Math at St.Lawrence University

Hi, I'm Sam Vandervelde, or Dr.V, as my students call me. I oversee all aspects of the Mandelbrot Competition: I wrote pretty much every question you will work on this year, I maintain the web site (with some help), I handle the Team Play grading (again, with some help), I even design the prizes. But Mandelbrot is actually not my day job. In real life I am a math professor at St.Lawrence University (SLU), a top-ranked liberal arts school in northern New York. And to make a long paragraph short, I would love to work on nice mathematics with you as a student at St.Lawrence. But is SLU for you?

As we all know, there is an incredible array of colleges and universities from which to choose. To help out with this process, I've assembled a mostly painless set of questions as an aid in deciding whether or not to consider St.Lawrence University. For each, select the number which best describes you, then multiply them (yes, multiply) to obtain your overall SLU indicator score.

a) How do you feel about attending a liberal arts school?
.....0..Big research institution all the way.
.....1..OK, as long as there is a good math department.
.....2..I'm ready to broaden my horizons and learn lots of cool math too.

b) How do you feel about working closely with faculty members on mathematics?
.....0..I would prefer to remain anonymous.
.....1..OK, as long as they are friendly and helpful.
.....2..Let's find a good project to investigate and get to work!

c) How do you feel about the great outdoors?
.....0..I'm definitely a city mouse.
.....1..OK, as long as there are creature comforts nearby.
.....2..I enjoyed my last back-packing trip and want to learn rock climbing.

If the product of your three answers is 2 or more, read on! (And find out how to save $60 on the application process as well.)

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St.Lawrence University is a private liberal arts school. This means that the faculty, president, and trustees believe that the best education St.Lawrence can offer is one which produces well-rounded students who specialize in one or two specific subject areas, have a solid background across the curriculum, and who are generally able to write cogently, reason clearly, read critically, and speak persuasively. (In practical terms, this means you can't go overboard by taking four math classes every semester!) In addition, St.Lawrence runs an acclaimed program of study for first-year students, encourages and supports study abroad, and offers a broad array of great courses.

I am proud of the fact that St.Lawrence has an excellent mathematics program. In fact, it is one of the most popular degrees on campus, with around one in every ten students graduating with a major or minor from the department of mathematics, computer science and statistics. Beyond their comprehensive course offerings, the department sports a thriving student-run math club, holds a weekly problem-solving seminar (led by me) each fall in anticipation of the Putnam Competition, awards weekly prizes for solutions to the Problem of the Week, hosts a math contest for local high schools each April, and much more.

Most importantly, students work with faculty members on mathematics at many levels. We go over coursework, submit solutions to journal problems, and prepare presentations for events such as the Hudson River Undergraduate Mathematics Conference. Furthermore, St.Lawrence supports students (room, board and stipend) who wish to remain on campus for eight weeks during the summer to conduct independent math research with members of the faculty. Finally, every senior math major completes a semester-long project of the student's choosing. The documentary entitled The Eternal Vision of Leonard Euler was the result of one such a project. If you haven't seen it yet, ask your Mandelbrot coach to show it!

The campus of St.Lawrence University is located in a region of the United States known as the North Country, between the Adirondack Park and Canada. The school takes advantage of its location in many ways, including the celebrated Adirondack Semester, opportunities for environmental studies, and plenty of outdoors activities including skiing, paddling, and hiking. It does get cold during some of the winter days, but the legendary lake-effect snowfalls that hit Buffalo typically don't make it up to Canton, in case you were wondering.

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If you have read this far and are seriously considering St.Lawrence University, then I have good news. As a participant in the Mandelbrot Competition, your school has access to SLU application fee waivers! (The fee ordinarily runs $60.) Your coach probably already knows how to obtain them, but if not, simply have your coach contact Alison Almasian at the SLU Admissions Office or write to me. If your name appears anywhere in the results pages this fall, be sure to mention it on your application. Also, please let me know if you are planning to visit the campus at some point; I'd be happy to introduce myself and tell you more about the mathematics program and the college in general.

Good luck with your college decisions!