Math at Williams/LAC

banana3 · 10-10-2009, 03:12 AM

Hi. So I just posted this on the main message board and I thought that I might get some good responses here too.

What would people say the major differences are between math and science (math esp) at a liberal arts college and a university?

It seems that the best mathematicians all went to universities for their undergraduate education. I know McMullen went to Williams (harvard phd) and went on to get a fields medal, but are there any other prominent LAC undergrad mathematicians?

Is Williams the only LAC that compares?
Does it truly compare to an MIT/Harvard/Princeton? If so, how?

Ephtastic · 10-27-2009, 03:34 AM

I don't know exactly - but here, you can be assured that the profs want to teach, and they teach very well. The bottom line is that I think you have to be an excellent student mathematician to have Fields potential, and there are a few places that can develop that kind of talent. Williams is one of them, but more importantly, it is also a place to develop math for those who aren't all of Fields potential.

Math/Stat