graduate-applications

[pearl isle]

Not the norm; I’ve heard different things (some professors like it a lot, some really don’t). It’s a bit of a gamble but generally positive from my understanding

[tepid forum]

i dont think its a gamble

just don't pretend to know stuff you don't (e.g. be too clever, try to talk about their research when you don't really know about it etc.) and at least read their faculty page to make sure they do the type of maths you like

I had exclusively positive responses and found out some profs were actually retiring or had moved out of the area where this was not obvious from their faculty page (one hadn't published in the area for a few years and their research had moved on). The worst thing that'll happen is that they don't reply but on the contrary I had some nice chats with one or two and some of them asked me to let them know when I applied so they could check out my file. 2/3 of my offers were from unis with profs that seemed to take an interest like that, though 2/5 of my rejections also did (but one was princeton so eh)

also if there's only one or two profs you'd be interested in working with, it makes sense to check they're ¬[definitely not taking on students] (they might not and probably won't be able to promise they'll take people on later though)

[urban raft]

I emailed everyone I applied to, and had a chat with most of them before applying

In my case I was applying to everyone in the UK in an area

so it was also to get vibes of the people working in the area

but also this depends heavily on country from my experience

[tepid forum]

yeah in the uk I did a zoom call with all of them

for the US it was an email

[urban raft]

and in continental europe it seems a bit less common from what I can tell?

cuz PhD students are treated as employees

and so it's a bit more like applying for a "usual" job

like there's a job ad which you need to apply for

but I think even in that case they do tend to reply to emails from prospective students fairly positively

[lyric valley]

Hello this might be a strange and long winded question but I’m hoping someone can provide me with some insight:

I plan on getting a masters to bolster my profile prior to applying to phd programs, I’ve noticed that european programs seem to be a lot more cost effective so I’m looking into some schools over there.

I understand that admissions are quite a but more competitive for international students, if I am domestic but pursue an international masters would I be competing with other domestic applicants or people coming from similar European universities?

[pearl isle]

You’d be competing with domestic applicants

A large reason it’s harder to get in as an international student is US regulations make it harder for schools to fund international students.

For example, the NSF GRFP is only for domestic students, and many schools have less funding earmarked for international vs domestic students

If you’re a US citizen none of that applies to you

[lyric valley]

Oh ok thats perfect then, thank you

[burnt acorn]

hello

[last zodiac]

at least you checked before emailing them

[snow prairie]

Hi. So I'm an undergrad at a school not that known for math. I want to focus on number theory for my PhD (and hence am aiming for that for general research fit), but the math department in my school is more focused on pde's/nonlinear analysis/differential geometry. I am concerned that this might affect recommendations and research opportunities, and may also limit the graduate classes that I am able to take (almost all the graduate classes at my school are analysis-based), and so I want to know what should be my strategy in this regard.

[spring portal]

Any research experience at undergraduate would help

Most people come with a broad area of studies from undergrad, you spealize only at graduate level. You can also always do self study.

Interests may also change and develop by the time you get to grad school

[burnt acorn]

I hope you guys had a great weekend

[snow prairie]

True, but isn't it also so that one of the main factors that could get you admitted is research fit?

If you write in your statement that you are interested in algebraic geometry, and your prior research was all in pde's, then that looks bad on your application, right? Or if your recommenders are not that known to the program you're applying to because they haven't established a name in the field you're looking towards.

[tacit lark]

You dont have to work in the area you did research in as an undergrad. Most people don’t.

[spring portal]

You may say that your interest diverged, or you may try for any REU, internships, you may also approach a faculty you have good rapport with and pitch a research idea on working together in a new area.
Secondly, name of the recommender is not a huge deal, most people would not have the opportunity to do research in the first place, if you do, the quality of your work matters more.

[tacit lark]

You can still enjoy it and discuss what you’ve learned from it, what you liked/disliked, how it influenced your interests etc

[spring portal]

This
My bachelors is in EE, I am applying for PhD in quantum sciences programs this cycle. You just have to sell yourself you know how research work and can do quality work for them for the next 4-5 years.

[tacit lark]

I dont even think saying your research interest diverged is necessary. Nobody expects that you know what you want to do. Try to make the most of what opportunities you have and seek out other opportunities like REUs. Also, try to keep an open mind in terms of your interests.

[tacit lark]

EE -> Quantum doesn’t sound crazy. Heavily related to physics and cs which are two important aspects of quantum sciences.

[hallow portal]

Related issue here, but I just worked w/ one of the analysts here and on something analysis flavored but also my logic-y stuff flavored

Or, as said above, just work on something even if not your main goal since 1) probably useful knowledge anyway, either in the literal theorems or in the experience, 2) recommendations can emphasize how you handled it, rather than some nothingburger like “was competent in class,” and 3) maybe you like the topic and change MO, or you use it towards a particular niche

Like, analytic number theory is a thing e.g.

Or relating NT with 3-manifolds, knots, Spec as an arithmetic 3-manifold etc

[snow prairie]

Yeah, this makes a lot of sense (recommenders can also come from REU's as well, I believe). Thank you!

[spring portal]

I know, but its still switching fields. Just pointing out that working in a different area within math should be much easier.

[pearl isle]

It doesn’t really matter. I would estimate most applicants, except at the top schools, don’t have any research. So having research even if it’s not directly in your interest is still valuable.

[honest horizon]

What to put on my CV? still an undergrad, applying for a research opportunity for the first time and no work experience sadly

[burnt acorn]

I don't know how to use this software, is there anyone who can teach me?

[spring portal]

Education, coursework, awards & recognitions, volunteer activities, certifications, skills

Though to be frank, I would recommend to first do some research within your university, it would be much easier to do so (may be as simple as walking to a prof and asking them for it) and would make your CV more credible when you already have some experience.

[spring portal]

Not the right place, use something like #discussion

[honest horizon]

Oh it's a research within the university

There aren't much opportunities for math research in my uni

[spring portal]

Ah okay then

[honest horizon]

There's only two projects available this year, and the supervisor said that he would likely to choose other applicants over me cause the opportunity is actually for third year students and I'm only second year

I'm just applying for the slimmest chance of being accepted

[spring portal]

If you know any prof closely you can probably ask them too. I once just asked a prof in passing that I wanted to work with them, they said yes.
Even got a paper with them now.

[void horizon]

#computing-software

[honest horizon]

Cool what's it about?

I never really tried to ask to work with them haha cause the research they do is way beyond me

[spring portal]

Yeah, I am in EE, so I think we can start research more easily, might be hard in math.
The work was on quantum waveguides btw

[feral shale]

I am wondering if anybody knows a undergraduate degree program ?

I love to study math. But i am sick of how we saw math and especially education in Brazil

And how to apply

[spring portal]

This channel is for graduate admissions

[feral shale]

Ohh

Is there any for undergrad ?

[main marlin]

get in touch with some school advisors

[feral shale]

In Brazil?

[main marlin]

im speaking for the states. But if you know english youll fit right in

[feral shale]

I already have grad . I m thinking im maybe teach in other country

[main marlin]

what is Brazil lacking in its education?

ill see if my advisor can chat with yea

orr impersonate me for my upcoming appointment. that would be gold!

[feral shale]

Agree

I think education here is downgrade. Here we don't like to study, we dont have engage. As a teacher we play a play, faking to teach real math. At university we only decorate theorems ...

Be gratefful to study in a first world country.

I teach last year 4 months with out electricity and water. I have to bring a bucket to pee

[main marlin]

Get this lady the best desk on the market

ill see what i can do on my end

[burnt acorn]

Did you have a good vacation?

What are you doing today?

[spring portal]

?

[burnt acorn]

I don't know how to use this app, can anyone teach me?

[limpid zealot]

Is the GRE General necessary for math programs in the US?

[limpid zealot]

I'm taking the TOEFL and the GRE Subject, but admittedly the general is way past my applications budget

[brave coral]

Might be unrelated, but how's FU Berlin for Masters? How does it compare to University of Regensburg?

[pearl isle]

General pretty much not at all

I haven’t seen a single program out of the 22 I first looked at even mention it

GRE subject is also less common nowadays (5/22 require it for the ones I looked at. Most of the others don’t even accept it)

[main marlin]

GRE's are as misleading as SAT's

[fathom rover]

Hey, is there someone applying for MSc/PhD at Imperial/UCL/Oxbridge?

Or maybe someone that’s already studying there

[urban raft]

I did UG + Masters at Cambridge, and applied for PhD at Imperial, UCL, Oxford and Cambridge

[steep belfry]

Anyone know rutgers/cuny pure math ms/phd department profs have sufficient students?

[fathom rover]

can I ask you a few questions? Maybe in DMs?

[urban raft]

Sure

[fathom rover]

ive sent you a dm

[inner cedar]

What do you mean by ”sufficient students”? I worked with a guy who had a phd in pure math from cuny a few years ago. But we never talked much about his experience there, I think.

(Well, under the assumption that you mean CUNY graduate center in NY).

[steep belfry]

Yes that's what I meant by CUNY. As for "sufficient", I thought there's a limit of students that a grad program can take? Not sure about this

[torn heart]

I’m at rutgers as a masters student, dm me if you got qs

[brave coral]

Anyone from FU Berlin masters programme?

[burnt acorn]

hi

[wind sonnet]

.

[burnt acorn]

hello

good night

How are you

[marsh hare]

[rich orchid]

Hey I'm looking to applying to a host of different math masters programs offered at GaTech. I had a 3.17 undergrad GPA (bachelors in math). It says that a GRE score is optional, do y'all think I should do it anyways?

I've done some prep and one practice exam and did well on it. But I have to apply by December

Se other programs I'm looking at applying for require the GRE so I'm studying anyways but it's more a matter of if I taken it sooner or later

I always suppose I could take one sooner and if I do decently submit, if not keep studying for other and just apply without it

But realistically I'm really unsure if I should bother stressing to take it sooner ya know

[spring portal]

I would recommend you to take it if possible. Your GPA imo is not the best due to reasons I am not aware of. But a good mGRE score might be an alternative way to prove you got your basics right.

[quick tusk]

What is a good GRE score, anyway?

[bold merlin]

an extra semester might help if you can find programs with May/June/July deadlines thats what im doing in a similar situation

take the tests in april

or earlier idk

[rich orchid]

Honestly just didn't take undergrad seriously enough 💀

Got a whole score of B's instead of As

[spring portal]

What is your motivation to get a masters degree?

[rich orchid]

I'm actually interested in math. Aligns with my career aspirations. I'm interested in Data Science and analytics broadly speaking. The math program would not be the only one I apply for

Why do I think a degree would help me achieve my career aspirations? The obvious: marketability, network opportunities, high degree of specialization. But I'm also interested in the research pathway (at GaTech the thesis is optional) and I would be interested in doing it to explore what I'm able to do and come up with. Obviously I can do this by myself through self motivated research, but I'm sure you understand it's a completely different environment

Amongst other things

[spring portal]

That sounds good! I asked since some people apply for sake of applying or having another degree while having no real motivation towards the field, sorry if I came off rude btw.

[steep belfry]

Take it I'm in a similar situation

[rich orchid]

You definitely don't! It's actually a really good question to ask someone.

Alright, so I'll just take it. Not a problem

Maybe instead of planning on applying this cycle (the December deadline for for fall 2025) I'll plan to apply for fall 2026 in next cycle (if I remember properly, they don't offer a spring 2026 deadline but I'll check again)

[sterile bone]

Another thing to keep in mind is some universities will ask you for your GPA just for your upper level courses and they will all ask for your transcript, so even if you faltered in earlier classes if you did well in more complex classes that will still stand out

[rich orchid]

The thing was it was a little the opposite for me, I got lazy towards the end 😞

[sterile bone]

I see

In either case I think you should take it

If you get a bad score you don't have to submit it

[rich orchid]

Like real analysis I was running like a 95 the whole semester, shat on the final and dropped to a B

[sterile bone]

Unfortunately that granularity is not visible in a transcript

[rich orchid]

Of course, just an example of how I was just sort of throwing my courses

The Patrick profile thing I have is a prime example of how I was acting LOL

Can't beat myself up for it since I can't change it, but still a little disappointed in myself

[pearl isle]

about 10 orders of magnitude higher than what im getting on my practice tests (kill me)

[pearl isle]

In seriousness I've heard you want to be about 75th percentile

[toxic abyss]

Depends on the uni you wanna apply to in most cases. For a research program, some unis even ignore your verbal score, as long as its like 155+ (from my/friends' experience). Mostly they care about quant score, 165+ basically means you would not be eliminated based on that score.

[pearl isle]

Vast majority of Unis don’t care about GRE general

At least for math

I think that they are talking abt Math GRE subject test

Or maybe I shouldn’t assume something they didn’t say to be fair

[spring portal]

Yeah, the discussion here is about mgre

[toxic abyss]

I didnt need mGRE when I applied to GaTech CSE masters

they were happy with a normal GRE score

(Maybe I am remembering wrong but pretty sure Computational Science and Engineering is maths dept program (I didnt attend gatch, but the one I did it was D-math program))

[rich orchid]

I haven't encountered a GaTech program that requests a subject test yet

Mostly just see general exam requirements

[rich orchid]

So in an effort to give me my best shot at my applications, I am probably gonna realistically aim at applying next cycle so I don't try to rush everything and make too many mistakes

Do you guys have suggested study material for the math gre

?

Obviously the general test is ez pz, but I probably need to brush up on my abstract alg more than anything else

They provide 1 free practice exam online

so I am gonna use that as a baseline

[tropic plank]

hi friends i just took a gre practice test and im not sure if my score is good

i didnt get the essay back yet so i guess just imagine +3 or something

[spring portal]

uhhh, improve the writing score, quant is fine, can work on verbal too ig

[spring portal]

stewart calc or something, calc is like 50% of their questions, for the rest of the concepts, just go through the basics and solve simple problems related to it

[white steeple]

Hello, I am searching for faculties for doing MS Thesis in the areas " Topology and Geometry" specifically in " Low Dimensional Topology" . Can anyone suggest me the list of best universities and if possible some faculties majorly in US and Europe?

[main marlin]

been there ^

@spring portal what if graduate school programs dont require you to take a GRE?

yet you want to submit one to prove that your skills are adequate

[spring portal]

sunflowers & happiness

[main marlin]

lul

[spring portal]

no, they will strictly not consider gre score if its a big 'no'

[main marlin]

good to know. Mightve tried sneaking that score into my letter of intent.

[spring portal]

even for most that do, its a small part of the app, may carry like 2-5% of the app weightage at the most

[spring portal]

dont do it for the strictly no schools, might end up reflecting negatively if you tried to sneak it in, dont mention it anywhere

[main marlin]

got any other sick tips to get accepted?

what MA are you going for?

[spring portal]

I am going BE -> PhD

In Physics (Quantum Information), my undergrad is in EE tho

[main marlin]

whoa isnt that skipping a step?

do you think middle schoolers got a chance for figuring out physics?

[spring portal]

Depends on where you are applying to

[main marlin]

or is that skipping a bunch of future math?

[spring portal]

In US you dont require masters (most departments dont offer one eitherway), you can typically earn one through additional coursework during PhD

[main marlin]

you say additional coursework lightly. That sounds like hell man but good luck to ya

[spring portal]

Well, I am accustomed to do lots of self-study ig

[main marlin]

i dont mind hell either. Just frustrating that i might not even get the chance to try a masters if i dont get accepted.

[spring portal]

True, well I am applying to 10 programs, hope they are enough to get me through atleast 1

are you applying for masters in math?

[main marlin]

education adminastration. I want to be a curriculum director. But i got a BA in sociology. You should try doing the math on my chances whether theyll laugh me off or not lol

[spring portal]

I am not familiar with either fields, so I will not make any comments. But goodluck!

[main marlin]

the odds are that bad!?

jk, good luck to ya

[spring portal]

No? I am genuinely not familiar with them, so it would be unwise of me to give any advise or make a comment on it.

[spring portal]

thanks

[main marlin]

sarcasm does not work over text lol...

[void horizon]

csulb with ryan blair

@inner grove i assume this is a reasonable choice?

[inner grove]

CSU Long Beach is a good place to be, since Ryan Blair (Knot Theorist/LD Topologist) is there. I think Cal Poly SLO also is a good place. Within the US it's best to do a MS for thesis purposes, at a non-doctoral granting institution as faculty won't have PhD students that they prefer to work with

I personally took about 3 or 4 classes from Ryan Blair, and can attest that it's very good

Although he's very busy. San Jose State state also has some people in LDT

[daring onyx]

Hello Everyone. I am from Pakistan. My MS thesis is in Algebraic Geometry specifically in computation of Polynomial Parametrization of curves without singularities. Now I want to pursue my PhD.

I want to ask if I have a thesis but not any publication Will I be considered for Funded PhD in US? Also can anybody guide me about CV like my publication section will be empty wouldnt it be negtive point?

[spring portal]

Most STEM PhD are funded in US from what I have seen. You should also first shortlist universities based on your research area. Most US apps are already open, so you should try to speed up this step.

CV is something that talks about your academic trajectory, put your best foot first. If you got good research experience in the field, put it first and go in detail in your cv, if you got some good awards, put it high up too.

Not everyone has publications, especially in math. Number of publications one may have is quite domain specific (ex: AI people will often have many papers, since there are many low hanging fruits to pick).

[steep belfry]

Regarding funds any schools that you know offers funding to ms student? Of any ranking

[daring onyx]

Thank you so much for your generous response I have made my cv can you just review it and tell me where I need to improve

[spring portal]

Some offer through TA/RA

[spring portal]

Sure, just send a dm

[prime robin]

does anyone know does CUNY graduate center require GRE? I see on the website it shows yes but on https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hmdO7af3-lLvtJQO-szayG6blTvAYBQ1JcYXFZ_6apE/htmlview#gid=0 it says optional

[daring onyx]

Hi I am unable to DM You your account is restricted

[tacit lark]

If possible ask the people writing your letters of rec

[spring portal]

Accepted the request

[spring portal]

Is it okay to list two research areas in apps? They have space for 3 but I am not sure if listing 2 will be taken as being unsure of where you want to do research.

[hallow portal]

Oh the humanity, how dare someone be interesting in DEs and dynamics both, they must be so indecisive

Just slapping down “algebra, analysis” might be a bit sub optimal but

[spring portal]

I know. My primary interest is quantum info science. But there is one specific problem in it which spans across QIS & string theory which seemed interesting to me. I will just list both ig.

[gilded mulch]

Okay random question, is there any point in appearing for GRE anymore? Does it even count, like, at all?

[tulip rune]

I applied without and was admitted last year, so probably not

[prime robin]

i see thanks

[pearl isle]

Math GRE, yes

Many still require it

Including pretty much every UC and a lot of other state schools

Kinda a case by case thing though and you should make your list before you decide you want to take it

[gilded mulch]

Aight, thanks

[void horizon]

oh, FYI, blair is on leave for 2024-2025

https://home.csulb.edu//~rblair/

[hot wadi]

does anyone have an idea when spring 2025 decisions come out

would it be reasonable to assume it is around these times? end of sept/beginning of octb?

internati student

[winter sable]

Hi all, I am international student (Math, CS) considering to pursue a master in Applied Math, Computational Math, Operational research. Can anyone suggest me some programs that provides funding/research assistanceship or teaching assistantship? Thanks for your help!

[spring portal]

TA/RA is usually given in PhD programs. Out of bachelors, you can apply to places in US for PhD. If you apply to Europe or others, they are generally not funded. Although some masters students may be given some funding through TA/RA, but its not guaranteed.

Although cost of masters in most places across europe is low/free, so a lot of this comes down to where you want to go to, research match.

If you are aiming for 2025 admissions, you should shortlist at the earliest in my opinion.

[winter sable]

Thanks for your comment. I already have a list to apply (most are master program) but still plan to add more programs. Thanks a lot

[fluid lantern]

Hello

[white steeple]

thanks

[white steeple]

thanks

[lone flax]

will they actually throw out a nsf grfp application if I write in latex

even though (say) the fonts maybe a little wrong

[undone yacht]

For all applications, follow the stated format.

[tropic plank]

any advice where to get as many practice problems for math subject gre as possible?

[pearl isle]

this used to be on uchicago's website before it got taken down

(wayback machine still has it)

I used this

it has a list to lots of resources and advice how to study

[mossy niche]

yes

[raven sun]

I can send you a latex file that does all the formatting correctly. It’s what I used and I did get the NSF so I suppose they did not throw out my application

[lone flax]

that would be great thanks

though I somehow suspect that my application will not be powerful enough to overcome this obstacle

[tropic plank]

thank you!

[tropic plank]

do u have their practice problems? they said they made like 140 i think in there. harder than the test

[pearl isle]

Check the wayback machine

I only downloaded the advice

[tropic plank]

I emailed the guy who made it and he sent me a whole bunch of stuff lmaoo

[worldly bobcat]

Hey guys

[feral plaza]

anyone aware of any funded masters programs?

is it something that i can hope for? my ideal is to leave my country pronto and not to sign up for a phd.

[tepid sedge]

There is a DAAD scholarship for the one in Bonn which is more than enough for all the expenses. Depending on the country you're from, it's not hard to get it if you have good grades

There is also funding for the ones in Paris. In Canada they are funded I think.

[hallow portal]

Possibly depending on the school, they’re at least sometimes funded in the US with teaching duties

Though that might be more in the vein of permitting Master’s GTA incidentally due to the funding amount etc

But it’s at least some funding, though this may depend on school and vary in the amount

[tepid sedge]

It's also worth it to take a look at ALGANT if you're into NT or AG, they have funded positions iirc

And, well, you can also apply in Israel if that's your thing, they've got really good funded master's

[hot wadi]

yes, there are many in the US

offering GTAs mainly

[feral plaza]

Thank you all

[feral plaza]

It's my second option but I'd like to live in a peaceful country for some time

Weizmann is really - wow - and the funding is excellent and Ive got connections etc etc but I want out of the country

[tacit lark]

i wouldnt count on funded math masters in the US

i havent come across many programs with guarenteed funding there are some though

[glacial pendant]

if im looking to apply for a math phd, would it be worse to have research in cs theory (mixing times on graph colorings) compared to research in math? i have the option b/w the two rn, but the cs theory work sounds more interested than the math work, though it seems that the math work is more "serious" in that i might actually publish something, though it also involves coding which im less fond of / excited about

and like if it just ends up being like a "reading" program where i don't have any novel ideas / attempts, what of that? like i'm kind of worried that just have strong grades + grad coursework might not be sufficient to get into a mid-tier phd program (?)

one of my profs has assured me that at least at our school it's not the case that research is expected of phd applicants coming from undergrad in math, but it's hard to not feel like back in the rat race of trying to get as much done as possible

also, having a strong portfolio outside of research makes me wonder if i just need to push a bit in that realm so that i can make myself "competitive" for higher-tier programs ??????

anyway if anyone has general thoughts / advice on this, even if it's not exactly my situation, i would really appreciate that! please ping me if you respond b/c it's easy to miss stuff i think in this server since there are so many messages :P

[worldly bobcat]

How do I find phd programs to apply to

[spring portal]

then apply to cs phd?

ig you can apply to math phds if those departments work in your area of interest, otherwise you will not be a good fit

[spring portal]

By checking uni websites?

[spring portal]

higher tier phd programs are all crap shoots

they all say, 'oh a 3.0 gpa is enough' but then all their students are double majors from mit with 4.0 with 10 papers and internship at cern

[glacial pendant]

i like math a lot and am interested in lots of areas but i don’t like that this particular project is very applied and so it’s coding based

it just happens to be easier to do cs theory work than pure math work because the bar of entry is lower; i can realistically do cs theory work w just undergrad knowledge of algebra and analysis but i cannot feasibly so so for pure math

[tacit lark]

1. Do what you think is more interesting. 2. Mixing times on graph colorings sounds like math. A lot of people working in math are interesting in that sort of thing.

[glacial pendant]

cool! i guess it's easy to get so focused on how what im doing now will affect later stuff but at the end of the day i wanna enjoy what i'm working on :P

thank you for the insight!

[tacit lark]

Enjoy your project!

[glacial pendant]

thank you!

[feral plaza]

do you know what is the standard if I master out on a phd program?
Would i need to pay back my stipend?

Also, what is the mathematical culture regarding breaks between bachelors and masters/phds? i.e. a few years spent in the industry

[spring portal]

It is looked upon unfavorably. Unless you have a valid reason, avoid doing this, most unis wont accept students into a PhD program who intend to master out.

[rose terrace]

lol

[feral plaza]

Sure, If i'll go to a PHD program ill try to go the whole way. But I'd like to know what happens if it happens

[spring portal]

People master out if they cant keep up with rigor, health issues, personal issues, lack of funds etc. Usually they would leave academia for good (since mastering out may even burn some bridges) and enter corporate, industry, do startups.

[feral plaza]

got it

[tacit lark]

Nothing happens. You dont pay anything back.

[feral plaza]

good to know. I guess it was only a horror story

[tacit lark]

I dont think a break directly hurts your application. It doesnt help ofc.

[spring portal]

depends on how you used the break ig

if you did some post bacc research/ extra courses, it may help
industry... probably not much

[feral plaza]

yeah
i just want my cake and to eat it too unfortunately

it's suprising to me but in the end i feel like doing applied math

always thought i'd do pure, kinda based my personality around it

well yeah sorry for the blogpost

[tacit lark]

There isnt necessarily a big difference between pure and applied. A lot of it is just opinion. You can certainly find “applied” that very much feels like “pure” math.

[feral plaza]

I hear you. I've been seeing in my degree that the borders are pretty thin, particularly in places like CS which I was exposed to

I was just stubborn minded ha

[cosmic magnet]

Who else here is procastinating grad apps?

[pearl isle]

Moi

[cosmic magnet]

I just realised that I'll have to give the subject test at the end of Oct to boost my admissions chances

Guess that means I have 30 days to grind algebra and analysis

[pearl isle]

gl

it's mostly calculus

[chilly turret]

i took it today with a few people in my program

[cosmic magnet]

How'd it go if you don't mind me asking?

[spring portal]

i wrote my first draft of essay last night

ngl, it sounds stupid as fuck

its also like 3000 words coz i kept rambling, i need to cut it short lol

[chilly turret]

i think the best prep was practice problems and not opening a book to refresh on a subject

but i also have been tutoring and TAing the subjects so they were fresh in my mind

[smoky jetty]

Nice!

Editing IMO is much easier than drafting

And redrafting is easier than a first draft

So you're already in a good spot

[spring portal]

Honestly, its such a scary process, doesn't help I am also being a little ambitious and applying to some top programs too

[smoky jetty]

That's a good thing

Don't apply to only top schools

But it doesn't hurt to apply to them if you really want to go to them

[spring portal]

I made a mistake of not waiving my rights for LORs and just noticed for all programs :(
Would it be okay to just exclude them and add new entries? I completely trust my letter writers, know each of them for 2+ years, so it would be super weird of me to not waive my rights imo.

[spring portal]

I randomly waived off some, didn't waive off some, idk what is wrong with me 💀

[pearl isle]

Wdym

Like have you submitted the apps yet?

You can’t change your submission?

[spring portal]

no, fall apps just started, i sent letter requests only couple days ago, did it at like 4am...

[pearl isle]

The portals don’t let you change the settings of the letter request?

I would delete the requests, explain to your recommenders what happened, and make new ones

[spring portal]

i will go with that

[pearl isle]

They probably didn’t even see them yet

So it’s not gonna be a big deal

[spring portal]

would the adcom be able to see this oopsie?

[pearl isle]

If they do they will also see that you fixed it

And therefore they won’t care

[spring portal]

got it, thanks

[merry geode]

In some applied maths or computational maths PhD programs, industry experience is viewed positively if it includes programming experience.

In fact, in my previous institution, some supervisors said that they tend to not take students who haven't code outside of their courses.

[knotty marsh]

UCSD requires GRE?? what's the point of math programs requiring GRE smh

[void horizon]

it's a fairly simple, tangible way to filter students. is it a good measure of a student's ability to succeed? probably not.

[spring portal]

i dropped all programs which needed GRE, helped me filter number of schools I am applying to

[knotty marsh]

Same, screw those schools.

[spring portal]

subject GRE ig makes some sense to gauge basic level of preparedness, but i do not find any use in writing general GRE

I honestly think both general and subject would be completely obsolete in 5-10 years

[pearl isle]

I didn’t see any requiring general gre

A few required subject gre tho

[feral plaza]

when i signed up for my undergraduate i did something that kinda tested that, i'll just add that

[feral plaza]

thank you ill keep it in mind

[sudden elbow]

Is this okay sections to have on my cv? Should i take out some/add?

Research interests, Relevant Coursework, Education, Techincal Skills, Research Experience, Publications, Student orgaizations, Other?

For nsf, and/or grad app

[main marlin]

why are there not a lot of online MS programs for math?

[spring portal]

Looks good, i would remove relevant coursework since you would submit transcripts anyway

[undone yacht]

Because pure online education is shit?

[spring portal]

Maybe, but not all programs. I would say math is one of the hardest degrees to obtain, needs more collaboration, interaction with professors so, an on-campus mode of delivery is ideal. Number of people studying math compared to something like CS is much smaller.

[candid spindle]

Kek

yes it is

Ideally someday we can have both

online also has its place

[spring portal]

I would really not advise an online program for full time at the current scenario

[candid spindle]

Yeah

but I also think it’s stupid to ignore online help at this point

[spring portal]

Truly, there are some genuinely great courses available, but maybe it can complement offline degree or job, then it gives you an edge. By taking full online degree, you also miss out on campus experience.

Let's say along with your regular degree you took couple mit or stanford online courses, and you apply concepts from them in your thesis or some other project, then it would sound good and also shows you also went an extra mile to learn additional things.

[candid spindle]

Don’t I know that

[candid spindle]

I missed campus experience my whole life

Now is a too late for me

[spring portal]

oh :(

[undone yacht]

I do a lot of online teaching, but it is a complement to IRL; only doing online would be very bad for everybody

[candid spindle]

Agreed

[main marlin]

Hey guys, I would appreciate your general opinion, I am applying for my PhD in the US, and I want to get a feeling on my position and the type of universities that might be suitable options in terms of competitiveness, I have an undergraduate research paper that got accepted and published in a peer-revied journal, I am currently doing research on Toeplitz operators on the harmonic Bergman space which is an active area of research and have had teaching experience

I am an international applicant, and unfortunately in my undergrad my university didn't have a system that allowed me to take graduate courses, and I highlighted the way that I tried to fix it in my statement of purpose, which is basically by auditing them and self reading

And my decision of taking the masters TA at a university in an abroad country to fill in the gaps.

[candid spindle]

When can I get my postgraduate ROLE guys

[hallow portal]

I mean, published research helps a lot

[spring portal]

wrong channel?

[gilded mulch]

How do you figure out if a PhD program is a good fit for you? What are the things to watch out for?

[smoky jetty]

Ok after you get accepted the thing you do is go to their visit days

As far as picking schools to apply to

Look at the profs and see who and how many are working in areas you want to work in

Are you unsure about what you want to do? Then perhaps a larger school might be better

Location and cost of living (see if you can find stipend information relative to cost of living)

Cause in the end you have to live there for 6 years for a PhD

[tacit lark]

talk to grad students to get an idea of the department and grad student culture

[gilded mulch]

I am not sure yea, I am supposed to be applying next year (That's when I'd be in the final year of my current degree). Trying to figure out if knowing what you wanna do helps or not so I can kind of mentally prepare this year.

[tacit lark]

talk to students of the faculty you want to work with to get an idea of the profs of what it will be like to work with them

[tacit lark]

having a vague idea of what you want to do is helpful

[gilded mulch]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind.

[gilded mulch]

One of the places I wanna apply to is a good one and ik a lot of alumni and while it's got a great rep, I have heard things about toxic work culture, etc

How much do those things factor in?

[tacit lark]

a few faculty in the broad area you want to work can be really nice bc this usually means there will be more students in these areas and maybe a seminar or reading groups. These are all opportunties for you to learn and interact with other researchers in your field.

[gilded mulch]

They do say that being there increases their productivity like crazy

because it's a very competitive place

[tacit lark]

uh it depends on how much you're willing to tolerate a toxic environment?

[tacit lark]

eh not sure if thats true in general. maybe only true for some.

a collaborative environment is better imo

[gilded mulch]

I mean, my earlier response to toxic work environment as an undergrad was to just decrease my interaction with people but I don't think that's feasible for a PhD student

[tacit lark]

sounds like you have your answer then...

[smoky jetty]

You'll get a better sense of that stuff at a visit day

For example I was told that a certain person I would want to work with at a school I applied to would be quite awful to work with

Or that certain departments weren't very social

Which is important to me

[gilded mulch]

But that wasn't the case?

Like, the rumours were wrong, etc.

[tacit lark]

no

[gilded mulch]

oh so you were told that on the visit day

[tacit lark]

he is saying that by going to visit days and talking to students you can learn about the department and its faculty

[gilded mulch]

yea gotcha

Thanks for the help! I'd keep these in mind while researching the programs.

[smoky jetty]

I'm of the opinion that since this is about the next 6 years of your life (assuming you're going for PhD)

Apply to more schools

It's a large upfront cost though so I get it, but try to find some fee waivers if you need

But if a place sounds interesting on paper it's worth considering applying to

And then you can worry about the gritty details on visit days

[weary acorn]

This channel is for people applying to graduate schools rather than for homework help.

There are help channels and a help forum for people looking for math help though.

See #❓how-to-get-help for info on that.

[surreal ruin]

Does anyone here have experience with/know about the applied math/computational science masters programs at the various csu's? I'm interested in applying to a few, but wanted to know what people thought about them

[void horizon]

i actually attend csulb, but i'm applying to their pure math masters

https://www.csulb.edu/mathematics-statistics/computational-and-applied-math-graduate-program

they recently renamed their applied math ms to the name they have currently to better reflect the work they do

http://catalog.csulb.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=10&poid=5421&hl="math"&returnto=search

[surreal ruin]

Cool! Csulb was one of the ones I was considering! Do the grad students seem happy there?

[void horizon]

yeah they seem to have a good experience

[surreal ruin]

How are the faculty in your opinion?

[gilded mulch]

yea, I am planning to apply to at least 15 places since I don't wanna take chances; gonna figure out the list and costs by the end of this year, so I am going all out exploring all my interests at the moment. Then, I'll spend the next year on the SOP and other details. Hopefully, this will work out. Thanks for the help!

Also

I am also considering applying for pre-doc fellowships, any opinion on that?

[smoky jetty]

Those are a thing?

[void horizon]

pretty good for the most part

[gilded mulch]

Idk I heard from some people long-back, I don't really know much about this that's why I was asking

[void horizon]

@inner grove is an alumni of the pure math masters

also @harsh basalt is a current masters student

i'd mention another discord user here, but i'll ask them if i can ping them here

they're doing the applied stats masters

[spring portal]

I have one predoc secured as a backup. Different fellowships may have different requirements. Mine is one year appointment at a research institute where I can take courses and do research.

[gilded mulch]

Is there a database for such programmes that I can explore, how did you come across info regarding it?

I only know like one program, that too very vaguely due to some old convo I had with some guy I met

[spring portal]

princeton has 1 year predoc + phd entry iirc

[surreal ruin]

Thank you! I'm mainly interested in what people think about the department/programs. Likes and dislikes, things to watch out for and so on

[spring portal]

I didn't apply for mine, i was awarded

[gilded mulch]

oh

[spring portal]

but i agree that predocs are rare, hard to find

[gilded mulch]

true

anyways, thanks

[tacit lark]

ive never heard of this

[tacit lark]

interesting! I havent heard of this program.

[spring portal]

its not available for all their phd programs though, for year 1 you will be on institute fellowship, year 2 onwards normal phd track

most people don't really do predocs since its not a degree unless you really need a stipend, its probably better to get masters instead or directly enter a phd

[shadow bobcat]

Upenn has a bridge program that is transitioning to a fellowship thing i think

Iowa state also has a post bacc program which I believe is funded

[harsh basalt]

I can’t speak to the applied programs, but I know people at csulb have a generally high opinion of the math dept

[void horizon]

well actually i took a class (odes part 2) with dr. sun, who's the grad advisor for the applied math program, and he's a pretty chill guy

young, too

minor gripe is that he brought his very loud crying baby to finals day

[surreal ruin]

Got it! Thank you!

[paper granite]

Anyone have any advice for coming up with a shortlist for masters applications? My current method has just been googling various unis im aware and taking a look at their programs but it’s not exactly efficient

I’ve spoken to my academic advisor and my project advisor, but they’re not familiar with algebra or Europe respectively so that wasn’t much help

[hot wadi]

hopefully

you know what type of math ur interested in or what type of problems u want to do

so yeah u just google randomly/check out qsrankings etc

and then look at the faculty pages of these unis

see if they have professors that fit with ur research interest; email them and so on

if it's gucci then it's gucci

that's how i thought about it.

[candid spindle]

To go along with my postgrad app

This is my answer to Q1 of their exam

[candid spindle]

How is my application going guys

[spring portal]

You should atleast have a published proof of Riemann hypothesis to have any chance

[candid spindle]

That’s pretty much the standard nowadays

For actual unis it seems

Very sad!

[candid spindle]

Lmao I dropped it somewhere else it ended up here

[steep belfry]

I wish there was a website for number of graduating students for each univ, so people like me would be more interested in applying

Or at least it would serve as some kind of a filter to see which schools are taking students

[tacit lark]

Most schools in the US take students every year.

[candid spindle]

Phone is out of battery

Let me dump this here before I dissapear again

[hot wadi]

new bill evans

[sterile bone]

No shitposting in this channel thanks

[hot wadi]

Do I email grad schools that haven't reached out yet?

asking for decisions

or is that bad\

[spring portal]

If the date of decision has passed (typically grad schools mention that), then ig you can send a mail

[hot wadi]

it didn't but im like a spring applicant

like january 2025

so they should be right around now

[spring portal]

If the date of decision hasn't passed then you should wait in my opinion

I thought spring is more like Mar/Apr intake? Jan sounds so early

[hot wadi]

ig it' called "winter" not spring then

but regardless it's januray intake

ty!

[granite canyon]

Does the putnam helps with grad school applications? Im hearing conflicting things about it, (that it helps and that it hurts), idk if i should invest my time into that or not

[pearl isle]

You definitely should not be doing it solely for grad school apps

It will not hurt and will probably help if you’re already interested in it just because you like competition math

But if you just want “thing to improve my app” there are many better investments of your time than Putnam

[granite canyon]

I havent done any AMC/AIME/etc in the past, just local/state stuff which were fun but I am far behind my peers in comp math so thats why idk if i should commit. What are some of the other investments besides like UG research/ honors/grad courses?

[pearl isle]

I was going to say research/honors/grad courses so

I mean at the end of the day Putnam is pretty orthogonal to research math and also simultaneously very difficult to actually be good enough for universities to care

Thus unless you are insanely cracked somehow it will probably be a non factor in your admissions

My point is just that it’s a bit of a weird question to even ask because if you like Putnam just do it who gives a shit about how it will look on your app and if you don’t it’s a waste of your time to do something you don’t like

I guess I’m just saying the decision “do Putnam” vs “don’t do Putnam” shouldn’t be primarily motivated by your grad apps

[granite canyon]

got it, ill think more about if i want to do it for the fun of it rather than apps, thank you for the help

[pearl isle]

Np

[unborn timber]

slay

[swift palm]

MIT application statement of objectives looks like this. Since it starts with "in addition," perhaps there is some other prompt that I am not seeing?

[spring portal]

Here you put your research statement which will be your SOP. There is no space for personal statement. But if you want to add content from it, you can add it here along with your research statement.

[swift palm]

UCLA personal statement -- do I have to write something? I don't think I have anything to say about any of these.

[spring portal]

seems so

[swift palm]

"There are no educations, personal, cultural, etc. experiences not described in my statement of purpose that have shaped my academic journey"

etc.

Though maybe I can talk about how anxiety and getting medicated affected?

[pearl isle]

How different should a research statement be for a grad program as opposed to like the GRFP?

Because GRFP is highly specific, literally a proposal of a specific problem you want to solve

But should it also be like that for grad programs?

[swift palm]

(again UCLA)
I couldn't find anything regarding this in the graduate admissions page of the math department. Does this mean I'm not supposed to upload anything here?

[void horizon]

i do find this practice insensitive since it, along with the competitiveness of grad admissions, inherently incentivizes trauma dumping or revisiting past hardships one would rather not revisit, even if there are some admissions committee members who say they're not looking for specific details about your hardships, but rather how those hardships you overcame made you grow as a person

[pearl isle]

I wouldn't say it incentivizes it becuase from what I've heard trauma dumping or whatever makes your app look worse, not better

this isn't college apps anymore, it's a job application, and your employer doesn't want or need to know that info

from what I've heard from advisors and gossip it can and often will hurt you to put that kinda stuff

which is probably how it should be imo

[swift palm]

then what are we supposed to write?

[lusty sluice]

How do I determine what like proportion of tiers graduate schools I should attempt to apply for? I could just list where I am at but that does not feel productive. My advisor wants me to apply to some programs at like U Chicago for example,

but as I research graduate schools I am less and less sure how i determine the relative "value" of programs for someone interested in like research mathematics, computational math, and theoretical compsci

(for reference im a junior)

and if I google like tips on ascertaining this, everythign i find is either really pretentious or doomerposting redditors

I have programs I like and have written down but I like, dont want to apply to too many like selective programs and fuck myself, but i dont also want to apply to mainly less selective programs and artificailly limit myself

[swift palm]

What I'm doing is applying to a bunch (8) of places where people do the kind of math I like, some of them are known as good schools, some of them are not, what all have in common is that they have strong profs doing stuff I like

[lusty sluice]

that makes sense,

I only fear is that while im currently working on improving my pure math background (lot of self study + independent research with my advisor)

the fact that most of my research is in the applied realm will hurt in some schools, like Im going to have a paper in a journal, but its an applied paper

I like computational math and theoretical compsci and will probably apply, half math, half computational/applied, im worried the aformentioned would be harmful in the former

[swift palm]

Why would it be harmful?

[lusty sluice]

I had a really shit convo with an admissions councilor once at a national research conference that planted it

honestly

where I asked the same thing and she said, quote unquote, "you will have some serious questions to anwser about your lack of experience"

[swift palm]

what...

Come on undergrads who did research (in pure math) have their research basically garbage also, and everyone knows this

especially profs

[lusty sluice]

but yeah, ima have a thing in an aerospace journal and I am first author so that will be cool

the draft is done and im in the revision stage with my advisors w/ that atm

[swift palm]

if you think it's gonna hurt you can also just not mention it

[lusty sluice]

i dont think it would

[swift palm]

I don't think it would either

[lusty sluice]

and i do some cool stuff in that anyway, with modules and stuff, and its all optimization research in a trenchcoat

i will look more at specific subject interests and go off there tho

thank you

my specific subject interests are wrt topology in pure math, and in learning algorithms in compsci

[tacit birch]

are you a scientist or something

0_0

wait

how do you optimize in math if it's not in like, any and every field imaginable

[hot wadi]

i think u should look at schools as "potential advisors"

rather than schools as in schools

as in u look for people who u think work in the same things ur interested in

[spring portal]

grad school is about match

[hot wadi]

yeah

give or take if someone in the departement wants u ur in

[spring portal]

Also depends more or less on where you apply I assume. Like in US you probably don't get a research supervisor for first two years.

[hot wadi]

yeah ig but like

ig u would contact potential people regardless

even b4 applying

and see if they think ur a good fit etc

[spring portal]

True, you will be admitted only if they have enough vacancies to guide and someone can guide in your area of interest after the quals.

[hot wadi]

yeah

[tacit lark]

The main factor for me was what the people writing my letters recommended.

[tacit lark]

Having a paper in a reputable applied journal will probably not hurt. Espcially since your interests are somewhat applied. Even if it isn't relevant to what you want to do you can turn it into a positive.

[tacit lark]

what math departments are you applying to that have a lot of people doing TCS? I guess it depends on what you define as TCS but most will be in CS departments maybe with an additional affiliation in math.

[lusty sluice]

note that like im in the research phase and am not doing applications this cycle, I will the next,

rn the ones on my list ive found might be interesting for CS stuff i like are like from a little searching

UChicago
GaTech

A couple universities in my state which i will not say for privacys sake and a buncha others for math

Once again I want to probably apply half computational math / applied math / compsci and half math since coursework wise, I am going to have completed the entire like undergraduate course progression in both and have research interests in both

From the convo i had with wico in dms, I think the next logical step is to broaden my search significantly and pay more attention to specific faculty members i may be interested in working with

so I have about 10-12 months before I need to start applying

so I think now is a good time to get specific faculty members and get a final list of programs i want to apply to to look over with my advisor

(For reference, I am effectivy dual compsci - math and minor in data science)

[smoky jetty]

GATech I presume you're looking at the ACO program

CMU has a similar program iirc

[lusty sluice]

Yes I would be

That is exactly what I looked at

Lmao

[smoky jetty]

So maybe add CMU to your radar

I was really really tempted to apply UChicago for the combined math CS phd

Maybe I should have but I wouldn't have gotten in probably

[lusty sluice]

Also same

Yeah that's probably too selective for me to pheasibly get into

[tacit lark]

if youre looking for math programs where you'd be able to work w tcs people then off the top of my head: nyu courant, u toronto, princeton pacm, cornell applied math are all math/applied math, harvard math/applied math, MIT math/applied math

[spring portal]

Thought to take pGRE but no dates in my country 💀

All my choices have it as optional though, so I guess not a big deal

[mossy niche]

is an 800 mgre good enough to submit for test optional schools or should i leave it blank

[spring portal]

see the percentile

[mossy niche]

74

feel like it used to be 80 percentile was good but nowadays the only people taking the mgre are people who really study for it

so maybe its fine?

[pearl isle]

I did really really shit so I basically am gonna get auto rejected from the schools requiring gre

Which is kinda sad

[spring portal]

i think its decent, but see if programs provide any statistics of what their admit typically score (some schools provide this data, some dont)

[spring portal]

then dont bother to submit?

[pearl isle]

Yeah

I am just depressed I don’t know how people do good on this test

[mossy niche]

hard exam, also i ran out of my scratch paper midway and had none for 30 minutes since no proctor was in the room. kinda pissed at it

[pearl isle]

I legit had no time

It’s so fucked

[spring portal]

gre these days seem to only be like a check mark or only negatively affect people if they score less

i am happy its being give lesser weightage with each passing year

[mossy niche]

i did nothing but study for it for like 3 weeks and still felt i left so many bases uncovered

[spring portal]

i think gre is only valuable if it can massively add upon a profile (like 900+ score and the student had no ecs, reu)

If one has some reu, extra courses etc, then those should probably be more valuable

[mossy niche]

my advisor saw that I got a B in measure theory and wondered if that automatically disqualified me from harvard

it probably does

[spring portal]

how does 1 B disqualify someone?

[mossy niche]

compared to the pool of people with no Bs

[spring portal]

do you have other thinks to talk about than just the gpa?

gpa is just one factor

[mossy niche]

yeah ofc

[spring portal]

cool then

[pearl isle]

Well my problem is it’s just straight up required at a lot of schools

UCLA, Stanford, most other UCs

I have quite good profile other than that

But my GRE is really shit

Like really really shit

[spring portal]

oof

i am applying mostly to physics and its not required in all of them

[mossy niche]

did you also take the general?

i cant believe ucla requires the general gre. but they get so many applicants that they can afford to be selective, i guess

at least berkeley is optional for both

[spring portal]

best i can do is TOEFL

[pearl isle]

No

[pearl isle]

Wait, they do???

[mossy niche]

yeah, its crazy

[pearl isle]

Lol wtf

I gotta go double check my list

Alright well I didn’t really want to go to UCLA anyway

It’s fine

[mossy niche]

i thought they didnt require it either, but if you actually check they do again

[spring portal]

for berkeley its optional, I am only applying to UCB

[pearl isle]

5 stages of grief for me rn

[pearl isle]

I go there for UG so I’m probably auto rejected there too

[mossy niche]

the only other school i saw required for general gre that i would potentially apply to was cuny graduate center

[pearl isle]

Davis, San Diego, I think Santa Barbara require it

[spring portal]

I had a headache navigating UCLA portal so I gave up

[pearl isle]

So does Stanford

[mossy niche]

columbia, harvard, cornell, austin require mgre

[spring portal]

I am quite delusional and am actually applying to caltech and stanford too

[mossy niche]

glad that my home dept refuses to look at any gre scores now

[spring portal]

caltech is my first choice since it has a strong research group on the topic i want to work on

[pearl isle]

I’m so depressed

[mossy niche]

yale also requires mgre

[pearl isle]

I can’t believe that I’m gonna get totally fucked by my inability to do basic geometry and probability

It’s so over

[spring portal]

even general gre doesnt test much imo

[mossy niche]

tbf the geometry on the mgre is stupid. its like middle school stuff, but technically if you take geometry you see it again

[spring portal]

there is still 2-3 months for most deadlines, cant you take it by then?

[mossy niche]

one more try, take october test

[pearl isle]

Yeah

Don’t think I’ll do better

[mossy niche]

believe in yourself

[pearl isle]

Thanks. Sorry for vent posting

[tacit lark]

i wouldnt say it immediately disqualifies you

definitely hurts though especially in a subject like measure theory

[mossy niche]

yeah, it was a rough final. normally the profs grade undergrads on a different scale than the grad students for that class but this class she put everyone on the same curve. i got the dead avg on the final, and the class killed most of the undergrads, grade wise

definitely hurts in a world where colleges see undergrads taking grad classes as supposedly free As

[tacit lark]

i dont think thats assumed for important classes like measure theory.

at least I never assumed that those core graduate courses are free As. I think that assumption is more for topics courses but maybe not.

[hot wadi]

I think a B always happens

like it's fine

even if it was a C like

it happens

If you can show improvement in said area then it's over

like idk maybe if u can take functional analysis or something

where ur dealing with L^p spaces

and do well

[harsh hull]

anyone know when if ever the correct answer to scaled score chart gets released?

[swift palm]

never

[swift palm]

I got 960, have one (kinda mediocre) paper in pipeline and still think of my "good" apps (UCLA, Stanford, MIT, Oxford) as ~0 chance

However if I get accepted to one of those, my mentor/advisor does have some explaining to do.

Seriously I will get super angry at him if I get accepted to one of those

Because it means he misled me to several years of anxiety

For no reason.

[mossy niche]

I'm pretty sure your advisor is just being realistic, but you're sure to get into at least one good school, just not any specific school

[tacit lark]

Thats pretty dumb

Maybe close to ~0 is a bit rude but in general even top applicants have a low chance at getting into any of these top schools

Thats why people typically apply to a bunch

[hot wadi]

how and why would u turn such good news into something that has negativity

[spring portal]

I also don't know how many apply with published results at hand.

[hot wadi]

i literaly just got rejected

at like one of my "safeties"

XD

[spring portal]

damn

[hot wadi]

yeah man

happens

[spring portal]

I have actually heard people get reject from safeties but get into like MIT

[hot wadi]

yeah man fingers crossed

i got an interview at one of my top choices

and it went so well

he got technical with math and it went well

[spring portal]

its apparently to maintain their yield, if the candidate is too good, they reject them since they would pick a top ranked school anyways

[hot wadi]

yeah idk if i was "too good" but yeah what ur saying is true in general ig

[spring portal]

good luck

hope you get this

[hot wadi]

yeah man

hope everyone gets it

ty 😄

[spring portal]

you are looking for a spring intake?

[hot wadi]

yeah

so chances are low already haha

[spring portal]

why

interview is actually a good thing

they only interview those whom they are seriously considering for acceptance

[hot wadi]

yeah

it was the potential advisor tho but yeah still ig

it went well it ended with him saying he was impressed and stuff

so fingers def crossed

[tacit lark]

This isnt unheard of

[steep belfry]

I have applied to 9 schools so far, there's one school that my rec prof didn't want to send. I accepted it bc it was very (extremely) unlikely to get it. Has anyone else had this situation?

[smoky jetty]

that's so weird

why would they not send a letter to a particular school, any given reason?

[slender dune]

Yeah that is strange

[tacit lark]

ive heard of profs not wanting to write letters to certain schools

in this case the student wanted letters for top schools like princeton, mit,etc and the prof didnt feel like they could recommend the student to those schools. they werent confident that the student was of that caliber i guess.

they were happy to recommend the student to schools that they thought were appropriate

[spring portal]

Tbf, if you applied in breadth then I don't think it hurts to apply to couple top ones too to try your luck, they are often so random anyway

Unless money is a factor

[tacit lark]

I dont think veridis said that the prof didnt want to write the letter bc they think its unlikely veridis will be admitted.

that may be the situation though

[pearl isle]

Even then imo it’s weird?

Like if you think they’re not a strong candidate just don’t agree to write the letter at all

[tacit lark]

you can think theyre a good candidate for certain 'tier' of schools

[pearl isle]

You’re basically insulting the student to their face if you’re like “yeah you’re decent but too mid for me to endorse you for your reaches”

That’s just so toxic lol

[tacit lark]

i dont really agree

[pearl isle]

Idk me personally if you’re agreeing to write someone a letter you’re agreeing to write them a letter for all their apps

I guess that’s just my opinion though

[tacit lark]

there are certainly students that have good promise and could have a good career, but maybe not ready for graduate studies at certain places

[pearl isle]

At the least you should tell them this when you first agree to write their letter

[tacit lark]

for instance harvard essentially requires you to take your quals right when you start and you have to take quals in many subjects. so they expect incoming grad students to have a really strong background right away. you may have a student you think is great but they just dont have that background.

[pearl isle]

You should explicitly say “yeah I’ll write you a good one for other places but you’re too shit for Princeton bozo”

[tacit lark]

its not that black and white and doesnt have to do with being "shit" or not

[pearl isle]

Cause it has to suck to get blindsided by it right as you’re about to submit

It’s just a shitty thing to do to someone imo

[tacit lark]

what i am saying is independent of what this prof did lol

you dont have to blindside the student either

you can think the student is good but not think theyre ready or prepared for graduate school and certain schools and not feel comfortable recommending them to these places.

i dont see anything wrong with that.

[pearl isle]

Ok. Then I will say that I agree with you that it’s fine to say you can write a strong letter some places but not others (just like it’s fine to turn down writing a letter at all) but I guess my take is that it’s not fine to do that if you already agreed to write the letter without qualifying your initial agreement

[tacit lark]

ya sure the student and prof should be on the same page

[frozen atlas]

Are applications to math masters in the US and France annual or semestral? In particular I'm interested in the polytechnique de Paris and in Paris Saclay. I'm not very familiar with any of the application systems for these countries and I would not like to wait a whole year to apply after I finish my bachelor's

[spring portal]

I dont really think most unis offer a terminal math masters in US. They would have to optionally obtained along with a PhD. The regular intake is usually fall (for fall 2025, applications open in fall 2024). But some also do spring/summer intakes.

[dire brook]

Masters in France are (normally) annual

[dire pollen]

Usually applications to masters in france are made through the governments site "MonMaster"

Though if you don't find the specific school you're looking for on there, you have to check on that school's website.

For example, a few of Polytechnique X's masters require you to go through their own website for admission.

[mossy niche]

does anyone know which schools let you self report the gre

i would prefer not to spend half a grand just to report my scores

[frozen atlas]

Do you happen to know around which dates most us schools open their applications? Like from October to December?

[spring portal]

For US, its usually around mid-September, closes by december

A lot of these things are school dependent, so you should shortlist them first

[frozen atlas]

Al right thanks

[pearl isle]

As I understand it most schools do, and only want official report once you’re accepted

[spring portal]

many of mine require official score reports from ETS, which once again costs money, thankfully I am not taking GRE but only TOEFL

[mossy niche]

seems to me like it's the opposite. I've only found jhu say they will only require official scores if accepted

[pine ocean]

What are they looking for in grad application

As opposed to undergrad

[pearl isle]

you need to be lebron of math

[spring portal]

Application procedure differ a lot from country to country, I don't really think its possible to generalize.

US is quite holistic whereas most places in Europe only look at grades

[hot wadi]

what happens if an admitted student can't send official trasncripts

due to reasons from the uni itself

[undone yacht]

then you can't start (at least where I am)

[hot wadi]

when is usually the "deadline" for sending documents after accepting admission/

is it when the semester starts?

[undone yacht]

I would guess so.

[hot wadi]

thank you!

[undone yacht]

For master's here I think it works like that (maybe some leeway). For Ph.D. students you are employed and you can not start before you have a M.Sc. degree finished (typically the start is just postponed in that case)

[hot wadi]

i see

yeah i hope theres some leeway ig

[tacit lark]

try to get in touch with people at the uni asap. explain why your uni can't send official transcipts.

[hot wadi]

it can

but it depends on how much they are willing to wait for

but yeah ig contacting them is best

tysm

[dire brook]

Sometimes unis accept some form of official letter by e.g. the director of the deptmnt stating you passed and that the official transcripts will available at some specified later date

[hot wadi]

yeah

hope so king

ty

[pearl isle]

dont forget grfp due tomorrow

you probably want to submit tonight

[mossy niche]

me looking at last year's 3 total people who got it for analysis

[pearl isle]

Damn were the math stats that bad

Nah it’s not that bad it’s like 6 or 7 pages

When you sort by field it’s pages around 25 to 33

[tacit lark]

doesnt sound right. Also, not sure that matters so much.

[mossy niche]

just for the analysis subfield tho

sort of checks out, since it's a lot harder to propose problems for analysis than something like combo or nt

as a senior undergrad at least

[pearl isle]

I mean if you're looking at a subfield there's just less applicants for each subfield

so less people is expected

[tacit lark]

from what i looked up its 6 without counting probability. Plus there are probably a decent amount of applied math people doing very analysis related things.

[tacit lark]

I think analysis is just less popular. I wouldn't say its harder to propose problems in analysis than geometry, topology, algebra, nt.

[shadow bobcat]

So for my apps they ask for my unofficial transcripts from my university and the community college I attended. Only problem is I don't know my account for my community college or if I even have one still, but all my information is on my university transcript so would it just be fine to upload that one again?

[glossy river]

I would contact the CC for the transcripts.

[candid spindle]

Absolutely not true

I have like 2948283822 analysis problems

Just made up out of nowjere

It's such a free field

[cosmic magnet]

I was thinking of submitting one during the summer but realised that it's way too much work as an undergrad. I feel like it's not feasible to come up with a project proposal if you don't have that advanced of a background as an undergrad.

[mossy niche]

i think the grfp is meant to fund the person not the proposal

everyone ive talked to says its wildly unrealistic to expect a senior undergrad to come up with a feasible proposal so the standards are much lower than for graduate math students who apply

now i know there are some cracked undergrads out there but for us average joes we just gotta do our best

[cosmic magnet]

Welp, probably should've applied

Well anyways, onwards with graduate apps!

[mossy niche]

the true benefit is that it forces you to write essays

[cosmic magnet]

True, I need to get my SOP done by this week

[mossy niche]

hardest part of the application ngl

i guess its the only hard part of the application since everything else is just filling in blanks

also, i swear every undergrad i see on here is super cracked. i feel like the stuff im doing for my senior thesis etc is so low level comparatively

[cosmic magnet]

me too

[mossy niche]

i feel like partly its because so few undergrads do pure math at my institution even though its a top math uni. i think last year there were maybe 1 or 2 people who went on to do a phd

so expectations are already sort of low i guess

[cosmic magnet]

If I'm guessing correctly, I'll be applying to your institution for grad lol

[mossy niche]

what are the chances youve guessed my institution just based off that? it cant be that unique

dm me your guess

[cosmic magnet]

Sure, if that works with you

[candid spindle]

anyone know if ecole polytechnique is offering phd programs in math soon?

[honest copper]

how hard is mcgill to get into for masters

[inner nymph]

What do you mean by "offering phd programs in math"? You can do a PhD in maths at CMAP, a maths lab at the École Polytechnique.

[cosmic magnet]

Any helps on how to shorten a list of schools to apply to? I have like 9 reach schools, 5 T15-T25 schools (not even mid-level) and 3 schools which I'd consider lower level (in terms of admissions)

I haven't finished adding potential schools so I'm expecting this to grow to around 25-30 schools in total. I'm certain I won't be apply to that many so I'll need to cut it around to ~15 schools

[livid shore]

Apply to that many

[cosmic magnet]

I sadly don't have the time and sanity to apply to 30 schools

[smoky jetty]

I mean I applied to like 15-16 schools

But as far as narrowing look at the actual faculty

Who you'd work with

Also other factors like school size location

See what you can find about stipend info or cost of living

[cosmic magnet]

Yeah, I'm targeting the same amount of schools as well

[cosmic magnet]

I'm mostly looking towards places with larger faculty counts since that would allow for flexibility of research interests

[mossy niche]

half a grand just to send gre scores

because they cant trust people to correctly self report i guess

[pearl isle]

Yeah it’s ass

I mean it’s all a big scam

[cosmic magnet]

what the heck? This is definitely not convincing me to take the subject test even with the fee waiver

[pearl isle]

It’s 100$ per program I think

Something like this

So it’s not literally 500$ per program

Not much better tho

[mossy niche]

it's 35 per school to submit a single score

luckily 3 of the schools that are optional accept unofficial score reports

for the other 16 schools in my list... no such luck

[pearl isle]

Ah

All 16 on your list require it?

For me it’s pretty much just the UCs and Stanford

[mossy niche]

if it's optional but you want to report you have to send the official one for the most part

Ive been recommended to report my score

[pearl isle]

Ah mine just isn’t very good so everywhere it’s optional I’m not reporting it

My university is reasonably well known and my grades are good so I think I’m better not reporting it there than reporting it

[mossy niche]

saves you some trouble and money

[pearl isle]

Yeah. Plus I think reporting it will actively hurt my app

I got 720 (58th percentile)

[cosmic magnet]

I'm potentially gonna take the exam in a week and a half if I get the waiver processed

[pearl isle]

Good luck

[cosmic magnet]

But I also don't have any prep so I'll be praying for a miracle

[pearl isle]

I retook it today after not studying at all

[mossy niche]

they took an entire month to process my fee waiver btw

[pearl isle]

I am not sure if I did any better than before I don’t really feel like it

[pearl isle]

ETS is a pretty evil company

[cosmic magnet]

Yeah, don't think I'm getting it then

I should've planned the subject test beforehand ngl

[mossy niche]

like, I got it after I took my exam on the 23rd

I applied at the end of august

[cosmic magnet]

wtf☠️

[mossy niche]

so now I have a waiver and I'm not using it

[mossy niche]

I felt like I bombed when I took it

tbf average math exam experience

[cosmic magnet]

Yeah, I'm definitely not taking it if I have to pay 150 bucks

[pearl isle]

Tbh I just didn’t have any time to study unfortunately

Like I didn’t know some very basic free points

[cosmic magnet]

That'll be me if I'm actually able to register

[pearl isle]

Like surface areas of some surfaces

[pearl isle]

And some volume integrals

I forgot a lot of multivar

[mossy niche]

I studied for 3 weeks doing nothing else and then I forgot how to do half the multi integral questions

[pearl isle]

I’m taking some rlly hard grad classes and TAing rn so I have just barely had time to sleep much less prep for the gre

[mossy niche]

I took it the day before my school started classe

[cosmic magnet]

I got a midterm before and after the potential exam date

[cosmic magnet]

Are you doing an MS rn?

[mossy niche]

I couldn't imagine taking it during the school year, I'm also struggling with my classes and Taing

[pearl isle]

Nah undergrad

[mossy niche]

most schools don't offer a math ms undergrad

[pearl isle]

I don’t wanna do a masters but I’d like to take the quals right when I get into grad school

[cosmic magnet]

That's fair

[mossy niche]

it's also not a benefit for grad applications

mostly for industry

[cosmic magnet]

I need to get some grad courses done next sem

[cosmic magnet]

Fair. I'm probably taking a year break if I don't get in anywhere for Fall 25' rather than doing an MS

[mossy niche]

you should apply for the Cambridge p3

[cosmic magnet]

My grades are terrible so probably won't get in

[mossy niche]

I have a friend who's doing it this year since his math pace was relatively slow since he started in single variable calc and didn't do much research

[cosmic magnet]

My only saving grace is that I'm doing a few grad courses this sem and can potentially max out research next

what is the P3 if I may ask?

[mossy niche]

part 3 masters in math

year 4 in uk

[cosmic magnet]

I see. I probably wouldn't do that since I think I'll have enough exp for grad by the end of this year

[mossy niche]

well, I think p3 is supposed to be harder than year 1 of grad school

can't confirm

[frozen atlas]

how are masters on schools like oxford or cambridge? is it like the us that its just like the phd or how is it?

[unreal quest]

Nah the US is pretty different for how they do postgrad. Master's degrees in the UK and Europe are standalone degree programs that are designed to prepare students for doing a PhD. Masters degrees in the UK are typically 1 year (9months for part iii/part c) and (imo) generally inferior and more expensive compared to what those on the continent which are typically 2-3 years

In any case if you're going to do postgrad in Europe the best bet is probably to find a uni with a group doing research that aligns with your own interests. You'll be able to follow more relevant courses and do a dissertation in the direction you want

[hot wadi]

:king:

[river hound]

I'm currently applying to PhD programs in theoretical CS (algorithms and complexity) and I have no clue if I'm being too ambitious with the programs I'm applying to. I know that it's impossible to "chance" someone for graduate admissions, but I'm hoping someone can tell me if my list of schools seems reasonable?

About me: 4.0 at pretty decent public university, president of math club, did an REU in mathematical biology and submitted a paper to SIAM, software engineering intern at biotech company last summer, professional teaching experience in CS.

List of schools:
MIT, University of Washington, Georgia Tech, Columbia, Boston University, Princeton, University of Chicago, Purdue, Rutgers, Carnegie Mellon

[pearl isle]

Ask your advisor

[river hound]

yeah i made an appointment with them but my school has terrible advising so i have to wait like 2 weeks

[tacit lark]

all very good and very competitive. Purdue and Rutgers probably less so but still nice places. I dont think committees will care too much about engineering intern. Also, ofc the REU and paper will likely help but how much probably depends on how mathematical it is.

[mossy niche]

ask your research advisor, you have weekly meetings with them?

[tacit lark]

this^ ask the people who are writing your letters of rec

[river hound]

not since finishing the paper but theyre my letter writer so I'll definitely ask.

[mossy niche]

admittedly mine seems very optimistic rather than realistic

[river hound]

the reu paper was pretty technical. numerical methods for solving large linear systems using graph theory

[tacit lark]

Personally I think this list is too risky, but idk.

its really hard to say without knowing more. letters of rec is the most important.

[river hound]

yeah thats my fear. I wasn't just searching for prestigious unis when looking for programs, its just that the faculty I like are all at the super competitive schools

I think I'm probably going to throw Penn State into the mix which should definitely be less competitive than all the others

[tacit lark]

yea cs theory is a bit weird bc most schools have at most a few faculty.

the schools with more tend to be competitive.

[river hound]

on the bright side I don't do ML so I'm not competing in that crap shoot

[tacit lark]

sure its def not as bad but there is also less money and fewer open positions in theory.

ML has more applicants but tons of funding and profs generally take more students.

[river hound]

v true

I wonder how the proportion of spots : applicants works out per sub-area

[tacit lark]

do you have more specific interests or is it just algorithms and complexity?

[river hound]

I don't want to say anything too specific bc I don't have too much experience. But some of the areas I enjoy are:

• Straight up complexity (like Michael Sipser stuff)
• Graph Algorithms and computational geometry
• Extremal combinatorics, connections to algebra(ic geometry)
• Approximation algorithms and numerical methods

[tacit lark]

can also look at OSU

these interests are super broad, which isnt a bad thing.

[tacit lark]

pooya hatami, zeyu guo

[river hound]

(also those are roughly in decreasing order of interest)

[river hound]

yeah I wish I had another year of undergrad to narrow it down more

[tacit lark]

you have years of grad school

[river hound]

woah kinda sick that osu has a comp topology group. not very common

[tacit lark]

can also look at nc state

georgetown too

for safer options

they have a surprisingly nice theory group

[river hound]

I checked this one out but was kind of concerned by how small the theory group is. but their research seems cool

I really appreciate these suggestions btw. thanks a lot

[cosmic magnet]

Same for me

[cosmic magnet]

I'm actually considering NC State funnily enough. The only 'safeties' I have so far are NC State, UT Knoxville and Penn State. I definitely sort out my list asap

[cosmic magnet]

If you don't mind me asking, what specific subfield of math bio was your REU in? (interested to know since I'm applying to many math bio oriented programs)

[river hound]

heavy emphasis on the math and basically nothing on the bio. The whole thing was about solving large systems of linear equations that arise from large cell simulations.

[cosmic magnet]

You should definitely check out Illinois for theory

[mossy niche]

my only "safety" is uic

[cosmic magnet]

aiming high🫡

[mossy niche]

my advisor told me he would be outraged if I didn't get into at least uic

idk about that tho

[river hound]

you mean UIUC? I really wanted to apply but there are some external factors that make the school not work for me

[cosmic magnet]

I'm lowkey ready to reapply for theory programs if I don't get in anywhere for the current cycle

[mossy niche]

no I mean chicago

[cosmic magnet]

Yes, that's what I meant

[mossy niche]

I hate uiuc

terrible campus

[cosmic magnet]

why😭

[river hound]

oh yeah uiuc is far from a safety lmao

[cosmic magnet]

|| it's not that bad||

[mossy niche]

I was there for one day and got depressed

[cosmic magnet]

Y'all city folk are spoiled

[river hound]

im a city folk and i was really surprised by how much i enjoyed leaving the city

only issue is i need good public transit

[mossy niche]

growing up in a suburb will make you appreciate both extremes

college towns are like the worst of both extremes

[cosmic magnet]

nah ainnoway

College towns are so vibrant

[river hound]

yeah wait theyre so fun

[mossy niche]

only 4 undergrads from my school are applying to math grad school

:(

we are a large research university

[mossy niche]

2k

[tacit lark]

thats surprising

how many math majors are there?

[mossy niche]

200-250

50-60 graduating

last year only 2 people applied

[tacit lark]

thats surprising

where are you getting this info from

[golden crane]

I’m doing my grad in NJIT

Amazing school I shall say

[swift palm]

(sorry for EXTREMELY late reply as discord got banned in my country and only now I have set up a vpn)
he said I have low chance even at my safeties (including one which I have spoken pact with the guy I want to work with). I know top schools are low probability. the reason I'll be angry will be "you were saying not good schools were low probability then how I got into the good school"??

[mossy niche]

international student in USA has different standards for entry, you do have to be incredibly cracked to get in anywhere

so the low probability part is true, but for universities in your home country it's much easier for admission

[swift palm]

I believe I am reasonably "cracked".

[swift palm]

I would rather sit at home and do math by myself than do graduate work in any university in this country

[mossy niche]

yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that your probability of entry into any particular school is still relatively low

if domestic admission is a crapshoot, then international admission is crapshoot of crapshoot

[swift palm]

I believe there should not be something that can increase more my chances than like spoken pact with target advisor

spoken pact in the sense that "ja let me know when you apply I'll get you accepted"

[mossy niche]

that doesn't happen here because admission is by committee

[swift palm]

we will see

||I am overqualified by a big margin for this particular school anyway||

[mossy niche]

international admission is always weird. I think OSU admissions is the canonical example of skill disparancy