graduate-applications

[woven plover]

I thought French students have mandatory internships every summer comprising their master's projects, and their master's is like 3 years or smth (including some pre-PhD thing)

[dire brook]

That's only the (4) ENS

And in that case it could be their master 2 internship (and their supervisor recommending an internship for the extra year), or an internship during that extra year for example

And the extra year can also be a second master 2

With its summer internship

In any case the main point is that French profs will likely take as PhD student someone they've already had as an intern

[foggy prism]

say in paris, do you apply to specific school or just the whole PSL system?

[dire brook]

My understanding is that you apply to a specific supervisor, and once you have a supervisor you apply to the relevant doctoral school (in physics there's a doctoral school for the entire Ile de France region ; don't know about maths)

[hidden sleet]

Is there anyone who has done/is familiar with the ALGANT masters program? I have some questions/would like some advice.

[spring portal]

Depends. In France there are many 5 year PhDs and 3 year PhDs. For 5 year PhD, you apply to the masters M1 first. Then for PhD you need to select from projects listed or in suggests labs you wish to join.

This is the process I followed for programs I applied.

[late rose]

there are just 3 year PhDs

if you are at M1 you go to M2 then 3 year PhD

[spring portal]

The 5 year PhD tracks also have 2 years of masters.

[woven plover]

M1 and M2 are not funded, right?

[late rose]

yes

[spring portal]

For 5 year programs they are

Well atleast where I applied

[woven plover]

Where did you apply?

[late rose]

where did you apply ?

[woven plover]

For physics/mathematical physics I assume?

[spring portal]

PSL

[late rose]

being in M1 or M2 doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get into a PhD you’ll most likely still have to go through a selection process afterward

[late rose]

ENS or Univ ?

[spring portal]

The program is organized by ENS under PSL. I applied on PSL portal.

[late rose]

do you have normalien status?

[spring portal]

But on webpage it says for M1 and M2 10000 will be provided and for PhD 2200/m will be given or something iirc

[late rose]

never heard this

[spring portal]

https://psl.eu/en/education/find-your-curriculum/psl-phd-tracks

It's under //funding

[late rose]

okay but it doesn’t exist in general in psl for physics maybe it's an exception

[normal charm]

I am somewhat of a newbie to looking at grad school (still have 2 more years) and couldn't find much info on mathematicsgre.com (it seems like most people there are from the US), is the masters at UofT for domestic applicants still super competitive if you have a good final-year GPA, grad level classes already taken, research experience, and good rec letters?

[woven plover]

I don't think it's nearly as competitive for domestic applicants

[normal charm]

Awesome, ty 🫡

[foggy prism]

do you get to choose the specific institution in the PSL portal?

[spring portal]

For my program atleast no

You just select program name and apply directly

[agile dust]

dude I'm so antsy

[main aspen]

Why?

[agile dust]

well grad apps

big deal

I just wanna hear back from one good place, so I can breathe

[wind plinth]

feltttt

[trail vigil]

Dude, the anxiety is insane

I've been refreshing my email so much lmfao

[agile dust]

Lmfao for real

[foggy prism]

im even worse than that, i just wanna hear back from one place (good or not)

[wind plinth]

i just wanna timeskip to like May when I'll know if I got accepted to a program and not be thinking about it anymore, and go on my desert road trip

[fierce bobcat]

^^ I had to write myself an email for my future self in May 😭

[raw quail]

what can I expect and how should I prepare for a meeting with a potential advisor

I imagine this varies a lot, but like

what's the goal? is it just like chatting about possible research projects?

[paper granite]

From the advice I’ve been given, it’s also about finding out what their expectations of a student are and how they work with their students, and also possibly more importantly, if it’s someone you think you’ll get along with.

Ive been told by a few people that the last thing is probably the most crucial thing about your PhD and I guess that makes sense, it’s hard and it’s long, you should feel comfortable and aligned with the main person helping you through it.

[smoky jetty]

I mean make it very clear that you are interested in working with them and ask if they are taking students

I second everything that @.Nope said as well

Also if your goal is academia / industry it could be worth asking about their success with students in that regard in terms of job placements

[glacial cedar]

Had a dream last night that i got into BU

[wind plinth]

i had a dream that WashU sent me a "not denied" email. not an "accepted" one! lol

[woven plover]

Dreams become deja vu, right

[agile dust]

Another day, nothing

🫩

[tulip rune]

I didn't hear back from programs until like mid to late march lol

don't drive yourselves insane

[dire brook]

I wasn't expecting anything this early, until I opened this channel

[wind plinth]

i know people IRL that have already gotten acceptances (granted, for engineering program rather than math, but still! crazy!!)

[agile dust]

MARCH???

No man

No way

[paper granite]

You’re mainly applying to the UK right? April to June is the usual range for here I think

I only just got emails from Edinburgh and Imperial today to say they’re now looking at my application

[dire brook]

I haven't even submitted my application to Imperial yet

[glacial cedar]

Yeah my gf got her first acceptance today (for psci)

[tacit lark]

plenty of people hear back earlier. Its common to hear back in february.

[paper granite]

I was only so early because Monday was the martingale deadline

[dire brook]

I'm so late because I'm so done with it and also there's not many people I'd want to work with

I know Imperial is well known and all but a bit weird in hep-th

They're still recruiting

[paper granite]

Yeah I feel you, my imperial app was so half arsed, I basically just took my Manchester one and took out any specific names or mentions of Manchester (and I very nearly missed one). I was just so fed up after doing the others

[dire brook]

In fact they recruited someone great but he's only starting in Oct so he's not part of the admissions this year

[paper granite]

And now I’m like snowed in with actual uni work and also worried about interviews

[dire brook]

Yeah...

I'm desperately trying to get this project to a conclusion because I'm finishing my internship in 1.5 weeks and after that I have my second one starting, and my future supervisor has been very clear that I should be done with my project or put it on hold 💀

[woven plover]

You are applying for master's in the UK?

They are unfunded, right

[paper granite]

I’m currently doing my masters in the UK, but yeah they’re generally unfunded. I believe oxford, possibly Cambridge too, have a couple of scholarships and Edinburgh technically has a funded MSc through their AGQ programme but these are exceptions to the rule

There are external scholarships like martingale though, and they sometimes fund masters, but again this is rare

MScs are the weird middle child that’s a bit neglected. This is kinda why most people in the UK will just do a MMath as that’s still priced like an UG year so you get better loans

[main aspen]

In terms of acceptances I’m hearing a lot more “February-March” dates

If you want funding

[dire brook]

Yeah Cambridge has scholarships through colleges

[paper granite]

Thats what im hearing too but I thought that was just the internal martingale one (well, it is, those offers need to be made by early march) but I didnt think it was true universally. I dont imagine itll be uncommon though

[pearl isle]

The earliest I heard back when I applied was the last week of February.

This was true for many people I know as well. March is pretty early all things considered

Although tbf I got rejected pretty much everywhere maybe if you get in you hear earlier skull

[tacit lark]

March is not early. Its a common month to hear back but anything after march (for US) is late.

[foggy prism]

i had a dream i got accepted to berkeley on 2026/1/24 almost 2 months ago. hopign itd come true

i hope that was some accidental telepathy and that i gave the committee the thought of letting me in.

[vestal swan]

manifest it to come true 🙏

[pearl isle]

eh fair enough. I don't really know what's normal. I heard back most places in march (although I only got in to 2 phd programs, which i did not attend.)

[woven plover]

So if I don't get rejected right now in the first round, there is a chance in later rounds?

[paper granite]

I dont know about the US, but I see no reason why it would be different, but at least for the UK yes this is the case. It may be that some people get multiple offers and go another way, so that funding could be reallocated to you after the first round

[cosmic magnet]

Yeah, there's a chance that you could get an offer after March since people who decline offers open spots up for people on waitlists

[tacit lark]

yea

[woven plover]

But I guess that means they try to fill all the spots from the first round already

[cosmic magnet]

Yeah but that's how it goes I guess

[glacial cedar]

When does the “first round” end

[agile dust]

Any rejections/acceptances today?

God wtf is this

[tacit lark]

Dude you have to relax. I get it's stressful, but coming here like every day and asking about acceptances/rejections or just complaining doesn't help you or anyone else here.

[tacit lark]

Who knows? It's not entirely obvious what "first round" really is. Not every university sends out all their acceptances at once and then waits to hear back those students and then sends more etc.

[agile dust]

Yeah I know lol

[visual lagoon]

We don't talk about application results in this channel, since it can lead to comparisons, toxic behavior, etc.

[pearl isle]

just spam refresh mathematicsgre.com and gradcafe. if you dont see anything there it's a solid 99% there wasn't any US results. People are online enough that if there are results someone will post about it.

[agile dust]

yeah I know I'm just being antsy

[fierce bobcat]

https://math.wisc.edu/graduate/prospective-phd/

Madison to start requiring the mGRE, I feel very lucky to have avoided that...

[agile dust]

I thought they were trying to abolish this

[fierce bobcat]

Probably means they got a ton of applicant this year and want to thin the volume?

[pearl isle]

Most places have brought it back.

Berkeley brought it back this cycle

It looks like the trend is it will go back to being mandatory almost everywhere (on a conull set)

[trail vigil]

Why do you think this is the case?

[pearl isle]

Probably a combination of factors

On the one hand the the ever present desire to thin out applicant pools as much as possible

[wind plinth]

still mad ab that

[pearl isle]

On the other hand there is a pretty widespread belief in the US that we overcorrected on negative opinions towards standardized tests and that probably also contributes

[wind plinth]

everything about my application is quite strong, except for my abyssmal mGRE score. i wasnt expecting to have to take it at all, then found out like a month and a half before the last test date that 3 schools on my app list were requiring it. so of course i did poorly lol

[pearl isle]

Anyway probably you just have to lock in and spend 3 months studying for it now to signal you’re a serious applicant

My plan for this summer is to spend like 3 hours a day spamming gre prep I guess

[wind plinth]

godspeed

[pearl isle]

Since I do want to go back to the US

I’m highkey regretting taking a European masters

Maybe I’m just depressed rn cause I did bad on an exam

I wish I took one of my PhD offers i wasn’t that thrilled abt instead tho

[cosmic magnet]

You get to (hopefully) travel instead of being in the middle of nowhere potentially?🙏

[blissful crystal]

why? if its a good program, wouldnt it only boost ur chances?

[mossy niche]

the standards for european masters students are much higher than undergrad students in admissions

[blissful crystal]

thats understandable, i would expect much more advanced classes taken and very good rec letters but do u also mean they expect paper(s) published?

and isnt it the same for masters in the US too

[unkempt willow]

@blissful crystal lock in bro

[pearl isle]

Nah I’m taking 6 classes every semester and have no time or life lol

[round grove]

what is this channel about?

[paper granite]

Questions and advice for applications to PhDs and MSc programmes in maths (also further applications like post docs etc but less common)

All of the channels have a description at the top, if you’re on mobile you need to click the channel name so it is annoying hidden

[agile dust]

Georgia tech responses are back

Didn't apply - but figure I'd spread the word

Someone who applied - could you LMK what time precisely they emailed?

Cause I keep checking and I have a feeling that it's only mornings

[cosmic magnet]

ngl, I think you should chill a bit for your own sake. Speaking from experience last year but the more you think the worse it gets

[agile dust]

I'm too far down this road

[wind plinth]

i still have nothing

[agile dust]

Thanks!

I'll be on standby to update too 🙂

[mossy niche]

[visual lagoon]

^ you're way overthinking this

[pearl isle]

This made me cackle lmfao

I have no ground to stand on because I was there a year ago

But dude ur so rotted

U didn’t apply why do you want to know the time 🤣🤣🤣

[hasty island]

A reminder as well to not discuss admissions results in this channel, see #graduate-applications message

[cosmic magnet]

We'll make it together next year cro🙏. Applying again to programd though is uh💀

[pearl isle]

Thx vro

I lowkey realized I haven’t been networking nearly as much as I should have during my masters even tho I came into it knowing I needed to

[agile dust]

Lollll

Partially trolling, partially scared and antsy as hell

Its just tough, I guess next week is when hell will be crashing down

[mossy niche]

my two acceptances last year were before this date last year, and april 15. you're going to potentially suffer for another 3 months, or you can live your life and do some actual mathematics

[agile dust]

I can suffer while doing mathematics

[glacial cedar]

do you guys have any advice for "backups" for not getting into a PhD program? I do TCS so industry isn't an ideal option but technically possible

[cosmic magnet]

I think industry research is a good option if you can get a role somehow. Otherwise you can try doing research at national labs/other relevant institutes. From my understanding, TCS people are sought out given their expertise in algos etc.

[glacial cedar]

https://cra.org/cra-wp/research-labs/ do you mean labs like these? and also like DIMACS and Weizmann

[wind plinth]

my plan is to get my teaching license and go from there. would prefer to be in an applied research setting like a national lab but the one I'm at is not hiring anyone for the foreseeable future and i fear that's true at all of them at this point ;-;

[glacial cedar]

Yeah i was considering teaching at a community college

Then if my next cycle also looks bad, I just try to get a lecturer position

[tacit lark]

IMO Industry research in general but especially tcs related is very difficult to get into.

[tacit lark]

Idrk what else there is other than applying to non-academic jobs.

[foggy prism]

didn't

What should I expect for a 30-60 min interview? I can't see how it wouldn't be less than 20 min

[mossy niche]

prepare to be grilled on actual mathematical material

[gentle basin]

withdraws application on the spot

[woven plover]

Well, 24th is Saturday. Idk if they work on admissions on weekends

[glacial cedar]

You do not want to know how many times ive refreshed my email this weekend

[shell kindle]

Why would you expect a notification on a weekend?

[blissful crystal]

i got my only decision so far at 1 am

PST

[foggy prism]

happened in a dream

made me believe

[tough crag]

can i ask what this channel is for? Im new to the server!

[glacial cedar]

Idk man. Professors are quirky

[main aspen]

I wouldn’t be surprised at getting an informal offer on a weekend (knowing some professors)
I’d be surprised at getting a formal offer

[polar turtle]

ur not

u don't need to keep stressing out like this

[agile dust]

I'm chillin now

[woven plover]

This informal offer thing is not applicable to the US, right?

Or to taught master's programs

[main aspen]

I wouldn’t be surprised if it can happen occasionally, but I don’t know for certain
It’s essentially a faculty member (usually one you have some level of connection to) going “look, the offer/funding letter’ll take a while to come through, but we’ve made the decision and it’s basically just a formality that you’ll get it at this point”

[tacit lark]

I got informal offers from US schools.

[woven plover]

You've worked with them before?

[mossy niche]

many schools give out informal offers

[tacit lark]

No

[glacial cedar]

I’ve heard about them happening when you already work with a professor but that’s it

[hidden quest]

Guys! Yall know if Brown came out yet?

[spring portal]

Maybe a pre-doctoral fellowship, or as others said, reach out to labs for any positions. You may also try reaching out to your undergrad advisors for any positions in their groups. Or a more structured one semester/year course of sort might also work.

[frozen atlas]

what?
sorry I guess im a bit new to this but is it usual to get answers by this date?
(i also applied to the math phd to brown)

[hidden quest]

Many schools released acceptance around this time. I saw it on the Reddit spreadsheet saying it’s released but none of my friends got emailed so I’m just wanting to confirm.

[hidden quest]

My bad I’m new to this as well. Didn’t see this message. Will stop discussing

[foggy prism]

should i review a lot of math for this?💀

🤔 or do they ask you more generic question like whats your interest etc?

i kinda don't wanna be asked math questions relatinb my major cuz i wouldn't know the answer. but idk if that sorta thing is typically in the interview at all

[glacial cedar]

The only pre doc i know of is at chicago

[lone vessel]

microsoft also has a pre doc program

[hasty island]

Thanks

[pearl isle]

It is somewhat common in the US too

[cunning nimbus]

but don’t the unofficial offers in the us look pretty formal already (the email is standardized and the same for all students, etc)? I think micoi was talking about informal emails from profs directly

[wind plinth]

is it time to start manifesting extra hard

[glacial cedar]

I’m manifesting hard rn

[tacit lark]

No

[tacit lark]

No its not feb yet

[wind plinth]

noted

[woven plover]

What is manifesting

[foggy prism]

referring/relating to ted's manifesto /j

[glacial cedar]

its like putting in energy that something is gonna happen

[crimson rampart]

is it normal for schools to admit without an interview

I’m not really sure if this is a red flag or not

[marsh zealot]

i think this is pretty common in US schools for pure math at least. cant speak to other fields or regions

[crimson rampart]

that makes sense

I don’t think this program is necessarily pure math? They just have 1 math program and a bunch of subprograms for specializations but I just went with the math one so maybe that counts

[glacial cedar]

does anyone know how trustworthy/accurate gradcafe is?

[wind plinth]

i have made a point of never touching that website tbch

[glacial cedar]

I just checked cuz I was curious which schools I applied to had interviews or not, and saw one of my top choices sent out (at least) one acceptance today

[wind plinth]

my mentor told me it becomes useful if/when you get more than one acceptance, at which point you can start snooping around there for details about specific profs at the schools

i am just going to continue incessantly checking my email and repeating the mantra of "you only need one yes" until i go blue

[glacial cedar]

yeah thats basically what im doing

I am also checking the portals cuz my girlfriend got a rejection from a school on the portal a few days before getting an email

[lofty plover]

yo other than measure theory, topology, intro to algebra, what are some standard courses unis will want for a masters application ?

I'm also wondering if i apply for applied maths, can i get away without any numerical analysis ? I am thinking of taking some cs courses instead

[paper granite]

From my experience on the applied side of things they tend to be less strict about prereqs and just out everyone through some intense courses to bring everyone to the same level. I think just because everyone can come from such different backgrounds, but also my experience is limited so your mileage may vary

[coral fjord]

wahoo first phd rejection

we're fuckin dying

ahaha

it was towards the top, I guess

(copium)

[glacial cedar]

i was so close to applying there

but one of my profs turned me away from it

[mossy niche]

curious, did they say how many applications they got this year

last year it was over 800 and my advisor was shocked

[coral fjord]

similarly

[fierce bobcat]

yeah they explicitly said 800+

[hidden sleet]

They also said they had fewer positions this year but I guess that was expected

[pearl isle]

Yep I remember that

[woven plover]

Wow, in applied and pure math combined?

[pearl isle]

I think it was 800 apps just in pure math

Last app season was a nightmare

[paper granite]

I’m sorry, that really sucks but we do ask that you don’t discuss results here. There’s a pinned post with some reasoning if you’re curious!

Does anyone have any advice about preparing for interviews (UK)? Like beyond knowing what I said on my statement and knowing vaguely what the person interviewing me does, what should I be preparing, what should I expect?

They warned me to prepare a 5 minute teaching presentation aimed at first year students which is nice, gives me at least 5 minutes of certainty, but there’s still just a mystery 25 minutes lol

[agile dust]

Did anyone get accepted? (Rhetorical)

Gradcafe looks like a warzone

[paper granite]

Hence our no results policy, so ya know...

[agile dust]

Its insane

[smoky jetty]

Easy mental health boost

Never look at gradcafe

Zero upside to it imo

[pearl isle]

You can’t not during exam season

App season*

[smoky jetty]

Yes you can

I never looked

So easy to avoid

Great for mental health

[hasty island]

I got told not to by @past plume and I trust @past plume with my life

[urban raft]

So I don't think I've ever heard of a UK PhD interview asking about teaching lol

(I guess maybe for that UCL fellowship thingy they might ask?)

But in general, I think reasonable questions might include stuff like

questions about your thesis

general maths questions, about your area

also, I think every UK place will ask: "where else you have applied, and where do we rank on your list of places". I don't think there's a wrong answer to this question, but you should have an answer prepared

but there's a very wide range of interviewing styles

from grilling you on technical questions for half an hour

to just having a casual chat

[paper granite]

This is exactly why they’re asking lol

[paper granite]

Yeah this is what I’m slightly worried about because it’s just kinda so broad. Like the guy I’m interviewing with does derived category stuff with a view towards physics and seemingly just touches on a bunch of different things and I’m scared that I could get asked just about anything

Of course I know it’s more about how you think etc than just if you get all the answers correct, but knowing I could be asked on just about anything I’ve ever seen feels pretty intense

[woven plover]

Idk what the point of these questions is, you can always just lie and say "only applied here"

[past axle]

You can simply not do this

Not like you can do shit about your applications once they’re in anyways; better to spare yourself the stress

[urban raft]

The unique place in the UK (as far as I can tell) which cares about how good PhD students are at teaching lol

[urban raft]

I see I see

I mean with my interviews, they were almost always about content that I knew

But part of that is that most people I applied to are Cambridge alumni, and I was at Cambridge, so we were taught the same things

Saying I don't know is always a valid answer, assuming it is content which you haven't covered yet, and wouldn't be expected to know

[urban raft]

Well UK academia is not that big all things considered, so if you end up going somewhere else, it's not a good look

[tacit lark]

its also very unlikely you only applied to one school

[urban raft]

I think this is something where US-based advice may not apply in the UK, namely in the UK everyone doing the same subject know eachother

[paper granite]

Yeah I’m just quite nervous about it, I’ve only done one academic interview before (my martingale one) and while I got that the actual interview was a bit rough so I think I’m a bit shaken by it haha

And I got lucky that they gave me analysts for the interview so I think I got off a little easy (though one of the guys does C* algebra stuff and grilled me on stuff tangentially related to something I know about so maybe I wasn’t actually lucky)

[paper granite]

But yeah that’s actually good to know, I guess there’s no point in lying about it really, UCL is probably number 3 for me behind Oxbridge, so I guess I should just be honest about it. Like you said everyone knows everyone here

[urban raft]

Anyways, another reason to answer honestly is if you have competing offers with deadlines

if you have an offer from a place which you told them you would prefer over them (or vice versa), they might take this into account

[urban raft]

I assume most people in the UK are at least vaguely aware of the timelines for Oxbridge, so (looking at the date today), it might also help them get a bit of a move on and get through the admin quicker

[urban raft]

(Cambridge interview season is usually this week or next, informal offers a week or two after that, formal offers in like ages iirc?)

[paper granite]

Ah so 'tis not looking good for me

UCL is the only place ive heard a peep from

[spring portal]

I also applied to 3 places in UK, radio silence everywhere 😢
2 PhDs were rolling, so I guess my app wasn't strong for those places, as I applied on Dec 1 (earliest acceptance date).

[urban raft]

some UK places are notorious for being slow though

[paper granite]

I know Edinburgh dont even start to look at apps until the 19th, and I applied to Imperial quite late so im not too surprised there. There was also some issue with my Manchester one so thatll have slowed it down

[paper granite]

See warwick taking almost 3 months to respond to me about my masters

[urban raft]

with the Warwick system it is very easy for people to fall through the cracks

LSGNT is notoriously slow

[paper granite]

Im quite confident thats what happended with me, and no one would do anything when I emailed

[urban raft]

KCL is as well

[spring portal]

Edinburgh is fine, they just sent that 'my files will be considered' on the 21st. Others idk, send me the 'your file is in review' on first week on Dec then went silent.

I applied only to CDTs, so I guess the positions are very competitve,

[paper granite]

I guess im a unicorn, UCL got back to me (from a guy who says if you want to work with me apply to LSGNT no less) really quick

[urban raft]

yeah, UCL itself is pretty good iirc

expecting to hear from LSGNT any time soon isn't happening lol

like I think LSGNT offers are often like May or something

[spring portal]

that's so late honestly

[paper granite]

But yeah im not feeling good about my oxbridge applications cambridge in particular. I felt that was a long shot anyway, but I know people (internal) interviewed like a week ago so uhhh

[paper granite]

Tbf theres 9 slots, I guess its just stupidly competitive so they take their time

But it is also 5 months after the submission deadline I guess lol

[urban raft]

so LSGNT admin in and of itself is a bit of a mess lol

you might hear earlier than May, but I wouldn't be surprised if you did hear back in May from LSGNT

[main aspen]

May????
How do they get like
Anyone decent from the UK
With that deadline

[urban raft]

okay that was a bit of an exaggeration, but LSGNT is at least a month behind everyone else iirc

I know some people who had offers elsewhere (and maybe even accepted them), and ended up at LSGNT

so...

[paper granite]

Realising this is like the last week of Cambridge interviews has really put the pressure on for me to not fuck this UCL interview so time to get brushing up on my AG

[lofty plover]

Does anyone know how applying for masters in smth like Applied math would differ to statistics or data science etc. ?

maybe even financial math

As in if you're applying with a bachelor in math (more pure math oriented ig )

[spring portal]

It's hard to answer as entry requirements vary a lot from school/program and country. On average, most DS programs have lax entry requirements (but might be competitive due to higher volume of applicants).

Pure math should put you in good place for fin math/applied math/stat, DS depends on entry requirements (some might ask for few courses in CS).

[lofty plover]

I suppose what i'm trying to ask is, is it a red flag if I have courses that are more pure math oriented (along with maybe one semester of cs courses) as opposed to say a more applied profile with courses like optimization, numerical analysis etc.

[spring portal]

I don't see why it is a red flag, people often switch and shift, and what you are suggesting is not a big shift. I went from engineering to physics.

[lofty plover]

Maybe not red flag but a disadvantage

[spring portal]

As long as you have good motivation behind applying (ex: you didn't find pure math to your taste so you want to move to more applied).

[lofty plover]

~~my motivation is money ~~

[spring portal]

I really don't think pure math -> applied/fin math is a huge deal tbh. If anything, pure math should have provided you a strong foundation and proof skills.

[spring portal]

Not wrong, a lot of math PhD go to quant, HFTs

[lofty plover]

Yeah I'm just thinking if I apply somewhere competitive

and there are 2 applicants for something like statistics/applied math etc.

one with optimization, lots of courses in statistics, machine learning etc.

and then i have courses in ring theory

To what extent would that provide a disadvantage in my profile

[split lily]

how are you certain that it's the last week of interviews for cambridge?

[lofty plover]

yea i might've taken this route if i was born a little earlier but i suspect by the time i would be done with a phd, entry level jobs won't really exist with AI

[spring portal]

well, if you apply somewhere competitive, then it might be hard, which is why we apply to many places in the first place

I feel like you are overthinking a bit. Just try in places where you are a good fit (like allied research group, meeting minimum entry requirements).

I was previously accepted to a program where I didn't even meet the minimum entry requirement (switching fields) but I explained my motivations and self study in the SOP.

Better to take the shot than worry all the small details (and I said, your switch isn't even that big, many go from bachelor math -> ms/phd applied).

If you are applying to Europe, many masters programs have no cap on number of students either, so its only meeting the entry requirements.

[spring portal]

hmm, probably not lol

(I hope not )

[paper granite]

I’m not certain but from the information on their website and people in the past it certainly seems like it is

Nonetheless it’s certainly late enough in the game that I’m pretty I’d have gotten an interview offer by now at least, unless they’ll email me saying like do it tomorrow

[spring portal]

Man I want to apply to Cambridge but none of the profs I wanted to work with even replied to my email

Well saved my app money atleast ig

Well I need to sleep, but I hope everyone gets offers in this tough cycle!

[woven plover]

Is this cycle tougher than last year

[urban raft]

isn't it free anyways? at least for PhDs it is

[woven plover]

I don't think so for Cambridge

It's much cheaper than master's application fee tho

[spring portal]

Maybe? I feel like the effects of US administration from 2025 is seeping in. Lot of budget cuts, people applying to more programs etc.

[urban raft]

this was like the one useful thing cambridge SU did lol

[spring portal]

I think it was showing i needed to pay for PhD too at Cambridge. Edinburgh was free.

i dont remember though, so i could be wrong

[spring portal]

yea it has app fee (though not much)

[woven plover]

So do I only start looking for scholarships after I've gotten an offer from a UK school?

[spring portal]

I think you can also search while applying (I have seen few programs even recommend that).

[lofty plover]

Hm there are like 2 places i can apply to but yea

[paper granite]

£20 as of this year

[spring portal]

Good luck!

[paper granite]

That’s true I’ve been thinking that’s a possibility, where we are considered somewhat separately from the main pool but that could just be cope. I know that logically there’s no point in me stressing because until I have anything definite from the department anything else is just uninformed speculation but also I’m stressed haha

[spring portal]

If a school rejects you just put it in the line of fire of a particle accelerator

[split lily]

yeam same here, I've been getting really anxious as just feel completely in the dark

well not super anxious

but like anxious

[paper granite]

I mean, we are. But yeah, we (especially me) should just chill, whatever happens happens and I’m sure we’ll both end up with something on account of a) having external funding but also b) having already been, at least somewhat, academically vetted

[split lily]

https://tenor.com/view/spike-spiegel-gif-21670784

whatever happens happens!

[split lily]

oh that second point I didn't even really consider!

so true

[paper granite]

The numbers from 2 or 3 years ago suggest that like 94% of qualified candidates got a PhD iirc

[main aspen]

This is weird because like thats kinda not how it works
They accept people academically
Then put people forward to various trusts that fund PhDs in Cambridge
If you’re particularly good, the department might say “regardless of what happens there, we’ll give you money if you don’t get it from trusts”
But then the trusts can take a while (I’ve been told of someone who found funding in August, to start 2 months later)

[paper granite]

Yeah that’s kinda what I thought, they’d just put you forward for an interview regardless if they thought you had a chance

[urban raft]

ah oof, so apparently the one useful thing cambridge su did is no longer the case lol

[urban raft]

actually, if you have external funding, why are you going for the UCL teaching thing? Do you want to do more teaching? Cuz iirc it's quite a bit of teaching

[main aspen]

Hey they do plenty of useful things
Like giving us ice cream for voting /hj

[paper granite]

I think I just applied for all funding im eligable for. Im qualified for martingale but that doesnt mean im guarenteed to get it. Like theres only X spots per uni so its possible I dont get martingale funding at UCL

[urban raft]

or plants for our JCR lmao

[urban raft]

I assume we are thinking about the same person, I think that was kind of an exceptional case tbh, lots of different things happening means it took way longer than usual

[main aspen]

(It’s just something that was mentioned to me in my interview)

[urban raft]

oh i see

At Cambridge how it works is that the department submits a ranked list of the people they have given offers to to the trusts, and then the trusts do their thing with this list

the list is much longer than the number of people who will get funding I think

As far as I can tell, I don't think funding is considered at all until after they give out the informal offers (which don't come with funding)

(let's be honest, at most UK unis, internal applicants are more likely to get an offer than externals)

[main aspen]

Sure but it cuts both ways
Would you take on someone you’ve interacted with a fair bit and know you’d get on with well enough for a PhD, or someone who you’ve only interacted with for an hour löng interview, and you might think you get on better, but you don’t know how it’ll change working together longer

[paper granite]

Then theres the compsci programme at edi that doesnt take any of their compsci undergrads because they do essentially no theory and learn basically no maths lol

[teal gorge]

Does it hurt to email my updated transcript with F25 grades to graduate coordinators if I've already submitted my application?

[glacial cedar]

Some schools actually let you resubmit the transcript (i forget which, but I have seen it before)

[teal gorge]

I guess I'm asking about just sending an email to an administrator in the case that there is no dedicated re-upload option on the app portal

[glacial cedar]

I dont believe it would hurt. I think at most they would disregard it. But unless theres something major in your transcript from F25, I dont think it would change their decision.

but take my advice with a grain of salt

i applied this cycle too so idk

[teal gorge]

I'm hoping it at least alleviates the worry that my grades might have dropped, so my record looks as consistent as possible