I am wondering, is there any correlation between graduating with honors in math (https://math.berkeley.edu/programs/undergraduate/faqs#14) and taking honor classes? I know honor classes are not required for the graduation with honors, but statistically, do people tend to do that? In general, what percent of students graduating with BS in math, and graduating with honors? And while we are at it, if anyone knows, what role honor classes play in admission to PhD program? Nothing speaks to honor classes here: https://math.berkeley.edu/programs/graduate/phd-program. How many students apply to math PhD every year? How many are admitted? Trying to get a general feel…
Disclaimer: My D was in EECS honors program. My answers below are what I learned from her. They may not be correct for other majors/schools.
- is there any correlation between graduating with honors in math and taking honor classes?
I don’t think so. In fact, I don’t think there are “honor classes” at UCB.
- what percent of students graduating with BS in math, and graduating with honors?
Math departments must have the statistics somewhere…
- what role honor classes play in admission to PhD program?
The honors program (EECS of course) gives the students better access to advisors and to research opportunities. That helps in preparing the student for PhD program application. But in themselves, honor classes have no effect on grad school admissions.
My D graduated with honors and was admitted to a PhD program, but I don’t think that had anything to do with her being in EECS Honors Program.
There are honors math courses that the OP was referring to:
https://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/honors-courses
There is also an honors physics sequence. It used to be H7A, H7B, H7C, but it was renamed 5A, 5B, 5C with the topics reordered (probably to make more sense for physics majors, as opposed to engineering majors that make up most of the students in 7A, 7B, 7C).
With respect to the OP’s questions, the math department would have the answer, if they are willing to tell them to the student.
Thanks, @Pentaprism . I was asking about Math, not EECS. EECS is in a different College, right? Specifically, in Engineering. Math is in L&S. There are no Honor Program for math majors, there is, however, Honor Courses, like usbalumnus noted above. My son, who was admitted as freshman for fall 2018 (at the age of 15), just got his Senior status. He was taking one of the honor upper division math courses during Fall 2018, and is registered for another honor upper division math for Spring 2019. So I know for sure the courses are not only listed in the reference ucbalumnus provided, they are offered etc. Congratulations on your daughter’s achievements.
Thank you, @ucbalumnus. I understand math department will know. I am not sure they freely offer this statistics though, so I was trying to get understanding from the “people in the know,” in these threads… Thanks again.
@ElenaParent: see some career destinations after graduation for each major:
https://career.berkeley.edu/Survey/2017Majors
For those who are going to grad school are:
Applied Math: ~20~30%
Math: ~40~50%
Taking honors classes are certainly not required for graduation with honors. In fact, graduating with honors is technically irrelevant for grad school application purpose since one would typically be applying for grad schools before you officially graduate with honors.
I’ve done a honors class for physics, and the succinct experience I can share is it’s for folks who would like to take on the extra challenge, strictly optional. I do not see playing in admission to PhD programs.
@UpMagic Thank you for the useful link! So. 103 mathematicians graduated, 31 filled out the survey, 14 are in the graduate school (out of these 31). I wonder if they are at Berkeley or elsewhere, but I guess that’s too much to ask… Thanks again!
@ElenaParent Scroll down the document and you’ll see which schools where these 14 students went for grad school, although the survey only lists 13 for some reason.
You can also check out the years for 2016 and 2015, and also look at related majors like applied math and stat.