<p>So as for the team that won, were most of the people juniors or seniors? I heard someone say that the team was just mostly Honors Analysis students, but don’t many of the people very good at math take that their freshman year? I’m certainly studying to get into it… (using Apostol instead of Spivak, though)</p>
<p>“Why that student is so good is left for you to decide, but I have a hard time believing it’s because the school is some mystical place that makes math gods in its spare time. It might mean the school attracts many talented mathematicians, but nothing more”</p>
<p>Most mathematicians are self-made and you’re not going to get anyone who scored really high on the Putnam who just took courses at UChicago; they’ll all have studied independently, especially since the Putnam’s content really diverges from typical subject matter taught in college mathematics courses.</p>
<p>No school MAKES talented mathematicians. Mathematicians are more independent than probably any group of people, and the really great ones will have tons of independent study in addition to doing well in their courses. A great math school will attract great mathematicians and nurture their growth. Most schools don’t know how to handle mathematicians and stump their growth. I’d say any school in the top 10 in the Putnam Exam is a good math school, since you not only have a few individuals doing well, but you have at least 5 members doing very well. And 5 very good mathematicians at one school is very rare. Comparing the members in the top 10 is really difficult, though… especially since there’s so much deviation from one year to the next.</p>