Which schools are good in pure / theoretical math?

[Anonymous]

what can one do with an advanced degree in pure math? Is that where the quants come from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Brown should be considered a well as all of the schools on the above list.

Yes, we are very impressed. Initially thought Applied was strong and theoretical not as much, but it has been really good. A few new faculty hires have really added to the quality of some excellent faculty already there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If female, Wellesley is good.

It is sometimes annoying to my VT student that she is often one of very few females in her math classes.

If being around men - especially socially awkward men - is a problem, then math is not the field for you, lmao.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to be aware that a high school kid's interest in pure or theoretical math may not survive actual contact with college level pure or theoretical math. Therefore, don't go to a small, STEM-focused school like Mudd or CalTech, go to a large school with lots of other options for majors.

There is a lot more STEM than just pure math at STEM-focused schools.

You are missing the point. You want a school with non-STEM options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to be aware that a high school kid's interest in pure or theoretical math may not survive actual contact with college level pure or theoretical math. Therefore, don't go to a small, STEM-focused school like Mudd or CalTech, go to a large school with lots of other options for majors.

No, the opposite. Be in a community of people inspired by math, and the attitude will be nearly infectious. A ton of people drop the major from a lack of community and support. If you have the aptitude to stay in a stem program, stay in one and take on the challenge. No one gets into Caltech who couldn’t be a math major,

Nope. People drop the major because they realize it's not for them, or because they hit the wall intellectually. And no matter how smart you are, there is a point in math where you will hit the wall.

Very common to realize theoretical math is "not for you" - you could do it, but you don't want to. That's where you want to be in a school with other options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If female, Wellesley is good.

It is sometimes annoying to my VT student that she is often one of very few females in her math classes.

If being around men - especially socially awkward men - is a problem, then math is not the field for you, lmao.

DP. So false. Too many math bros try to equate speed with proficiency or just have a very narrow sense of how it should roll. More cooperative environments, more female professors and students, more students who love proofs but not necessarily competition math can create a different and more fruitful dynamic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to be aware that a high school kid's interest in pure or theoretical math may not survive actual contact with college level pure or theoretical math. Therefore, don't go to a small, STEM-focused school like Mudd or CalTech, go to a large school with lots of other options for majors.

No, the opposite. Be in a community of people inspired by math, and the attitude will be nearly infectious. A ton of people drop the major from a lack of community and support. If you have the aptitude to stay in a stem program, stay in one and take on the challenge. No one gets into Caltech who couldn’t be a math major,

Nope. People drop the major because they realize it's not for them, or because they hit the wall intellectually. And no matter how smart you are, there is a point in math where you will hit the wall.

Very common to realize theoretical math is "not for you" - you could do it, but you don't want to. That's where you want to be in a school with other options.

DP. Maybe, but PP's reasoning accounts for many possibly more. Community is important to some students. Math benefits from lateral thinkers, not just bulldozers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This list includes statistics, but schools with the most alumni per capita who go on to earn a Ph.D. in math or statistics:

1. Caltech
2. Harvey Mudd
3. MIT
4. Pomona
5. Swarthmore
6. Princeton
7. Reed
8. University of Chicago
9. Carleton
10. St. Olaf
11. Grinnell
12. Williams
13. Harvard
14. Haverford
15. St. John's
16. Whitman
17. Rice
18. St. John's
19. New College of Florida
20. Wheaton

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#math

That's not the useful data column.

If your want peers who had grad school bound, you want the raw numbers, not the per
capital numbers.

#19 New College has less than one future math PhD per year. That's quite lonely.


Having peers in your program is more important than having fewer non-peers on the same campus.

Agree. Are math departments that large at any top school that it really makes much of a difference?

My kid is at Berkeley and the pure math division is not big because it is a very tough major so it is not difficult to get into classes at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This list includes statistics, but schools with the most alumni per capita who go on to earn a Ph.D. in math or statistics:

1. Caltech
2. Harvey Mudd
3. MIT
4. Pomona
5. Swarthmore
6. Princeton
7. Reed
8. University of Chicago
9. Carleton
10. St. Olaf
11. Grinnell
12. Williams
13. Harvard
14. Haverford
15. St. John's
16. Whitman
17. Rice
18. St. John's
19. New College of Florida
20. Wheaton

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#math

That's not the useful data column.

If your want peers who had grad school bound, you want the raw numbers, not the per
capital numbers.

#19 New College has less than one future math PhD per year. That's quite lonely.


Having peers in your program is more important than having fewer non-peers on the same campus.

Agree. Are math departments that large at any top school that it really makes much of a difference?

My kid is at Berkeley and the pure math division is not big because it is a very tough major so it is not difficult to get into classes at all.

That’s what I figured. Top faculty is much more important than per capita
data nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This list includes statistics, but schools with the most alumni per capita who go on to earn a Ph.D. in math or statistics:

1. Caltech
2. Harvey Mudd
3. MIT
4. Pomona
5. Swarthmore
6. Princeton
7. Reed
8. University of Chicago
9. Carleton
10. St. Olaf
11. Grinnell
12. Williams
13. Harvard
14. Haverford
15. St. John's
16. Whitman
17. Rice
18. St. John's
19. New College of Florida
20. Wheaton

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#math

That's not the useful data column.

If your want peers who had grad school bound, you want the raw numbers, not the per
capital numbers.

#19 New College has less than one future math PhD per year. That's quite lonely.


Having peers in your program is more important than having fewer non-peers on the same campus.

Agree. Are math departments that large at any top school that it really makes much of a difference?

My kid is at Berkeley and the pure math division is not big because it is a very tough major so it is not difficult to get into classes at all.

Can you say more about class size? Can students take placement tests or talk to an advisor to place out of the basics like Multivariate and Linear Algebra?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This list includes statistics, but schools with the most alumni per capita who go on to earn a Ph.D. in math or statistics:

1. Caltech
2. Harvey Mudd
3. MIT
4. Pomona
5. Swarthmore
6. Princeton
7. Reed
8. University of Chicago
9. Carleton
10. St. Olaf
11. Grinnell
12. Williams
13. Harvard
14. Haverford
15. St. John's
16. Whitman
17. Rice
18. St. John's
19. New College of Florida
20. Wheaton

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#math

That's not the useful data column.

If your want peers who had grad school bound, you want the raw numbers, not the per
capital numbers.

#19 New College has less than one future math PhD per year. That's quite lonely.


Having peers in your program is more important than having fewer non-peers on the same campus.

Agree. Are math departments that large at any top school that it really makes much of a difference?

My kid is at Berkeley and the pure math division is not big because it is a very tough major so it is not difficult to get into classes at all.

That’s what I figured. Top faculty is much more important than per capita
data nonsense.

Data nonsense yet reflects where you’re most likely to get a PhD graduating from. PP of course mentioned st Olaf as an outlier, but said nothing of the other lacs on the list- Pomona has 40-60 math majors per semester and 1/3-1/2 are going into PhD programs. That isn’t some minuscule community, and their faculty are fantastic if you’re at all knowledgeable about math faculty- a couple are pretty renowned. Same for Mudd, same for swat, same for Williams. The only time I believe the institution type certainly matters is genius-level rising stars who need to be at Princeton or MIT to not run out of graduate courses to take and will likely end up back at Princeton for graduate instruction.

Most freshmen undergrad are in the “I’ve taken calc 2 and have no idea what proof math even looks like” boat, even at top schools. You have a pretty freakish support system if you know some real analysis (or have heard of it) by 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This list includes statistics, but schools with the most alumni per capita who go on to earn a Ph.D. in math or statistics:

1. Caltech
2. Harvey Mudd
3. MIT
4. Pomona
5. Swarthmore
6. Princeton
7. Reed
8. University of Chicago
9. Carleton
10. St. Olaf
11. Grinnell
12. Williams
13. Harvard
14. Haverford
15. St. John's
16. Whitman
17. Rice
18. St. John's
19. New College of Florida
20. Wheaton

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#math

That's not the useful data column.

If your want peers who had grad school bound, you want the raw numbers, not the per
capital numbers.

#19 New College has less than one future math PhD per year. That's quite lonely.


Having peers in your program is more important than having fewer non-peers on the same campus.

Agree. Are math departments that large at any top school that it really makes much of a difference?

My kid is at Berkeley and the pure math division is not big because it is a very tough major so it is not difficult to get into classes at all.

That’s what I figured. Top faculty is much more important than per capita
data nonsense.

Data nonsense yet reflects where you’re most likely to get a PhD graduating from. PP of course mentioned st Olaf as an outlier, but said nothing of the other lacs on the list- Pomona has 40-60 math majors per semester and 1/3-1/2 are going into PhD programs. That isn’t some minuscule community, and their faculty are fantastic if you’re at all knowledgeable about math faculty- a couple are pretty renowned. Same for Mudd, same for swat, same for Williams. The only time I believe the institution type certainly matters is genius-level rising stars who need to be at Princeton or MIT to not run out of graduate courses to take and will likely end up back at Princeton for graduate instruction.

Most freshmen undergrad are in the “I’ve taken calc 2 and have no idea what proof math even looks like” boat, even at top schools. You have a pretty freakish support system if you know some real analysis (or have heard of it) by 18.

40-60 math majors per class* so about 200 majors on their campus alone and that’s not counting the other colleges near by. Around 200 math majors is on trend with most lacs these days.

[Anonymous]

“#19 New College has less than one future math PhD per year. That's quite lonely.”

This is what I was referring to about data nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If female, Wellesley is good.

It is sometimes annoying to my VT student that she is often one of very few females in her math classes.

If being around men - especially socially awkward men - is a problem, then math is not the field for you, lmao.

Well you can stop lyao because socially awkward is not a problem. It’s all the misogynistic, condescending, loud, entitled men that are off putting. And my DD just continues to show them up by doing more and being better, but it’s best to know that’s how math is and choose your path based on your tolerance for the daily struggle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This list includes statistics, but schools with the most alumni per capita who go on to earn a Ph.D. in math or statistics:

1. Caltech
2. Harvey Mudd
3. MIT
4. Pomona
5. Swarthmore
6. Princeton
7. Reed
8. University of Chicago
9. Carleton
10. St. Olaf
11. Grinnell
12. Williams
13. Harvard
14. Haverford
15. St. John's
16. Whitman
17. Rice
18. St. John's
19. New College of Florida
20. Wheaton

https://www.collegetransitions.com/dataverse/top-feeders-phd-programs#math

That's not the useful data column.

If your want peers who had grad school bound, you want the raw numbers, not the per
capital numbers.

#19 New College has less than one future math PhD per year. That's quite lonely.


Having peers in your program is more important than having fewer non-peers on the same campus.

Agree. Are math departments that large at any top school that it really makes much of a difference?

My kid is at Berkeley and the pure math division is not big because it is a very tough major so it is not difficult to get into classes at all.

Can you say more about class size? Can students take placement tests or talk to an advisor to place out of the basics like Multivariate and Linear Algebra?

About 100 kids major in pure math from Berkeley each year (from what I know). You can place out of MV Calc or Linear Algebra through test with advisor approval. Class sizes for most math classes are 30 to 40 except for one class which is pretty big and a pre-req for other majors as well. Hope this helps.