<p>At this point (with guaranteed on-campus housing–they sent out an email a few days ago–and the financials worked out), the main drawback to transferring is the potential loss of many credit hours, but there are also a few specific perks to staying:</p>
<p>–I think I have a really, really good chance at getting awards/scholarships from the math department where I’m at right now.</p>
<p>–I think the math department here would be more willing to help me set up reading courses and research because I stand out more here. I imagine it would be harder to get these opportunities at Rice where there would be presumably more talented students who actually want them.</p>
<p>My goal is to cover Harvard’s qualifying exam syllabus as an undergraduate (scroll down here to see it: [Harvard</a> Mathematics Department : Graduate Information](<a href=“http://www.math.harvard.edu/graduate/index.html]Harvard”>Harvard Mathematics Department Graduate Information)) I just think it’s a pretty good guide for getting a broad background in mathematics as an undergraduate. If I went to Rice, I would be able to cover the complex analysis section next semester, the algebra, algebraic topology, and differential geometry sections my junior year (assuming three math courses a semester), and hopefully the real analysis and algebraic geometry sections my senior year. If I stay here, the curriculum isn’t as rigorous, so I’d be a bit worried the classes wouldn’t actually cover all the content. Plus there are no courses here on algebraic topology or differential geometry (technically an algebraic topology course exists, but I don’t think it’s offered very often), so to cover that material here–and it is essential material–I would need to take a number of reading courses. I wouldn’t mind doing that, and it may even be better in some ways, but there would be the risk that I wouldn’t be able to set one up.</p>
<p>Also, I’m going to need recommendations from two professors in order to apply to summer programs (next summer). I wouldn’t be at Rice long enough by the application due dates, so I’d need to get recommendations from my teachers this semester. This could be difficult to do if I am going to be in Houston next semester and they will be here.</p>
<p>The way I see it, these are the keys to getting into a good graduate school for mathematics: (1) cover the material listed above as an undergraduate (and make good grades, of course); (2) get a really high score (95th percentile or higher) on the GRE subject test; certain schools like Berkeley seem apt to accept people on the basis of this alone (I’m exaggerating, but this one score does seem to receive an almost irrational focus in the math graduate school world); (3) get outstanding recommendations; (4) research experience through, e.g., REUs (I think this is less important in math than in other fields like physics, although it’s certainly still a very big key part of the application).</p>
<p>(1) is easier at Rice and Rice courses would be trusted more for covering material in detail. (2) would in a sense be easier at Rice because of (1). (3) is easier where I’m at. (4) is unclear; it seems like I could get something where I’m at, but I know Rice also has VIGRE, so I could almost certainly do something during the school year at Rice, if not next semester.</p>