Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 23:39     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:^^ Actually, Williams, CMU vs WashU


such different vibes, where does kid feel at home?
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 23:36     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
We know a math major currently transferring out of Williams due to major fit and QOL issues. He’s so far been underwhelmed by the department and wis he would’ve gone to his other choice, Uchicago. Really make sure a tiny school in the middle of nowhere with limited faculty is what you want.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:42     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I did math at Williams and can’t emphasis enough how involved the professors were. They are so approachable and involved and really got me to think about math in ways I never had. They also helped me with the decision I was struggling with as far as should I try finance or go straight to grad school. Ironically, with their encouragement, we all realized I would enjoy working in finance more and never ended up pursuing any further degrees in math, but I am not sure the faculty would be this approachable at a bigger school? I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them, but I found that aspect of Williams hard to beat.


If finance/wall street is desired, Williams.

Ph.D. or quant, CMU.


agree with this, but this is very hard to know at 17. most math people I knew (and also my kids know) who went in with PhD in mind, had internships and $$$ job placements lined up by junior yr summer. math PhDs are a much rarer bird.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:38     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Williams if you want to go into finance or economics of some sorts. Otherwise, Carnegie Mellon is a much wiser choice.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:37     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:I knew a lot of math majors from Williams who went to Brown for math PhDs. A ridiculously high number of people I personally knew as someone who majored in an unrelated subject at a tiny school, for what that's worth.


Does Brown have a good / competitive / strong PhD program? We toured several years ago and their undergrad math department seems fairly small.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:31     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
I knew a lot of math majors from Williams who went to Brown for math PhDs. A ridiculously high number of people I personally knew as someone who majored in an unrelated subject at a tiny school, for what that's worth.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:28     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:Williams. Will be big fish. Excellent school. To me SLAC have superior teaching,

Teaching doesn’t trump research for a PhD. This is great if OP’s child’s goal is to be an excellent LAC professor.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:27     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Williams. Will be big fish. Excellent school. To me SLAC have superior teaching,
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:27     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Anyone has link(s) that shows which undergrad schools feeds into top math grad programs?

That’s not what that source shows. It just shows how many students are going into PhD programs in mathematics- says nothing about the quality of those programs. You could have a school create 10 Princeton PhD math students and it’d rank crap compared to a school that can spread 20 or so math PhD students at schools of varyingly mediocre quality.

Last, it doesn’t particularly matter in this discussion. It is possible for a student to get into a PhD from either institution, and the choice of students not getting phds isnt an indictment of anything either.

+1, Williams interestingly isn’t even the top LAC producer of Math PhDs- that goes to Harvey Mudd, then Pomona!
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:22     Subject: Re:Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:When you look at the top math reu, Duluth, very few spots across decades have gone to LAC students: https://sites.google.com/view/gallian-reu/additional-information/list-of-participants?authuser=0

SLACs are great, but the difference in talents and options between a medium elite university and Williams or Pomona (two gold standard LACs for math) is pretty vast.


Which other math REUs are considered "top"?

CMU SUAMI and SMALL are both pretty well known and important. Duluth is the best of the best, though.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:20     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:Anyone has link(s) that shows which undergrad schools feeds into top math grad programs?

That’s not what that source shows. It just shows how many students are going into PhD programs in mathematics- says nothing about the quality of those programs. You could have a school create 10 Princeton PhD math students and it’d rank crap compared to a school that can spread 20 or so math PhD students at schools of varyingly mediocre quality.

Last, it doesn’t particularly matter in this discussion. It is possible for a student to get into a PhD from either institution, and the choice of students not getting phds isnt an indictment of anything either.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:17     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
Anyone has link(s) that shows which undergrad schools feeds into top math grad programs?
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:16     Subject: Re:Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:When you look at the top math reu, Duluth, very few spots across decades have gone to LAC students: https://sites.google.com/view/gallian-reu/additional-information/list-of-participants?authuser=0

SLACs are great, but the difference in talents and options between a medium elite university and Williams or Pomona (two gold standard LACs for math) is pretty vast.


Which other math REUs are considered "top"?
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:14     Subject: Re:Williams vs CMU for Math
Anonymous wrote:When you look at the top math reu, Duluth, very few spots across decades have gone to LAC students: https://sites.google.com/view/gallian-reu/additional-information/list-of-participants?authuser=0

SLACs are great, but the difference in talents and options between a medium elite university and Williams or Pomona (two gold standard LACs for math) is pretty vast.

CMU 7
Carleton 4

Williams 1
Pomona 1

Considering how small Carleton is, I'd say it's pretty close to CMU.
Anonymous
Post 03/20/2026 22:11     Subject: Williams vs CMU for Math
I don’t really see why Williams is even being considered