Please help: switching to math, good or bad

[Mustapha13]

well I'm a Biology freshman at a Canadian University.
I'm thinking of switching to math for next year, since i am really good at it.
However my school is world-renowned for biology, and has a small/weak math departement.



will students from stronger math universities be at at an advantage over me in grad school?
Does the undergrad university make a diffrence, or is it just the student's intelligence?

Please respond so that i can decide and make the proper arrangment.

 

[jeffasinger]

If you like math, you should do math. If after deciding to bio, 10 years down the road you decide that you want to switch to do math, then your road will be more difficult.

I'm a Junior, at a small university that is in no way known for it's math department. There are advantages and disadvantages to that. For example, a large part of the department knows me, independent study, and research with a professor are both pretty accessible, however, the course selection is fairly low, we only have one course in algebra, and our second course in analysis is only offered once every 2 years. There are ways to make up for things like this, for example, you could try to do an independent study (probably an excellent way to get a good letter of recommendation), or attend something like Budapest Semesters in Mathematics, which offers a wide range of upper level math classes, to supplement your curriculum.

I think that if you have a very solid background in what is expected an undergraduate would take (Algebra, Linear Algebra, Analysis, Complex Analysis, Topology, Number Theory, Probability, ...), do some research, do well on the GREs (If Canadian schools look at them, I'm not familiar), earn good grades, and get good letters of recommendation, then you shouldn't be at a significant disadvantage as compared to someone coming from an institution with a better name brand, with the possible exception if the person is coming from some place like an Ivy.

That being said, have you done any real, proofs-based math courses? Most math is quite different than what you'll see in Calculus classes and in High School, and before you up and switch, you might want to make sure it's what you really want to pursue.

 

[wisvuze]

are you at guelph? I thought that you'd be at U of T, but they don't particularly have a "small and weak" math department; at least I don't think so

 

[Mustapha13]

are you at guelph? I thought that you'd be at U of T, but they don't particularly have a "small and weak" math department; at least I don't think so

I'm sorry but i'd rather not say, are you familiar with the math level of Canadian universities?