IGU said:
My kid is considering going to Cambridge to read maths. I've been reading everything I can find about the University, especially all the official stuff on the web. I've also looked at Tim Gowers's blog, comments from MIT people on their exchange program, and other stuff (including posts here). I've also corresponded with faculty. So at this point I think I know a fair amount.
What I'm missing is the perspective of students who have been through it recently. I have talked to old math guys who were students there many years ago (e.g. Conway), but that's just not the same. Is there anybody here who can give me a recent perspective on what things are like for students?
To the extent it matters, my kid is quite advanced and capable at mathematics, but that's pretty much all he's interested in. The most important reason to consider Cambridge rather than any school in the US is that he would study nothing but math as an undergrad. He's been home schooled in California, auditing university classes now and then. He's currently auditing
this class at Stanford.
That seems to be a mixture of 1st and 2nd year Tripos content.
I studied mathematics at Trinity from 2000 to 2004, so some of this may be out of date. It's also largely Trinity-centric.
Some general points:
The Tripos is divided into courses, but it's not modular; there are four compulsory papers at the end of each Part, and each course in that Part has some number of questions on each paper. Part IA (1st year) offers essentially no choices whatsoever. In Part IB (2nd year) and especially in Part II (3rd year) there are more courses available than one can conveniently study or prepare for the exams, and a choice has to be made. Successful completion of Part II will get you a BA degree; Part III is essentially a combination of a taught MSc (if you obtained a Bachelor's degree elsewhere) and the fourth year of an MSci (if you obtained a Cambridge BA) and gets you an MMath.
You will be allocated accommodation by your college; this is likely to consist of a single room with a wash basin, bed (linen supplied) and desk. Kitchen, toilet and bathing facilities are communal. There will be
bedders tasked with cleaning these areas, student rooms, and changing bed linen, although it is best to clean up after yourself. Laundry machines operated by coins or tokens will be available.
You will have no choice in the selection of first year accommodation, but in subsequent years one can choose. Priority in choosing second year accommodation is determined at random, the order being reversed for the third year.
Your college will assign Fellows to be your Tutor, who is responsible for pastoral care and is not necessarily a mathematician, and your Director of Studies, who is responsible for your academic work and will be a mathematician.
Some specific questions:
- Is Trinity the only college to consider for maths, or do others work well too?
As a Trinity man I am naturally obliged to recommend it. But of course it's not the only option for any subject.
The Tripos is the same whichever college admits you. If a college can't find a supervisor for a particular course from its own fellows or graduate students, it will find a supervisor from another college. This is not likely to be a problem for Part IA courses, but may arise for Part II.
In general terms one has a choice between the older colleges (which are convenient for the town centre but can be overrun with tourists) or the newer colleges (which are less convenient but not so overrun). I doubt there's much to be gained tactically in the admissions process by opting for a less well-known college as your first choice. The colleges on the Cam and to the west of the Cam will be the most convenient for the Centre for Mathematical Sciences (except Girton, which is not convenient for anything).
- Is it rigid and traditional in its instruction?
To an extent; this was certainly true of lectures, which consisted of a lecturer writing notes on a blackboard (or variant thereof) while the students copy it down on paper.
Supervisions will vary by supervisor.
- Are supervisions wonderful? awful?
It depends on the supervisor (and your supervision partner). You will get more out of them if you prepare adequately.
- Is it a good place for extremely capable kids, or will they just get frustrated?
- Is it a good place for extremely advanced kids, or will they just get frustrated?
Yes. Having read Gowers's Introduction to the Tripos you will know that "mathematics gets hard", but it's probably better for that to happen sooner rather than later.
There is little to no flexibility in the first year, but from the second term at least you can make a start on studying the second year courses (but you won't be examined on them until the end of your second year).
You can, subject to your other commitments, attend lectures on more advanced courses as you see fit (being a student of the university entitles you to attend any lecture offered by the university on any subject, although there are some exceptions), but your Director of Studies might not arrange supervisions for you if you attend a course too far in advance of its normal place in the Tripos, or if he or she thinks you are taking on too much too soon.
- How's the social life for math geeks?
There are college and university mathematics societies, and a wide range of other college and university clubs and societies. Every college has its bar (bear in mind that in the UK one can start purchasing alcohol at 18).
- How flexible are they? Can students to do non-standard things like research?
Terms are extremely intense. There will likely not be time for anything more than the Tripos. But students are free to attend departmental seminars if that fits in with lectures and supervisions.
Trinity does have prizes available for https://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/show.php?dowid=689 and the same may well be true of other colleges. There are summer research studentship schemes, although I have been unable to find any details online.
- Is anything especially different for Americans?
I cannot say.