ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is great for industry, research, publishing, or academia. I've heard there are age limits for becoming an assistant professor after 35 unless you have industrial experience, but that doesn't seem to be an issue elsewhere.

It's definitely possible to get involved with student project teams here. Big teams like ARIS, AMZ, ACE, and Celsi have recruiting periods and open days by the end of spring semester. Some are harder to get into, but if you apply for a few projects you'll likely find a spot. Also check out smaller focus projects from past semesters—they sometimes take on freelancers. I highly recommend doing this; it helps with getting into a focus project in your third year or with internships.

Most PhD students at ETH are satisfied with their salaries in Zurich and have disposable income for hobbies. That said, it often depends on living in small shared apartments, which isn't feasible for everyone. Students with a non-working partner need to budget much more carefully.

I spent a year in ETH's bachelor's mathematics program after graduating from UZH. The focus on fundamentals and logic, answering the 'why' behind theorems, was exactly what I needed. Exams are significantly harder than at UZH, but if you're passionate about pure math, it's deeply rewarding. Difficulty is subjective—I found it easier to study modules I loved. Overall, a challenging yet enriching experience.

From my experience, no single laptop is great for both note-taking and running computationally intensive software at ETH. But honestly, you rarely need heavy software for a course—they usually provide desktops or a cluster for that. Most people use an iPad plus a laptop, or a convertible. I think both work, but a convertible is cheaper. I've heard Asus and Lenovo convertibles are solid.