What are the best colleges for MATH?

[zev1991]

<p>I am trying to decide between MIT, Princeton, and Stanford and plan to study theoretical math with an eye to earning a PhD eventually. Does anyone have any oprinions on the undergraduate math , overall teaching at these colleges</p>

[tokenadult]

<p>

I am trying to decide between MIT, Princeton, and Stanford and plan to study theoretical math with an eye to earning a PhD eventually.

</p>

<p>I’ll reply to this question from back in April to note that the first task in choosing among those colleges is getting admitted. There are some differences in emphasis and approach among those colleges as places to study math (as an undergraduate, I presume), but one could hardly go wrong at any of them. </p>

<p>Good luck in your applications.</p>

[starbright]

<p>Waterloo. </p>

<p>

The University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics has the largest concentration of mathematical and computer science talent in the world. Perhaps the best testimony to Waterloo’s standing and exceptional reputation is the quality and many achievements of the faculty’s teachers, researchers, alumni and students. With more than 5,300 students, 200 full-time professors, and 180 courses in mathematics, statistics and computer science, the faculty is a powerhouse of discovery and innovation.

[Faculty</a> of Mathematics | University of Waterloo](<a href=“http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/]Faculty”>http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/)</p>

[student4ever]

<p>How about Harvey Mudd? Anyone know how it ranks with the top Math programs (Harvard, Princeton, MIT)? Which ones have the best “pure” math programs? And, how about the music programs within these schools, as well? Possible double major?</p>

[Alexandre]

<p>HMC offers a Mathematics major, so you can be sure it will be excellent. Its offerings will not match those at a school like Harvard, MIT or Princeton, but it will still be very solid.</p>

<p>For Music, are you interested in Theory or Performance?</p>

[datalook]

<p>When talking about math, you may want to ask what kind of math you are most interested in. For example, if you are most interested in pure, theoretical math, then Princeton is the best (in the whole world). If you are interested in geometry, then Harvard is the best. If you are interested in discrete math, the mathematics related to computer science, then MIT is the best. If you are interested in statistics (how to draw conclusions from numbers), and computational math, then Stanford is the best. If you are interested in topology and logic, then Berkeley is the best. If you are interested in applied math (such as the type of math used in physics), then New York University is the best. Here is the link to check the math subfield (specialty) ranking: [Best</a> Science Schools - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools)</p>

<p>Based on the stength of faculty and what the department can offer, I think the ranking should be like this:</p>

<h1>1 Princeton</h1>

<h1>2 Berkeley, Harvard</h1>

<h1>4 MIT</h1>

<h1>5 Stanford, Chicago</h1>

<h1>7 Yale, New York University</h1>

<p>…</p>

[datalook]

<p>University (NAS members in pure math + NAS members in applied math)</p>

<h1>1 Princeton (16 members in pure math + 1 member in applied math)</h1>

<h1>2 New York University (6 + 9)</h1>

<h1>3 Berkeley (8+6)</h1>

<h1>4 Stanford (5+8)</h1>

<h1>5 Harvard (9+1)</h1>

<h1>5 MIT (7+3)</h1>

<p>Others:
Yale (4+2)
Chicago (2+0)
Columbia (2+0)
Duke (0 +1)
Brown (2+1)
Cornell (2+2)
UCLA (2+2)
UC, San Diego (3 +1)
Michigan (4+0)
Rutgers (2+1)
Wisconsin (2+2)</p>

[burry]

<p>I don’t know if anyone has suggested U Maryland, College Park. It has a very strong math program definitely at the Ph.D. level, but probably undergrad, too.</p>

[Erin_s_Dad]

<p>Datalook, those are graduate programs which don’t necessarily apply at the undergrad level. Certainly they leave out all LACs.</p>

[student4ever]

<p>datalook, thanks for the info on the subfields and rankings - that will come in handy when applying for grad programs.</p>

<p>Does anyone know of rankings for undergraduate math programs, subfield of pure math? Also interested in research at undergrad level. I know Princeton, definitely, any others?</p>

<p>Any info on Harvey Mudd?</p>

<p>Math double major with Music theory and performance?</p>

[vonlost]

<p>Math permeates all sciences. Here are the top 28 schools at undergrad preparation for future PhDs in engineering, science and math, alphabetically, since they’ll all excellent. Pick the schools you like the most.</p>

<p>Based on percentage of grads getting PhDs (the range is 5% to 34%)<br>
Academic field: All Engineering, Science, and Math</p>

<p>PhDs and Doctoral Degrees:
ten years (1994 to 2003) from NSF database</p>

<p>Number of Undergraduates:
ten years (1989 to 1998) from IPEDS database </p>

<p>Bryn Mawr College
California Institute of Technology
Carleton College
Carnegie Mellon University
Case Western Reserve University
Cooper Union
Cornell University
Grinnell College
Harvard University
Harvey Mudd College
Haverford College
Johns Hopkins University
Kalamazoo College
Lawrence University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
Oberlin College
Pomona College
Princeton University
Reed College
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rice University
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
Williams College
Yale University</p>

<p>The original post by interesteddad: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/661994-math-physics-swarthmore.html?#post1061924332[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/swarthmore/661994-math-physics-swarthmore.html?#post1061924332&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[Suin]

<p>Harvey Mudd’s mathematics department was awarded the very first Award for Exemplary Program by the American Mathematical Society in 2005. The volume of research done is of course no where near the major universities, but 13+ profs for about 25 math majors per year is pretty good odds. One year of research and a written thesis is required for graduation (for those in pure math, industry projects for applied) but you can probably do as much as you can handle. Pure math is of course itself a very wide subfield, but there’s at least one prof for anything really. Pomona also has a very good math department (as does Claremont McKenna, though to a lesser extent) and you can easily take any class they offer.</p>

<p>Mudd doesn’t have a music program, but right next door is Scripps and Pomona where you can double major. There should be enough time to finish in 4 years.</p>

[bachelier]

<p>Sorry but this statistics is misleading. My Stat prof. said, you can really prove any argument you want by cleverly using data. This is a wonderful example. </p>

<p>Examine the real data here: [nsf.gov</a> - SRS Baccalaureate Origins of S&E Doctorate Recipients - US National Science Foundation (NSF)](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/]nsf.gov”>http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08311/)</p>

<p>I was depressed not to see Berkeley’s name on the list until I checked the full list on the NSF website to find out that the ranking is by Percentage. In fact Berkeley students went on to win some 3199 PhD in sciences and engineering including math. It is the highest number of PhD awarded followed by Cornell at 2500. But compared to the 25,000 freshmen accepted each year at Berkeley, who when they graduate decide to either enter the workforce or do something else than pursuing a higher degree, you get a mere 5% of the students go on to get a PhD, which puts Berkeley at #39, while it should be at number 1 since it has the highest number and puts Reed College (which I never heard of) at number 4 with appr 300 PhDs awarded. Slick marketing. :)</p>

[vonlost]

<p>Some who think about a future PhD might prefer to be around a higher percentage of like-minded students, and not care a whit about a huge school’s past cumulative total.</p>

[tk21769]

<p>The NSF/IPEDS numbers have nothing to do with marketing. The per capita rate is the right number to use if you are trying to estimate a school’s potential to motivate and prepare an individual student. If you want to assess its total contribution to an academic field, or to society, that’s a different question.</p>

<p>

I don’t think we’re talking about the percentage of undergrads from a particular college that will go onto a Ph.D in math; that could very well be exclusive to a certain year’s class.

</p>

<p>It’s not. The rankings posted to the Reed site reflect per capita numbers over a multi-year range.</p>

<p>

Sometimes NOT going on for a Ph.D. is a sign of a strong undergraduate program: that means that the undergraduate degree itself is a valuable credential for employment after graduation. I know that there is a whole category of jobs for math majors, working as a “rocket scientist” for an investment firm, that is readily open to any math major from Princeton, MIT, or Harvard who cares to pursue that occupation, but which is often closed to almost all math graduates from LACs. The hiring bias in some of those jobs is that a math major who didn’t go to the very best undergraduate math program (assumed to be the program of H, P, or M) isn’t fit to be hired for such lucrative employment.

</p>

<p>That hiring bias, to the extent it exists, may have to do with many factors besides the quality of math education at these schools.</p>

[shushugah]

<p>It’s really hard to say which school is going to be better, there are so many variables, from a specific professor a specific semester, (Andrew Wiles is arguably one of the best professors out there, but does that mean every student in Princeton receives him? No.)</p>

<p>As many posters previously mentioned, it also matters whether it’s for your Undergrad, Masters or Ph.D</p>

<p>IMO NYU is low on graduate courses, however for Graduate the "Courant Institute (in NYU) is stellar, as NewsWeek ranked them #1 in applied math. </p>

<p>MIT, Cal-Tech, Harvard, Brown, Stanford, are all well ranked in mathematics, their main differences being slight aesthetic differences, such as Cal-Tech’s small size, to harvard’s fair share of Liberal arts and athletic students.</p>

<p>Harvey Mudd, is high up there for engineering particularly, </p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon for computer science and anything computers, </p>

<p>Waterloo I don’t know as much as I should, but despite its virtual anonymity, it’s well respected amongst math circles (based on what several Professors have told me, and articles I read from others). </p>

<p>Others like UCLA and Berkely are high up there, as far as which to go to? That depends on so many personal factors, and as far as predicting which one you’ll do better in? That’s for god or no one to know (And the mods)</p>

[vonlost]

<p>“It’s really hard to say which school is going to be better …”</p>

<p>Especially without knowing something about the student. Better for Amy is not necessarily the same as better for Andy.</p>