#graduate-applications

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rapid dawn
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Or can you use TeX? They seem to want it done in Word but also they want it as a pdf which TeX can do

raw quail
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I mean if it's a Unicode character or whatever it should be fine, right?

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Unless they somewhere specify to use alphanumeric only, which they might

delicate kite
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Does applications made in the early deadline increase your chances of admission or they just get you an early decision?

hot wadi
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does unpublishable research experience increase the chances of being admitted ?

ocean kiln
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Is there any reason to talk about a research project in my personal statement if one of my letter writers is going to talk about it anyway?

thorny geyser
thorny geyser
hot wadi
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in the case of not being a math undergrad

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are rec letters from professors assrting that i indeed have the enough prerqeuisites enough?

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and is that common? ( i think it is )

ocean kiln
thorny geyser
# hot wadi in the case of not being a math undergrad

But applying for math grad school? What did you do in UG? When you can provide sufficient evidence that you check the prereq boxes it shouldn’t be a problem. This is not subjective though and a professor thinking that you do doesn’t mean that you actually do evidence wise

hot wadi
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well

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they put me through the undergrad tests in analysis/algebra and topology

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i did very well and supposedly this is what going to be said in the rec letters

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i am doing cs

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third year

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and now they recommended i meet up with a prof and ask if i could do research with anybody

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supposedly this should give me good chances of being admitted somewhere good?

thorny geyser
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I guess, in the end you just have to apply and see where it goes

hot wadi
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yea just want to have expectations thats all

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and was asking if my case is common

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i think it is

sacred estuary
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Does mentioning a publication in a journal which is far from the top and in an area which is not very very directly related to the area I am applying for have a negative effect? At the time I submitted it, I had little idea about which journals are well-regarded and what would be the best place for this work (which is not important or clever, but since someone had asked this question explicitly in an article, I felt I should not let it go unanswered). In retrospect, I was reckless and foolish and should have asked someone who worked in that area for their advice. At this point, I just want to know if I should mention it at all in my cv for the applications. This is something I won't be mentioning at all in my statement anyway since this was a one off thing unrelated to what I wish to do for a PhD.

crimson valve
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well i mean as long as its published work that is legit and also not on vixra

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i think you will be fine

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unless its like, a journal with a horrible reputation

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undergrads wont be producing good research as a rule of thumb so like, i dont think there is any reason they will hold it as a negative

undone yacht
crimson valve
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hmm i see

sacred estuary
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Is there a place to look up what journals are bad?

undone yacht
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ask people who know? 🙂 search for journal name + predatory

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what is the name of the journal?

sacred estuary
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Integers

crimson valve
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this?

undone yacht
# sacred estuary Integers

https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/integ/html ?

De Gruyter
Integers

Integers is a refereed journal devoted to research in combinatorial number theory and additive combinatorics.  There are other journals that touch on these fields; we are the only one that is dedicated entirely to these topics. We welcome original research articles in combinatorics and number theory, with a preference for those that have a conne...

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de gruyter is legit so i assume that one is ok

sacred estuary
undone yacht
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I would not jump to the conclusion that it is bad if somebody had an applation where this was mentioned

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why do you think it is a bad journal?

sacred estuary
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I don't think it is a bad journal, just that I learnt today it ranks closer to the bottom end of scopus indexed journals in combinatorics.

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But I don't know how important or meaningful these rankings are. Though the ones at the top like JCT and Combinatorica are definitely very good.

delicate kite
undone yacht
sacred estuary
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Thanks

undone yacht
twin delta
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well for one you know a journal is bad if you can look atthe math and it makes 0 sense

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for 2 (and some are really upset to admit this for obvious reasons) but at the graduate level, school does matter. your professor pedigree matters. the caliber of your research matters and respectively, the journal where you research is published matters. bad journals while i wouldn't necessarily call them "bad" are essentially UNRECOGNIZED at the level of tier 4 below

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so take that as you will

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but fi your applying to grad school there is no bad research. research experience there is just experience in higher level math and you should 100% list it in any application you send in, best of luck!

tawny hearth
# ocean kiln Can you explain why? I can't think of anything that it would add.

Talk about what you learned from the experience, how it influenced your decision to pursue grad school, your approach to the problem, etc. If you don’t mention it but your letter writer does, it has the chance of coming across like you weren’t a very active participant or didn’t like it very much, which could be a red flag. You’re (presumably) going to grad school to do research, it makes sense to talk about research!

shadow bobcat
sterile bone
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I'm writing about a particular proof I found very elegant that exemplifies my love for a subject in my SOP, and i'm wondering how much I should pontificate about the actual details. like if writing a few lines about the actual point of the proof is too much

sterile bone
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Also, I know I should suck up to them about why their phd program is great for me but what do I say if I literally just have 1 guy I wanna work with

past plume
past plume
sterile bone
sterile bone
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At most

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Some have none (not applying to those ofc)

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Like there's people I might be able to pivot to but i'm much less excited about those options in most places

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I don't really have a choice if I wanna do noncommuative algebra

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Ofc i'm gonna talk with the advisor and their potential students a lot before making my final decision

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Of the places i'm accepted

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Started talking to some profs already

crimson valve
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hmm i kind of have a similar thing where the mode maybe of the schools im applying to with operator theorists is like, 3

crimson valve
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thats probs what ill do

sterile bone
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I don't really WANT to do anything else in most of these schools

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So idk

crimson valve
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oh i see oof

sterile bone
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At least as far as my interests go rn

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Might change once I actually get there but idk

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I think that's a bit of a long shot

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Which is why I wanna get as much info as I can on the vibe of ppl, but otherwise most of these places I'm applying cuz of a particular prof

crimson valve
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yeah thats tough, all i can say is maybe focus on schools where the 2nd options are atleast palatable to you, but maybe thats hard bc of the niche field

crimson valve
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probably a good idea if theres only 1 or 2 ppl you wanna work with at an uni to do

sterile bone
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That's what i've been doing

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I need to keep doing it

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I got like halfway through my list

crimson valve
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nice, yeah i need to start doing it lol

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honestly i have barely started my grad app devastation

sterile bone
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I worked on sop a bit tofay

fierce sigil
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idk

shell kindle
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If anyone is applying for the NSF GRFP in an applied math field, I'd be happy to discuss/provide feedback

past plume
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I'm applying!

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I have a very rough draft of my research statement and I'm gonna write my personal statement tmrw

shell kindle
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In an applied math area though?

shell kindle
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What subject area are you applying for?

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Oh

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Yeah so really it's up to you whether you are applying in applied math or not

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For NSF at least, there is a good level of granularity and you can specify multiple discplines

past plume
past plume
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How do I write personal statement

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◉〰️◉

shell kindle
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Ok I'll give you a serious answer after I finish eating

past plume
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@shell kindle help

shell kindle
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Ok I just finished eating

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Ok so

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(are you applying for nsf)

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The NSF GRFP personal statement has a prompt doesn't it

past plume
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Yes I'm applying to grfp

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I didnt see a prompt

shell kindle
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Oh I see

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Well you know that you need to discuss intellectual merit and broader impacts right

past plume
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Yeah

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And its 3 pages

shell kindle
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So the way I set mine up was:

  • Why I like applied math
  • Research experiences 1 and 2, and the intellectual merits thereof
  • Research experiences 1 and 2, and the broader impacts thereof
  • Service/leadership/mentorship and broader impacts
  • Future goals
molten frigate
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yeah thats a nice overall structure

past plume
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So hm

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I should adress why I like number theory in the first part of my essay right

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Instead of just giving a history of my formative experiences?

shell kindle
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You should address why you like number theory

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The reasons you like number theory may be related to formative experiences, or they may not be

past plume
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I have a little bit more to write to complete my personal statement draft

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💀🗿🗿

shell kindle
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You got this

rapid dawn
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There's still a fair bit of time.

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I mean not a huge amount but 2 weeks isn't nothing

shell kindle
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Generally one recommends starting on NSF in August/September but now is better than never!

past plume
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Its better to talk about specific illustrative examples instead of trying to list all your qualifications

past plume
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I finally completed a first draft of my personal statement!!!!

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◉◡◉◉◡◉◉◡◉◉◡◉◉◡◉

raven sun
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Nice!

wary pond
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lesgoooo

urban heath
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I'm planning on applying to M.S. programs in Data Science/Statistics during the 2023 application period, and the only thing I'm really nervous about is asking for letters of rec. I have some classes I did very well in, but I never really got close with the professor(s). How would one go about asking for a letter of rec from a professor, whose course I took 1-2 years ago?

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Generally, I think apps open around August/September, so I have some time, but I want to start thinking about it early

worthy ruin
# urban heath I'm planning on applying to M.S. programs in Data Science/Statistics during the ...

Just send them an email! Something along the lines of, "I'm applying to MS programs next year... Would you be willing to write me a letter of rec when I apply?" Worst case is that they say no. If they don't remember you, they'll at least have records for how well you performed in the class, and they can include information about the way they structured their class and how impressive your performance was

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If you've already graduated, I think it's probably best to reach out to them now while they still potentially remember you, rather than closer to the application deadline. you can always get them to agree to it now, and then remind them about it a few months before apps are due or something

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also can i ask for some advice for the grad school personal statement 🥲

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i have a draft written and im trying to improve my intro but im stuck flip flopping between a kinda cliche (but genuine) "i got into math when i took an honors calc class freshman year" and a very to the point "i'm interested in geo/top and wanna work with prof A + prof B"

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is it bad to like talk about my background in how i became interested in grad school? i feel like i've seen a lot of advice saying that but it also just seems like the most natural way to start my statement lol

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hmm yeah that sounds like a reasonable approach maybe ill try to write something like that

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i think im just overthinking

raven sun
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I think I finished my research proposal eee ^^

shell kindle
delicate kite
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I am extremely stuck trying to even start writing an SOP. It doesn't help that I didn't do my masters thesis in maths. So, I am guessing the most important thing I have to explain is why I wanna pursue maths? Should that be the main point of the SOP? What else can I add?

worthy ruin
# delicate kite I am extremely stuck trying to even start writing an SOP. It doesn't help that I...

Is there anything else you feel like you can write about? Did your masters thesis involve math at all? For me the most helpful advice has been to use examples to illustrate what you want to say about yourself. What I did was write out a chronological list of all the things that i could potentially write about, such as classes, research, self-study, etc., and then selecting 2-3 things from there that i felt like were really worth expanding on.

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it might be useful to write about why you want to pursue math, especially if youve had a unique path that led you here. But most people are just doing grad school cuz they like math, so its much better to really prove to them you like math by going through examples of what youve done

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also maybe i should mention that im applying to grad school in america rn, so im not sure how relevant my advice is if you arent american

delicate kite
delicate kite
sterile bone
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what's the longest acceptable length for a statement of purpose

shell kindle
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For grad schools?

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Most places I applied to specified a max length

sterile bone
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yea for grad schools

shell kindle
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If they didn't I assumed a default max length of 1000 words I think

sterile bone
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hmmm ok

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oh shit I am getting clsoe to that limit

shell kindle
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Some places specified lengths as short as 500 words, and some went up to 1500

sterile bone
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wow

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ok

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I don't think i've seen any length requirements

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but 500 is extremely short

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should I mention that I reached out to specific faculty members already

shell kindle
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I think UCLA was 500 words?

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Presumably you have a statement of purpose and a research statement right

sterile bone
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most places only have a personal statement

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from what i've seen

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most places i'm applying to

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I don't think i've seen a research statement?

shell kindle
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I think every place I applied to had two statements

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If you only get one statement I think 1500 words would be fine

sterile bone
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huh ok

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that's a very weird disparity

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but maybe that's because the schools you applied to focused on different kinds of maths? I really don't know

shell kindle
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I don't think so

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Are you applying to US schools or European schools

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All of the places I applied to were large departments with people working in all areas of math

sterile bone
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US schools, also canada and one in euroe

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but mostly US schools

shell kindle
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Curious

sterile bone
sterile bone
shell kindle
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Oh whoops

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Yes, I would mention it

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Usually you would want to write something like "blah blah blah these are my research interests. X, Y, and Z professors at [school] have similar research interests, and I have reached out to professors [subset of {X, Y, Z}]"

sterile bone
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I see

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yea that makes sense

deep lily
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I'm going to be applying for a masters in statistics and I have been stuck on the 'career goals' section. I plan to do a PhD after- and want to stay in academia, do research. What exactly should I write about?

shell kindle
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Do you want to do a phd in stats or some closely related field?

deep lily
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Yeah in stats although I'm interested in pure mathematics too

shell kindle
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Ok well then for career goals, you should talk about how doing a masters would prepare you to do a phd and how you want to do research in academia

deep lily
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I'm a stats major

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Okay thanks!

green wasp
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Is it a bad idea to get anonymous grad application review, if not, any of you willing to review an NSF research proposal and provide feedback?

small moat
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ask your letter recomendation writer

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not stranger on internet

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why you care if anonymous

raw quail
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profs typically write one letter like per student per application season right?

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like it's fine to be like "oh btw can you send this letter here too?"

green wasp
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@small moat hoping for slightly more polished version before I send to my recommendation writers

small moat
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why

shell kindle
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Hoping for a more polished version before sending to rec writer is reasonable I would say

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You might check if your school is running NSF application workshops?

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Lots do

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Alternatively, you can see if your institution has something like a writing drop in consultation center

small moat
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but research proposal need some math knowledge to read i think

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so maybe not worth delaying for too many days

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if cannot find osmeone to read

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assuming issue is mathematic content, and not writing skill

raw quail
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I don't think the issue is math content

green wasp
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I’m using my institutions writing center for personal statement and resume review. I’m already tasking my rec writers with writing my rec letter, want to provide them decent material and proposal for rec writing. It’s a three day weekend here so trying to get some perspective from this knowledgable community. This is more a general, engineering focused expansion of typically math heavy discipline (image processing)

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I’m having peers review my stuff, they provide undergraduate level review in not math/eng background. Desire increased education level of perspective

small moat
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should not be much extra work for writers to read two page exposition

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they are professional mathematician?

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probably can skim in ten minute

green wasp
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Fair, they are indeed professionals. My content is definitely lacking though and I’d prefer to work out major issues before bringing to them

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Ty guys

small moat
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well we cannot rewrite entire background for your own research proposal

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who gave you research topic in first place? ask that person for help perhaps

shell kindle
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Ideally you're picking your own research topic for nsf

small moat
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seem unrealistic for maths

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for undergraduate anyway

shell kindle
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Even for maths

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People applying for nsf are also applying for grad school

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You need to at least have a general idea of what you want to do

small moat
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anyway student learn the relevant background in a course probably, so professor in that course can help ?

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yes but it is different to have precise research problem

shell kindle
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Lots of people are also applying while their in grad school

small moat
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that all i mean

green wasp
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I’m applying for graduate school, my work requires me to get a scholarship for them to allow me to attend. this research proposal is related to previous and current work I’m doing but definitely at next level, expansion of current research and knowledge in field. It’s for engineering but it appears difficult portions of the topic I selected are math based

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My main issue is while developing my proposal, it seems like this is not something achievable through 2 years of graduate study

shell kindle
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That's fine

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No one actually does their research proposal

green wasp
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Do you have recommendations for broader impact section? Rn I have specific alternate applications which are lifesaving, and touch on unimaginable future ML/AI capabilities given an drastically increased data collection mechanism

shell kindle
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What subject area are you applying in?

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You want your broader impacts to be reasonable and not too out there

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If you're applying in a math subject, you'll also want to touch upon opportunities for mentoring undergrads

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It's weird but math people expect it because pure math subjects never have compelling broader impacts

green wasp
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ECE, image processing mobile sensor subject

shell kindle
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Oh ok

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Ignore the stuff about mentorship then

green wasp
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Undergrads/hs students outreach is mentioned in my personal statement essay tho

normal snow
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Is anyone interested in studying for the Math GRE together? I’ve worked my way through “Cracking the Math GRE,” and I’m looking for people to study questions from past exams with.

delicate kite
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I am interested, although there's less than 3 weeks left

half meadow
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That's essentially what you have to do in an academic career after the PhD anyway, each time you write a grant proposal. Might as well get in the habit early.

molten frigate
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having an academic career is writing letters

shell kindle
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Well

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A lot of actual grant proposals do have actual research plans which get done

shell kindle
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The tradeoff is that you spend more time teaching

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But yes math is less reliant on grant applications

half meadow
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My experience is from theoretical CS, which is like math in that all you really need for conducting research is a desk and a computer. So grant applications are less vital than in, say, experimental physics. Still they took a lot of time and effort -- pretty much all funding for postdocs and PhD students came from grants, and a big proportion of funds for conference travel too.

raw quail
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when the GRFP says:

The names of three (3) Reference Writers are mandatory
Two (2) reference letters (from non-family members) are required for applications to be reviewed
do I actually need 3 references?

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or is it alright to have 2 + 1 effectively dud?

raw quail
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uhhh to be totally honest I just forgot I needed 3 up until right now 💀

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I think I can get one, but I'll have to ask a prof who I have reason to suspect that he not like me as much as I thought he did or a new prof I've known for 2 months

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ok that's a bit of a relief then

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idk the former prof moved to a new school and sent his new contact info to a bunch of students but I was not included on this

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it's possible he just forgot and I'm reading too much into this

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but social anxiety 👐

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up to 5 for the grfp

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right yeah

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right, that's a good point

lost geyser
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do american grad schools genuinely consider recomm letters from military ppl as worth smth?

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i might as well as make use of the time wasted in conscript if thats the case

delicate kite
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As far as I remember they consider LORs from your employers if you have been out of studies for 2 years or more.
In general, you should check with the university and ask say the graduate admissions councellor

lost geyser
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doing some asking around it sounds like its more or less either an urban myth or smth thats gone out of fashion

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makes sense ngl

hot wadi
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would an undergrad in cs be a plus if one is admitting into a more mathematical logic program?

stark summit
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How do you do a CV for grad apps; in particular

  • Do you do bullet points like a resume?
  • How do you do bullet points for research?
  • How do you do bullet points for teaching?
shell kindle
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Bullet points are fine

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This is the latex package I used

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You can find some templates on overleaf I think

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Anyways bullet points to list everything is fine, but for things like research, teaching, and service/leadership, you'll want to write some brief descriptions of what you did for each of them as well

rapid dawn
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microsoft word just tried to suggest "blockchain" in my GRFP research statement bleak bleak bleak bleak bleak bleak bleak bleak bleak

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it's not even a cs project...

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I was typing "let X form" and it was like "let X form the blockchain"????

quaint girder
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Should I have a back up plan for if I dont get into the 10 grad schools I apply to?

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And when do I start preparing? Now?

shell kindle
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Start preparing your backup plan?

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Or to apply to grad school

quaint girder
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but backup plan

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i might want to work in energy sector if this gradschool stuff doesnt work out

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also ideally I want a job I can get for next semester in the spring

past plume
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What's the right way to render math in the research statement for NSF?

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@shell kindle @fierce sigil

shell kindle
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I didn't have any latex'ed math in my research statement

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If you do want to include latex'ed math, you can latex it and then screenshot and then put it in the document

past plume
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No equations at all?

shell kindle
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No equations at all

past plume
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In my research statement i constantly make reference to function F_k,D and H_k,D. Do i have to put in screenshots for every instance of that? 💀

shell kindle
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Oh

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Google docs should have a way to do superscripts and subscripts

past plume
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Ok ill use subscripts for that

raven sun
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You can do it with cambria math if you want with xelatex I think

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that's what I have so far

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they do recommend screenshots though so I might refactor when I actually submit

shell kindle
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The pdf submission is very scuffed so I would definitely recommend keeping your pdfs simple

raven sun
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yeah IDK why they do that

shell kindle
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The pdf distiller that they use is from like

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The 90s or something

raven sun
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For the NSF "teaching/work experience" I'm writing down like my TA work bc I think that should count, but should I also include REUs? They are paid positions and there doesn't seem to be another place on the form to list them

shell kindle
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It won't hurt

rapid dawn
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A lot of tex commands like \in, \forall, \subset, etc automatically replace themselves with the symbol in that environment. Other characters you can do via Unicode input

rapid dawn
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How would the statement get thrown out for formatting? Wouldn't their automated system let you know when you try to upload it?

shell kindle
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I don't actually know if the pdf distiller thing checks for the actual formatting

rapid dawn
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What exactly do you mean by formatting?

shell kindle
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Well you need a specific font size right

rapid dawn
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Surely it checks font, fontsize, and page count

shell kindle
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Does it

rapid dawn
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That's what I thought?

shell kindle
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Last year when I applied I had a lot of trouble with it but my formatting was all fine

rapid dawn
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What do you mean had a lot of trouble

shell kindle
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It wouldn't accept my pdf

rapid dawn
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What did it say

shell kindle
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I don't remember

rapid dawn
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I'm a bit worried because I have Word equations literally everywhere

shell kindle
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What I had to do was to re-export my pdf in adobe acrobat as an archival pdf thing

rapid dawn
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And I sometimes switch between using italics and Cambria math equations for math letters

shell kindle
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Fortunately I did not have any equations

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So I cannot speak to that

rapid dawn
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Like I'll write "let A be the set..." and then later put like \forall a \in A in an equation

rapid dawn
shell kindle
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I mean everything I do is applied

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And can be reasonably explained with words

rapid dawn
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I see

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That is very much not the case for me

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Ohh

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Right

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The fuck does it check then

shell kindle
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Lol

raven sun
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what if they just let me submit a pdf with a certain page count and then had ppl read it

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rar

main marlin
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I’ve often heard it is best to have grad school recommendation letters written by professors who are well known/ respected in the mathematical community.. how would one know which professors fit this description vs which do not?

shell kindle
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How much they've published, how old are they, what awards/prizes they've won, etc...

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But in my experience, professor prestige is secondary to how well they know you

main marlin
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That makes sense, ty

raven sun
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Frick I didn't know the intellectual merit portion was like a required section and not just suggested and my proposal is already fairly long

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does anyone have an example intellectual merit section btw? The people whose NSF apps I've looked at did not have such a section

shell kindle
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It isn't so much a section as a way to represent your accomplishments/suggested research plan

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If you want I can email you my statements and they have like clearly marked intellectual/broader impact sections

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And you'll see that it isn't so much explicitly talking about intellectual merits, more discussing the intellectual merits of past research experiences and the intellectual merits of the research plan

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But yeah intellectual merits and broader impacts are important because they're how the NSF evaluates all of their grant applications

raven sun
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that would be great :)

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If I could send you my current research proposal that would also be helpful so I can like orient how I should think of things

fierce sigil
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Usually a bunch of the stuff you already have can just be shoved under "intellectual merit"

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The entire personal statement is basically describing intellectual merit anyway

shell kindle
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(I've consulted with Faye)

fierce sigil
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I hadn't noticed

shell kindle
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In dms

rapid dawn
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just to clarify superscripts and subscripts are allowed in the grfp statements right?

past plume
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They better be, but I should check with them to be sure...

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Also need to know what's the proper way of citing things on the nsf

rapid dawn
rapid dawn
past plume
rapid dawn
#

I mean I'll obviously check myself too

raw quail
#

should I mention specific influences in my GRFP statements?

#

I'm talking about a talk I saw shaping my mathematical outlook and interests and I don't know if I should keep things vague or if I should specifically mention the lectures name and such

rapid dawn
#

I feel like being specific would be good but I'm not sure

ocean kiln
#

Does anyone know whether the gre subject test scaled scores are calculated based on the number of answers answered correctly or the percentile scores?

lethal minnow
#

Does anyone have a good resource or guide to applying to American grad schools as an international applicant? The entire process seems contrived to me (about applying for aid/funding in particular) so some outline would be nice.

shell kindle
#

Usually you do not need to apply for separate funding

#

You will be funded by teaching

#

These people applying for external funding hope to use it to avoid teaching

upper jacinth
shell kindle
#

I don't think the process is fundamentally different than applying to US grad schools as someone in the US

#

There are just some additional steps

past plume
#

I had a post a while ago in discussion2

#

Actually, this was in discussion

#

Oh this was general advice about applying to grad school , I don't have any any advice for international students specifically, my bad

lethal minnow
#

Thank you!

lethal minnow
rapid dawn
#

what things do I need to cite on the grfp statements? Do I need to cite definitions and theorems that are standard in a field but not widely known outside it?

#

the issue is I only have so much space for references because of the 2 page limit

past plume
#

Well if you're making reference to a specific result you might wanna cite it

#

Idk its kinda just vibes I feel like

#

Also if you make reference to a single paper multiple times, that's a good indication to cite it as a reference because it saves space to have one citation at the end rather than spelling out the authors name and paper title through out your statement

rapid dawn
#

well I mean something like "It is known that foo is connected to bar via the yarrharr lemma" where foo, bar, and the yarrharr lemma are known to everyone in the field but not to every mathematician

#

standard definitions in the field

#

I mean like an example would be dividing lines

#

or possibly something a bit more obscure

#

the kind of thing that everyone in the field knows and you would find in somewhere between some and all books on the topic but you could get through grad school never touching if you aren't in that field

rapid dawn
#

well I'd be saying why they are important in my statement

#

like I'd be telling the reader what they need to know and why they matter in a way that's aimed at a non-specialist, the concern is more on the level of proper academic form and avoiding plagiarism

#

obviously I don't need to cite the definition of a group, and obviously I should be citing some obscure definition that was introduced in a paper last year, but where is the line? Because I think I have a good sense of where it is if I was writing a journal paper, but if I used that approach here I'd have far too many citations

#

the example (previous winning) statements I'm looking at have like 2-4 citations each but I'm currently looking at 6+

#

and I could maybe fit 6-7 but any more than that would cut too heavily into the statement itself. And even 6-7 would be pushing it quite a bit.

#

that's the plan

shell kindle
#

I had 3 citations

#

I did not cite field specific definitions or things

#

I only cited major results

rapid dawn
#

I'm going to need to cite more than that since my work is explicitly building on a few previous papers

#

so I'll need to cite those in addition to a couple important papers in the field

#

that's probably around where I'll be

#

how hard is the grfp to get

shell kindle
#

The grfp is hard to get I would say

rapid dawn
#

is it like around 14% of applicants get it? And I imagine most of the applicants are good candidates considering the work required

shell kindle
#

Especially if you aren’t in a funding priority area

#

Everyone else gets to be et. al

rapid dawn
#

pure math isn't a priority I imagine

#

oh also for citations in math papers can I choose who goes before the et al?

#

since there's no notion of first author and instead everyone is listed in alphabetical order

#

like if I want to emphasize my name or an advisor's name

#

well not in this context

#

what if there are too many names to cite

#

why does math not have first authorship...

#

seems a bit silly tbh

#

that's the case elsewhere in the application but not for the statements

#

if I ever end up transitioning and changing my name I will change my last name to AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

#

or alternatively

unknown.png
#

anyways what should I do for broader impacts on the research statement

#

I'm talking about teaching and stuff for the personal statement so do I just say that again but shorter? Or is it worth trying to spin my topic so it sounds like it has an application?

#

I guess that depends on my specific topic. I'm looking at something that could plausibly have tangential real-world applications, though not any that I care about.

#

washingbear are you applying to the GRFP this year or did you apply in the past?

undone yacht
crimson valve
rapid dawn
#

My opinion will probably change on this later, it would just be nice if people could tell at a glance which papers I worked more on. Since I'm on a bunch of papers where I did basically nothing and then one paper with a bunch of authors where I did the majority of the work.

#

I suppose it all evens out in the end though

#

And I imagine it would be turbo toxic if two people both did lots of work and both wanted first author. Which I imagine is a very common situation higher up in academia.

#

Why

#

Oh is that how it works

undone yacht
past plume
#

I'm very glad there is none of that first author last author nonsense in math

#

Math folks keep it 100

raven sun
#

Alphabetical for the win

worthy ruin
#

for the GRFP is it bad if my research plan isn't related to my stated interests in my personal statement? like my research plan is about my undergrad research but i'm not really interested in pursuing this area in grad school

rapid dawn
#

It's not ideal. It would be better if you tried to tie them together

shell kindle
#

You do not actually need to do any research plan you propose

#

But also my research plan was not related to my undergrad research

#

But I also had an advisor write a letter of rec to back me up on the new research plan

worthy ruin
#

hmm i see

worthy ruin
#

because i feel like the only research i could concretely write about would be stuff ive already done as an undergrad, but that was just combinatorics 😢

shell kindle
#

Yes my research plan was reasonably concrete

worthy ruin
#

i could maybe twist it a bit since it was studying like geometric objects and i do say im interested in geometry

worthy ruin
rapid dawn
worthy ruin
#

i guess i will :')

#

i dont really expect to get it but at least ill have experience if i want to apply next year

rapid dawn
#

I was in a similar place as you though fortunately I did end up find a way to tie my undergrad research with what I want to do in grad school. And the impression I got from talking to professors is that having your research plan be different than what you actually want to do is not great, but writing about something you don't know concretely is worse

worthy ruin
#

that makes a lot of sense

#

ill try to look for a way to tie it in

#

ill probably just try to say that there is this geometric object i find interesting and im interested in this combinatorial approach

rapid dawn
#

Is geometry what you want to do in grad school?

worthy ruin
#

yeah

rapid dawn
#

I mean maybe look at it this way

#

Your research statement has to include an intellectual merit section where you should talk about your research's connections with other areas of math

#

This the case anyways

worthy ruin
#

right

rapid dawn
#

Just use that area to stress the connections with the things you want to do

#

Combinatorics and geometry definitely have intersections so write about those

worthy ruin
#

ooh ok yeah thats a good idea

#

i imagine in that section i dont have to be as like

#

concrete with what i say

#

compared to when i actually discuss what it is i want to research and how?

rapid dawn
#

What might be a good thing to do is find past problems in geometry that have been solved via combinatorial techniques related to what you did at your REU

#

These past problems don't have to be the kind of geometry you personally want to do and the techniques don't have to be the exact thing you did just as long as they're related

worthy ruin
#

thats really helpful thanks, i think i have a better idea now

rapid dawn
#

Try to cite specific papers if you can. Ask your professors for help

#

See if you can squeeze in a last minute meeting or two in these last few days before it's due

worthy ruin
#

i think ill try to ask my REU mentor :') since he does geometry

rapid dawn
#

And definitely have a prof read it over before you submit if you can. They'll be able to tell you if what you've written is coherent or not

#

But yeah for intellectual merit you don't need to say how specifically your work will relate to geometry but you should give specific examples of how past combinatorial work in similar areas has related to geometry

#

If you already knew what implications and applications your work will end up having then you'd have finished it. But it's really important to mention what similar work has done so the people reading your statement know why they should care about your topic

worthy ruin
#

right right, i will try to frame my plan along those lines or something similar to that. that's a lot better than what i originally had in mind

rapid dawn
#

Your statement is in a sense a sales pitch. You're not just describing what you plan to do you're demonstrating why it's worth the government's money to fund you to do it

worthy ruin
#

i asked my mentor a bunch about this but ill probably try to schedule a meeting with him to get some ideas on making my research sound compelling lol

rapid dawn
#

Don't neglect the broader impacts section either

worthy ruin
#

what do people generally write for that section? i imagine i cant say that this stuff is going to have any real world impact lol

rapid dawn
#

In pure math broader impacts generally means your impact as a mathematician. Particularly teaching and mentorship

worthy ruin
#

oh thats what i wrote for my personal statement

#

but the research plan also needs a broader impacts right

rapid dawn
#

Yeah I'm not sure exactly what to do with that

worthy ruin
#

ah ok haha

rapid dawn
#

One thing I'm probably doing and you could do is mention that you might want to help run a REU relating to your topic

worthy ruin
#

yeah i think the stuff i wrote for my personal statement is decently convincing so i can try to just incorporate my research with those things

#

and maybe talk about talks/conferences

rapid dawn
#

Something along the lines of "this topic is accessible to undergraduate students. I was fortunate to be able to study this topic in an REU, and I plan to mentor undergraduates on it in the future"

#

What I wrote is poor phrasing but you get the idea

worthy ruin
#

ah yeah

#

thanks for all the ideas and advice i really appreciate it ^_^

smoky jetty
#

Dumb question: https://www.mathprograms.org/
Is this just like a catch all site for REUs and applying?

Programs in Mathematics

Full service online program application site for mathematical institutions worldwide, offered by the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

#

would this be the place to watch for REU apps that are opening soon?

raven sun
#

Yes

smoky jetty
#

Does anyone know anything equivalent for CS REUs for stuff like algorithms and even better, complexity theory?

raw quail
#

afaik math is the only one with a centralized application website

#

the NSF website should have a list of REUs though

#

(Well... I suppose on technicality linguistic REUs have a centralized application service...)

stoic jewel
#

Does some research experience in compsci help when applying for grad school in math? I got offered an opportunity to do some lab work with a robotics professor for a year who worked with me previously, but I don't think I would do it if it's not gonna help me since I want to focus on math now..any input is appreciated :/

#

pretty ambivalent right now

#

I'm a 3rd year undergrad btw

smoky jetty
#

As someone in a similar situation, I've been told that it's better than no research experience

#

It'll lead to a good rec letter I presume

chilly turret
#

i don’t see how it would hurt you at all

rapid dawn
#

what do I say about broader impacts in my research statement for the GRFP

#

there's a brief thing I can (truthfully) mention about a way my work could potentially have practical applications, but that's nothing more than a couple sentences. What else could I say?

shell kindle
#

Usually you say something about opportunities to mentor undergrads

rapid dawn
#

that's what I think I'll end up doing

#

is it wrong to mention what I did specifically on an REU paper in my GRFP statement? In particular saying something like "theorems X and Y were primarily my work"?

#

Would it be better to instead say "theorems X and Y were my main contributions to the project"?

raw quail
#

How long should my intellectual merits and broader impacts part be

#

I was initially planning on a page each + one page in neither section

#

but I'm thinking of actually making one of these longer to compensate for my shorter beginning part

rapid dawn
#

I think either would be good

#

I'm doing roughly page and a half intellectual merit, page broader impacts, half page intro for my statement but I think there's a fair bit of flexibility.

quaint girder
#

When should I be done with statement of purpose?

#

Asap?

fierce sigil
#

Done? It's good to have a good draft around now in case your recommenders want to see it, but after that give yourself time to hone it to something you think is represents you accurately. In particular, you will probably slightly modify your statement to fit each school (in terms of their writing requirements and also in terms of what research is going on there) so you should get a general statement together early and then every few days / every week pick a school on your list and finish up their application requirements using your general statement.

#

I found that my original statement changed a good amount as I made these different slightly changed versions, cause I kept finding stuff I wanted to shift

#

So it was a helpful process for drafting

quaint girder
#

thanks for the advice im applying this rn

raven sun
#

it is a bit different considering I am not sold on an area to go into yet

fierce sigil
#

Yeah

#

I got pretty specific, including a paragraph that was swapped out for every school that talked in depth about my fitness to work with 2 or 3 specific faculty there

raven sun
#

I am probably most competitive for number theory (tm)

#

two top REUs in number theory + a modular forms topics class

fierce sigil
#

But I have heard that that is not always smart

raven sun
#

yeah

#

I do like my personal statement a lot

fierce sigil
#

If you don't know exactly what you are talking about and that those people are taking students

raven sun
#

I think it summarizes very well why I want to be a mathematician

fierce sigil
#

Your personal statement will be the best when it is what you honestly wanted to write

raven sun
#

yeah

fierce sigil
#

Even if that is not super tailored to each school

raven sun
#

plus--frankly--letters of rec and grades in top courses are vastly more important than personal statement

#

that is at least the impression I've gotten from everyone

fierce sigil
#

Yes, I agree

#

The personal statement is more to gauge your personality and communication style in my view, which is why it's best to just write it from a place of mathematical excitement. If that includes what people are doing at the school, that's good, but it doesn't need to directly

rapid dawn
#

The GRFP solicitation says

Do not provide links to web pages within the application, except as part of citations in the References Cited section.
What do I do if I want to mention a specific website in my statement that isn't for a citation? The website betterexplained.com played a large role in getting me interested in math education and I want to mention that when I talk about my plans for teaching.

#

I could just say "the website betterexplained"

shell kindle
#

Yeah you can discuss websites, just don't like them

rapid dawn
#

me when I like a website in my GRFP statement (it is valuable social media exposure)

half meadow
#

\textcolor{green}{👍}

rapid dawn
#

what do I put here for the GRFP?

unknown.png
raw quail
#

should I assume the readers are decently acquainted with my field or should I assume they are arbitrary mathematicians

shell kindle
#

They are arbitrary mathematicians

shell kindle
raw quail
#

ok 👍

shell kindle
#

They told me climate modeling did not have enough broader impacts so….

raw quail
#

tf

#

do they want like broader impacts to mathematics???

fair needle
#

i would disagree with ange's advice

#

if you're very confident in your field, and think that your knowledge of the subject is a very strong part of your app, go all out

#

i was telling my grad schools i wanted to do forcing and large cardinals, and at times went into the nitty gritty. i promise you the people in charge of reviewing apps didnt know what the fuck any of it was

#

i know it just got forwarded to a logician

#

for most things, like if you're trying to do some kind of algebra or analysis, there will be enough people in it or a related area that they can make an informed decision. for pretty niche things it's a little different

ocean kiln
#

What are some schools that do work in the intersection of algebraic topology and algebraic geometry (like motivic homotopy theory, K-theory, derived algebraic geometry)?

rapid dawn
raw quail
shell kindle
shell kindle
#

You should write technically but the people reading it might not know what’s going on is what I was getting at

fierce sigil
#

I would say a professional mathematician can tell if someone knows what they are talking about whether or not they know the exact math itself

#

Most of the time

raw quail
#

Hmmm ok so there's a topic I don't really understand, but it's somewhat important to talk about as background for what I do want to talk about for my research plan.

#

How can I approach this tastefully, just admit I don't understand the details?

crimson valve
#

well you have a few months before grada appa is due, i'd try to learn enough to be able to say stuff on the app before then tbh

raw quail
#

well I have a couple days before GRFP is due opencry

crimson valve
#

oh lmfao

#

get a learnin'

shell kindle
#

What topic is it

raw quail
#

Structural Ramsey theory

shell kindle
#

Unfortunate, I'm sorry for your loss

raw quail
#

I mainly want to include it because it's one of the highlights of the intersection between logic and combinatorics, but I unfortunately don't know category theory well enough to explain the Ramsey property any better than just blindly parroting Wikipedia. When I go to read any real source I get quickly overwhelmed by all the category stuff.

shell kindle
#

Is it Ramsey theory in general or structural ramsey theory in particular that is the problem

raw quail
#

structural ramsey theory in particular, I know the usual Ramsey theory stuff well enough to exposit that, but the structural Ramsey stuff is hard for me to untangle.

#

Actually, I think I do get the Ramsey property, maybe just trying to explain it with the current structure of the paragraph is not feasible.

shell kindle
#

Do you already include ramsey theory

#

And want to add on structural ramsey theory on top of it

raw quail
#

Yeah, I'm trying to talk about the KPT correspondence as a particular successful contribution of model theory to combinatorics and topological dynamics

raw quail
#

The Ramsey property is a bit involved, but in short says that for any finite coloring of copies of some substructure A of the Fraïssé limit, A, there exists a substructure, B, also of the limit with arbitrarily many copies of A all of the same color.
does this make sense?

#

this feels like gore to me

shell kindle
#

What is a Fraisse limit

#

Do you define that

raw quail
#

yeah

#

This turns out to be a specific example of a much broader phenomenon originating from model theory called a Fraïssé limit. The underlying idea of the Fraïssé limit is that given a countable collection of structures (with a few restrictions) you can construct a unique structure including each structure of the collection as a finitely generated substructure. What’s especially interesting about the Fraïssé limit though is that it connects to topological dynamics and Ramsey theory through what is known as the KPT correspondence [2]. This theorem states that the automorphism group of the Fraïssé limit is extremely amenable (i.e. every action has a fixed point) if and only if the collection the limit was taken over has what is known as the Ramsey property. The Ramsey property is a bit involved, but in short says that for any finite coloring of copies of some substructure A of the Fraïssé limit, A, there exists a substructure, B, also of the limit with arbitrarily many copies of A all of the same color.
full paragraph shiver

sterile bone
#

I have run into the problem where I am waiting for my transcript, getting all my grades might only happen in the middle of november, but it seems that in some applications my letter writers can only submit after I have submitted the application

#

maybe I am misunderstanding

#

but this is a problem for me since the transcript currently doesn't show all classes I took this semseter

#

some of which I talk about in my SOP

shell kindle
#

What is your earliest deadline

sterile bone
#

1st dec

shell kindle
#

Wait so what is the problem?

#

You can submit after you get your transcript

#

And then your letter writers have 2 weeks to submit after that

#

It's not like they can't get started

sacred estuary
#

Is it necessary to have the grades of the current semester in the transcript? Usually I only get them in the middle of December.

smoky jetty
#

Anyone here who was torn between pure math and theoretical CS? Or maybe math and some other field?

#

how did you decide what to go to grad school for?

#

I can't decide between pure math and theoretical CS (something on the complexity side of things maybe, or algorithms idk)

#

and of course getting two phds at once isn't advisable lol (if only, then I wouldn't have to figure this out)

past plume
#

Nsf nsf nsf grfp grfp grfp

raw quail
#

Depends on what you want to do post-PhD

#

I'm doing something interdisciplinary.

#

But I'm hoping to go into academia and don't care much about job prospects.

smoky jetty
#

I also want to go into academia

#

I think I would be unhappy not teaching and doing research, currently I love doing both too much to not see myself doing it for the rest of my life

#

But like, I need to apply for something eventually right?

#

Can I apply to both math and CS phd programs even at the same school?

#

Math wise: algebraic stuff (going to take algebraic topology or geometry next sem, I think I'll like those)

CS wise: torn between algorithms and complexity

#

Some things seem to overlap like type theory and algebraic complexity theory

#

But nothing more on the more algorithmic side (although there is alot of overlap) and the only other thing I can think of is Cryptography which I don't really have an academic interest in

#

I don't really know how to find what's out there

#

All I get from people is "yea overlaps probably exist I'm not sure what that looks like though" which doesn't help with the whole finding professors thing

#

Well then why would I not apply for that different department in the first place

#

Ah

#

So then in that case I would still be a PhD student in one department

#

Just have an advisor and do research in another?

#

Depending on flexibility ofc

#

I guess this would mean I should find a place that's quite strong at both places

#

Wait you can have multiple advisors?

#

How is the different than doing multiple PHDs?

sacred estuary
#

Yes, some places even recommend having multiple

smoky jetty
#

I thought PHD was "I am working with this one advisor doing this one thing"

sacred estuary
#

Somewhat off-topic but if you are interested in algorithms/complexity and algebra, you can look at some algebraic complexity (algebraic circuits, branching programs, etc.) or computational algebra (algorithms for various problems like factorization and matrix multiplication) and see if that looks interesting.

#

Oh you already mentioned algebraic complexity. Should read properly before saying anything.

smoky jetty
#

Hmmmmm computational algebra I've never thought of that before but that makes sense tbh

#

Actually I've already been learning alot of matrix multiplication stuff in a course I'm taking on fine grained complexity

#

It does look interesting but I'm not sure what else is out there

#

Part of the issue is that the one prof in that area at my university is mildly MIA so I can't really go to them 💀

shell kindle
#

Oh yeah I have 3 advisors

smoky jetty
#

For those with multiple advisors

#

Is that typically all in the same area?

shell kindle
#

My advisors have all been collaborators in the past but they are not really in the same area

#

One (my primary advisor) does numerics

#

One does atmospheric stuff

#

One does ocean stuff

smoky jetty
#

I see

shell kindle
#

It works out because I am doing numerical methods for problems in atmospheric and oceanic modeling

#

So I discuss numerics with my primary advisor and application problems with the other two

smoky jetty
#

oh that's neat

#

maybe if I do something that combines algebra and algorithms/complexity I could get an advisor in both

shell kindle
#

Yeah

#

It's easier if they already know each other

rapid dawn
#

can you include links to papers on the GFRP in the section

List any significant academic honors, fellowships, scholarships, publications and presentations. (less than 16000 characters total).
Do not use special characters '{' and '}' in the text box.

#

I assume not because

unknown.png
#

should I just say "On arxiv" after listing my preprints then? I'm linking them in my statements since that's allowed.

shell kindle
#

You should just list a citation for papers I think

#

Without a link

rapid dawn
#

I'm linking them in bibliography of my statements since they say that's allowed and past winning statements have done it. But I won't link anything on that section.

#

It does seem smart to say "on arXiv" though right?

shell kindle
#

Hmmm

#

Do you note that they are preprints

rapid dawn
#

yes

shell kindle
#

Preprints to some extent are viewed as "lesser" than publications because no peer review

rapid dawn
#

I am aware

#

but it's better to mention them then not

shell kindle
#

Oh well if they're listed as preprints then no harm in saying on arxiv

#

Yeah

#

But if they weren't specifically noted as preprints but were only on arxiv then that may not be good

rapid dawn
#

yeah I say

Preprints:
[1] Authors. Paper name. On arXiv. 
[2] ...
shell kindle
#

That's fine

past plume
#

Solicitation says "do not provide links to webpagez within the application, except as part of citations in the References Cited section:

past plume
#

No

#

I think

rapid dawn
#

I'm just saying "on arxiv" to be safe

#

I list the authors and title and also provide links in my statements so they should be able to find it (or confirm it exists) easily if they want

half meadow
#

Didn't the rules say that you can link in the reference list? The spirit of that rule seems to be "don't clutter your text with details of how to find stuff; that belongs in the reference list". Saying "on arXiv" would be such a detail that should go in the reference list instead, with the identifier.

#

(Or if it's important for the point you're making that what you speak about is an unrefereed preprint, then say "preprint" rather than depending that status being implicit in where-to-find-it).

smoky jetty
#

Does anyone have example statements of purpose I could see? I'm writing some for some research internship applications and idk what they're looking for

rapid dawn
half meadow
#

That doesnt sound like a "References Cited section".

half meadow
raw quail
#

The references cited is specifically an optional part of the research proposal

#

I think that part of the solicitation might be referring to just the proposal, but I wouldn't risk it.

past plume
#

this nsf proposal very well might be the best fucking thing ive ever written

raw quail
shell kindle
dapper raptor
#

wtf are extracurricular activities

#

because I'm sure hobbies don't count for that

#

even though it sounds like it

shell kindle
#

?

dapper raptor
#

I just want to know what that word means

#

I'm not a native english speaker

#

and the links online are kinda throwing me off

shell kindle
#

What are the links saying?

dapper raptor
#

things that aren't part of the mandatory school program

#

that still somehow relates to school?

#

like what, that I was part of the flute club in 2nd grade?

shell kindle
#

(is this for an undergrad application)

dapper raptor
#

more for like a job application

#

no I will not mention that I was part of the flute club

#

it's a bit weird, our uni has an event where we get multiple interviews a day, so in some sense "non targeted job application" if that seems reasonable?

#

but since I thought that this also goes in other forms of applications, I should ask here, but sorry if that's not the right spot

shell kindle
rapid dawn
#

Feels very good to have it submitted and off my back now

rapid dawn
past plume
#

Fuck i just noticed a typo in my research statement devastation

#

"There has been an resurgence..."

#

Fuck i didn't include the year of publication for one of my references

#

I found another typo in my personal statement

#

I found another typo in my personal statement

#

Whatever bro. I can't change it now

tepid forum
#

i don't think minor typos will really be noticed much

#

you tend to read over them when you've got a block of text with like one letter wrong

stray seal
#

I think it's actualy very imporntant to make syre there arent any tipos. Somme people raelly care about such thngs.

shell kindle
#

Rip yamin

noble cloak
#

which universities have application deadlines in october/november for early admissions?

shell kindle
#

I don't know of any math programs with phd deadlines that early

#

I think the earliest I had when I applied was dec 1

noble cloak
#

no for

#

graduate

#

like

#

postgrad

hearty radish
#

? That’s what he answered. What do you mean postgrad

noble cloak
#

the one between phd and ug

raw quail
#

masters?

#

I think those typically have similar deadlines right?

hearty radish
#

Oh like masters then? I think if you have spring admission, deadlines are coming up/have past

#

Otherwise, the deadlines generally are the same

quick isle
#

It’s not really math grad school but

#

Does retaking classes look bad for grad school apps?

#

I really want to get a Masters degree at the bare minimum but my grades aren’t the best and I’m not satisfied with my performance. I want to just retake some classes and relearn the material with a better grade, but that does mean I might end up graduating a bit later. Does that look bad?

#

After I finish my credits for mechanical engineering I want to do a minor in math too

#

I’m extremely passionate and self-motivated but I learn really slowly and suck at taking tests

main marlin
#

are there some specific courses (beyond usual math major requirements) someone would be well advised to take if they intend to go to graduate school for math, in the sense that either it would help in preparation/ give an idea of what grad school is like, or that it would demonstrate to admissions like sufficient preparation for graduate work in math?

main marlin
#

how come discrete/combinatorics/logic? that seems sort of random

tepid forum
#

do you know what you might want to do?

raw quail
tepid forum
#

(abstract + linear) algebra/topology/analysis would be minimums, anything on top of that would be specific to your area I think

raw quail
#

combinatorics isn't as necessary, and I don't think anyone really cares if you've taken a logic class, but really either of these could possibly replace a discrete course

shell kindle
#

The advice will be different if you want to do applied math as well

main marlin
main marlin
# tepid forum do you know what you might want to do?

in the sense of like which specific area of math id like to specialize? not really, I am in year long courses in algebra/analysis/topology now and I enjoy topology the most but I suspect that is not enough to make meaningful prediction in what I would like to do

tepid forum
#

just general topology like metric spaces and such?

#

or algebraic

#

(i meant general/point-set topology in that post) - but yeah I'd say it's kind of hard to call because general topology isn't really something that's studied in its own sake, it more so appears in other places (pretty fundamental in analysis [a lot of it is just giving topologies to algebraic structures] and pops up in places in algebra too). "topology" in terms of PhD projects would probably mean algebraic topology which is a bit of a different flavour

#

the class that I thought most naturally carried on from general topology (with not much change to flavour) was functional analysis fwiw

raw quail
main marlin
tepid forum
#

ahhh so you'll get a flavour of whether you want to continue algtop then

main marlin
#

The topology 2 class at my university is differential topology I think algebraic topology does not run too regularly

tepid forum
#

fair enough, should still give some indication whether it's your kind of thing

#

if you want to do more analysis I'd try to do a course in complex analysis and courses in measure theory/functional analysis maybe some PDE. not so sure about algebra

unique temple
cedar lantern
tepid forum
#

Also worth mentioning that on <decisions website I can't remember if I'm allowed to mention> you see a lot of people with surprisingly minimal coursework getting into a non-zero number of good places

tepid forum
unique temple
cedar lantern
noble cloak
noble cloak
#

as per the usual

noble cloak
#

but if u just want any masters degree.. likely not an issue

#

its only an issue if u wanna get a masters degree at a competitive(ish) uni i reckon

#

(ofc these are just my thoughts.. feel free to ask others as well)

noble cloak
#

is it better to apply in fall or spring?

hearty radish
#

Most people apply to begin in the fall

noble cloak
noble cloak
#

Does anyone know about the admission deadlines for fall early admissions to master programs?

hearty radish
tepid forum
#

which is essentially all I have (well, I'll have 2) so fingers crossed lol

#

but I would think many of the people getting into like Harvard etc. will have publications

shell kindle
#

I got into grad school without any publications

tepid forum
#

where 👀

shell kindle
#

Michigan

#

My impression is that most people in my cohort did not come in with publications

tepid forum
#

i was gonna put in a random hail mary application for MIT but I'm not sure if I'll bother, so maybe I could do without this attitude xd

shell kindle
#

It only makes sense to apply to places where there are faculty that you want to work with

tepid forum
#

ye there's only one person at MIT in my area, (who is probably too famous for me to work with) it's why I'm not applying to many "super-reaches"

fierce sigil
#

I did not have any publications

quasi stump
#

how helpful is a really good GRE score?

#

is there a substantial difference in the eyes of graduate school between, say, 94th and 97th percentile?

shell kindle
#

94th vs 97th percentile won't really make a difference

#

No one ever got into grad school because of a good gre school, but plenty of people have been rejected for bad gre scores

quasi stump
#

ah, that's good to know

main marlin
#

do grad programs still require or expect you to take the GRE? i thought it has gone more or less extinct

shell kindle
#

Some still do, but it is generally going extinct

main marlin
#

thats a bit surprising, do you know some in particular?

unique temple
# cedar lantern But do you need to do research during undergrad?

It depends on how you interpret "research". Like, I doubt having publications is super important (at least I would hope not): i.e. It could be completely failed research (perhaps depending on the reasons for failure). More than anything, I think admissions just wants to see that you have some form of experience more than anything.

#

like, there is this one trope I've heard called the "professional course taker." This is someone who has taken and done well in many advanced courses, appears very prepared, but gets to grad school, and for one reason or another is not cut-out for research. PhD programs do not want to admit professional course takers.

molten frigate
#

I feel like I'm a professional course taker myself sadcat

#

though I do guess I have some "failed research" experiences lol

tepid forum
raven sun
#

particularly bc I did not do well on the gre by any means

shell kindle
#

It's less bad now that a lot of places are making it optional

raven sun
#

But I also did not do bad enough to qualify as "oh god what happened" lol

#

yeah for sure

shell kindle
#

As for how bad it is

#

It just means that the rest of your application needs to be stronger

raven sun
#

Mhm

shell kindle
#

Some schools are rumored to have hard cutoffs but those are mostly rumors I think

noble cloak
#

im a bit worried cuz i ended up with a publication at a meh conference (IEEE M2VIP with an h5-median of only 15)

#

cuz i worked on my profs project/paper instead of working on my own paper (on a slightly different topic)

#

but by the time i was done with that prof's paper.. deadline for most good conferences were over

#

now i can only submit to CVPR but wont get the decision before application deadlines anyways..

noble cloak
#

maybe u should take courses for me.. and i can do research for u KEK

#

just dropped my gpa hard cuz of this one course.. social network analysis

tepid forum
#

Might be misremembering

raven sun
#

perfect right on the border

tepid forum
#

i don't know how that could be considered bad lol

#

you see people with low double digits

raven sun
#

I'm just not familiar enough with typical scores

#

I steer away from certain websites

tepid forum
noble cloak
#

how likely do u think im to get into a top30 US uni for comp sci for masters as a male asian with 3.79 GPA, 336GRE, with a single publication at a meh conference, as someone who graduated from a no name local uni. and a few projects and a cool paper down the line (hasnt been published yet)?

#

not too likely huh? 🤔

shell kindle
#

Oh 80th percentile is perfectly doable

#

I don't think anyone here can speak to cs masters admissions

tepid forum
#

i think I've lucked out in not having to do it lol, did prevent me from applying to UCLA & penn state tho

shell kindle
#

I got 80th percentile on the gre

#

And considering other factors I think I did reasonably well

tepid forum
#

it's the sort of thing that should be easy but that i'd probably end up cocking up

raw quail
#

Imagine not building your grad list around places that don't require GREs

shadow bobcat
#

I'm probably going to stay away from ones that require regular GRE I would have to drive a bit to take that. My schools gives the subject test though so I would do that

raw quail
#

Yeah, keep in mind though that if there's a program you're interested in you can ask them to waive the GRE requirement too

#

A decent number of places are pretty understanding in that regard

tepid forum
#

Though I did almost cross off A&M, when I emailed they said that I wouldn't be auto-rejected cos of it

sterile bone
#

anyone have a good cv template for graduate admissions

crimson valve
#

I just stole one from overleaf.

#

They have some good templates

shell kindle
#

I linked one some time ago

harsh basalt
#

Hi! I have a niche question to ask, but hoping someone might know. Is there anyone here who I can talk to about comparing the differences between the California State universities in the LA area for a master's degree in math? Just wondering if anyone has experience with that. I'm comparing between CSUN, CSU LA, and CSU Long Beach

tacit lark
noble cloak
#

well

#

thnx

#

that makes me feel less anxious

#

but idk how much i trust a talking mango 🤔

tacit lark
#

Well its a lemon

#

Masters arent as competitive as PhD programs. You have a decent gpa and research experience. If you have good letters you should be pretty competitive

noble cloak
#

hmm

shell kindle
#

Everything in CS is miserably competitive though

noble cloak
#

hopefully by phd ill have a paper in CVPR

noble cloak
tacit lark
#

I am in a cs phd program so i am familiar w the application process

noble cloak
#

some people go into bio and then re-assign to comp sci once they get in

noble cloak
#

tbf im also not a citizen and from a no name uni.. so that def doesnt help

#

ig all i can really do is apply.. but i was wondering if it was even worth applying to such high ranking unis with my profile in the first place

#

didnt wanna waste too much money

tacit lark
#

Being an international makes it harder i guess. If your letters are good then you should be pretty competitive.

noble cloak
#

my sis did that

#

big brain move

shell kindle
#

That does not happen for masters/phd programs

tacit lark
#

You have a good gre too

noble cloak
#

i can likely also get an LoR from commissioner/home minister of my state

noble cloak
tacit lark
#

Idk i would talk to the comp sci professor you worked under and see what they recommend.

noble cloak
#

i havent kinda

#

but yeah will see ig

#

most people say that as long as u have one comp sci prof and the stuff the LoR writers say is good.. it will be good. not sure tho

#

my major advisor said it doesnt even matter if its a comp sci prof as long as u have worked under them. he says working under them >>> just some prof u have taken course under and performed well

#

idk anyways.. lets see

tacit lark
#

Good luck

noble cloak
#

btw arxiv preprints wont help right?

tacit lark
#

In my experience They will

noble cloak
#

hmm

#

so i should just link my arxiv?

shell kindle
#

Yes they will

noble cloak
#

hmm ok

tacit lark
#

If you have preprints list them

noble cloak
#

cuz likely by the time they even look at my application.. id have researched more

noble cloak
tacit lark
#

List them

noble cloak
#

(also similar question about github.. showcase projects and add a link to it?)

#

hmm ok

tacit lark
#

So have a section on your cv that says like preprints and publication and list them in chronological order.

noble cloak
#

i thought adding the user would be better since some stuff im doing is work in progress but will be done by december ez

#

hmm ok. ig ill add the one prepreint and one pub

#

not much.. but it is what it is ig

#

perhaps it may help that the preprint is a sota model

#

so i shouldnt add my arxiv user link anywhere?

shell kindle
#

You can if you want

#

It won't hurt in any case

noble cloak
#

hmm

#

shiz strezzvul man

#

doesnt help i have to complete a book chapter in like 5 days..

#

do book chapters help? thinkies

shell kindle
#

Yes

noble cloak
#

so do i add unpublished book chapter to arxiv?

#

as a preprint?

#

(cuz it wont get published by deadline)

shell kindle
#

You don't need to put it on arxiv

#

Just say that it's in press or something

noble cloak
#

(man.. if only i didnt work with my prof on the stupid research paper.. i could have gotten paper accepted to a top conference by application deadline)

#

the deadline really hurts since many conferences review at an absolute snails pace 💀

#

and most conferences are once or twice a year..

noble cloak
shell kindle
#

Yes and people trust that you aren't lying

noble cloak
#

hmm

noble cloak
#

wouldnt many who get in basically lie at that point?

#

thnx a lot for all the advice btw 👍

#

yeah ill have to do it by nov 11 anyways 💀

#

CVPR deadlines..

#

im kinda worried cuz i promised book chapter to my prof by tomorrow..

#

ill probably need to ask him for after november 11.. i really need to finish my own paper..

#

perhaps ill work on both simultaneously

#

fuck dude..

smoky jetty
#

I have to write a statement of purpose for an REU app

#

and uh

#

idk what to write

molten frigate
#

what motivates you to apply, what you expect from the REU, any particular profs/courses you want to take there, any interesting personal experiences with math

#

to name a few things

smoky jetty
#

Ok so I should tailor these to specific programs?

molten frigate
#

what do you see yourself doing in the future (research presumably)

molten frigate
smoky jetty
#

got it

molten frigate
#

if you're applying to a bunch of REUs you can like make a generic one and then tailor it a bit to each one

smoky jetty
#

and these should be like, a page?

#

longer, shorter?

molten frigate
#

see each REU's requirements, but yeah a page or less is a good rule of thumb

smoky jetty
#

sounds good

#

does it matter if I do it in latex or google docs (as long as a PDF comes out)?

#

I imagine no

molten frigate
#

again read each REU's requirements

#

I'd guess not

smoky jetty
#

They just specify pdf

#

I use tex for most everything

molten frigate
#

usually only the file format, length and maybe basic formatting is specified

#

should be good so long as it's readable

smoky jetty
#

dope

#

tysm

#

should I go into detail about current research I have?

#

like what I've worked on, what I'm currently working on?

molten frigate
#

maybe not a ton of detail but do mention some things if you feel it's relevant

stoic jewel
#

Is it a big issue(i.e. look undesirable on the resume) to postpone a year of graduation? I'm in a Math & CS department and I postponed doing two of my CS courses(operating systems and computer org). I'm a 3rd year student now, and there's a chance that I will have to take an extra year to graduate because of this. More importantly, I postponed those courses because I wanted to focus on math more, but now I feel like it was all bootless even though I will finish all my math core courses earlier...sorry if this sounds dumb, I'm just feeling a bit bitter about this situation. Also, I'm in a branch campus of the Israel Technion, where we don't need to write a thesis paper or anything before graduate, and I dunno if it's because of this most students do a masters degree before considering PhDs. Would there be anything I could do to use my time more efficiently here(and possibly boost up my chances of going directly to applying to a PhD), if in the worst case I have to postpone a year?

noble cloak
#

I feel really stressed out

#

a whole thing happened

#

My prof told me to work on his project to get the paper shipped out by September 1.
Due to this, I could not complete my own paper which I was going to submit to a reputed conference and would likely get accepted in AAAI
I felt okay with it as at least i was getting one paper published, but now the prof is saying that we cant publish as the registration costs are too high

I feel really stressed because i wont have a single publication by the end of the application period. most of my publications will happen after that now..

#

what should I do?

tacit lark
#

What can you do? Just link the preprints on your cv

noble cloak
#

kinda dumb tho..

#

really stressed about how it negatively effects my admission chances a lot

#

should i try and publish/get as much as i can get accepted before december in ok conferences? or should I try and get my stuff accepted at good conferences even if it takes longer and just have it mentioned on my SoP/LoR? @tacit lark

#

I could apply for spring intake and by that point I would have more pubs too.. is that a good idea? I have heard spring intake is much more difficult to get in

shell kindle
#

(Jek does know)

#

(presumably which is why they were pinged)

noble cloak
#

yeah

#

thnx tho still

#

CS moves too fast

#

some times papers dont even get published and remain at arxiv cuz conferences and publications are too slow

raw quail
#

Should I have anything in my CV like skill-wise for grad apps?

shell kindle
#

What sorts of skills do you have in mind

raw quail
#

I have this section that I'm just thinking of removing

unknown.png
shell kindle
#

I don't think I had any

raw quail
#

I'm not sure it really serves a purpose anymore

shell kindle
#

Yeah

raw quail
#

Probably more useful applying to real jobs

shell kindle
#

Yes

raw quail
#

which hopefully I won't have to do for the next several years monkey 🤞

shell kindle
#

Is Trello a skill

raw quail
#

I don't know opencry

shell kindle
#

And what does "Linux" mean

raw quail
#

I can do stuff in linux idk

#

I think I was told to put this crap in by someone several years ago when I was applying to internships

shell kindle
#

You should have this sort of stuff for internships

noble cloak
#

u could keep on listing

#

if you wanted

tacit lark
still obsidian
#

Guys, is Oxford worth it ?

#

Like is a how “worse” is a 195th best university compared to Oxford ?

#

115th in maths

#

It’s the UCLouvain (Université Catholique de Louvain)

raw quail
#

worth it for what?

tepid forum
#

for masters probably a reasonable difference, but if it costs a lot I wouldn't

#

though for masters I'd consider Cambridge unless your specialism is done at Oxford (eg. analytic NT you'd want to go to oxford for Ben Green and James Maynard probably)

#

that sounds unnecessarily rude to Oxford but I think if you're shooting for the very top you should apply to Cambridge as well (unless Oxford is better for your situation/specialism/they give you a scholarship/ etc.). I'd imagine the quality of instruction is pretty much identical but the students might be a bit stronger at cam

grand palm
#

How good are rec letters from Dickson instructors (Junior faculty) compared to those from big profs ? I feel like It's not easy to interact with the big profs since they're always busy with grad/postdoc students.

tepid forum
#

Can I ask profs at places I'm applying to where else I should apply

tepid forum
#

Problem is there's not really any at my uni lol atm it's mostly profs in adjacent fields im trying to ask

#

The one in the area is on leave this semester

shell kindle
#

You can still ask someone on leave

tepid forum
#

gonna try emailing a few adjacent

grand palm
#

I was thinking about that but isn't it wired if didn't work with their supervisor ?

smoky jetty
#

well isn't a "did well in class" letter not as good as a "did good research" letter regardless of who writes it

#

oh

#

yea

tepid forum
#

he seemed surprised I'd consider them a high choice which does give me a bit of pause lol

torpid echo
#

You shouldn’t really be asking for a “did well-in class” letter period tbh

#

It doesn’t say much

#

If you also went to office hours a lot and talked about other stuff and they have some way to say more about you as a student it can be fine, but profs have told me sometimes ppl who just took a class and got a good grade ask for a letter and they’re like uhhhh