Bernat, Elizabeth

Name:Elizabeth Bernat

Year Graduated:2010

First Job: Masters degree student in economics at the University of Helsinki

Favorite Course:

Real Analysis and Differential Equations. They’ve both been very useful for graduate courses in economics and were difficult enough to be interesting but not so hard that I wanted to give up.

Memorable Experiences in the Classroom:

Dr. Collier’s jokes.

Memorable Experiences Outside the Classroom:

Going to dinner with the department after talks given by guest speakers, helping with the Calculus tournament, going to math conferences and presenting my thesis work.

Why Should Somebody Study Mathematics at UMW?

The professors are focused on teaching and easy to talk to if you do not understand something in class. They are very interested in helping students do undergraduate research projects, which give you great experience at giving presentations and writing math papers. If there is an area of mathematics about which you want to learn more, it’s easy to contact a professor and arrange to have an independent study class. Most of my upper level math classes had about 12 people, so by the end of the semester the professors and the students all know each other fairly well. Also, having any amount of math on your transcript looks great to employers and graduate schools.