Mathematics LACs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are the numbers of graduating first majors in general mathematics in a recent year at a sampling of LACs based on IPEDS information (e.g., College Navigator - St Olaf College https://share.google/0tp4E7Cb1UfCs84Vr):

St. Olaf: 44
Haverford: 37
Amherst: 36
Hamilton: 30
Bowdoin: 29
Carleton: 25
Williams: 22
Pomona: 21
Reed: 16
Harvey Mudd: 14
Grinnell: 14

Viewers interested in the numbers for statistics majors or interdisciplinary majors can view IPEDS information directly. The same source can be used to check the figures above for accuracy.

Or you could get accurate information from the colleges themselves by their Offices of Institutional Research, who gather this data full time.
For an easy example, take Williams College, where you'll see there were 72 mathematics majors in the past year's graduating class:
https://www.williams.edu/institutional-research/data-analysis-reports/graduating-major-counts/
For another example, take Pomona College, where you'll see there were 40 mathematics majors in the past year's graduating class: https://www.pomona.edu/administration/institutional-research/information-center/completed-majors

[Anonymous]

As the kid of a math professor, as well a long ago Math major at a small liberal arts college, I would worry less about the “most prestigious” and more about the investment in undergraduate teaching. If the goal is a PhD program, an academic advisor who is willing to mentor and knows the faculty in whatever sub discipline your kid ends up in is going to get them into the best graduate program for them. They should also take advantage of every research opportunity/summer program/etc that exists.

Also, as someone who has know a lot of math people, the students who take a lot of super high level classes early are not always well served by that. They very often will need to retake in graduate school anyway. And sometimes they lack the foundation they would have received by taking undergraduate classes.