#Where to ED: Brown v. Duke v. UChicago (Math)

45 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

visual fable
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So I'm a rising senior (intl, full pay) and while I'm making my college list, I'm wondering where I should put for my ED. I'm considering the three schools above and while I would love to end up at each of these unis, I'm still relatively unsure and need some pointers. I've heard a lot of pros so i'll list below what i've heard but not that many cons which is why i feel like i love each school and cant decide.
Brown

  • open curriculum
  • grade inflation (could help for grad school)
  • our school has sent a lot of the math people to brown in the past few years
    -heard it's a really happy and fun school (and my friends are going there)
  • ivy prestige
  • heard it's hella cold there (I hate cold mornings they just piss me off)
  • maybe can rizz up some risd baddies (jk)
    Duke
  • connections with a prof there (doing research guided by him in a kind of reu style format)
  • gen eds (i dont like them)
  • i heard food is good there
  • good weather
    Uchicago
  • amazing math program, probably one of the best in nation (especially for my field in math)
  • Uchicago REU (my dream reu)
  • heard it's kinda unsafe in that area
  • also i feel like for uchicago it's ED or nothing in general
  • a lotta gen eds (i really don't like them please don't make me do spanish again)
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if anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know!

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these are just the schools i am looking at so far

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I am also thinking of Williams due to the tight knit nature of the cohort and also the williams SMALL REU

fast stratus
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I'm a little confused why REU's are a metric for you because usually they're open to students who don't attend the university. Also, generally speaking there's more added value for the research that you would be engaged in long-term as a student via something like independent study. REU's are usually stepping stones for students who weren't able to get research opportunities yet. Or haven't gotten a research opportunity in their specific field of interest yet.

Do you know what kind of math you're interested in? What kind of campus enviornment (school spirit vs quiet vs sports)?

visual fable
# fast stratus I'm a little confused why REU's are a metric for you because usually they're ope...

It's bc i've heard the REUs usually prefer students from their own school (at least for SMALL, they admit half the program's students from their own students) and my ultimate goal is grad school. I'm pretty advanced in math i'd say for a high schooler and yes I know which field I am interested in for now (but definitely subject to change as i explore in college). I'm looking for a school community which is tight knit and has a collaborative nature, but sports and stuff don't matter to me as much. I don't mind if it's quiet, but I would rather not be at a depressing or cold school where people are only studying by themselves, and food is also a pretty decent factor for me as I can't focus well without good food.

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Also, I'm not sure if I'll want to drive at least during my undergrad years so i think public transport or something of the like could be an important factor

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I see what you meann by REUs are stepping stones though

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that's a good point, I think in that case access to graduate level classes and professors who are willing to work with you (smaller faculty to student ratio) would be nice

fast stratus
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Hm, okay. I meant which subfield of math, because one school might have more linguistics math-y opportunities than another. Generally speaking, chicago is pretty cold and with the windy city nickname I would say that it's pretty chilly but you could also check the weather app to see general trends and how those compare to where you live currently.

Duke doesn't have great public transportation and as such most students don't really leave campus ngl, which it kind of gets a bad rap for being knon as the "Duke bubble". I would say chicago also probably has better public transportation than Rhode Island, but to your one con, I know a student was severely injured on said public transportation.

I would say Duke math is pretty phenomenal and the professors are really invested in training critical math thinkers and there's lots of opportunites for students who are good at math to be peer mentors to other students on campus who have to take math as a pre-req (like engineers and econ majors).

Duke's food is one of the best in the country hands down. The dining hall is also like the nicest/most beautiful building on campus.

To start, I would definitely compare program websites, especially the math departments/research. If you have the opportunity to visit/tour or do a virtual tour/info session, I think those could be helpful.

visual fable
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i'm interested in mathematical modeling too

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hmm i see i see thank you for letting me know about the stuff about weather and transportation

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i dont mind staying on campus a lot, it's just that maybe getting around to places could be difficult without a car i guess. It's great that Duke's food is good tho, that's definitely a + in my book

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thank you for the advice i'll definitely look into those too

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seems like all three of the schools im looking into have great math departments in each subfield (at least the ones i care about)

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and i dont doubt i'll find professors working in pdes and fluids in each of them

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but i'm mostly looking to branch out once i enter college, i've been meaning to start learning more algebraic/differential geometry and things like stochastic processes/probability for a while but analysis has been taking up my interests during high school

fast stratus
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gotchyah!

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yeah I agree that taking college as an opportunity to explore all of those things is also great

visual fable
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thanks for the advice!

fast stratus
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yeah! no problem. Of all the schools, Duke is super academic and has a huge sports culture/energy on campus. I like to describe Duke students as people who work hard and play hard, care about the global community (we do have a foreign language requirement and some other gen eds, but I think they're really helpful in making a well-rounded student that can work in a variety of spaces). There's a lot of international students and ways for them to connect on campus and celebrate different cultures. The weather is also 10x better than the other places you listed. I do think UChicago is a contender for it's math dept (do the sizes of their departments differ?).

Duke has this https://www.dukeupress.edu/duke-mathematical-journal, but you technically could read it from anywhere once you are a student at one of those schools

visual fable
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yeah i was half joking (though i didn't really enjoy spanish that much) its only a minor factor

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but brown is lowkey really appealing to me due to their open curriculum

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ill definitely look into the details

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but you've gotten me a lot more interested in duke now

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thanks!

static plank
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U could do ed1 brown or Duke and ed2 uchicago probably

glossy forge
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If UChi is not the absolute #1 choice for you, I recommend ED1 elsewhere as UChi has EA and ED2 options as well. Brown and Duke on the other hand do not. It does seem like you're more interested in Brown reading off this post, but only you would know the answer. Good luck regardless!

visual fable
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thanks

low ember
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im in a car right now so i cant explain indepth on brown but brown requires a specific type of person

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dont wqnna explain rn but ill try ti explain another time

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i guess in general brown looks for people who are gonna use the open curriculum to the absolute absolute fullest

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which requures a strong understanding of it

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and what it actually does

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if youre looking towards brown cause you dont like gen eds its kind of a red flag

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on the other end is uchicago’s core curriculum

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which youd absolutely dislike

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stupidly rigorous

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this entire thing hinges on you requiring a way stronger understanding of yourself and the schools though

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which is more than i can explain on mobile so

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just off the factors you listed maybe duke but ill help more in depth later

visual fable