graduate-applications

[torpid echo]

I mean I can write it, but all I can say is “they took my class. They got an A.”

[worthy apex]

The GRE subject test is coming up in just a few days. Anyone else taking it?

[smoky jetty]

Well yea, did well in class letter > no letter obviously

Also is it bad to have a letter from a professor I TA under

I don't do any other work with him

TA a course, did also take a different course under him tho, but I've been a TA under him since Fall 21

but that doesn't really speak to anything research related or whatever so would grad schools care?

[crimson valve]

Yes.

[tacit lark]

Thats fine imo

Most people dont do research w 3 profs as an undergrad

[smoky jetty]

yea fair

I just don't know if grad schools would care

or if it'd go under the same umbrella of like

"did well in class"

[tacit lark]

If the prof writes a good letter and just doesnt say you did well in a class then it wont go in that category

A prof you took multiple classes with and interacted with a lot can still be a good letter.

[grand palm]

When people say "research" they mean real research or like reading/independent study ?

[shell kindle]

Both

[noble cloak]

good news. its not too expensive

300$

and the journal accepts papers till november and will publish by december

its h5-index is also a bit better

its no IEEE access or CVPR or AAAI but eh.. good enough

i assume if i could get accepted/published to AAAI it would have been a one way ticket into any uni (barring top5 maybe) 😕

but i doubt thats worth wasting an entire year when i can graduate this year

what do u guys think? (at the very least any uni id get into would be better than my current one)

[noble cloak]

personally idk how u would prove that u did reading/independent study

i had read a bunch of papers before getting into my undergrad but that didnt really help. but i was applying for CS undergrad so idk. Just from what I have heard, verifiable info >>> unverifiable info

if u have cert/credits for it. or if you think it could be added to your LoR (talk to ur LoR writer), etc. it may help

btw I have options for LoRs.. I am wondering which ones I should shortlist (applying for comp sci masters USA, with interest in Deep Learning):

1. A mechanical Engineering prof i worked under and have an accepted paper with him as the coauthor. Created a new dataset and trained Deep Learning models with specific augmentations to get better accuracy on this dataset.
2. Dean of Machine Learning at our uni that I am writing a book chapter for. but its not finished so I will likely only get this by December, and he only gives LoRs for 3 unis.
3. Algorithms and Bioinformatics professor: I took discrete math and design and analysis of algorithms under him. we both love each other so he will likely write a good LoR but I havent been able to work under him (likely topped classes in both)
4. My Major Advisor: Bioinformatics, Algorithms, and CUDA expert: I took CUDA programming and introduction to data structures and algorithms under him and scored an A in both (likely topped class in both)
5. A Political Science professor: I worked under him in a research project. Digitizing presidential archives by OCRing 1000s of documents and then did Deep Learning Natural Language Processing analysis such as Topic Modelling and Semi-Supervised Classification
6. Government Commisioner: Working under him for CCTV camera based traffic law enforcement, license plate recognition, traffic density prediction, accident prediction, and image captioning. To be deployed to assist electronic filing of tickets all across the state

help would be appreciated. thinking of getting a letter (non LoR) from all that I have worked under to add in supporting documents

[noble cloak]

damn.. i havent done that many 😬

[smoky jetty]

How hard is it to write multiple letters?

I submitted 3 apps and all of them needed letters

is that a pain for professors?

Should I space those out more?

[tepid forum]

3 isn't much

I think they'll just write one letter and send it off to all of them unless there's something that needs them to tailor it

[tacit lark]

^^

[smoky jetty]

Well I meant if I apply to more REUs in the future which also need letters

[shell kindle]

Writing letters is a standard part of a professor's workload and much of a letter can be recycled

To make it easy on professors, you should compile a list of where they need to submit letters and the deadlines

If you are applying through mathprograms, then letters are even easier to deal with because a professor can just upload one and submit it to multiple places

[smoky jetty]

Is there a disadvantage to applying through mathprograms vs directly on a site?

I presume no

[shell kindle]

No I don't think so

[smoky jetty]

Cool

I'll have to see if something similar to mathprograms exists for CS theory

[hot wadi]

how do rec letters work?
i am "building" a non official transcript in the math dept where im examined
in math
and for every test the prof will add in the letter that i took this and that
cuz im an undergrad cs and no real math courses here
so like when applying how does this work
does the dept im applying to send an email asking for the letter
or do i have like a handwritten letter and i ssubmit it XD

[shell kindle]

Yes when you are filling out your application you will list recommenders and their emails and the department will email them directly and they submit their letter directly to the department

[hot wadi]

okayyy

got it

tysm

[noble cloak]

it doesnt seem like most masters universities even have early admissions

do u guys know of any universities having early/rolling admissions for masters programs? (even aside from CS)

[tacit lark]

Ive never heard of that

[raw quail]

Afaik that's only an UG thing

[lethal minnow]

Is there any reason to prefer IELTS over TOEFL (or the other way round) when applying to American programs?

[noble cloak]

i saw people mostly expecting TOEFL

like stanford doesnt even accept IELTS. only TOEFL

but idrk for sure tbh.. id likely do both because skills are transferrable to some extent and waiting period is long for TOEFL

i havent given them yet and basically need results by december at most

[lethal minnow]

Yeah it seems I'm in a similar spot

[noble cloak]

I only checked for masters applications btw. not sure about phd

[lethal minnow]

I'm looking at both masters and graduate programs

[noble cloak]

yeah just try to increase sample size of the random variable such that expected max is higher 😂

[lethal minnow]

[noble cloak]

graduate is masters innit?

[lethal minnow]

American definition of graduate seems to entail a PhD program

[noble cloak]

hmm

so when i search graduate admissions

does it mean phd?

or masters?

[lethal minnow]

For American/Canadian universities, I think it almost always refers to a PhD program

[noble cloak]

https://cs.nyu.edu/home/master/prospective_admission.html like this?

oh this is just masters

[lethal minnow]

Yeah, this is just masters

[noble cloak]

cool thing is i can apply by march in which case I may get my decision from CVPR before that

I am still debating if I should wait a year before applying cuz i can get published in a top conference by then

feel really bad for missing AAAI deadline..

[noble cloak]

but idk if it would even matter enough to waste a year

im not from USA and im completing my 4 year degree in 3 years so my advisor says that its highly unadvisable as i will get auto rejected by bots/low level clerks (cuz they expect u to waste 4 years of ur life instead)

[noble cloak]

thnx for letting me know man

[lethal minnow]

I am considering a gap year just to orient myself for graduate studies (spent two-thirds of my undergrad online and that had a negative impact)

[noble cloak]

online is nice. good grades ez

[lethal minnow]

If you completed courses corresponding to a four year program, I don't think this should be a problem?

[lethal minnow]

I also think I learnt too little to be useful. Still, it seems that some graduate programs (like the one offered at CUNY) are pretty modest and something I may not be entirely thrown off by.

[noble cloak]

idk. thats what my advisor says..

[noble cloak]

same. but thats probably just cuz i got forced into a crap uni by my parents

good luck for ur admissions man

[lethal minnow]

Might be a good idea to ask the respective schools by directly emailing them, I guess

[lethal minnow]

Thank you, you too!

[noble cloak]

hmm yeah. one person recommended me to email the admissions helper regarding this at the time of admissions

[lethal minnow]

Right

[noble cloak]

yeah man.. quite stressful stuff 😩

the fuck?

cambridge in USA?

[lethal minnow]

Hahaha, isn't MIT in Cambridge?

[noble cloak]

lmfao

what to do.. what to do.. what to do..

CVPR i feel like its very unlikely id get accepted.. but idk if theres a point to try and publish elsewhere either

i hate how conferences are more important than journals in CS.. but most of the top conf arent even held each year

and they all decided to not hold them this year simultaneously

journals are way better. submit. and get published within 2-3 months

[noble cloak]

i just realised i could have submitted to ICLR and neurips too. but they were not listed in this webapp calendar sadly 😩

eh.. anyways.. nothing i can do. will try my shot at CVPR and then see what can be done next

[shadow bobcat]

And Harvard

[raw quail]

I just started filling out applications... is this normal?

what's funny is that they ask for the titles but no author

[noble cloak]

the fuck?

advanced textbooks

[tepid forum]

I've had to give course lists for a few with corresponding textbooks

i think Berkeley and A&M asked for them off the top of my head

that's worded really weirdly though lol

none of my classes actually followed textbooks so I just gave the first book on the suggested reading list

[tacit lark]

No graduate school is masters or phd.

[tacit lark]

Thats not true. Maybe if its a Shitty journal. Journals tend to take much longer to get back.

At least for math/tcs

Journals may have multiple issues each year but it takes a while to get reviewed.

[lethal minnow]

Ah, okay

[shadow bobcat]

Yeah I think my professor said IEEE PAMI took like 8 months to get back to him about accepting his paper and it's still not even published afaik

[tacit lark]

Sounds ab right

[hexed light]

is it generally easier to get into top applied math phd programs than for pure math (in the US)

[shell kindle]

No

Why would it be

[hexed light]

in my own experience interacting with both applied math and pure math majors at my school who intend to go to graduate school, generally speaking pure math majors tend to have much more rigorous coursework

i would say that most of the pure math majors i've spoken to have taken 10+ graduate math classes

and most applied math majors have maybe taken 1 or 2

[shell kindle]

Sure and?

Grad classes is just one part of an application

Research is much more feasible to do in applied areas

So there is increased competition in that regards

[hexed light]

that's true

i'm going to be applying for grad school next cycle and i'm not sure whether to be applying for pure or for applied

i've done two REUs, both in pure math and i expect to do another one this summer

but i have a decent amount of coursework in applied math and I somewhat expect the competition to be lower

the work i did for the REUs also had computational components that would maybe count as applied math

like, discrete differential geometry

numerical methods for PDEs

[shell kindle]

Lots of places do not have separate applications

Lots of places admit less people for applied math

[hexed light]

this is true but there are also many programs that do have separate apps

harvard and uchicago e.g.

[hexed light]

really? why would this be the case

[shell kindle]

I mean it just is

My cohort is 25 people

6 applied math

[hexed light]

it's really hard to tell bc so few grad schools have any public information abt this

[shell kindle]

The rest are in pure math

[hexed light]

is applied math at your program a separate department?

[shell kindle]

No

Same department

[ashen summit]

I'm working on my statement of purpose and I'd like to mention my interest in algebraic topology but I'm not sure how best to go about it. I took two semesters of independent study in algebraic topology, looking at homology and homotopy groups. Basically all the material covered in Hatcher (minus cohomology, which I might look at next). How should I go about mentioning this? Should I talk about topics I've learned or would that seem tacky?

I also don't know how the level of what I've studied compares to the level they're expecting from an applicant (PhD)

[hexed light]

i guess im not surprised that this is the case for schools that dont have a separate department for applied math

but i rly dont know if it would also be true for schools that do

[ashen summit]

Another thing I'm on the fence about bringing up is that I completed my bachelor's in 3 years and my master's in 1. I'd like to use this fact to give evidence towards my work ethic, but again I'm not sure if it would be seen as tacky. If anyone has an opinion please give me a ping

[hexed light]

okay, so it looks liek uchicago actually does have data on this

here are their admissions statistics for pure math

and here are their statistics for applied math

they're clearly much more selective when it comes to pure math rather than applied

[shell kindle]

They also have better pure math so they definitely get more applicants for it

[ashen summit]

Looks like a big part is just less applicants/interest there

[shell kindle]

U Chicago's CAM thing is only like

5 years old

[hexed light]

i see

but it's definitely easier to get into uchicago CAM

than their pure math program

[shell kindle]

Sure if you want to go

[past plume]

Hello fellow kids undergrads

[hexed light]

i guess the same can be said of harvard

their SEAS applied math program is a lot newer and less renowned than their pure math dept

but yeah for schools like MIT, NYU Courant that are well-known for applied math i would imagine that their admissions are just as rigorous as similarly ranked schools for pure math

[shell kindle]

Yeah Harvard applied math kind of sucks

[fair needle]

no. speed does not matter at all to admissions

in fact, speed is the reason i got rejected everywhere i applied last cycle. i did BS+MS in 2 years, and as a result, coursework is basically my entire application. i didn't have enough time to mature, like doing research or attending/giving talks or making connections or any of that. it was all really really high-level coursework. which is evidence of good work ethic, like you say, but not in the way they're looking for

[ashen summit]

Hm.. okay

I've been considering taking a year gap to do research, improve my GRE scores, etc

[tacit lark]

Harvard applied math is good but it depends what you want to do

If you want to do things related to ml, econ, theory of computation it’s good

So not traditional areas of applied math i guess

[hexed light]

i see

[tacit lark]

You can work w basically any prof

[hexed light]

wait if u got rejected everywhere last cycle are you taking a postbac now?

[fair needle]

no

the details are very strange but bottom line is

we offer a thesis or non-thesis masters. i finished the BS and non-thesis masters in 2 years. when i got rejected, my university said i could finish the masters on thesis track and be on stipend for however long i need

so basically i am thesis only masters like

in perpetuity

[tacit lark]

@hexed light what do you want to do? Im not in applied math but i think applied math at harvard could be a good choice. The faculty are definitely very strong but its small. Its definitely very competitive. The students ik in the program are pretty strong.

I just dont think every field of applied math is well represented.

They have center for applied math and applications or something and they host big name faculty and have lot of seminars. So its definitely active.

[hexed light]

i'm still ironing out the details of what i'm interested in, but most of my experience at least is in more traditional subfields of applied math

numerical methods and discrete differential geometry come to mind

[tacit lark]

I didnt think discrete differential geometry was a traditional subfield of applied math.

But ya idk what faculty we have in those areas

Discrete diff geo is a small field i think.

Its a subfield of discrete geo which i dont see too much of. Mostly dont by people in combinatorics or theoretical cs

[hexed light]

hmm i see

i also have significant coursework in machine learning but ml is like

so popular and hypercompetitive that im not sure it would be a good idea to take that angle when applying

[tacit lark]

Ml theory is also huge

At harvard

[hexed light]

i'm taking a grad class on geometric methods for ML right now

[tacit lark]

Boaz barak is at harvard and is trying to build a big ml theory group.

[hexed light]

for that class i'm starting to form ideas on a project combining manifold dimensionality reduction techniques like diffusion and isometric embeddings

with topological data analysis

i've also taken more traditional classes in statistical machine learning

and in deep learning

[hexed light]

interesting okay

but yeah this still goes back to my concern that ML is so competitive that it'll be hard to get into somewhere like harvard seas for it

[tacit lark]

It is pretty competitive but you sound competitive Based on courses

Thats only one part tho

[hexed light]

i'm inferring that you're a grad student at harvard so do u think we could PM?

i def wanna talk abt this more in depth but i dont want to say too much abt my personal information on a public discord server lol

[tacit lark]

Yea pm me

[noble cloak]

not really

unless u compare to shitty conferences

usually journals are similar speed/faster

in physics too (from what my friend says)

IEEE access is a very good journal in comp sci. review in 4 weeks. tho tbf it has rapid review and costs a bucnh so its a special case ig

math idk tho

[tacit lark]

Then do it.

Yep

A lot of tcs papers are published in math journals and it takes forever

Journal papers are more highly scrutinized than conference papers

The worst

[unborn falcon]

hi, i'm an undergraduate student enrolled in a cse engineering course and i'm highly interested to take up research in applied areas of mathematics. i wish to know what background knowledge professors look for in applicants in a research internship. any guidance

[shell kindle]

If a school wants the math gre they probably want the general gre as well but it doesn't matter but you do need to take it but you don't need to study for it

[fluid totem]

Does anyone have a solid resource for SOPs? I’m getting conflicting advice from every site and family member and career advisor and it doesn’t help a lot of stuff online is specifically for Personal Statements and not statements of Purpose.

And it’s just a struggle figuring out what to include when there’s all these different things

(Also, a ping in any potential replies would be appreciated 😊)

[tacit lark]

I always thought of statement of purpose and personal statement as interchangeable lol. Unless the school gave a specific prompt.

[fluid totem]

I’ve heard generally that statement of purpose is more like a cover letter mixed with some elements of a personal statement

[raven sun]

Maybe this is an unenlightened opinion--but coursework/research work/letters/awards factor into decisions 100x more than SoP

Unless you write an absolutely abysmal SoP

[shell kindle]

100x is a bit of an exaggeration I would say

[molten frigate]

the SoP is more about gauging maturity and clarity in one's goals than anything

here's a good guide imo https://zengruihan.github.io/pdf/SOP_Guide.pdf

[tacit lark]

Ya, but you should put some effort into your SOP.

[noble cloak]

do high TOEFL scores matter?

seems like most unis care about that more than GRE

really stressed cuz deadlines for stanford are 6th.. when my exams themselves will get over at 6th

[noble cloak]

admissions advisor ig

u will always get conflicting advice from everyone regarding anything in life

often times.. the university itself gives u pointers as to what they want in an SoP

some unis want just "what will u do once u are here", some want "why this uni + what will u do once u are here + what makes u capable of handling the coursework here"

for my undergrad.. id just write the latter and remove parts/rephrase it based on what the uni wanted/word count

ofc for the "why this uni" question, u wanna try and make it not generic

[noble cloak]

do any universities have deadlines at december first/late november?

can someone please send me a rough calendar of masters application deadlines for various universities if you can find it please?

i cant find such a thing

[lethal minnow]

I don't think the bar can be described as "high" for math programs, at least as far as I've observed

[noble cloak]

requirement isnt

but some unis i saw say that its just min requirement and that avg admitted person has a much higher toefl

[lethal minnow]

It won't be an application discriminating criterion as long as you meet the minimum

Huh

That sounds odd

I'm not sure why they'll press for a high TOEFL score

[noble cloak]

yeah

one uni was saying that

also oxfords min req is 110

which is pretty high imo

(i have never given it tho so idrk)

anyone have rough application deadlines for universities?

[crystal swallow]

Man, I remember seeing my international friend practice for the TOEFL test. Looking at it and seeing some of the questions they asked were crazy

Kinda glad I don't have to do it

[noble cloak]

really? is it that difficult?

[crystal swallow]

Idk. I think it's the way they word some of the questions that just seem awkward to native speakers

[noble cloak]

im fucked then..

[crystal swallow]

Nah you ain't

In a weird way it'll make sense

[rain lintel]

Graduated last year with a B.S in math. Sadly didn't do so well in my first semester of grad school. I wasn't prepared enough and thought I was read for grad school. Now I am hoping to go back to school to at least get my masters. Should I apply again or find something else?
For my SOP, I am considering taking points as a dishwasher in three jobs where patience is needed to achieve the day. As someone who takes longer to understand the material, I am wondering if this is a good comparison to make. I currently sitting in as a listener in undergrad abstract algbera course near my local university. The same course the I failed in grad school because I never took it as a undergrad. I am probably aiming to applying to my four year school I got my B.S. and three other programs just for fun but know that math education is their active research.

[vale oar]

Hello, sorry if this has already been asked.
What information should I give my rec letter writers about how/where to submit the letters?
Is it sufficient to give them the name of the schools and programs I am applying to, or should I give them specific links/addresses?
If the latter, how do I find the appropriate links/addresses?
Thanks

[shell kindle]

When you are filling out an application there is a section where you list your letter writers and their emails

They will receive an email with a link to submit the letter

[vale oar]

Ok, thank you.
Will it be seen as annoying if the professor receives 10+ such emails, or are they typically prepared for that?

[shell kindle]

That is typical

[past plume]

You should also provide your rec letter with your application materials ( essays, cv whatever) so they can write a better letter. Also you could remind them of things they could write about. Make it easy for your letter writer to write about you

[vale oar]

Thank you!

I have two somewhat niche questions:
(1) In 2017, I attended a university for 1 school year, and given that is has been so long, I do not have access to my GPA. Is it best to just leave this spot blank if possible? And if not possible, what is a good solution (besides ordering a transcript to myself for the sole purpose of filling in that blank)?
(2) Given that my only semester of graduate school will still be going when I submit my applications, should I put my expected GPA for this semester under Graduate GPA or leave that spot blank?

[sterile bone]

cf ravi vakil's page on his website about asking for rec letters (from him and in general)

[raw quail]

do profs usually send the same rec letters for grad apps and grfp?

[past plume]

I mean of your letter writer already wrote a letter for nsf grfp , that def helps when they write one for grad apps, bc they already have something to build on. But not they're not going to submit the exact same letter

Imo a nsf grfp letter is very different from a grad appa letter

[raw quail]

I see

[tacit lark]

I agree

[rain lintel]

anyone 😦

[raw quail]

Unless you're an incredible writer and able to makes this analogy super strong I'd advise against this. The application committee won't care about your dishwashing skills.

[hot wadi]

would passing a qualifying exam a good thing to mention in a rec letter (not a math major)

so i have no "real math gpa"

[tacit lark]

Yea

[smoky jetty]

Do REUs do interviews like internships?

[shell kindle]

I've not heard of this

[tacit lark]

I actually was interviewed.

Idk if it was technically an interview but i had a zoom chat w my prospective mentor before.

[tepid forum]

Think I'm gonna lock in my choices now, wonder how many offers I'll get if any at all

at least I don't have to start worrying until around February

[shell kindle]

I never got into any reus and I'm doing fine so don't stress too much

[tepid forum]

Nah this is grad schools

[tacit lark]

Youll prob get some offers @tepid forum

[tepid forum]

[quaint girder]

you are smart though

not everyone had same confidence

[still spade]

hi

is anyone available to discuss a solution with

me]

[shell kindle]

This does not sound appropriate for this channel

[torpid echo]

I also didn't do any REUs

I didn't apply after junior year tho, I only applied once after sophomore year

[tacit lark]

You do not need REUs to get into a good grad school

[smoky jetty]

it helps tho right? especially if your GPA isn't perfect

yea I'm trying to get some good letters hopefully

analysis and advanced algorithms midterms this week are probably killing my GPA

[tacit lark]

Ya it doesn’t hurt

It can definitely help

It helped me lol

[smoky jetty]

I think after this midterm tomorrow morning I will require the help

[dry umbra]

any grad students from india here?

[tacit lark]

Good luck!

[raven sun]

I have exams on December 15th/sixteenth which is painful

[shell kindle]

That is painful

[dire brook]

I have a German exam (optional course dammit) around the same date, and literally the day after my birthday

[shell kindle]

That is painful

[delicate kite]

I am there

[dry umbra]

did you do your undergrad in india?

I'm not sure if it's appropriate for this channel but how do you get summer research internships (as a first year)?

[delicate kite]

Yes, I did my Integrated masters here.
For my 1st year internship, I just read a book on linear algebra. So, not really a research internship

[smoky jetty]

lol I had a midterm this week the day before my birthday 😭

[smoky jetty]

internship where you read a textbook?

[delicate kite]

Yeah, reading projects are pretty common at ug level

[smoky jetty]

interesting

[smoky jetty]

Ok so all the REUs are asking for a CV

I've just been putting my resume

it has my research experience on there

[shell kindle]

You'll be fine probably

[smoky jetty]

and basically everything worth talking about

ok cool

[shell kindle]

The difference doesn't matter very much in undergrad

[glass hare]

sorry if already been asked, but a couple of programs are asking what other programs am i applying to (phd). Is there a problem/benefit in answering?

[shell kindle]

Oh no this question...

[crimson valve]

never answer it, can only harm you

[tepid forum]

Yeah I'm not touching it lol

It's nominally just for statistical analysis but I'd be nervous about it

[torpid echo]

I answered it

[shell kindle]

I think I answered it as well

[tepid forum]

yeah it's probably an irrational fear lol

[past plume]

i answered it too

[shadow bobcat]

?

[tepid forum]

Just "analytic" is fine

[shell kindle]

Not the correct channel

[tepid forum]

princeton looks to have put back their deadline to 15th dec

[wary pond]

yeah I'm prolly not gonna answer any of the "where else are you applying?" questions/sections

[smoky jetty]

Is there a good place to find REUs in Europe and Asia that are English medium?

I've found 2 but I think that'd be fun if I could get into one so I'd like more

but it looks like the NSF lists and mathprograms.org are more US focused

[bronze spoke]

neatest handwriting for a math person I've seen in a while

[bronze spoke]

Yes in Israel I believe

https://mathematics.huji.ac.il/research-experience-undergraduates-reu-einstein-institute

I have a family friend there

I think there's a couple in central europe too

like Switzerland and Austria

[vale oar]

With regard to answering “which other schools are you applying to,” I’ve recently learned one of my rec letter writers is very likely on the admissions committee of one of the schools I’m applying to. Do y’all have any suggestions for how to navigate this tricky situation to avoid any negative consequences?

[tepid forum]

I would guess they'd just sit out of considering your application

[tacit lark]

What is there for you to navigate? Just fill out your app.

Add schools if you want to and dont if you dont.

I didnt add all my schools but i added ones that are at a similar tier in terms of research and ranking.

I dont think it matters much.

[coral terrace]

Hi yall, hope you guys are well. I'm a third year at Ryerson Uni here in Canada. I'm an applied math major who is specializing in computer science. I'm interested continuing for grad school. My areas of interest are mainly in biomath and statistics, but I also have strong computational skills. I currently work as data scientist intern at a insurance firm and have a recurrent part time RA position with one of my professors doing hyperspectral image analysis. I was wondering if anyone knew any good programs within europe or canada with strong research in those fields? I am really new to all of this so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I also was at uoft's REU this summer but i am a bit wary of the school just because i am not sure if they treat their grad students the same way they do their undergrads.

my dms are open too if you guys dont want to talk in the open. just send a fr and i will accept. ty in advance <3

[vale oar]

The point is that I don’t have the luxury of not filling out schools that I don’t want to because a person who is likely on the admissions committee of a school that I’m applying to is writing a rec letter and will need to send it to the schools I’m applying to.
Is there something that isn’t getting across there?

[fierce sigil]

I mean

I would say where you're applying for that one school

And do what you want gor the rest

The whole "where are you applying" metagame almost surely is completely irrelevant

I cannot imagine it has a noticeable impact

[tepid forum]

Have you asked them

I'd imagine you'd be fine but that they wouldn't advise on your application in particular

[tacit lark]

Ya i dont get why you cant leave it blank🤣

I seriously dont get what the issue is. Its an optional question. It doesnt matter if you have a letter writer on the adcom. Do you think theyre going to ask your letter writer what schools your applying to and penalize you for not writing it? That seems ridiculous to me.

[tepid forum]

Oh I thought you were asking about conflict of interest lol

Definitely not worth fussing about in this case lol

[delicate kite]

Not sure where to ask this but my GRE maths exam was cancelled and ETS hasn't contacted back even once. Has anyone else experienced this?

[subtle knoll]

I think you have to call them to get the refund.

[delicate kite]

Can't do an international call, I did email them to no avail

[subtle knoll]

try the online chat thing and ask the auto-reply to talk to a customer service person.

[inner solar]

Hi, if anybody here is from the US, what is the general opinion on Rutgers? They seem to have great faculty, and my main letter writer did his PhD there. For some reason it just isn’t a well known school in India.

[tacit lark]

Rutgers is a good school

[tepid forum]

i hadn't heard of most of my options before researching

[shell kindle]

Rutgers is a good school

[tacit lark]

Rutgers new brunswick is good

[sterile bone]

if the application requires me to put in the registration number for the toefl and the score report, surely I still have to pay ets to submit the grade to the school, right?

also, where in my SOP would I explain smth like missing grades

right at the start?

[inner solar]

I’m actually applying for complexity theory but I was just curious about the general reputation of the place

[tacit lark]

Im pretty sure new brunswick is the main campus for both math and cs.

Source: last year i applied to rutgers for both math and cs phd

[inner solar]

Where are you now?

[tacit lark]

Harvard

You can pm me if you want to talk about applications.

[coral terrace]

any UBC msc students?

[tepid forum]

is chicago spamming anyone else lol

[shell kindle]

Chicago does that

[gritty ruin]

I just wrote all of the schools I was applying to in all of my applications

[lethal minnow]

If a grad app seeks a fixed date for end of attending my current institution, what am I supposed to put down there? I don't have the schedule available at the moment

[vale oar]

I just looked up previous years’ dates and estimated - I really doubt it matters if you’re off by a couple days.

[lethal minnow]

[lethal minnow]

Does anyone have a good moderncv LaTeX template? Something geared towards a grad school CV would be great

[shell kindle]

There is a sample cv in the cv subfolder

[lethal minnow]

Thanks!!

[worthy ruin]

where on my cv would i include a directed reading program? it was just reading through a textbook with a graduate student

[shell kindle]

You can call it a research experience I guess

[worthy ruin]

ah okay haha i was a bit wary of doing that since it wasn't really research >.<

but maybe ill just relabel my research section as "research and independent study" or something

[worthy ruin]

also to clarify i meant it was mentored by the grad student not a professor

but it was through an official program at my school

[rapid dawn]

for grad schools that don't give guidelines on how long to make your personal statement, what should you aim for?

[molten frigate]

roughly 1 page or slightly less

[rapid dawn]

that's what I was told by my advisor but I figured I'd also ask here for confirmation

thanks

[sterile bone]

damn, mine is 3 pages, but wide margins

well, 2.2 pages

but still

I had a lot to say

[sterile bone]

does "played in university orchestra" go in misc or in 'campus involvement' in my CV

I can see arguemnts for both

[tepid forum]

I'm going for 1000 words I think?

Some want a bit less

[sterile bone]

mine is 1200

if they want less I can cut some out

[main marlin]

I have two research papers in Differential geometry, as a part of my ongoing MS thesis project on arXiv. Both are single authored and are submitted to a journal for review. How much can it influence my chances of getting into a Differential geometry Ph.D. program? Will people outside of my area(which is minimal surfaces) in Differential geometry be interested in me and my research?

[crimson valve]

Mine is 1300 words.

[molten frigate]

mine was about 500 words lol

[rapid dawn]

why does UChicago want to know this

is this standard to ask?

[shell kindle]

Yes

[rapid dawn]

should I fill it out then?

[shell kindle]

If you want

[rapid dawn]

I assume it's not binding like I can change my mind after filling it out and submitting

[shell kindle]

Yes

[rapid dawn]

and apply to a school I didn't list

so I literally do not care in the slightest if they know what other schools I'm applying

the question is whether it would help me or hurt me to list them

should I list preprints here if I have no publications?

[shell kindle]

Sure why not

[noble cloak]

personally.. idk. cuz it says publications

preprints arent pubs

but u do u and also ask others. id definitely try to mention it somewhere

[rapid dawn]

I'm listing preprints in my CV

I figure it can't hurt to mention them there also as long as I clearly indicate they're preprints

[noble cloak]

sounds good

btw

im still applying so im not 100% sure

but most profs/people wont consider preprints at publication

[rapid dawn]

obviously

yeah I'm well aware of that

[noble cloak]

Many publications (conference/journal paper deadlines) explicitly say that u can add preprints to arxiv since its not a publication

hmm ok

[rapid dawn]

if I had any publications I'd list them there and only list preprints on my CV

but unfortunately I do not yet

[noble cloak]

hmm sadge

i have similar issue but eh

a single pub thats not even good

[rapid dawn]

so in the interest of not leaving that blank I'm just going to use it as a reminder that "yo I do have preprints"

[noble cloak]

all my good pubs are gonna be april now.. since i didnt submit my paper today

my fault

[noble cloak]

sure. if u think thats a good idea

[rapid dawn]

I don't think it makes a huge difference either way

[noble cloak]

i might have a few other pubs ig

cuz journals publish fast

[noble cloak]

hmm

[rapid dawn]

I mean unless I tried to pass off preprints as publications

that field is going to be fairly inconsequential

[shell kindle]

If you have preprints and they are currently being submitted you can say that as well

[noble cloak]

my preprint(s) are/is much better than my pub

[noble cloak]

yeah that might help

in proceedings

[rapid dawn]

I'll ask my advisors

[noble cloak]

really? damn

i spent most of my time on pubs/research lol

[rapid dawn]

no I mean like

[noble cloak]

even sacrificed my grades to some extent

[rapid dawn]

publications and preprints are going to be huge

but what you put on that specific field of the application form is not super consequential provided you mention them elsewhere (e.g. your CV)

[noble cloak]

hm ig

i need to make my cv and other stuff before applying

btw where are u applying? and do u know of any early application deadlines around now/early december/late november? @rapid dawn

would be tremendously helpful

[rapid dawn]

check websites for deadlines

the earliest deadlines I know of are UChicago and UC Irvine both December 1st

[noble cloak]

i cant find any, do u know any and could u pls share?

[rapid dawn]

I mean like compile a list of schools you want to apply to

not sure exactly how to do that since it depends on your specific situation. In my case I just asked my professor who's in the field I want to go in "yo what are some good grad schools in this area"

[noble cloak]

damn nice

[rapid dawn]

(well I asked more formally than that but you get the idea

[noble cloak]

UC irvine is dec 1st?

why?

[rapid dawn]

make a list of 8-15 schools

[noble cloak]

all UCs were at 15th..

ill ask/get an advisor

[rapid dawn]

then when you have the list google like

[noble cloak]

cuz i also need to prepare my paper properly for ICJA and exam week during december 1st and 29th nov (CMU deadline)

[noble cloak]

hmm

[rapid dawn]

"[University Name] math graduate program"

[noble cloak]

yeah

[rapid dawn]

look at the first few results

[noble cloak]

i doubt ill get in anywhere

[rapid dawn]

click through a bit and you should find all the information you need

[noble cloak]

QS world rankings uni selector is saying even top 180 unis are a "reach" for me

and my target unis should be as low as 200-300 rank

[rapid dawn]

I mean if you have good research as an undergrad that seems pretty significant

[shell kindle]

[noble cloak]

no good research

only poor research

[rapid dawn]

what is this based on

[noble cloak]

😂

[noble cloak]

no fucking clue

lol

[rapid dawn]

no like

what information of yours did you put in?

[noble cloak]

gre

toefl (havent given yet fuck..)

i need toefl for cmu too..

[rapid dawn]

oh well if it's based on gre don't worry

[noble cloak]

yeah

and gpa

[rapid dawn]

most schools aren't requiring it this year

[noble cloak]

and my funding

[rapid dawn]

biggest factors are going to be recommendations, gpa, advanced classes, and research

[noble cloak]

and what i cared about in a uni

[noble cloak]

man

all of this gives me a headache and anxiety

probably gonna score poor in my masters level AI course cuz of the prof..

[rapid dawn]

only one of those can be distilled into a numerical quantity you can feed into an algorithm

that is, the one that's already a numerical quantity

[noble cloak]

most unis/people like that tho

hmm

will see ig

[rapid dawn]

gpa is only one factor

[noble cloak]

gonna taper my expectations tho

[rapid dawn]

like you obviously want a good gpa

[noble cloak]

gpa dropped a bit and it will probably drop a bit more

[rapid dawn]

are you currently in undergrad?

[noble cloak]

yeah

[rapid dawn]

what is your gpa currently?

[noble cloak]

3.79

[rapid dawn]

oh you're fine then

[noble cloak]

dropped from 3.89

😬 😦

like a cliff

but regardless.. gonna taper my expectations

[tacit lark]

I would trust some website lol

[noble cloak]

yeah

ig

[tacit lark]

Ask your letter writers where you should apply

[noble cloak]

they probably know whats up

[rapid dawn]

yeah the difference between 3.89 and 3.79 seems like nothing compared to the difference good letters and research makes

[noble cloak]

as i said

[rapid dawn]

also for what it's worth taking a gap year between undergrad and grad schools is very common

[noble cloak]

my research is poor

[shell kindle]

[rapid dawn]

you have research as an undergrad

and a publication

that's more than most people can say

[tacit lark]

Youre not expected to do crazy good research as an undergrad

[noble cloak]

the only good one.. couldnt be submitted by deadline. or dont have computational resources to train

[tacit lark]

Your applying for masters too

[rapid dawn]

worst case scenario you don't get in where you want and apply again next year

[noble cloak]

yeah

not next year

just gonna go wherever

[rapid dawn]

I have a friend who did that and is now doing great in grad school

[noble cloak]

nice

[rapid dawn]

taking a year off is not really a big deal

[noble cloak]

happy for him

hope u do well too

[tacit lark]

Lol passive aggressive much

[noble cloak]

eh id rather not. i shouldnt have done it before ug either

[noble cloak]

wasnt meant that way

sorry if it came off that way

[rapid dawn]

you'll be fine

[noble cloak]

ill be 25 by the time i graduate and get a job if i took another year off 💀

[tacit lark]

Your applying for masters not phd it isnt nearly as competitive. They dont expect a lot of Research for a course focused degree. Relax.

[noble cloak]

yeah, hopefully. worst case i get into a meh uni

[rapid dawn]

oh wait you're only applying for masters?

[tacit lark]

There are plenty of people in my cohort that worked before.

[rapid dawn]

yeah this is even more chill

[noble cloak]

but i also dont have too much industrial exp

[tacit lark]

That doesnt matter

[noble cloak]

but its also comp sci AI

everyone in AI has a research nowadays

ik undergrad people who have 4 preprints

[tacit lark]

So what lol

Ik undergrad people with 20 preprints

[noble cloak]

damn

[tacit lark]

I still got into a good school lol

[noble cloak]

yeah my friend from physics already has 5 h-index already

that guys crazy

probably could go directly for cambridge phd

[shell kindle]

[noble cloak]

already part of 3 fellowships afaik

[tacit lark]

Just relax

[hearty radish]

You’re overthinking this. Bleak posting about how you’re not going to get in anywhere is just going to make you feel worse. Comparing yourself to others isn’t going to get you anywhere. You’ll be fine, there’s no reason to sell yourself short before you even applied anywhere

[noble cloak]

yeah. worst case id just get into a safety

u applying for phd? @rapid dawn

[rapid dawn]

yea

[noble cloak]

nice. good luck 👍

[shadow bobcat]

As my advisor said when I asked about applying to REUs outside my field "any research you do is good research"

[raw quail]

.pin

[raw quail]

If asked to give a description of courses I've taken is it fine to copy paste the course catalogue description?

[shell kindle]

Yes

[raw quail]

ok nvm some of these descriptions aren't accurate at all so I guess I'm gonna write my own

[raw quail]

a lot of them are unfortunately specific to my college and written by the professors themselves

LAC moment

[raw quail]

what constitutes "proof of application submission" for the GRFP?

[noble cloak]

yeah that happens often

at least at my uni

damn nice.. fellowships

[vale oar]

If a program only requests a personal statement, rather than an SOP, with the following prompt:

Please upload a document briefly describing your past work in your proposed or allied fields of study, including non-course educational experiences, teaching, or other relevant employment, publications, theses, research in progress, other scholarly activities, and your plans for graduate study and a professional career.
are they kinda specifically saying they don't don't want an SOP-style essay, or would it be okay to submit an SOP?

(With the difference in my mind being that a personal statement with this prompt focuses moreso on how you got where you are now rather than how you intend to utilize their program in particular.)

[placid wagon]

uh... i have a very uncomfortable question...
so most unis i'm applying to want some sort of personal/diversity statement. but the things about me that i think would qualify are things that i consider very personal and private (||sexuality/mental illness/learning disabilities||). i've spent most of my life trying to overcome the challenges of the latter two things so that they no longer limit my academic performance. i'm not out to my parents, coworkers, mentor, or even my most of my friends about most of these things. i have no idea who to ask about what to write, or who to ask to proofread. i'd be mortified to have to reveal these things about myself to anyone just so they could give me advice on this one aspect of my application. any advice would be much appreciated, this is really stressing me out.

tbh i wouldnt want to talk about or reveal any of these things to the unis in the first place. i'd rather let my grades and experience speak for themselves. but it feels like i have no choice if i want to be considered.

[shell kindle]

Ok so for diversity statements, you do not need to necessarily talk about yourself

Indeed, for people with past challenges, writing about past trauma can be obscene in a sense, as if the only reason it happened was to prove that you are a capable person

Instead, for a diversity statement, a common thing to talk about is community outreach

So for math, this can take the form of mentoring younger students, reaching out to K-12 institutions in the community, helping to run the undergrad math club, etc...

As for a personal statement, this can be a bit trickier

Usually in a personal statement you will discuss things like why you want to pursue a phd, formative math experiences, and why you like the math you want to pursue

And it is common (maybe) for people to talk about some challenge they overcame

And those challenges can be personal, but they do not necessarily need to be

Whoops forgot to ping

@placid wagon

[smoky jetty]

what is the difference between SOP and personal statement 💀

I've just been submitting the same essay for both for REUs

[shell kindle]

If a REU asks for two essays you should not submit the same to both

If a REU asks for one and calls it different things, then you should be fine

[smoky jetty]

just one yea

[shell kindle]

In justAlex's case I'm not quite sure what the consternation is about given that the prompt is quite specific about what it wants

For grad school, some schools will ask for both

In which case the statement of purpose is "this is the math I want to do" and the personal statement is "this is who I am and the math I have done" in a general sense

[noble cloak]

is there any way one can update their application with achievements after already applied?

[noble cloak]

thnx for the tips man

how exactly would u phrase it btw?

[grand palm]

I will be applying to grad school next year, is there some road map/timeline I should be following so that I am not missing anything ?

[gritty ruin]

Get your reference letters (i.e. get the people who you would like to write them to confirm that they will write them) well in advance, and then pay attention to the specific deadlines

That's my main advice

So I basically asked the people who would be giving me references if they would be able to do so in October

And then another reminder a couple of weeks before the deadline(s)

If you plan on applying for fellowships, I can't help you there

As I did not do that

And in my personal case I can get a lot of stuff done quickly, so I left a lot of stuff quite late - but you should be thinking about how quickly you can get stuff done

Like, if you think you can get a SOP written in a week, give yourself a week + some extra time at the minimum

[grand palm]

I will prob be getting two research recommendations from postdocs/Instructors and one from a big professor. Is that good ? or should I go for all big professors ?

[gritty ruin]

I had 3 big professors, and one of them said to me that it is better this way

But I would say it depends

Because sometimes someone may be quite well known in a field without yet being in a senior position

For example Gabe Conant is quite well-known among model theorists but isn't necessarily an established professor

So if you were applying for specifically model theory and got a reference from him, that would be pretty good - if you weren't applying for model theory, it would be less good

[grand palm]

Yea I see that, It's just hard to do a reading course with a big prof because they're very busy and I feel classwork recommendations are very general and not personalized

[gritty ruin]

But yeah, it's not bad to have recs from lectures/postdocs

And it can be quite hard to get recs from 3 big profs, I was quite lucky

Even if only one of them was roughly in the field I wanted to go in

But again, that doesn't matter so much

[grand palm]

Is it customary to ask the postdoc to write an adjoint recommendation with thier prof adviser if I know the prof/ did classwork with them ?

[gritty ruin]

CMU even gave me an offer with only 2 rec letters

[gritty ruin]

I have no clue

[grand palm]

lmao I guess ur application was really good

[shell kindle]

That is an option, best to discuss with both of them

[gritty ruin]

I guess, but I got rejected from Chicago with basically the same application - I didn't even realise that one of the recs hadn't gone through for whatever reason until like mid March

[grand palm]

Is Chicago's REU good?

[gritty ruin]

idk

I was applying for the PhD, and from the UK

[tacit lark]

Yes

[tacit lark]

Are you in math?

[tacit lark]

I would not do that. If they think its necessary they will suggest it.

[tacit lark]

I had a letter of rec from instructor/postdoc and i got into good schools. If you dont mind, where do you go to school?

[gritty ruin]

Yeah, specifically I'm in logic

[grand palm]

Uchicago lol

[tacit lark]

Youll probably be fine then.

[tacit lark]

Cool! James cummings just gave a talk at my uni. I wanted to go but was unable to make it.

[gritty ruin]

I didn't go to CMU, and I'm also a model theorist rather than a set theorist

So I haven't really interacted with him at all

[noble cloak]

Damn nice

[fair needle]

Can I DM you about your app?

actually lmao

idk why i'm asking in advance might as well

[candid quarry]

I'm mailing profs from the universities that I am applying to, asking if they would be taking students this year

Should I also attach my CV and ask for feedback on that?

I think it wouldn't hurt my chances regardless, but if they do tell me beforehand that they wouldn't accept me then I might save around $100

[crimson valve]

well the CV is like the least important part right

what i did was just like, email the profs id most like to work with

[candid quarry]

Is it

[crimson valve]

tell them about why and then ask if they are taking students

yeah most important are letters

[candid quarry]

Ah, nothing I can do about those then

[crimson valve]

like most professors wont respond regardless cause like

they busy right

[candid quarry]

oof

[crimson valve]

but i think asking someone to evaluate a e.g. CV would make sure they wont respond

[candid quarry]

Right, I shall mail without it then

Thanks

[past plume]

You could include it in your email but don't ask them to give you feedback on it.

[candid quarry]

That makes sense

[tepid forum]

Virtually all of the ones I emailed responded

I'd say like 80%

Even Assaf naor was surprised he bothered lol

I only said the university I'm at and that I want to do x subject they're doing instead of a cv

[crimson valve]

interesting

btw i have a finalized-ish list of schools now

and everything else done for grada appa

you might be interested cause i think we have similar interests

(ordered by preference)

[tepid forum]

I thought my list was final then I saw there were 2 operator theory ppl at virginia

Atm have Princeton, Chicago, Berkeley, A&M, Purdue, UIUC, Georgia Tech, John's Hopkins, Madison

And then Virginia

Might swap it with Johns Hopkins

[crimson valve]

i seer

[tepid forum]

Waterloo I skipped out on cos someone there said they don't pay their students that well

[crimson valve]

right but

apperantly cost of living is like

[tepid forum]

But I'm glad A&M was at the top of your list lol, UIUC and A&M are personal favourites at the moment

[crimson valve]

super cheap

[tepid forum]

If I don't get into either I'll be a bit mift

[crimson valve]

like my friend there pays 600 cad/month for rent

yeah i really hope A&M

you have any advisor preference for A&M?

[tepid forum]

Thomas Schlumprecht

I asked florent baudier but he was overcommitted

[crimson valve]

i see, my preference is Guoliang yu or Zhizhang xie personally

[tepid forum]

What do they do?

[crimson valve]

the fun stuff, k theory index theory

[tepid forum]

Oh I'm not too into the alg top side of operator algebras

That's why I took off vanderbilt

[crimson valve]

oh i see

[tepid forum]

Interesting you're putting UCLA over A&M as well?

I know A&M is super strong for FA but was a bit apprehensive about rejecting like Madison for it

[crimson valve]

yeah I think this is the right school for me, even over UCLA

just bc like, I think I will get to learn many different things about operator algebras

if i goto A&M

now if i say get into both UCLA and A&M, it will be a very hard choice lol

idk if i will actually choose A&M, preliminary ordering

[tepid forum]

oh and who does operator algebras at Penn? @crimson valve

don't remember seeing anyone

(or Madison, I spoke to Alexei Poltoratski and he said he can supervise func anal as well but I wasn't sure if it was one of his main things)

oh he does have a few papers in FA, but more spectral stuff (which I'd be interested enough in)

[crimson valve]

Oh no one does operators in Madison, but it’s still a good school

Which penn lol

U penn has a few and penn state is mainly for Nigel higson

[tepid forum]

upenn ye

I probably shouldn't be second-guessing my list this late considering my referees have uploaded all my letters (I can get away with Virginia since deadline is jan 15th)

[crimson valve]

Well most of these places you still have a month

Hmm I forgot the name but someone did index theory stuff there

And it’s another one of those big schools

That I would be happy to get into

[tepid forum]

oh is UPenn like the topological side as well?

not too interested in that as i said

[crimson valve]

Yeah

[tepid forum]

ye fair

i think I'm gonna strike out Chicago and Johns Hopkins and replace them with Oxford and Virginia (counting Oxford because they're charging for apps which is weird for a uk uni)

[crimson valve]

Right makes sense

Yeah johnathan block is the name I’m thinking of

[tepid forum]

i don't think I have the background for the K-theory stuff either, didn't do an algebraic topology course

there was a very small amount of index theory in my DG course

there was some Mayer-Vietoris stuff in there too but i didn't really understand it xd

[crimson valve]

Hmm I see, I think you might enjoy it

I’ll send u some stuff once I get home that might be of interest

But yeah u penn also has a lot of harmonic analysis

That might be more interesting to your

My idea is like this index theory guy is top choice but if not there’s a lot of options here so it’s fine

[tepid forum]

I've got cold feet with harmonic analysis

so I'm applying to schools where I could also do FA

[crimson valve]

I see

[tepid forum]

it's for a stupid reason (me getting annihilated by my non-linear PDE course this term)

[raw quail]

does anyone know if for the UChicago app you're supposed to add current and future math classes, or just the ones on the transcript

[raven sun]

There's a section for current/future classes I believe

I put the past ones and the ones I'm currently taking

and left the future classes for that section

[raw quail]

ok

that sounds right

oh yeah there is 👍

good point thanks

[noble cloak]

whats the difference between that and fourier analysis?

[tepid forum]

Tbqh I have no idea

Fourier analysis is a subset of harmonic analysis

[noble cloak]

hmm ok

i have only done four anal

Your question will maneuver elegantly deep into a discussion to restrict the term Fourier Analysis to refer to the process of expanding functions on a locally compact abelian group G as a sum of the characters of the group, while the generalization, when the group G is not assumed to be abelian, should be referred to as Harmonic Analysis.

[tepid forum]

That's abstract harmonic analysis

And in my understanding is hardly done anywhere lol

Else I'd be looking to do it

[worthy apex]

Grad apps are due in less than a month

[noble cloak]

yep

[raven sun]

Stop that hurts

[tepid forum]

chicago due in 2 weeks

[hearty radish]

[raven sun]

STOP

I am humbly asking

[raw quail]

Nonoonon

[shell kindle]

You can do it!!!

You will get into grad school!!!

[tepid forum]

also my advisor said that I should be applying to more than 10 US universities, my wallet is weeping

[shell kindle]

Rip wallet kun

[tepid forum]

already applying to like 17 overall lol

[shell kindle]

Omg rip mental health

[tepid forum]

nah its pretty exciting

worried my statements are a lil generic because I'm only really changing the first paragraph where I say why I want to go to that uni

[shell kindle]

Oh in that case you got this!!!

[tepid forum]

and namedrop profs etc

[gaunt ocean]

how much it is to apply is the US ?

[tepid forum]

$75+ per place without a fee waiver

i think there's some that charge a bit less

berkeley charging $155

i don't get why a university would charge more of intl students, they'd be well into profit on fractions of that

[sterile bone]

so does ucsd

[tepid forum]

im just viewing this as a career investment lol

[tacit lark]

Thats fine. You can only say so much.

I applied to 20 lol

But i did 10 math and 10 cs bc i didnt no what i wanted to do. Also i had no idea if i would get into a cs program bc i did my undergrad in math and my recommenders were all in math.

I cast a wide net

[fierce sigil]

WTF

that's a lot more than 2 years ago

Well, maybe it was 120 then? i don't remember

[tepid forum]

I think it's more for intl students too

I want to know where all this money goes lmao

[raven sun]

Would anyone be willing to read an SoP draft btw?

[tacit lark]

Yes

[molten frigate]

sure

[torpid echo]

What. It wasn’t that expensive last year I think, the most for me was Pton I think with like 125??? Edit: intl , but even the domestic is whack

[torpid echo]

Wait so are you doing CS grad school?

[tacit lark]

Yes

Im in the theoretical cs group though. I work on computational complexity and combinatorics.

[torpid echo]

Ah I see

[shadow bobcat]

I have 5 programs on my list that are interdisciplinary with cs or where the person I'd want to work with is in the CS department/doing TCS

[tacit lark]

Ya thats pretty common

There are a lot of people in tcs working on interesting math.

[raw quail]

wtffffff

[shadow bobcat]

Yeah I recently found out about this CS professor at Purdue who's doing analytic combinatorics which is exactly what my current research advisor has steered me towards

[gritty ruin]

To admin people's pockets - it certainly isn't going to the grad students (who are currently striking btw!)

It was $140 for me as intl last year iirc

And I don't know why your advisor is saying to apply to 10, that seems excessive, but maybe I'm just missing something

[ocean kiln]

I made a small typo when listing one of my recommenders for UChicago (listed their email in the field for their position/title) and it won't let me change it now. Is this something that I should email them about to fix or is it fine to leave it as is?

Seems pretty insignificant, but I thought I'd ask just in case

[raven sun]

I would definitely email to fix just in case . Can’t hurt

[ocean kiln]

They do say on the website that they cannot change it

Though I think that might have to do more with waiving the right to view the letter policy than fixing some minor typos

[rapid dawn]

yeah it's worth a try

[candid quarry]

UIC is charging $70 for domestic, and $170 for international

They call it some international credential verification fee

[tepid forum]

What a joke

Doesn't verification happen after you get an offer/accept a place and even then shouldn't cost a hundred bucks lmao

[void gyro]

Shiiit

[lethal minnow]

Surely I will be paying $170 to fill a bogus application for fun

[tepid forum]

if anything internationals should get a discount seeing as the US is the richest country in the world

[delicate kite]

Steam gives me discount for existing in a 3rd world country. It's only fair for everyone to follow steam's lead

[tacit lark]

That wealth isnt evenly distributed. Most people in the US would struggle with application fees.

App fees should not exist

[tepid forum]

yeah oxf and cam are two of the only ones with application fees (outside of business degrees and such) in the UK and they're getting rid of them

I think some business schools charge but if you can afford a $40k finance degree you can probably afford £75/$90$ for the application

tex bot doesn't like dollar signs

[tepid forum]

yeah ik I'm being slightly facetious, but in comparison to other countries that have like a tenth of the median/average income of the US it feels ridiculous

[tacit lark]

Your right

Its prohibitively expensive for most of the world

[noble cloak]

same with CMU, UoT

U chicago good for CS or scholarships?

[tacit lark]

Wdym good for scholarships

The theoretical cs group at uchicago is pretty good.

Most schools dont have many scholarships for masters students.

[noble cloak]

tbf, if u are non-local, ur wallet will weep a LOT more when u actually get in. my advisor(s) say that u should apply to as many unis as possible cuz it is the single factor that increases ur chances a lot. ofc, if u already have solid connections at some unis/LoRs to lead u to them, applying only to those may be better

[noble cloak]

hmm ok thnx 👍

i mostly do Deep Learning stuff

[noble cloak]

i found a lot of European unis more expensive than US when applying for undergrad

the actual tuition fee itself is lower tho which is good

[hearty radish]

Yeah, it seems a lot of masters programs are unfunded, so it's good if you can find external fellowships or scholarships to subsidize

That's not to say it's unfounded to be offered a scholarship for a masters program, but it's a lot less likely at some major institutions

I know CMU basically never gives merit-based financial aid for master's students

[raw quail]

What I thought CMU isn't due until the 20th?

[noble cloak]

29th nov

[hearty radish]

For math, it's due the 20th I think

[noble cloak]

oh ok mb

[noble cloak]

im talking about ms in comp science

[raw quail]

Ah I see

[noble cloak]

early admission is due on 29th

[hearty radish]

You know, funny story

[raven sun]

Columbia is also due Dec 1st ^^

[hearty radish]

I submitted CMU first, and I kind of rushed the personal statement and BSed some stuff quickly and went "eh, fuck it, I'm not getting in anyway" and submitted it 3 weeks before the deadline

[noble cloak]

not for comp sci afaik

[raven sun]

for math

[noble cloak]

lol

[hearty radish]

Generally this chat is going to be talking about math PhD applications

so assume unless stated otherwise lol

Context being beastblaze is that I now go to CMU

[raven sun]

I'm not applying to CMU

¯_(ツ)_/¯

[hearty radish]

Reasonable

There is nothing interesting for you afaik here bc unless you are interested in analysis or logic, you're SOL on anything else

better off applying to Pitt

if for some reason you want to live in pittsburgh

[hearty radish]

This was in reference to the message BeastBlaze replied to

[noble cloak]

yeah sorry

[noble cloak]

u go to CMU? nice

biggest issue really is scholarships/cost tbh. cuz in softE if i get into any ok-ish uni it will be fine

im thinking of approaching faculties for research opportunities in the unis i get accepted, potentially turning that into an RAship if possible

[visual lagoon]

anybody have any good resources for writing graduate admissions personal statements? I'm applying to submatriculate at my school, and I don't think they'll care about the personal statement that much, but I still want to write a decent-ish one

[smoky jetty]

I hear that it's quite common that for people who go to grad school in high cost areas (Cali, NY, etc)

they don't do research over the summer

they work internships to save up cash

which kinda sucks if you're doing a PHD

yea i don't blame them

they get paid pennies compared to cali costs

aren't the UCs getting rid of the subsidized housing that used to be available for profs/students?

[noble cloak]

yeah. hopefully i can figure something out..

[smoky jetty]

or is that a different school

idk I heard something along those lines that was being done somewhere

[smoky jetty]

yea that sucks

[noble cloak]

a lot of people are very good at displaying a matchstick as if its a candle, dont know if that may backfire but yeah. i usually just got better by writing and refining. also depends on the uni. some want a "why this uni and what u will do here" others want a "what makes u capable of handling coursework". see if the uni offers any advice

[visual lagoon]

I'll check!

There's no specification given on the application other than "Personal statement" but I hear from other people that it's usually 1 page

[noble cloak]

also, im sorry if it somehow backfires/doesnt work out too well. idk everything and im just speaking from undergrad application experience. just didnt wanna leave u hanging

[noble cloak]

yeah then just try to answer "what makes u capable of handling coursework" and "what u will do there" and try to connect the 2nd with why this uni would benefit from u and why u would benefit from the uni

[visual lagoon]

sounds good, ty! :)

[noble cloak]

might be hard to fit into a single page tho ig

good luck 👍

[visual lagoon]

ah okay I found a short description after digging through university webpages

ty for the advice 👍

[noble cloak]

sounds like CMU.. or some other uni i looked at recently

[noble cloak]

u r welcome

[tepid forum]

I'm hoping the stipend will cover most things

I'm fairly frugal

[tacit lark]

Idrk what you mean by this.

What does ‘local’ have to do with it?

[tacit lark]

It should

[noble cloak]

Lots of unis are cheaper for locals. Depends tho

[tacit lark]

Basically everyone here is applying to PhD programs. Where you dont pay tuition.

[noble cloak]

If someone's international like the guy I replied to, it becomes even more tough to get financial aid or scholarships and they will charge higher. Tho there are exceptions

[noble cloak]

Oh sorry. My bad. I keep forgetting graduate here means phd

We usually call graduate masters. My bad

[tacit lark]

It doesnt mean phd. Its just most people here are applying to phd programs.

[noble cloak]

Yeah mb

[gritty ruin]

Slight caveat to that - a lot of the time there will be a NRST (non-resident supplemental tuition) fee which (in the case of UCB) is paid by the department for the first 2 years if you are international and waived for the 3 years after you pass your qual, or paid for the first year if you are an out-of-state US resident (and you're expected to establish residency within the first year)

So the NRST can be an issue if you take more than 2 years to pass your quals or take more than 3 years after your quals as an international, or if you don't establish residency within the first year

It's actually one of the things that UC workers are trying to get rid of in these strikes (although I don't know how successful this particular issue will be)

But also worth noting that a lot of the time the department will pick up the NRST beyond the guaranteed time if you make a case for it

[rapid dawn]

how much/what kind of mention should I give to school specific stuff (specific professors) in personal statements?

like is something roughly of this form good?

The mathematics department at the University of X would be an excellent fit for my research interests. In particular, I would be interested in possibly working with Professor Y (or Professor Z). [Sentence or two about a paper they've written/some other fact and how it connects to my research interests]. [Possible sentence or two about some other specifics of the PhD program I like].

there's a few schools where I can say something more specific because I've been on their campus or met a professor or some other reason, but that's not true for most

[hearty radish]

Yeah this is about what I did

[inner solar]

How many of you guys applying for CS PhDs are doing so without a publication?

or a preprint

[worthy ruin]

one of my professors told me it's fine to just say something like "I'm interested in Professor X's research in ___" without really expanding much on it, unless you actually are able to comment on it of course

but you can also mention a paper or something like u said

[tepid forum]

if I understood enough of their research to write that sentence or two about something specific, I would have

unfortunately I don't so I'm not going to lol. I just know what the objects they're talking about are

but it's the same sort of jist I'm doing sounds good

i dont think they're expecting you to really understand the profs research but if you do that's ++

[past plume]

I also think its fine to do that

[tacit lark]

Yea

[tacit lark]

I agree

[tacit lark]

Its not that uncommon

[inner solar]

Just wondering how much it hurts your application

I’ve worked on interesting things and my recommendations will definitely be strong

[tacit lark]

It depends on the subfield youre applying to

If youre applying to work in theory then it probably isnt a huge deal.

[rapid dawn]

just apply and don't worry about it

like it almost certainly has some negative impact and also is almost certainly not a dealbreaker

[hot wadi]

how many of you guys are applying for math phds without a math undergrad

[hearty radish]

I think the general perception of people applying to graduate school is very high, but I'm not actually sure the proportion of people who have done things like publish in undergrad. It's high in competitive applicants sure, but it's not unfounded to get into a "good" school (definitions of good vary, and it's not at all about name recognition for phd programs a lot of the time) without publications and some level of research

(or any research at all)

Websites that talk about grad school applications (these websites DO NOT exist, and even if they did, talking about them would be extremely frowned upon and not allowed) would be very toxic because they would lead to a lot of bias about who is applying

[rapid dawn]

also it's worth noting that a lot of undergrad publications are done with a significant amount of help from faculty (in REUs and the like) and grad schools know this.

so the people with publications don't end up looking as much better as might seem at first glance

at least this is the case in math. I know the bar of entry for undergrad research is lower in cs, but still.

[hearty radish]

Yeah, no one is ever publishing grand results in undergrad, and those who do are extreme anomalies and should be looked at as such

[tepid forum]

yeah only people at the very very top at my uni have done substantial original work

[tepid forum]

well I was convinced that I wouldn't get into my very top universities prior to finding those non-existent sites

but I think no-one can be confident in getting into those in particular

[hearty radish]

Yeah, sites like those would give an unreasonable expectation on grad admissions, and there exist people who would be really mean and post results that did not actually happen yet for jokes

[tepid forum]

I think a lot of super smart people have ego problems in one way or another

[hearty radish]

but let's end the discussion related to this and move it back onto application stuff

[torpid echo]

I didn’t check them and I got into my dream school so there’s a clear connection to not checking them and getting into the school u want

[tepid forum]

though I'd include vastly underestimating themselves under that

[torpid echo]

[tepid forum]

my dream schools aren't even my "top" options

ie "top" options are Berkeley & Princeton but want to go to UIUC/TAMU

if by some accident I got into both the top and dream I'd have a hard time deciding

[hearty radish]

Yeah, I think that's shared a lot of the time. If I got into NYU's PhD program, I would've realistically had a hard time deciding between NYU and CMU

but between an unfunded masters at NYU and CMU, the choice was clear

[tepid forum]

i doubt I'm smart enough for the top of the top anyway

but obvs that's up to them to decide

[hearty radish]

Yeah, I don't think it's about how smart you are, but more like if the graduate admissions committee think you're a good fit for the university

which means you might get into some higher ranked schools and not into some lower ranked school. It really becomes seemingly random if you have a strong application