[just1234]

I am going in as a physics major in Imperial College and major in Maths if I end up in NYU or UCLA. I know NYU has a great applied maths major and is especially known for the Courant Institute. But, how would that benefit a maths student? I mean, after all I am not a applied maths major.

I wonder which school would give me a better chance if I want to transfer to an Ivy school after freshman year or apply for an Ivy graduate school after graduation from NYU.

Any insights would be appreciated. I am an international student btw.

[Lilium]

www.mathematicsgre.com

Look through the profiles of the people there. The general consensus is that things are harder for applicants outside of the US. Being at NYU, especially if you'd like to go into applied mathematics, would be advantageous because of the possibility to get involved in undergraduate research (if not an NYU, then elsewhere), which is not very common in the UK, where getting into a PhD program has more to do with academic performance. Subject GRE scores for international students also need to be higher.

Also, for graduate school in applied maths, it doesn't matter if the school is an Ivy or not. The important questions to ask are "Are there faculty members in this university who are involved in my areas of research and would I like to work with them?". Things are much easier if you do your undergraduate study in the USA if you'd like to go there for graduate school.

Did you get any kind of scholarship or financial aid at either institution?

Also, if after your freshman year, you decide you don't want to do physics, you don't get to change at Imperial, unless you start all over again! (afaik, but one should still verify this)
At a US school, on the other hand, you could switch to another science/applied science major and have your credits carried over without much difficulty...

Also note that I don't have first hand experience with any of those schools. I'm just a prospective undergraduate student who likes applied math and am interested in studying in the USA and Europe. :-)
(or Asia)

[DynamicSyngery]

Maths and physics are really quite different subjects. This is the first choice you have to make.

Of the three universities I would say ICL is the most prestigious in general. It may be helpful to study in the US if you want to do postgrad in the US.

If you just want to go to a Famous University for a PhD at some point you should choose physics because it is easier to be accepted to a PhD in physics than maths.

[AbuAK]

If you plan to work in North America, go to either NYU or UCLA, personally I could choose UCLA for the weather.

[NYU2012]

NYU is #10 in the US for math; UCLA is #8
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...atics-rankings

UCLA is #9 for Algebra, Number Theory and Algebraic Geometry. NYU is not in the top 20.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...heory-rankings

UCLA is #3 for Mathematical Analysis; NYU is #5 . For comparison, MIT is #6 and Stanford #7.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...lysis-rankings

NYU is #1 for Applied Mathematic; UCLA is #2. For comparison, MIT is #3, with Princeton, Stanford, Brown, CalTech all coming in below that.

UCLA is #6 for Discrete Mathematics; NYU is not in the top 11.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...atics-rankings

NYU is #10 for geometry; UCLA is #13. For comparison, UPenn is #11 and Yale is #14.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...metry-rankings

UCLA is #2 for logic; NYU is not in the top 9.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...logic-rankings

UCLA is #13 for topology; NYU is not in the top 15.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...ology-rankings

There isn't much a difference between UCLA and NYU in terms of math programs and obviously, math at both UCLA and NYU is amazing. In terms of academic strength, both UCLA and NYU are comparable to Imperial - as can be seen by the fact that in some categories UCLA and NYU rank up with MIT.

It should mostly come down to your personal preferences and which of three schools - NYU, UCLA or Imperial, is most affordable.

Out of curiosity, what do you people from across the pond think of NYU? How's NYU's reputation over there?

[Xyrish]

(Original post by NYU2012)
NYU is #10 in the US for math; UCLA is #8
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...atics-rankings

UCLA is #9 for Algebra, Number Theory and Algebraic Geometry. NYU is not in the top 20.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...heory-rankings

UCLA is #3 for Mathematical Analysis; NYU is #5 . For comparison, MIT is #6 and Stanford #7.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...lysis-rankings

NYU is #1 for Applied Mathematic; UCLA is #2. For comparison, MIT is #3, with Princeton, Stanford, Brown, CalTech all coming in below that.

UCLA is #6 for Discrete Mathematics; NYU is not in the top 11.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...atics-rankings

NYU is #10 for geometry; UCLA is #13. For comparison, UPenn is #11 and Yale is #14.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...metry-rankings

UCLA is #2 for logic; NYU is not in the top 9.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...logic-rankings

UCLA is #13 for topology; NYU is not in the top 15.
http://premium.usnews.com/best-gradu...ology-rankings

There isn't much a difference between UCLA and NYU in terms of math programs and obviously, math at both UCLA and NYU is amazing. In terms of academic strength, both UCLA and NYU are comparable to Imperial - as can be seen by the fact that in some categories UCLA and NYU rank up with MIT.

It should mostly come down to your personal preferences and which of three schools - NYU, UCLA or Imperial, is most affordable.

Out of curiosity, what do you people from across the pond think of NYU? How's NYU's reputation over there?

Of course we will know that there is a university of New York as you will know there is a university of Beijing, but the average person won't really know how good it is.

[NYU2012]

(Original post by Xyrish)
Of course we will know that there is a university of New York as you will know there is a university of Beijing, but the average person won't really know how good it is.

Maybe not all, but for those who do know of it, NYU certainly has a good reputation within the US and outside of the US - it's one of the world's major research Universities.

[smileatyourself]

(Original post by Xyrish)
Of course we will know that there is a university of New York as you will know there is a university of Beijing, but the average person won't really know how good it is.

The Chinese win the IMO year after year so I'd imagine their unis are of a high standard.

Just we don't hear about them.

[thematrixDuo]

Hi I am in a similar situation cuz I am also admitted to UCLA and Imperial. and I am also an international student. I choose Imperial because UCLA is really running out of funds. Btw I have red news that UCLA fakes the average SAT scores of its admitted student to be ranked higher. So I guess UCLA is not really a good place to go unless you have the ambition to transfer to a better uni after 1 year of college work.

[Sofia Ababou]

Hey. I would say go to NYU. Maybe UCLA is good inside the US but it's not very known worldwide while NYU is. Imperial college is great but not as great as NYU. It's not Oxford or LSE, see what I mean? The american ranking ranks NYU as 15 in the world and ranks Berkeley as 18. Just to say NYU is better than some Ivys.

[NYU2012]

(Original post by thematrixDuo)
Hi I am in a similar situation cuz I am also admitted to UCLA and Imperial. and I am also an international student. I choose Imperial because UCLA is really running out of funds. Btw I have red news that UCLA fakes the average SAT scores of its admitted student to be ranked higher. So I guess UCLA is not really a good place to go unless you have the ambition to transfer to a better uni after 1 year of college work.

UCLA was not the college that falsely reported its SAT scores, CMC was.

UCLA is an excellent university, which is a leading center of research in the US. It's the most applied to school in the country, with something like 60,000 applicants per year.

There are few universities better than UCLA, which is easily a peer of NYU, USC, etc.