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Top 5 mathematics departments in the country

OP

wanderer

This is impossible to judge anyway. Cambridge probably does have that edge - positive feedback kicks in, all the top people apply there, so they can do a really punishing course - but the others? I was gonna have Warwick as my insurance originally, but found that other than people saying 'oh, Warwick is great for maths', I couldn't really find a quantifiable difference between their course and the course at Notts, not enough to overcome the feeling that Nottingham > Coventry anyway! Still not 100% sure which I'll put as insurance I guess.

EDIT - Well, that was a lie. Notts is insurance.

Dude there is a huge difference between Notts and Warwick. Plus warwick is right next to birmingham anyway!

Reply 41

Esquire

1

I would say that actually you will get taught mostly the same course material, as the above are all leading univeristies in the western world. The only difference is the renown of those teaching you. This is not necessarily a good thing either.

Reply 42

RichE

15

Esquire

I would say that actually you will get taught mostly the same course material, as the above are all leading univeristies in the western world. The only difference is the renown of those teaching you. This is not necessarily a good thing either.

At places like Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick you get taught a lot more material, in more depth, and at a more demanding pace.

Given that a course can only be as demanding as the majority of your students can deal with, and the course's variety is proportional to the number of tutors and their specialities, then the students' quality and the department size do count.

Reply 43

Esquire

1

Given that a course can only be as demanding as the majority of your students can deal with

Bit controversial but I don't actually think that there is any difference in the calibre of maths students between the tip top in the country actually.

a lot more material, in more depth, and at a more demanding pace

Nothing that you wouldn't read up on anyway if you were interested in maths. I think that this is just an advanced form of spoonfeeding actually.

Reply 44

RichE

15

Esquire

Nothing that you wouldn't read up on anyway if you were interested in maths. I think that this is just an advanced form of spoonfeeding actually.

I think you've totally missed my point. The larger the department and better the research the more various the specialist lecture courses that will be offered in later years. I'm not sure what any of that has to do with spoonfeeding. :confused:

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Esquire

Bit controversial ...

Not in the least controversial. What else would dictate the difficulty of a course?

Reply 45

apd35

9

Esquire

Bit controversial but I don't actually think that there is any difference in the calibre of maths students between the tip top in the country actually.

There most definitely is, there is quite a steep gradient even within my college at Cambridge, it might not be steep to people not at Cambridge, but to us, it is very marked.

Esquire

Nothing that you wouldn't read up on anyway if you were interested in maths. I think that this is just an advanced form of spoonfeeding actually.

Spoonfeeding? I don't think so! In most of my lectures we are taught theorems and their proofs, and then for our question sheets, we have to work out ourselves how to manipulate the various theorems to find the answer. I'm very interested in Maths, but don't have the time during term time for "extra reading," also most Maths books are of two types, "general reading" which are interesting, but don't teach you a lot or degree-level textbooks, which you can learn from, but you would not know if one of your deductions was incorrect, but if you have a course in it, you can have your work checked so you can be told where you have gone wrong. At the top universities (e.g. at Cambridge, from what I know), you can have world-leaders in their field being dedicated for an hour a fortnight to checking your understanding of the lectures.

Top 5 mathematics departments in the country

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