<p>“I like being regularly intellectually challenged by my peers”</p>
<p>Intellectual challenges do not have to come from other math majors, but it is nice to have enough math peers around you. Here is a list of the numbers of those who graduate with a math major in the colleges mentioned by others in this thread:</p>
<p>Williams: 7% (35/526)
Swarthmore: 4% (15/381)
Pomona: 8% (31/380)
Harvey Mudd: 10% (19/189)
Carleton: 6% (32/496)
Grinnell: 4% (13/334)
St. Olaf 4% (31/726)
Reed: 4% (13/333)
Oberlin: 2% (13/720)</p>
<p>MIT: 6% (64/1042)
Cal Tech: 13% (32/256)
U of Chicago: 8% (107/1278)
Harvard: 6% (117/1803)
Princeton: 3% (37/1271)</p>
<p>(Based on the data from College Navigator: <a href=“College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics”>http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/</a>)</p>
<p>I know one US Math Olympic team member (for 4 years) went to Harvard and another is going to MIT. Those with extraordinary math achievements tend to choose the top research universities for obvious reasons. Some of those who major math in a top LAC may be inspired by the professors at the LAC. Research opportunities are plenty in LACs and faculty support is strong. If you are the tip-top math student, an elite research university with wider course offering may suit you better.</p>