Best Universities for Math and Science

Mathinduction
Sat, 27 Sep 2014 05:38:09 +0000

Hi,

I posted this under the general forum for University Searches but wanted to post under each respective university that I’m considering applying to in case I get more detailed responses. It would be great any of you could specifically respond to the Carnegie Mellon portion of this (although if you have friends/connections with people at other universities, feel free to comment on those also).

My query is as follows:

I’m a current Junior who has begun the college search and would like some advice with regards to which colleges might be a good fit for me. Firstly, let me describe a little about myself and what I’m looking for in a college. I’m a student who is looking for a top college which excels at math or science. I’m looking at colleges within both the US and England (which is where I’m from originally) and want small to medium sized college (preferably under 20,000 students). Also, the area I want to specialize most in is theoretical math (the sub-area I think I might want to specialize in is real/complex analysis (although that may change as I investigate higher level math). Therefore, I want a university with great theoretical mathematics options. Preferably I’d like to have some good humanities offerings (possibly getting a minor in philosophy), but I want my main focus to be in the math and science areas (maybe spending around 2/3 of my time in math & science and 1/3 in everything else). My eventual goal is to go to graduate school, get a PhD in mathematics and become a math professor. Therefore, I’d like a college which gives lots of research opportunities to undergrads and has a great math grad. program, so that I can begin research and graduate level courses as an undergrad.

Here are the current colleges I’m interested in (as my top choices- I obviously have some back-up options also) and some things which I really like and am concerned about with each:

1) MIT:

I’ve visited MIT twice now and love it each time I visit; the size and location also seem to suit me really well, and I know that it has a fantastic reputation. My one slight concern that I always have with MIT is that it seems to emphasize engineering/practical applications. Therefore, I was slightly worried about whether I’d fit in as I really want to emphasize theory and proofs, and it’s my understanding that not that many MIT students go into the theoretical math track at least initially (in terms of not many taking the 18.014-18.024-18.034 to start their freshman careers). I’ve never been particularly into engineering/building things, so I’m just concerned about whether I fit with their whole mission of “Mind and Hand”. Therefore, I still don’t know what to think with regards to MIT as I really, really like it every time I visit, but just have this one doubt still.

2) Caltech

I haven’t visited Caltech but have done a lot of research about it and know that it is more theoretically oriented than somewhere like MIT (in terms of requiring students to take more theoretical math/physics tracks). Therefore, I really like this theoretical emphasis as I feel like it aligns well with my goals. Also, I like the house system and small size of Caltech as I feel like I would fit in well with that system. I have just a couple of concerns with Caltech: 1) While I really like the small size, I am slightly concerned that it will mean that there will be fewer courses offered, so I may not have as much choice. 2) I’ve read in a lot of places that people aren’t that impressed with Caltech’s humanities offerings. While it’s not where I want to specialize, I do really enjoy the humanities so would like somewhere which does have humanities courses of good caliber. 3) Caltech’s location is not ideal for me as I currently have family on the East Coast and in England, so it’s quite far away from them.

3) Princeton

Again, I haven’t had the opportunity to visit, but it seems to potentially be a good fit for me. I love the look of their Advanced/Accelerated Freshman Sequence (MAT 216 and 218) as they seem to be great, intense intro. analysis classes (which hopefully, I should be able to handle as I’m independently working through some analysis material this year so will have had exposure to rigorous proofs by the time I’m attending).I also really like the look of their 4 part Analysis Series (MAT 325, MAT 335, MAT 425, and MAT 523) which I’d love to have completed by the end of my undergrad. career. Its location is also great in terms of being on the East Coast (and I’d get to be at the university where Fermat’s Last Theorem was proven! ). My one concern with Princeton is that unlike Caltech and MIT, Princeton is not specifically oriented towards math or science, so while it has a great program, I’m just concerned that it won’t have enough emphasis on math/science for me. I visited Harvard, and personally, found that it wasn’t a good fit for me as their philosophy seemed to be more oriented towards liberal arts in lieu of depth in one specific area (which was more what I was looking for).

4) Carnegie Mellon:

I know that Carnegie Mellon also has a good reputation for math, and I like how I could really garner the depth that I want through their having no core classes and instead allowing students to go very deep into their chosen subject area. My one concern is similar to that with MIT in that I’m just wondering whether Carnegie Mellon will be too engineering oriented for my liking.

5) Other US universities:

The 4 above are just the universities that I think will be best suited to me, but there are also other top universities I’m considering applying to (such as University of Chicago, University of California Berkeley, Stanford, etc.). I’m also very amenable to any suggestions from members of the College Confidential community. From the extensive research I’ve done, I seem to be best fit for those above, but if there’s another that anyone thinks I’d be better suited for, please suggest it. I also have back up universities as I know all of the above have a very, very low admit rate and are extremely competitive.

6) UK universities:

I’m also looking at universities in the UK (Oxford would be my top choice), but I’m also probably going to apply to Imperial College, University of Warwick, University College London (UCL), and King’s College. I’m not posting more detailed information as I presume members of the College Confidential community won’t be as familiar with the UK universities (but if anybody is, please feel free to post information).

In summary:

I’m looking for a university with a theoretical math/science orientation (particularly with analysis) and with a nerdy, collaborative student culture. My two big questions are: 1) Do the above universities seem to be good fits for what I’m looking for? Which of the above seems to fit me the best? and 2) Are there other universities that people think it’s worth it for me to apply to that may be better than or as good fits as the above?

I recognize that people may be familiar with only one or two of the universities where they have personally been a student but would appreciate any information at all that any of you could give me!

Thanks so much in advance!