a strong school in pure mathematics. A good CS department is also important to me. I have some questions.</p>
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<li>How much opportunity will I have for undergraduate math research and/or personal attention from professors?</li>
<li>Will I be able to find a good, enjoyable job if I need one (as in, not busywork or menial tasks)?</li>
<li>To what extent is the general student body interesting to be around and interesting to interact with? E.g. discussing philosophy, playing intellectual games, etc.</li>
<li>What are the required general ed requirements not in math or science like? How much general ed stuff will I have to do?</li>
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<p>goosOx, Stanford takes only a tiny number of transfer students each year, usually between 1-2% of the 1600+ transfer applicants each year. So, as a prospective math major, you already realize that the odds of admission are extremely low. Admitted transfer students are usually those whose academic interests cannot be met at their present school, or community college students whose circumstances didn’t allow them to apply to four-year colleges directly from high school. All successful transfer applicants will have stellar college records.</p>
<p>Given that reality, here are answers to your questions:</p>
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<li><p>There are abundant research opportunities for undergraduates at Stanford, including in mathematics. Many math majors who undertake research here are on the Honors track. Advanced math courses are generally small-to-medium in size, so there is plenty of interaction with faculty if you want it.</p></li>
<li><p>Not sure what you’re asking here; do you mean a general on-campus job, or a research position?</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t think there’s really such a thing as a “general student body” at any university as diverse as Stanford. People here are interested in an extremely wide variety of topics and enjoy an equally wide variety of recreational activities. If you want to talk philosophy, etc., you can find people who want to do that all night (hint: they tend to be philosophy majors and you can meet them at weekly philosophy colloquia, among other places).</p></li>
<li><p>The general ed requirements recently changed, and I think it has become easier now to fulfill them by selecting from a very wide variety of courses that can tie into your interests in math and science. Many of the newer gen ed requirements aim to integrate humanistic aspects of study with the more technical aspects. I’m sure you can read all about it on the relevant pages of Stanford’s website, so Google away. And good luck.</p></li>
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