graduate-applications

[worthy peak]

IG I'm asking bc there was a prof who definitely knew me and who I saw a lot in office hours, but they declined to write a letter b/c my grades in the two courses I took with them (A-/B-) did not stand out enough

[tame sundial]

but those relationships involve good grades in their courses, going to office hours, and potentially doing research with them if theyre willing

[worthy peak]

but perhaos that is more a sign that my relationship with them was not as good as I imagined

or perhaps they don't think I'm a fit for grad school

¯_(ツ)_/¯

[tame sundial]

i mean a professor cant necessarily determine this just from A- and B-

but like if all you did academically with this prof was take their courses, then whats there to write about?

[worthy peak]

that's true

[tame sundial]

honestly even getting a letter from a prof where all you did with them is get As in their courses isnt an outstanding letter

because itll just be like "good student, got As"

[worthy peak]

it's tough getting undergrad research opportunities here. most undergraduate RA positions are funded and competitive, profs don't want to take on unfunded students

oh well

how much does the prestige of the masters-granting institution matter if I'm going the research masters -> PhD route

[tame sundial]

i mean the thing about undergrad research is that most of the time you gotta be okay with it not being super organized

UG research usually looks something like "can you give me a small list of approachable problems and i can keep in contact with you about the one(s) i choose to undertake?"

at least from how ive seen it

[tacit lark]

grades are also very important. From what ive heard more so than other fields

[scarlet barn]

How much does GRE boost chances?

[shell kindle]

General GRE or math gre

General GRE essentially does not matter at all unless you do badly on the math portion

Math GRE you want to do not too badly to not get filtered out at schools that care, but doing well isn't that big of a boost

[brittle bobcat]

How to forge good relationships with math faculty? I approached 1 prof asking if he'd be open for supervision (independent learning project), he said no. What to do now?

[small sphinx]

Ask lots of questions in class

Participate

Learn the art of asking good questions. They're teaching the subject because it's what they are passionate about.

Showing your passion and interest gets you in the door. Also they could have said no for reasons that have nothing to do with you.

There's always that.

[brittle bobcat]

Hmmm, I study at open uni in an online math program, and typically the classes are taught by ALs (associate lectures), so I don't actually have a chance to see a professor.

[small sphinx]

Dang lol. Well the principle still stands. Look up some of the research a professor has done, demonstrate some understanding and ask open-ended questions about it

Discuss with them for awhile

Over a period of some weeks

[brittle bobcat]

Ohhhh.

[small sphinx]

Then ask to take them on a date

jsut kidding dont do that

lmao

But you get it

[brittle bobcat]

Makes sense now! 😀
Thanks bro. I'll try my Best!!!

[small sphinx]

And don't put all your eggs in one basket man.

And GENUINELY be interested. Don't twist yourself into pretzels trying to make an impression. if you don't have an interest in their work just leave them alone lo.

[brittle bobcat]

Yeah that's seems like the most sensible thing to do. Though his research did seem exciting so I think I'm good on that part. I just gotta, do and learn the math now!👍

[small sphinx]

And don't get discouraged if you get turned down. Again, a lot of times it has nothing to do with you.

(Why does this sound like dating advice?)

[brittle bobcat]

🤣 lmao

[glacial pendant]

How hard is it to get into a Canadian masters at a top university (Toronto, Waterloo, McGill, UBC) compared to applying to math PhDs in America as an American student? I’m not seeing much information about this and so I’m having a hard time determining how to approach those apps

Also, do Canadian programs care more about grades and statistics/scores and less about researxh since they’re accepting to a masters? How do expectations/weightage differ, in general?

[visual lagoon]

Is there a reason why it has to be that professor specifically

[prime robin]

if you are international student then it's super hard comparing to applying for us schools

[tacit lark]

i think its similar to applying to comparable US schools

[glacial pendant]

For masters?

[glacial pendant]

International as in non-Canadian? This seems at odds with what Jek is saying

[tacit lark]

canadian masters and us phd seem similar if the institutions are comparable

these things are very hard to compare. I dont think its much harder to get into top canadian masters than top US PhDs. I think top US PhDs are more competitive.

[prime robin]

yes

i did my undergraduate in toronto

[teal gorge]

Is it okay to ask for letters of recommendation before you've finalised the list of schools you're applying to? If so, how long before you finalise is it okay to ask?

[tacit lark]

Yes

[shell kindle]

Well

You should be finalizing it soon anyways

Because deadlines are starting to come up

[teal gorge]

Are they? This is what I have

This is Canada for context

Is it different in the US?

[mossy niche]

all i see is that your deadlines are coming up

btw i never told my professors where i was applying to, i just sent all the requests at once

not sure if i was supposed to

[quiet stag]

I sent them a preliminary list of places when I asked them, and then I sent them my updated spreadsheet of places and deadlines once I finalized my list

[teal gorge]

Do you mean that I should already have gotten past this point, or do you mean that it's better to do it sooner rather than later regardless?

[full ridge]

Hey folks, I need advice on applying to grad school in pure math with a Math finance degree, I have taken measure theory,

Algebra 1, which covered Groups, subgroups, normal subgroups, homomorphisms, quotient groups, coset decomposition, basic (commutative) ring theory: Rings, subrings, homomorphisms, ideals, quotient rings, modules over rings, submodules and quotient modules, fraction field; further group theory: Groups operating on a set, Sylow theorems.

Complex Analysis, which covered the complex number system. Analytic functions. Cauchy's Integral theorem and formula. Applications including the maximum modulus principle, Taylor expansion and Laurent expansion. Harmonic functions. The residue theorem with applications; calculus of residues, argument principle, and Rouche's theorem. Basics of analytic continuation.

Would this be suffice as prereqs for pure math grad school? or would you suggest switching to a pure maths degree that allows me to take topology, functional analysis and algebra 2: which includes field extensions and finite galois theory. In which I would have to extend my degree by a semester.

[mossy niche]

for pure math, seems minimally sufficient

highly depends on your letters tbh

[full ridge]

Alright, so lacking topology and algebra 2 would still be ok given my background? Because I have looked at several schools and they require a course on topology, as well as algebra 2 which includes field extensions and galois theory

[eternal sandal]

Hello. I'm a bit in a pinch. Actually, I'm royally screwed.
After getting my master's, I didn't want the stress of applying for a PhD immediately. Instead, I applied to teach calculus at a bunch of universities, but got rejected everywhere. Tired of wasting my time, eventually I decided to get a “normal” (i.e., non-math) job and focus on caring for my grandmother as well.
And, well, now I've been laid off, so I'm left with no money, no math connections, nothing. When I skim the scrollback in channels like #advanced-algebra, #algebraic-geometry and #alg-top-geo-top, I realize that I know no math, in spite of my degree. So what are my chances to succeed if I were to apply to a PhD program now?
I should just go back to looking for another “normal” job, right?

[mossy niche]

well, its not a very competitive courseload in the first place, im not sure the extra 2 courses will matter to the adcom

[blissful crystal]

lowk whats a good number of schools to apply to for phd

like 5-10?

[mossy niche]

20+

[blissful crystal]

😭 thats like 2k+

[mossy niche]

you can apply to 5-10 if your advisor has a list of targets, and like 1-2 reaches

[hidden sleet]

Isn't this like literally impossible if you have narrowed your interests even slightly

[mossy niche]

meaning a max of 1-2 schools in the top20

[mossy niche]

i feel like unless youve done a significant amount of nontrivial research it is always dubious to have narrowed down your interests past the point where you really shoehorned yourself into a small number of schools

there are a few examples like logic that are exception

[hidden sleet]

I don't think I can find 20+ schools to apply to in the US unless I apply to all the top ones and I haven't narrowed my interests too much beyond "algebraic number theory"

But maybe I'm doing a bad job

[glacial arch]

If you’re on snap/food stamps most schools will waive fee from my understanding

Just have to send proof

[blissful crystal]

good to know, unfortunately im not on food stamps but 2k is still a lot of money

not to mention how does one do that many apps while writing quality essays for each?

i feel like quality would go down immensely if i applied to that many

[mossy niche]

you are writing one essay, and one sentence mentioning the people you want to work with

[blissful crystal]

one sentence?

[mossy niche]

the people reading the essay (if it even gets read) are mathematicians, they rather you be doing math than writing an essay

the evidence mostly comes from your transcript and your letter writers

[blissful crystal]

alright, so basically write a good SOP and then edit 1 or so paragraph where u briefly discuss the professors u wanna work with

for each school

[mossy niche]

yep

[quiet stag]

adding onto this, many programs also waive the fee for first-generation and URM students. google the name of the school and "fee waiver" to see if they do so proactively; if not, shoot them an email and sometimes they'll give you one anyway

[gentle basin]

i think the advice ive heard is like

request a reference at the very least one month before first deadline?

[cosmic magnet]

You can get fee waivers if you receive money from FAFSA

[cosmic magnet]

Apply to 10-15 schools. 10 is already a lot but it's a good number of schooos

[cosmic magnet]

It can be a bit longer than one sentence tbf. Keep around a paragraph to discuss the people ypu want to work with in your statement (mention 2-3 people at the school).

[tacit lark]

idrk anyone that applied to 20+ tbh

[tacit lark]

definitely not. Most peoples interests are not that narrow.

[wind plinth]

ive got 11 on my list. one is my alma mater, then 5 are what i would consider "reach" and 5 are what i would consider "realistic"

[mossy niche]

i applied everywhere that i wanted to go and gave me a fee waiver + one target

i know someone that spent 3k+ on aplications

[chilly turret]

all three of my roommates last year

[paper granite]

20+ is crazy, I was going to do 4 and got fed up after 3

[mossy niche]

i dont think its crazy, especially in the current market

[glacial arch]

My prof recommended like 15

[shell kindle]

15 was standard in previous years

[mossy niche]

i personally know multiple people who applied 10+ and still got in nowhere. their lists were reasonable too, with plenty of targets

[shell kindle]

Everyone knows this year is going to be bad, but unclear how bad it will be

[glacial arch]

My prof said that math should be relatively insulated because most positions are TA

[shell kindle]

Lots of departments are having teaching budgets cut

[glacial arch]

But I think the real issue is wrt the job market being so shit so tons of people are going to be applying

Mmmmm yeah that changes things

[shell kindle]

And who knows how long this government shutdown is going to last

[quiet stag]

I applied to 16 and got into 2 last year

[tacit lark]

i feel like it was 10-15 with 15 being the higher end of standard. Applying to more than 15 was rare.

i applied to like 18 because I was applying to both cs and math and wasnt sure which i wanted to do and didnt apply to safeties. That was a decent bit more than anyone i know .

[shell kindle]

I applied to 15

[tacit lark]

all three of your roommates applied to over 20 math phd programs? That's interesting.

[raw quail]

I feel like the number is slowly going up

[tacit lark]

i think you should apply to as many as you want (I did). im just surprised to hear people say 15-20+ is standard.

[raw quail]

applications are getting harder and harder each year, so people are sending out more and more applications

[tacit lark]

When I speak to people irl they made it seem like i applied to a lot

[steel badger]

the US game always seems way more intense than in europe
Because everyone I know are applying to 2-5 schools max

[mossy niche]

i applied to 21 and got into 2

i couldnt get a fee waiver for my safety so i didnt apply

[tacit lark]

applications have been consistently pretty bad since covid

but were on an upward trend until last year

[chilly turret]

17,22,23 lol so technically not but as an average

[smoky jetty]

I applied to like 17 or 18 places for grad school

[glacial cedar]

Wait really? All the professors I’ve spoken to this year have said they don’t know.

[shell kindle]

Oh

It will be bad

[glacial cedar]

Should I take another year off to do more research then?

I felt pretty confident that my better application this year will greatly boost my chances

[urban raft]

Currently there's no guarantee that it will be better next year

If you do want to do a PhD, then you should apply this year regardless

[glacial cedar]

Will this year be worse than last year? Cuz i only got one interview last year

[urban raft]

well last year was a lot of uncertainty, but uhh things look a lot more certain (and not in a good way) this year

how people interpret that idk

[glacial cedar]

What exactly is the logic? They already know about decreased funding so they’ll be more selective in the beginning?

[shell kindle]

Yeah

[glacial cedar]

So like even big names won’t help much?

[fresh kindle]

in what way

[lone vessel]

funding cuts have already happened

[fresh kindle]

oh ok

how universal are those?

[lone vessel]

uh

it’s quite varied in the impact, but as far as i can tell pretty much every (?) university that i’m aware of has been affected in some way

[glacial cedar]

but most of the funding for grad students is from grants, no?

[urban raft]

In thr US I think it's mostly TA-ships

and grants are affected by the NSF mess

[empty bridge]

Recently I have been thinking about applying to PhD in Applied Math. I have an undergrad degree in economics but last year I took a couple of real analysis courses and I still have the chance of taking more math classes. I would appreciate any help as to whether it would be possible for me to pursue that path, maybe at a midtier school and also how I could look for schools that could be a good fit for me.

[lone vessel]

yeah when i said funding cuts i really meant grants were cancelled

[glacial cedar]

Yeah a friend of a friend had her to-be-advisors grant cut and they reneged their offer

[lone vessel]

that’s brutal

[tardy basin]

this is in the US right?

[mossy niche]

yes, outside of us i think people usually know roughly where they are going as they are applying

[tardy basin]

yeah, the funding cuts have been brutal

i'm canadian and i think only applying domestically, so hopefully it'll be a bit easier

[mossy niche]

my department keeps being forced to downsize

this means less taships

not sure what people are on about when they say taships arent affected tbh

[tardy basin]

i guess research is more affected

but yeah unis funding are getting cut across the board

[gentle basin]

recitation sections for a lot of math classes were cut at my school

[versed remnant]

Is it about the US specifically? Or is it a global phenomenon?

[lone vessel]

pretty sure us specifically

[lean torrent]

If I go off to Europe to do my masters, will it help me with going to a PhD here?

[tacit lark]

Where is here

[lean torrent]

America

[tacit lark]

ok now will it help compared to what

its hard to say whether it will help for many reasons. Three simple reasons are this heavily depends on what you mean by help, what your current application looks like, and what American universities you're shooting for.

[nova hare]

As a weaker American applicant, it may be time to seriously pursue international locations

Who knows, maybe I'll never return to America 😂

[mossy niche]

i dont think applying outside of america is necessarily the correct move

[wind plinth]

im considering applying to some places in central europe but the thing is all the programs i found that interested me don't have their apps open until like march/april of next year... when the american programs will be sending out decisions

[worthy peak]

https://www.reddit.com/r/gradadmissions/comments/np9fls/letter_of_recommendation_from_professor_outside/

how much does this apply to math

im double majoring in an almost completely unrelated field but probably looking more at the (applied) math direction (or a more math-y engineering or potentially bio program) for this round of applications

unfortunately one of my two most recent math profs declined to write so im faced with the possibility of having to either ask a prof i barely know from two years ago, or asking across fields

[scarlet barn]

I am a little bit nervous because I only have two reccomenders rn and one of them is out of field

I am doing 2-3 ish research projects rn and I am wondering when I should ask one of them to be a letter writer (GIven that I could have not really asked earlier)

[tacit lark]

you should ask asap. they should have at least one months notice

[glacial cedar]

Yeah I’ve only considered one school outside of the US: Weitzman

[tacit lark]

Europe has some good schools for tcs too

[worthy peak]

?

[worthy peak]

yeah i really need to pick two more profs and contact them

just really nervous

[tacit lark]

Probably better to ask across fields

[real vessel]

How big is the difficulty leap going directly from undergrad to a PhD program vs. doing an explicit master's inbetween? I'm pretty torn on which avenue to take, since I have a lot of hobbyist experience w abstract algebra/real analysis/complex analysis/diff eq, but looking at a lot of PhD prelim exams they are...quite tough 👀 dunno how well incoming students are expected to do on them, but definitely humbling to look over lol

my interest (set theory) is fairly distant from that general content, but im not sure if that's a boon or a bane...

[paper granite]

The real question is, will you get straight into a PhD programme? In America this is the standard route and you kinda do the masters along the way. In the UK and Europe unless you have a proven track record as an exceptional student and already know what you want to work on with a person happy to work with you you’re likely to just be told no

[real vessel]

yeh europe's a longshot, i'd prolly be looking the US. the harder schools (UC's, namely) would be preferable for me, but there are some slightly easier to get into ones for logic/foundations as well.

i had a small research position in my last semester of undergrad w/ under real analysis prof (who is a set theorist), but i didn't publish anything.

i knew it was somewhat common to go direct-to-PhD in the US, but it's interesting that you say it's in fact the standard route, wasn't aware of that.

[paper granite]

Yeah I’m in the UK so I know the UK and EU stuff a little better, there will be people who can help you better for US specific stuff but stand alone masters as far as I understand are not that common in the US and applying directly to a grad school is the typical route

As far as how much you’re supposed to know about quals before you go I couldn’t say, I suspect the answer is along the lines of “Maybe not all of it, but it shouldn’t look totally foreign” but I’ll leave that for people who actually know what they’re talking about

Also just as an FYI, this is probably going to be a brutal year to get into a grad programme with all of the funding cuts going around, so maybe just bare that in mind, I imagine things are going to be silly competitive for a while

[mossy niche]

if you are looking at the top schools then you should expect to at least be able to pass parts of the quals on admission

if you are interested in set theory, then im told by my logician friend that you should probably know basic analysis (i.e. the stuff you would see in a real analysis qual, e.g. measure theory)

as long as the adcom is under the impression you have that knowledge, who cares if you actually pass the qual...

[real vessel]

ok ok thanks for the insider perspectives. for me the analysis quals were easiest, still not themselves easy, but I could read all of the solutions with little to no problem and solve a lot of them, just takes me a while. for complex analysis + abstract algebra they were a bit harder, but i also have less experience with those in a classroom, i.e. non-hobbyist context so if I practice in the meantime im not too worried. diff eq tho..... 👀

well tbf i just suck at diff eq in general so

[paper granite]

Yeah I’m glad I’m not in the US there’s no reason to make me try to do DEs, just a mistake for everyone

[real vessel]

i guess i just wanted to make sure it's an accurate impression that they'll be taking into account that what id be specializing in isn't as tied to those courses

cuz im not rly worried about proving my bonafides for set theory stuff, that stuff I'm conversant enough in to at least prove im not a fraud lol

[cosmic magnet]

This depends on the nature of the prelims

Some graduate schools have prelims which go over topics which you should know before entering but some cover graduate topics solely

[void horizon]

https://ww3.math.ucla.edu/admissions/

here's information on ucla's phd admissions process

https://ww3.math.ucla.edu/qualifying-exam-dates/

ucla's qualifying exams have a reputation for being very difficult (especially the analysis qual)

[paper granite]

Yeah one of my profs in UG is analyst who did his PhD and his early career at UCLA and that man always had some crazy expectations and set tough exams. Great lecturer though, really nice guy, but it does seem to produce that culture

[rich roost]

Hi

[scarlet barn]

How much does it hurt me not to take the GRE

[blissful crystal]

well for one u cant apply to schools that require it, notably like ucla or berkeley

but otherwise from what ive read is that it can help a decent bit if youre from an unknown school

[scarlet barn]

I am signing up for rn

mainly because I am hoping it will offset my gpa

[real vessel]

how relevant is GPA for grad applications?

[scarlet barn]

It is something they look at?

[real vessel]

i had like a 4.0 but it was also not at a super relevant school. in CS too rather than math, technically

*in undergraad

[scarlet barn]

I mean they do care about your performance in undergrad

[blissful crystal]

simply put yea

[real vessel]

well ig the 4.0 can only help, or at worst be neutral if it's only a minor consideration

[agile shuttle]

That the test is worth it?

[blissful crystal]

no i was answering this

[agile shuttle]

They’re both me lol

[blissful crystal]

that yes they consider your undergrad performance, gpa, etc but yk they also consider everything else so

oh

well ye thats what ive seen anyways

good test score could maybe offset a lower gpa probably but like not a crazy low one yk

[agile shuttle]

I have two stains rn but everything else has been fine and that’s what Im worried about. :/

[agile shuttle]

I’m in the 3.2 range rn and if I’ll be in the 3.3 if I do well this sem

So like I’m just really trying to gain how marginal it would be for me

[blissful crystal]

I would probably take it to offset that gpa

[tacit lark]

A 4.0 should help but your coursework matters a lot

[blissful crystal]

or try anyways

[agile shuttle]

Okay now I’m conflicted :,). I’ve had people tell me that it will and will not do much. If I got a perfect or even just a high score on it would it be equivalent to a 3.4-3.5 range gpa?

[blissful crystal]

i hesitate to say equivalent but yes a very good score could show the schools that you do indeed have a solid understanding of undergraduate math. but also as someone else here said gpa is only one part of your entire app

[agile shuttle]

That’s fair

[tacit lark]

I think getting a really good score on the math gre could help a lot. It isnt equivalent to a gpa because they measure different things. It could tell them that you at least know the basics well and have potential but might be lazy or whatever.

[mossy niche]

the mgre tells schools how good your lower div math is

[scarlet barn]

Yeah because like 50% of the exam is like Calculus

[scarlet barn]

:,) right

[empty bridge]

What is a good website to look at rankings of schools in the US?

[delicate scroll]

If I (4th year UG) withdraw from a graduate class (smooth manifolds) that I am taking this semester, will I be extremely cooked? I am worried that this will send the message to programs that “this student can not handle graduate level coursework”

[limber zephyr]

I'm not well-equipped to give advice, but am wondering what the alternative would be. Failing the class? Not having time to do well in other classes?

[scarlet barn]

What does your class load look like?

[delicate scroll]

Numerical, Stochastic processes, topics in applied math, writing gen ed, smooth manifolds

[delicate scroll]

Yeah i was thinking that the alternatives would be worse

[scarlet barn]

Do you feel like you’re following the content? How have homework and exams been?

Do you think you’ll need it in the future for what you want to do?

[delicate scroll]

Smooth manifolds? Idk, chances are I’ll have to take topology in grad school anyway.

[limber zephyr]

Well sort of what Casey was getting at what are things looking like now? Are you failing or just looking at a C? Etc.

If it's a withdrawal

[delicate scroll]

It will be on my transcript

[limber zephyr]

App deadline?

[scarlet barn]

I’m asking because if you like it and you’ll have to retake any, I would ride it out if it wont hurt your gpa or if you think it’ll benefit to have the knowledge

Most of them are after final grades are due at most schools

Like a lot of 15th deadlines

[delicate scroll]

@wet ruin @limber zephyr my guess is that I could barely pass SM if I stay in. My other classes are ok now but obviously I’d do better in them if I dropped SM.

[limber zephyr]

Oh that app dealine lol

Retroactive withdrawal 😛

But that requires medical reasons or exceptional circumstances obviously just joking around

[scarlet barn]

If you arent psyched about the class I’d say go ahead and drop it

[delicate scroll]

I think it’s equally as interesting as any other area, I don’t really know what I want to specialize in at this point

[limber zephyr]

Are you taking other graduate courses?

[delicate scroll]

Numerical analysis

The graduate version of it

[scarlet barn]

I mean I’m taking smooth manifolds rn and kind of struggling with it as well but like I really want to learn it and it’s the only hard course Im taking rn for math

[limber zephyr]

I figured XD

[scarlet barn]

Vector Bundles go brrrrrrr

[delicate scroll]

Yeah it took me a while to wrap my head around how Lee defines the tangent space

[blissful crystal]

why do u say that?

as in y retake topology

[delicate scroll]

Alg topo

[blissful crystal]

oh that’s different lol, i see

[delicate scroll]

I don’t actually know

[lethal lynx]

Statements of Purpose for MS are useless

I'm paying you, if I have the GPA and research, let me in

[tame sundial]

dont most grad programs make you retake the pillars

[lethal lynx]

Writing these stupid antiquated ways of deciphering whos "Fit for the challenge of an MS"

give the PhD's more writing they love it (or will learn to) /rant over

[scarlet barn]

Point set is really only interested in defining what a topology is and generalizing continuity

Algebraic Topology is basically using category theory to make a topological question an algebraic one in some sense

Like instead what can I say about these topological spaces, what can I say about these groups and extracting info from that.

[delicate scroll]

I “skipped” point set it’s boring

Joke

I self studied it to get into smooth manifolds

[tacit lark]

A C in a grad class is failing

[lethal lynx]

You still get grades? I thought it was pass/fail

Like I was expecting 2 exams

mid term and final

and GL

[tacit lark]

In grad classes? Yes you get grades.

Its also common to have homework and maybe a project depending the the course and school

[glacial cedar]

In my masters, all of my classes are cross listed with undergrad classes, just with different exams and modified homeworks

but that’s CS

[tacit lark]

Ya it depends on the uni

Mit does this for many courses

[blissful crystal]

i was wondering like how u takin manifolds if u need topology but makes sense

[blissful crystal]

uhh i think? unless u can pass the qualifying exams. but i imagine a grad top sequence is like not point set top lol or like it goes through point set top in a month max

prob depends on school tho so idk

[delicate scroll]

my school’s ug topology class never runs

[blissful crystal]

ah rip

my schools top class had like 8 students enrolled lol im surprised it isnt canceled

[cosmic magnet]

I got a no-credit grade for a grad class somehow albeit this being in my last sem of undergrad when I was completely checked out

I do not recommend this whatsoever

[tame sundial]

at my school it is

im in undergrad but taking the grad topology course and its pointset, covering spaces, and fundamental group

[blissful crystal]

for a whole sem?

[tame sundial]

uhh lemme get the syllabus

[blissful crystal]

i mean that makes sense

[tame sundial]

i mean were using munkres

i guess thats a good indicator of what were covering

[blissful crystal]

yea yea i mean thats standard

ye ur prob right, i was js saying cuz if hes doing manifolds then he woulda alrdy done this class and presumably would be able to pass a top qual, which i assume means u dont need it anymore

[tacit lark]

I guess thats more typically for an ug class

[tame sundial]

tbf i go to my state school

its the best for math where i live but still a lot of grads coming in dont have a super crazy background

[tacit lark]

I went to a shitty state school

[blissful crystal]

ye same in my state school, the grad top class covers the same but its just covering it very quickly

[tacit lark]

Wouldnt be surprised if the grad version taught the same thing at my old uni

[tame sundial]

the undergrad topology course here is only point set

and as i said grad top is that plus covering spaces and fundamental group

so at the very least it is more advanced content

[tacit lark]

Good point. We didnt cover all of munkres

[tame sundial]

were doing all of munkres except the heavily analytic stuff

mainly bc most of that is covered either in undergrad analysis 2 or the grad analysis sequence

[tacit lark]

That makes sense

[limber zephyr]

oh really? Like, in terms of how it's viewed or is it actually?

Thanks for letting me know

[shell kindle]

PhD students in the US are required to maintain a >3.0 gpa to remain in good standing

So a B is borderline failing

[limber zephyr]

whaaaat

I'm in the us and had no clue wow

[tacit lark]

Yep a B doesn’t look good

[mossy niche]

a B for a grad student outside the field of research means you did what you were supposed to

a B as an undergrad looks kinda bad

[shell kindle]

I would not say that

[tacit lark]

Really course dependent. In my experience you have to do very bad to get a B.

[mossy niche]

multiple friends got a C in measure theory and i got a B, legitimately might be a grad school killer

i was average

[glacial cedar]

I only had one 4.0 semester in undergrad (A- is my worst enemy), but 4.0 grad seems kinda managable if you do 2 courses + research, or 3 courses + no research

[blissful crystal]

y would a B as an undergrad look bad if the content is supposedly harder? ofc an A is preferred but it sounds like ur saying a B in a grad class looks worse than a B in say the equivalent ug class?

[shell kindle]

Yes because professors grade easier in grad classes

[blissful crystal]

not my experience 🫣

good to know that’s how it’s viewed though

[mossy niche]

this is only true for certain professors, and is especially true for non core courses

[blissful crystal]

yea i imagine in a topics course its easy to get an A but like in core algebra/topology/analysis?

[mossy niche]

highly depends on course format as well

as an undergrad, grad algebra was easy to get an A because everything could be take home, but my current algebra course is 100% exam grade

[blissful crystal]

makes sense, mine is like 75% midterm/final and then the rest weekly psets

makes ug look like cake im ngl

actually its bc my ug algebra was take home exam lol so its the opposite to urs

[tame sundial]

Oof

My undergrad analysis 2 is not that easy

[mossy niche]

undergrad classes are usually nontrivial even if the content is much easier tho

[unkempt willow]

@blissful crystal calmate

[blissful crystal]

go do ur hw bruh

[foggy prism]

how much time does a first year phd student spend on learning all the relevant areas of math before doing their research? How much knowledge does a supervisor expect beyond the basic undergrad courses?

[half meadow]

If you're in a direct-from-undergrad PhD program, you should probably expect to spend close to full time the first year on learning existing stuff, and very little creative research.

[mossy niche]

your research presumably has more prerequisites than just qual stuff

it is still probably 1-2 years of learning existing stuff even if you pass out of the quals

[smoky jetty]

Depends on the field

My first year I was doing TCS research but I’m a ways away from doing math research I think

[half meadow]

Yeah, the research frontier in CS is more readily accessible than in math.

Back when I started university I thought I was going to be a mathematician, but I switched topics towards the end of undergrad because I found I could at least state some research questions in CS, but had no idea what the relevant questions in math were even about.
Got a few publications out of my M.Sc. work too (and to be frank, I think they're more original and impressive than what I eventually turned in as a PhD thesis).

[lone vessel]

i would say much much more accessible, even my friends in TCS are able to do cutting edge research after only about a semester or two of taking classes

[tacit lark]

eh this is an overstatement. Most undergrads are not doing very interesting research in TCS. Even if it is still research. Its similar to math REUs. There are plenty of areas of math that have problems accessible to undergrads/early grad students.

[lone vessel]

fair enough

[teal gorge]

Can I ask my letter writer for advice on a personal statement/statement of intent?

[foggy prism]

thank yall for the answers! i was just somewhat afraid that the undergrad classes i took are not enough and that maybe ppl are already hyperfocused on one subject before phd (also that my interests are not narrowed down yet).

[blissful crystal]

a professor told me it is quite rare for students to know what they want to do in grad school when applying. Many have an idea, or perhaps a small list of subjects, but in general rarely one specific topic and almost never a specific question. They also said many people change what they decide to focus on/what they like in grad school. Basically, its okay if you dont know for sure yet

[paper granite]

Of course! Ideally this person should be a supervisor or tutor of some description anyway, at the very least an academic you have an connection with, so they’re the natural person to speak with

[foggy prism]

if thats the case how much does the "whats ur area of interest (select up to 2 or 3)" and "list your preferred supervisor" questions on grad application actually matter then?

[weary acorn]

It seems vaguely true to me (though idk how well my experience generalizes).

I think it's also going to vary some amount based on region, specific schools and personal context.

Given that some places require a masters degree to apply to grad programs and students who have done more math will have more well developed senses of what they like.

But I know a fair amount of people who went into grad programs knowing vaguely what fields they were interested in but not to a high level of specificity.

I think at my uni those questions actually end up determining who reviews your application (partially) rather than being a do or die component of your application decision.

So, for example, everybody in my cohort did an interview and that interview typically consisted of the grad program director, the dept head and one faculty member related to what we said our interests were.

[inner grove]

I think in Europe, Asia, and other places it's actually quite normal to get into a PhD program with the intent to work with a specific professor on a project. I'm sure lots of different countries vary a lot. However in the US, this is mostly not the case. I would think of selecting what you're interested in as just a way to say what faculty are interested. You don't want to name a faculty in your statement that's no longer accepting students. But having a broad-stroke of "I'm really interested in geometry-topology" or stating what you find interesting is just a chance for you to share (and convince) the grad admissions people to let you in

[analog cypress]

is this even if we took a lot of grad level classes in undergrad?

[paper granite]

Field dependent but probably yeah, I cant imagine theres many recent grads out there who have a research level understanding of say homotopy theory

[half meadow]

That will be mostly guesswork from my side, but the general vibe I get is that there are several years of study between a completed typical undergrad curriculum and most points on the research frontier, and it will be limited how much of all that can realistically be shifted into undergrad.

[analog cypress]

i see

also usually with phd, is it that we're taking classes while writing our thesis while also teaching a class and/or assisting our supervisor with research?

[paper granite]

It depends on the uni and the country. From what I understand its not uncommon to take some courses in your first year then move onto just seminars etc and work on your thesis. Some people may have teaching responsibilities too, which could be optional or could be required

[analog cypress]

also another issue i'm having is deciding between these three paths:

1. probably theory and theoretical ml
2. combinatorics + graph theory + theoretical cs
3. computer vision

how feasible would it be to either do both the first two or the first and the third?

cause i always hear that i should specialize as much as possible

[tacit lark]

Idk if you should specialize as much as possible but its hard to get to a place where you can consistently contribute to multiple fields.

There are people that do 1 and 2 but those areas are not disjoint.

[analog cypress]

are graph theory and theoretical cs oftentimes grouped together?

cause graph theory is the foundation behind the theory behind graph algorithms in cs right?

[tacit lark]

Uh idk what you mean by grouped together

[analog cypress]

like if i did both, would that be considered one field or two

cause both are closely linked

sorry if this is a strange/dumb question

[teal gorge]

Thanks!

[tacit lark]

Idrk what your question is. But, It depends on what you work on. Plenty of people in tcs would say theyre interested in graph theory and combinatorics. Idk how many would claim theyre graph theorists.

The fields have a lot in common but they focus on different things.

[teal gorge]

To what extent are master's applicants in Europe expected to know what subject they're interested in compared with in Canada/US? How fast are you expected to specialise?

[analog cypress]

oh i see

so i would likely have to go with one or the other in order to be successful

the issue is i really can't decide haha

and i'm running out of time

cause in 3 years i'll be applying for grad, but i have planned classes in pretty much everything lol

[tacit lark]

Why do you have to decide soon?

[tacit lark]

Idk bc i dont know you. It is possible to work on both math and tcs, but generally the math problems you work on are related to the tcs ones and vice versa.

[analog cypress]

well it's not a massive deal if i don't, but it would help cause then i can take more grad level classes in the field i'll be pursuing rather than having them more spread out

[analog cypress]

i see, so it's still possible

[tacit lark]

As an undergrad you should try to get a broad education. If possible, take advanced ug and grad classes in many fields.

[analog cypress]

yeah at the moment i'm taking probability theory and combinatorics at the undergrad level

it's funny how i became interested in both

for probability i just took it to fulfill the stats class requirement for cs major, and then for combinatorics i switched into it cause discrete maths was boring lol

and i don't regret either decision one bit

[paper granite]

You should know your broad kinda theme but not exactly what you want to do, on my statements I mentioned that I’m broadly interested in algebra, particularly noncommutative rings, but also in algebraic topology and homological algebra and then gave some more specific examples of stuff I’ve looked at

from what I’ve gathered from speaking to other people in my course that’s pretty standard, most people are into “applied PDEs” or “algebra with a number theoretic flavour” stuff like that

[teal gorge]

Noncommutative rings, AT, and homological algebra sounds pretty specific to me 😅

Although I'm thinking of saying pretty much exactly "algebra with a number theoretic flavour" anyways

[mossy niche]

not really

[teal gorge]

I guess everything's relative. Every professor I've spoken to has said they don't really know how it works in Europe, but they have the general impression that (a) you need to specialise faster and (b) you have less freedom to change your mind, whereas I've met grad students here who did a master's in calculus of variations and their phd in algebraic geometry

[paper granite]

This happens, a PhD student in number theory at my uni did his masters on regularity for PDEs. I’m sure there’s other more drastic changes too. While it is true that generally in Europe people will be a bit more specialised than in people in the US (on average) you don’t need to know exactly what you want to do and there is room to change

Like you should have a rough idea by the time you’re getting to PhD level, if you’ve never touched algebra and all of a sudden you’re applying to work on some problem in AG you might struggle, but it’s not completely inflexible and it’s going to vary from place to place, there’s still CDTs here and they’re naturally more flexible

[teal gorge]

Interesting. What country is this if I can ask? I've also been cautioned that things can vary a lot between schools or countries (and by others that things are similar, generally following the bologna standard nowadays)

Centre for Doctoral Training?

[paper granite]

I’m in the UK, the system here is a little different to a lot of mainland Europe but I still know enough people who have went to or came from Europe and I’m looking there myself just now so I’ve got a decent idea of how it goes

But yes things can vary a lot between unis and countries in Europe

[paper granite]

Yeah, there’s like a hundred other names for them but that general structure is starting to become more common here now, though the classic apply to a professor for a specific problem thing does still exist

[teal gorge]

I've never heard of those; I'll have to look into them

[teal gorge]

On that topic, are you able to comment on how important it is to find someone who's willing to supervise you before a master's (or a PhD)?

In Canada, my understanding is that it's not explicitly necessary but it is helpful for admission, especially at schools with larger depts

[half meadow]

If we're talking masters studies, they tend (in my European experience) to be a lot more streamlined with centralized admission procedures than getting hired as a PhD student, so having contact with a prospective supervisor is comparatively less important.
Of course, having a supportive contact on the inside to help you navigate the local bureaucracy is never a bad thing, but on the flip side, a random professor in such a place might not consider it their responsibility to recruit/attract foreign masters students.

[teal gorge]

Just to be clear, you're saying that the admissions process is more streamlined for MSc programs than for PhD programs, and not that this is more the case in Europe compared to Canada/US?

[half meadow]

The first of those.

[paper granite]

For masters, doesn’t matter, you’ll find someone when you get there. For PhDs reaching out can definitely be helpful and in some cases essential, but as I said there are more places moving towards the American grad school, CDT style system where that’s less important to do

You’ll just have to look and see what’s offered. In either case I think reaching out is a good idea, especially if it’s someone you’d really like to work with, to make sure they’re actually available

But the answer to a lot of this, for PhDs at least, is that it’s going to change so much from department to department that you’ll just have to look at the individual schools

[half meadow]

(Continental?) Europe generally considers "PhD student" (post MSc) to be a job you're hired for, and there it matters a lot who will be funding your salary. If a professor has a grant he/she can fund PhD students with, they have a lot of say on who gets hired into those positions -- on the other hand, universities often also fund some PhD students out of their general budget, and then there tends to be more of a set application process with fixed deadlines and some amount of central decisionmaking.

[paper granite]

Where I did my UG has 2 CDTs and also people who just advertise their own projects, it’s just going to depend a lot

[teal gorge]

This is very helpful. Thanks @half meadow @paper granite

[visual lagoon]

Don't worry about specialization right now. The most important thing you should do is try to form relationships with professors so that you'll have people that can vouch for you when you end up applying to graduate school.

[analog cypress]

also how important is the major

cause i'm a cs major, but i'm leaning towards a phd in math

though that's something i still haven't quite decided on, cause i like machine learning and computer vision as well

[visual lagoon]

Why not do a major in math then?

It's going to be hard to get into a math Ph.D. without a really solid foundation in math

[analog cypress]

that would mean i'd have to do a whole 4 semesters of a language 😭

i can thank my uni for that lol

[analog cypress]

i'm still taking a lot of math classes

[visual lagoon]

But are you planning on taking the entire undergraduate math curriculum and not getting the major...?

[analog cypress]

i'd say half and half between math and cs

[analog cypress]

i'd have to check, but it could be

i'm doing a math minor though

i just don't want to spend time on learning a language cause that would take up a lot of time

time that could be spent on math...

[visual lagoon]

You have to remember you're competing for spots against people who have exhausted all the math classes at their undergraduate institutions, done REUs over the summer, done independent reading with professors, etc.

[analog cypress]

lol

[analog cypress]

oh yeah true

i mean, i'll be doing a lot of that too though

i have grad level math classes planned starting sophomore year

and might do paper readings this summer

i think i'll have even more than a lot of math majors. i just prefer sticking to cs because it's in the engineering department, for which i have all gen eds done

whereas for the department with the math major, i'd have to take a language and some other gen eds

[analog cypress]

how does independent paper reading work

is it like you go through some papers with the professor and then assist them with research?

[blissful crystal]

independent reading is just the term for when you read a textbook on an advanced topic and then usually meet with a professor weekly or something to discuss what you learned, ask questions, etc. Basically they just help facilitate u reading an advanced topic

doesnt really have anything to do with research typically (although it can be in preparation for research), undergrad research or REUs are something different

[analog cypress]

oh

interesting

so do people cold email for this, or is it only if professor puts up an offer

i would think second cause seems strange to cold email about this, but not sure

[blissful crystal]

in my experience u just ask but sometimes theres programs (at my school anyway) where professors or TAs offer doing an independent reading

i would go up and ask in person for sure, unless youve taken a class w them in the past or something and they have reason to know u

independent readings are useful because well 1 u learn a new advanced topic and 2 the professor often gets to know u and can be a possible letter writer

[analog cypress]

oh then i think maybe near the end of the semester i can ask my probability and combinatorics professors if they're running independent readings

would be cool especially because probability professor does research in algebraic topology

[split lily]

I'm doing a PhD scholarship application, I've detailed my relevant undergraduate/postgraduate projects and the specfic area that I'm interested in pursuing for PhD in a lot of detail given their requirements for the application

The last thing I mention is a brief paragraph that details my latest experience of a research internship I did, where I actually worked on new research. However, given the word limit, I've refrained from discussing the mathematical details completely since it's in an area of pure mathematics that I'm not looking to pursue for PhD at all (sorry for the ambiguity, I don't want to give away too many information) so I don't think it's worth explaining any of the content since it's completely irrelevant to what I want to do next -- however I have highlighted how I've now actually done current research and that's confirmed to me I want to do a PhD.

Can anyone think of a sentence I could add which very quickly shows why I'm not outlining it without looking 'bad' in a sense? Like before I had "despite [irrelevant area] being unrelated to [my area]," as a bridge but thought it sounded less-positive and detracted from the point I was making.

[shell kindle]

If you're close to the word count limit, then no need to mention anything

[split lily]

I can always cut words

I just really feel I should just add one small line to explain why I haven't detailed the research I did during the internship -- Since to someone who isn't in the maths world, where isn't as obvious to them that these two areas are very unrelated, I feel they'll find it weird that I've kind of 'avoided' talking about it if I don't

[split lily]

hope that helps ^

[scarlet barn]

What is a good GRE Score

[shell kindle]

Math GRE or general GRE

[blissful crystal]

or a better question whats a good enough math gre score where u can submit it to score-required top/higher tier universities and not have ur application dropped immediately

[wind plinth]

i would also like to know
i know that CU boulder likes to see 550 or higher and Berkeley wants you in the top 50th percentile, but what about the others

[blissful crystal]

true, although i feel like 50th percentile is low for berkeley. prob is secretly higher

[foggy prism]

also would like to know whats a good score to submit for "optional math gre", i suspect it is 900+

[blissful crystal]

i suspect the same 💔

[worthy peak]

I'm in Canada. How much does "brand name" matter to (potentially) US/UK/Asian universities taking on PhD students coming out of a Canadian MSc.

not necessarily in math could be something adjacent

[mossy niche]

you suspect correctly

[foggy prism]

prayge for a 900🙏

[dire brook]

Does "basic degree" mean undergrad equivalent?

So if I only have a UK Master's I still need the TOEFL/IELTS?

Since for some reason the last 2 bullet points are US only

[paper granite]

I would presume so, it’s probably worth reaching out to someone in their admissions though, I would imagine that a UK masters should suffice

Especially given where I think you did you masters

[dire brook]

Yeah, I'll try. Though it seems most unis have something like that unfortunately so it's likely I'll still have to take it. 😔
At least I can just do it online

[paper granite]

Yeah it’s still rather annoying, rather not have to sit pointless tests I imagine

[cosmic magnet]

I know of two people who got into Berkeley and Stanford respectively last cycle but they were also at the top of my year in the graduating math class (strong undergrad research + many grad classes taken) so they presumably didn't need to take the mGRE

[hard pebble]

from what i've heard, if you did a well known undergrad with strong enough grades to be competitive for these types of schools, the GRE essentially can only hurt you

[tight viper]

im abit confused about when is the correct time that I should be applying. I am currently in my final year sem 1, my results for this sem come out mid-dec and in my final year sem 2, the results for that final sem come out next year mid-june. And graduation is officially in July

Does it make sense for me to be applying for fall intakes now in the US(starting around september)? or am i suppose to be applying for the next cycle instead.

[tacit lark]

You should be applying now

[tight viper]

thanks for the reply

[paper granite]

Yeah it’s a little annoying how early you have to do it, I’ll be applying to stuff in the coming weeks and I’ll be lucky if I’ve even picked my masters thesis yet. Yes I’ll have my UG stuff to show, but I’ll have literally nothing for this step yet

Just kinda how it goes

[tight viper]

yes I would rather apply post graduation, alot of my higher level mods and my yearlong final year project would not be included if i applied now

but i would have to wait a full year since the places im looking at basically only have one intake in the fall

[paper granite]

You certainly can take a year out if that’s what youd prefer, but Unis know about it though so there will be some acknowledgment of it made

[grand trellis]

What level of undergraduate research do schools like Princeton/MIT/Harvard/etc. usually expect?

[mossy niche]

depends on the field

[tame sundial]

i mean "a lot" is the blanket answer i imagine

since theyre high up there

[cosmic magnet]

The highest in fact so just plan on maxing out whatever you can

[void horizon]

https://www.logicmatters.net/2025/10/16/two-ph-d-studentships/

Briefly, Thomas Forster tells me that he has acquired funding for two studentships in Wellington NZ (a delightful place!) for students who want to do a Ph.D. in set theory, in particular working with him on NF or perhaps some adjacent topic. He has an intriguing page of possible thesis topics here. Please spread the word if you have suitable students — and for more details, email Thomas.

[tacit lark]

Idk but you can look at the websites of graduate students there you may be able to find out what they did as undergrads. not sure its productive though.

[tame sundial]

Itd be better to look at the most recent admitted grad students due to the increased competition

[blissful crystal]

but where would u look at that

[worthy peak]

I assume it's fine if I'm going to another Canadian school for PhD (for example)

Also I don't intend to take the MGRE

[scarlet barn]

What GRE score does UCLA and UC Berkley look for

[wind plinth]

taking MGRE on Friday. Do not feel very prepared. I'm confident I can clear Boulder's 550 point threshold, but not berkeley's 50th percentile one

[scarlet barn]

Omg :,)

I was thinking about signing up to take it on Saturday or Sunday

[wind plinth]

where i live there wasnt any spots available on the actual weekend

also im seeing my favorite band friday night so would have been a bad idea to take it the next morning LOL

[spiral violet]

I’ve heard >80th percentile, depends on the paper what exactly that translates to from a points perspective maybe minimum around 800/820 points

[spiral violet]

For this

Yeah unfortunately

[wind plinth]

hopefully my research experience and very strong connection can overcome a bad mgre

if not im not too miffed bc berkeley is not my top choice anyway

JHU is and they're not requiring any test scores

[mossy niche]

in retrospect submitting sub 80 was definitely suicidal

[cosmic magnet]

You don't have to submit the mGRE if it wasn't so good

[wind plinth]

even when required in the application??? that doesnt seem right

[tacit lark]

not sure i agree

[cosmic magnet]

Yeah, I can't say about that

[tacit lark]

even if its required you dont have to submit it

nobody is forcing you to submit it

they might ignore your application without it

[wind plinth]

well nobody's forcing anyone to do anything but clearly that's not a useful fact here

[tame sundial]

Good luck with boulder!!! (sko buffs)

[wind plinth]

thamk ❤️

[scarlet barn]

Things feel so Joever

[blissful crystal]

facts

[lone vessel]

<@&268886789983436800>

[wispy sage]

I know recommendation letters are generally supposed to be from professors in the math department, but if I am applying to a master's with a logic concentration and the closest thing my university has to a logician is a professor in the philosophy department that I've taken a "philosophy of math" class with, is that a suitable person to ask for a recommendation letter?

[shell kindle]

Why wouldn't they be suitable

[wispy sage]

Made a typo, they're a philosophy professor and not a math professor

[tame sundial]

Pretty sure philosophy and mathematical logic have fairly close ties but that could just be specific to my uni

[shell kindle]

Ok philosophy is still quite suitable if you are interested in logic

[mossy niche]

there are many places where logicians are only in the philosophy or cs departments

[smoky jetty]

One of my rec letters was a guy in aerospace you'll be fine

[paper granite]

Both the uni where I did my UG and where I’m going my masters only offers logic in the philosophy department

[twin sedge]

Well what if you did amazing research are they gonna let go of you for a couple percents?

[tacit lark]

probably not

[undone yacht]

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/21/fas-phd-admissions-cuts/

[tacit lark]

gg

[polar turtle]

i have the math GRE tomorrow :D

time to learn diff eq

[shell kindle]

woe

[foggy prism]

just the ay''+by'+y=0 and converse of clairaut's theorem is sufficient also my experience is that my oct exam was extremely easy compared to the September one

almost feel like they give easier exams the more money u put in, p2w

[polar turtle]

good to know thanks :)

i applied late so this was the only exam slot left

[tight viper]

hi, i think im overly stressing abit about application details but asking a prof to write lor for 7 applications is okay right?

[shell kindle]

Yes

[tight viper]

okay thank you

[scarlet barn]

waif wut ;-;

[polar turtle]

i mean

theres a testing site near my campus

that was just the only oen

for tha tlocation

[mossy niche]

my letter writers had to do something around 25, and then im asking them again this year for more lmao

[wind plinth]

25 schools!?

[wind plinth]

no literally like
diff eq and linear/abstract alg are gonna murder me
everything else i can do pretty reliably

[mossy niche]

no but schools arent the only thing that require letters

[wind plinth]

mm true

alas i already have a masters so i cant do GRFP
altho they seem to allow folks with bachelors-masters which is what I did so.... maybe i can??? i read the rules the other day it wasnt super clear

[mossy niche]

cant

[wind plinth]

im gonna be broke as fuck man 😭

[blissful crystal]

i mean ur phd program should be funded

definitely dont go to one thats not 😭 unless ur crazy rich ig

[mossy niche]

well, you have to get into one first

[blissful crystal]

true

[wind plinth]

yeah im only looking at funded ones but like

the funding is 30k a year if ur lucky 😭

[blissful crystal]

no yea its ass true

phd student = brokeness

[wind plinth]

right now im living in a whole house completely alone, savoring it before i need to live in a shoebox with 3 roommates for 6 years

[mossy niche]

i remember looking at my 23k offer

[tacit lark]

i got 19k offer from UIC

[mossy niche]

yeah uic is actually atrocious

[tacit lark]

something like that

[wind plinth]

chicago is affordable but not THAT affordable

i hope UPitt gives a decent one if I get in there

pittsburgh's sposed to be very affordable i hear

[tacit lark]

on their website is says like 23.5k (https://www.mathematics.pitt.edu/graduate/admissions-and-financial-aid)

[wind plinth]

ok that's not horrific, obviously will need one or two roomies though

sigh

[mossy niche]

if you can get an offer, private will almost always be much better than public

union benefits are common as well

[wind plinth]

yeah thats true... all my previous degrees are from private schools tho i kind of want to go to a public one for my phd

[mossy niche]

for what reason

[tacit lark]

ya that is an odd statement

[mossy niche]

i want to hear your reasoning because i cannot think of a single reason

its not like you're paying for your education anymore

[wind plinth]

i dont know if i really have one beyond like. id just feel a bit weird if ALL of my higher education was from private institutions. maybe its just my politics messing with something

[tacit lark]

🤨

[wind plinth]

my list leans mostly public i think.
JHU, UCB, UCI, UTA, ASU, U of Arizona, UW Seattle, WashU, Rice, UPitt

that's austin not arlington for UT lol

[smoky jetty]

JHU is public?

[tacit lark]

no

[wind plinth]

no

that's my whole list

[smoky jetty]

ah

[wind plinth]

mostly public but not entirely

[smoky jetty]

ok public vs private aside that's a small list

[wind plinth]

yeah not many places i found that had what i wanted

[smoky jetty]

very small especially in current climate

[tacit lark]

should apply to 50+ nowadays. Apply to every school in the US.

[smoky jetty]

I applied to like 16 or 17 places

[visual lagoon]

50+???

[smoky jetty]

cost is alot, apply for waivers that you can find

[wind plinth]

my wallet shrieked at the thought of all those app fees

[smoky jetty]

50 is crazy but 20 is not unreasonable

look all the app fees suck but you can get waivers for things like doing REUs

[wind plinth]

i think ive only found one fee waiver im actually elligible for XD

[tacit lark]

if i was applying this cycle id apply to 20+

[smoky jetty]

also it's the next 6 years of your life

[visual lagoon]

I had a friend who applied to 21. His reasoning was that he estimated his chances of getting into a program as 5%, so by applying to 20, he'd get 100%. And then, he wanted above 100% for the peace of mind.

[wind plinth]

never did an REU
not in any honors society
not in any marginalized group/org associated to those statuses

[smoky jetty]

if that is how they do probability I hesitate to ask if they got into any places

[visual lagoon]

I'm pretty sure he was joking

[smoky jetty]

so am I lol

[mossy niche]

this was exactly my reasoning

[wind plinth]

i have a stats masters, i can tell you with certainty, every event is 50/50. it either happens or it doesnt

[smoky jetty]

ok at the least CMU has free application, can't hurt

[visual lagoon]

CMU

[tacit lark]

honors society doesnt matter. Not being in a marginalized group helps.

[wind plinth]

but CMU doesn't have enough people doing what i want

[smoky jetty]

for being eligible for fee waivers it helps

[mossy niche]

by not enough, do you mean, how many

[wind plinth]

i looked for places with at least 3 people in or very close to what i want to do (minimal surfaces)
I think CMU had like 1 and a half

[mossy niche]

because where im at, there is 1 analyst, and i didnt know that there was only 1 analyst

[mossy niche]

this is also my current interests

[wind plinth]

but there's just one guy doing it? and no one else like even close to that?

[visual lagoon]

Switch to ML

[mossy niche]

no, there is only one classical analyst

[wind plinth]

o

[mossy niche]

there are far more people doing minimal surfaces

[wind plinth]

i seee

[mossy niche]

i did not realize when i applied for analysis though

[blissful crystal]

wait what makes private better than public here. just better salary?

[vast rain]

Should I make a second account for my graduate school application if the first site isn't available from the university I originally applied through?

[scarlet barn]

I would call them and ask

[hardy crow]

Chat how do you write a personal statement

or a statement of purpose, any advice would be great

[tacit lark]

Thats too vague

Have you looked up advice on google? What you should write depends a lot on your person situation. I think it helps to read some examples and read general advice online. Then think about what you want to convey and how. Then ask people for feedback.

[wispy sage]

Will schools consider automatically consider you for their master's program if they reject you from the PhD program? I'm straight out of undergrad and know I want to do a PhD but don't want to put all my eggs in one basket and get rejected from every grad school I apply to. I'm more than willing to get a master's first if it will help my eventual application to a PhD program

[tacit lark]

Not in general, but some school will.

[wind plinth]

when Rice (and other schools) asks for the list of math courses you've taken, do they really want a list of... ALL... the math courses ive taken? or is this an opportunity to highlight the ones that are most relevant to my interests/that i did particularly well in

[shell kindle]

All of them

[wind plinth]

understandable

[wind plinth]

should I count statistics couses as well?

[shell kindle]

Sometimes there is a field for non-math stem classes where you could put stats classes

If there is no other field and stats is relevant to your interests then yeah put them

[wind plinth]

word
thanks!

[timid peak]

can i talk ab GRFP app here?

[timid peak]

ah, ty

[young yoke]

np

[whole tartan]

Hello, I want to ask about research experience for pure math phd application. I am an international student and haven't really had research experience, even as an exposition.

But, I have been associated to a local math institution whether I am taught advanced math well above my undergrad curriculum and they will defiantly write a strong lor...

I am worried that no written evidence might be a hurdle.

Should I be worried about my chances of getting an offer...

[timid peak]

An international classmate in my cohurt got in without research experience, they did a masters however, ofc they had a thesis.

[whole tartan]

Ah im an undergrad tho...I will be writing an undergrad thesis/some manuscript but it'll be after December or so.

[timid peak]

oh, then idk. i got in as an undergrad, but i was doing research and im not a international student

[whole tartan]

Could you give an idea as to how that research was structured? Like, were you assisting a prof or independently. Also, did you have some written work ready while applying.

[timid peak]

well, i did two reus. and i looked for someone to do a thesis with, after that i became a bit more brave in asking to work wiith professors

but no, i dindtv have anything out when applying, i jsut said in preperation even tho we werent that ahead

[whole tartan]

Oh thanks for the information. Does reu result in publication?

[timid peak]

its still in prep, the other is in arxiv

[whole tartan]

Oh then im in a similar position as well cuz

[whole tartan]

Okk thanks for the insights!! It was a great help

[timid peak]

[whole tartan]

Also one more thing

About these so called "safety schools". How do people pick them? Just based on rank?

[timid peak]

idk tbh, i guess so? i didnt

i just picked around my area, i wanted to stay close to family

[whole tartan]

Alright. Thanks for all the help 🫡

[foggy prism]

do top grad school toss your application to trash after seeing a gpa that's not 3.9 or 4.0?

also how much do recomm matter compared to gpa?

[wind plinth]

letters of rec might be the most important part honestly. maybe not THE most important but certainly more important than gpa

[foggy prism]

How much is being domestic relevant? Does being canadian give you a better chance compared to other internationals?

[wind plinth]

no idea

im american applying to american so

cant help there srry

[shell kindle]

No

[foggy prism]

good to hear 🔥

[glacial cedar]

Does anyone have any suggestions for east coast (ish) schools with good complexity theory profs that arent like top 20? Last year I only applied to schools in like the top 30 and my advisors want me to add more schools outside that range.

Right now I have Drexel, University of Rochester, UIC, and Boston College. Inside the top 30 I have Northeastern, UChicago, TTI Chicago, BU, and UMD

[cosmic magnet]

Have you checked the csrankings site? You can sort based on complexity theory

[glacial cedar]

yeah thats what Ive been using. I know a few professors names from papers and just being mentioned, but was hoping you guys would know more

[glacial cedar]

like once someone said that UPenn actually has a lot of complexity professors, but I only saw Anindya De on the website

[tacit lark]

most smaller schools do not have a lot of complexity theory. I also think rankings for CS are a bit weird. What complexity are you interested in? I dont view BU as having a lot of complexity. I feel like theyre much more algorithms, privacy, ML adjacent stuff.

[tacit lark]

Maybe Georgetown. They have https://golovnev.org.

[glacial cedar]

Im not entirely sure. I really liked my classes on constructive and foundational complexity theory, but those arent really active fields anymore. I also really like thinking about complexity of toy problems, which is what my current research is on.

[tacit lark]

what are "toy problems"

[glacial cedar]

super abstracted versions problems that are often turned into toys/games

like VLSI/PCB became the app flow free

[tacit lark]

maybe dartmouth too

[tacit lark]

i personally dont know anyone that does that sort of thing.

[glacial cedar]

yeah its not like a specific research interest, its mostly just a type of problem

I just find that if I have a way of visualizing/handling the problem I focus on it more

thank you though for the suggestions

[lone vessel]

umd has complexity people ?? this is news to me as an undergraduate interested in complexity at umd

[glacial cedar]

dude you have bill gasarch

[lone vessel]

i guess i should check csrankings then

[lone vessel]

yeah but afaik he’s not as active in complexity anymore

he mostly just teaches ramsey theory

[glacial cedar]

damn Lane didnt tell me that

guess ill remove him from my list

[lone vessel]

i’ll talk to some of his students to double check but the last thing i heard was that he’s not super active in modern complexity research

he still does do research tho

[cosmic magnet]

My undergrad has one or two big people working in complexity theory afaik

[glacial cedar]

oh thanks

[glacial cedar]

if you dont mind saying, where is that?

[main aspen]

I think uni systems that ask for your uni grades should have something like this https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/
number 1: “GPA is a meaningful concept that can reasonably be calculated at any uni”

[main aspen]

Ok so this is ETH Zürich
They basically give a section to fill out course names and “Grade (if available)”
But I’m not sure if that latter means like “Grade (but if you took this not for credit it’s fine you don’t need anything here)” or “Grade (and if you put nothing down, we expect the info later)”

[shell kindle]

If you audited something you can just pick Course Name (audited)

It is people who are reviewing these applications

[main aspen]

Got fed up figuring out which courses I could exactly list
Wrote an email
Let’s see what they say in the morning

[shell kindle]

I feel like you're overthinking this

[tacit lark]

definitely

i just wouldnt list audited courses

[wind plinth]

that's reassuring because i audited one course but it ended up as an unsuccessful audit because I had to quiet quit after a few weeks because i was overworked by my for-credit courseload that semester 😭

[mossy niche]

this is me with every single class with no exams

[wind plinth]

the worst part is
that class was measure theory
WHICH IS WHAT I WANT TO STUDY FOR MY PHD (geometric measure theory)

[mossy niche]

well, gmt is a whole different beast

[wind plinth]

true, but you can't learn that without regular measure theory first lol

[vestal swan]

this sounds like people from the MIT hardness group

though it's mostly the other way around; they study the complexity of games

[glacial cedar]

Yeah that’s what i mean

they study the games which are super abstracted versions of other problems

[vestal swan]

i'm not familiar with other research groups that do this kind of research

but you might want to look into the FUN conferences

https://sites.google.com/unipi.it/fun2024/

[glacial cedar]

Ooh that does look fun

[cosmic magnet]

You could apply to my current school. There's one prof working in geometric measure theory and there a few other analysts

[wind plinth]

👀

[paper granite]

Yeah I had this issue applying to Bonn, I think contacting them is the right call because I didn’t and I’m pretty sure that’s what fucked up my application (my rejection said there was an issue with my documents)

[main aspen]

Fortunately this was re one of my friends, and EPFL, not me
The ETH stuff is separate

[past axle]

just took the subj GRE today. No clue how I did, but if my ETS thingy for the test looks like this it won’t be sending any scores out without my choosing, right?

didn’t really prepare as much as I would’ve liked since this was a fairly last minute thing. Just want to make sure I don’t need to squirm over accidentally having done one of the “free” score sends

[wind plinth]

well that kinda sucked

[past axle]

Did you write the exam today too lol

[wind plinth]

yes

lets just say im definitely not gonna get into berkeley. irvine and boulder i might still have a shot at but not very confident

[past axle]

I wasn’t planning to take the gre at all originally lol

But I also went to a known quantity R1 public school, and work full time. But now since gov is shutdown in on furlough so I said fuck it

[wind plinth]

i literally chose my list so that none required it

and then berkeley said psych

[past axle]

My only one that kinda wants it is nyu

and that’s like

winning the lottery level odds for me lol

[wind plinth]

irvine wasnt originally on my list but connor mooney is too cool to pass up an opportunity to work with

[past axle]

im aiming for like Pitt range stuff mostly

[wind plinth]

boulder just wants you to do 550 or better which i think could have just happened

[past axle]

Pitt has a cool guy in fixed points

PSU has Bressan, etc

[wind plinth]

ayy pitts on my list too!

i wanna work w Schikorra

Lewicka also does cool stuff

but schikorra is doing exactly what im into

[past axle]

I like Lennard’s stuff

but that’s on a more pure angle too

I’m a little application inclined myself

[wind plinth]

seems cool

[past axle]

ye

decisionmaking models are cool

who knew control would be so interesting

[wind plinth]

i like the stuff thats right in the middle

controls and interface phenomena are neat to me

[past axle]

I like applications of functional analysis

[past axle]

They were asking some gnarly stuff on there man

I was genuinely surprised by a couple things I saw

[wind plinth]

why so many nasty integrals/derivatives 😭😭

the one algtop question made me happy though hahaha

[past axle]

I probably guessed for like 15-20 of them

I think if I’d had more time I would’ve been able to confidently answer 10 of those

but whatever

as long as they don’t sent it anywhere without my knowledge I’m no worse off than I would’ve been

Pareto improving

[wind plinth]

i didnt even answer all the qs LOL

last 10 minutes or so i was just trying to make educated guesses

[past axle]

yeah same

I randomly guessed for like 15 of them lmfao

it’s cool if I don’t get in anywhere this time around I’ll just go hog wild studying next spring

[wind plinth]

so wait, you said the only place you're applying to that wants it is NYU
are you just sending it everywhere anyway??

[hidden sleet]

Has the difficulty of subject gre changed in recent years? I can only find old practice tests online

[blissful crystal]

yea it got harder

after i forgot what year, 2019 or something

[hidden sleet]

Harder in a more calculations in less time way or have the questions gotten better

[mossy niche]

both

[past axle]

what

no

I’m gonna wait and see what my score is

lol

if I did good enough to warrant sending it everywhere I’ll eat the cost

but if I don’t get in anywhere this time around I’ll try to get a good score on the next go around and send it everywhere

but that’s a lot of speculation to get to that point

It’s so lame they can’t give us the score until November

like cmon it’s a multiple choice test

[wind plinth]

ah gotcha

[blissful crystal]

what next go around

[past axle]

EXACTLY!!!

[blissful crystal]

this is the last weekend u can take gre this year right?

[past axle]

yep that’s why I said if I don’t get in anywhere

it would be after this cycle

[blissful crystal]

ah makes sense, hopefully we all get in fr

[past axle]

that’s what I’m saying

There’s not gonna be a second go around cus we all getting in!!!

[fierce bobcat]

I know!!! Omg That was crazy 😭

[real vessel]

damn the gre was harder than I expected 👀 no idea how close I was to the baseline tho

u’d have to be borderline lucky to actually work out every question in time like frig

[fierce bobcat]

Most qs were like: what skill do you think you’re testing for? 🤦‍♀️

[real vessel]

Is it wrong to say I hope other people did badly? 😭

Is it graded according to the performance that year or always uniformly?

[blissful crystal]

by performance on that day i think lol

so naturally yes it would help ur score if everyone else did bad

[past axle]

thankfully schools are moving away from the test

I gotta iron out my SOP

[worthy peak]

sorry for asking this many times

i don't think im very competitive right now so i kind of need to "reinvent" myself in masters if i want to have any kind of a future in academia

i feel like this person right now

maybe worse, considering that my mediocre grades go back further than that (but it's inconsistent mainly, i've had good grades in between as well)

[mossy niche]

i think this is very common for people like me, who are unable to keep up with the pace that is expected of us

[worthy peak]

a gap year is impractical for me (too late to do it anyway, already halfway through a very difficult term)

therwise i would really want to take a break

[cosmic magnet]

Do not let grades come between you and the unquenchable zeal of studying

[nova hare]

So if we don’t get into phds

Do we have to give up on the dream?

[worthy peak]

yeah for sure

ig it's just harder to cope w procrastination when the pressure is so high (and i find that even when i do work i sometimes get so stressed that i can't really think clearly anymore

but i gotta start somewhere

often the first step is what makes the most impact

[worthy peak]

are you in the states? if not then probably a research masters

but if you aren't in the us then they're actually mandatory before a phd

[blissful crystal]

yea i think math is just hard lol, im getting humbled rn and it really makes u question

[hidden sleet]

How many days after the test do you see your results on the mGRE?

[sour gazelle]

Hi. Canada unis don’t require GRE—Math scores… but will they boost my chances if I include them (provided I score high 🥲)?

Will be applying to Waterloo and uofT 🥺

[blissful crystal]

about 2 week

[wind plinth]

i had a dream last night that i got like. 400. which is not ideal. hopefully the real score is at least 150 more points lol

[mossy niche]

isnt 400 the lowest score

[wind plinth]

different practice tests had different numbers as the lowest

i think one was like 390 another was 240

either way hopefully i didnt do that bad. twas only a dream

i wonder if we might see an almost bimodal score distribution for friday's exam. because i get the sense there were two kinds of people taking it: the ones who knew they needed it a long while ago, and chose the latest date so as to have as much time as possible to get super duper prepped. they will all score very high. then there's the ones like me, who hadn't anticipated to be required to take it, found out in mid-september that programs there were intending to apply to are now requiring it, and so signed up for the latest date in an attempt to get as much time as possible to prep but nonetheless will not do as well because 1 month of prep is just not that much

[viral idol]

How should I talk about my future career goals in my personal statement if I'm not sure what I want to do after I get the phd

Is it bad to say that I'm split between wanting to go into academia and industry after I get the PhD?

[wind plinth]

well, your goal should be "research"

focus on that moreso than specifics about academia/industry/government

[worthy peak]

yeah im having a lot of trouble with a hw that's not supposed to be that difficult

[worthy peak]

also

[sudden hollow]

Is it bad etiquette to send out the official lor request across different days instead of just sending them out in the same day?

[half meadow]

If you're requesting from the same person, don't artificially spread them out.

If different persons, who cares.

[willow spruce]

it's been kinda weird reading this channel as a Canadian and wondering if I should be taking the GRE

[teal gorge]

Is it generally possible to ask graduate departments to change minor aspects of your application (namely, your potential supervisors) after submitting?

[willow spruce]

is that a minor aspect of your application?

[teal gorge]

My concern is I need to list supervisors, but I need to know prior that they are taking students. But I've been told that it's preferable to have applied before contacting potential supervisors...

[willow spruce]

I'm doing my application process in the inverse order, so I think you're probably on the right track

[teal gorge]

There is also the problem where your application package may mention people you're interested in working with, but supervisors will want to see your application package before telling you if they would want to work with you (or, presumably, even telling you if they are accepting students)

[teal gorge]

Which is the right track? Submit my app then email supervisors? Or email supervisors, then submit the app?

[teal gorge]

Also yeah I realise this is much more important for PhD appls, but these are for MSc programs

[hard pebble]

u of t won't take it, waterloo (pmath) will take it optionally. It probably doesn't help very much at Waterloo fwiw, most profs (pmath) I know there think the gre is pretty stupid

Waterloo CO (note: Waterloo has different departments for pure math, combinatorics and optimization, and applied math) recommends the GRE for non-canadian students and will take it for canadians, but I don't know how much they honestly care about it if you did a well-known undergrad

I don't think AMath will take it.

overall, unless you need it for another university or are following CO's recommendation, and these are the Canadian places you're applying to, I'd save the $300

[worthy peak]

this is the thing when you've submitted your part of an application and then request your lor writers to submit the letter, right?

i still need to schedule meetings to talk to them about my plans

i feel really pessimistic right now

im on track to have very bad (if probably??? passing) grades in my two crosslisted grad courses this term

[glacial pendant]

hi! the ucla website seems to claim that there's no required word count for the SOP but that 1-2 pages is typical; however, the actual application seems to have a 500 word count max

am i being silly?

[wind plinth]

wacky. tbf 500 words is 1.5 pages at 12pt double spaced font tho

[glacial pendant]

yeah im wondering if im somehow misunderstanding what the portal actually wants

because presumably if there were an inconsistency they would have been bothered by lots of students about it already

[silver drum]

Feeling like I'm gonna get rejected everywhere, even though I'm applying to mid(ish) tier schools. Craving any kind of comfort but brutal honesty is welcome 😭

[mossy niche]

well, with 5 schools, youre asking to be rejected everywhere

[silver drum]

I have a couple others, I just didn't put them cus

I have my institution on that list and didn't wanna doxx myself anymore than I already have

[safe valley]

Solid application but with the state of funding you should be applying to more safeties 100%

[void horizon]

see pins

[limpid light]

Sorry about that ! Did you receive a recommendation letter from your professor? I think what you wrote in your personal statement is important as well in your application process

[half meadow]

"Chancing" discussions are not allowed here. Essentially nobody in the channel has enough experience and recent data to make any meaningful numerical estimation of your individual chances. (Having oneself applied in recent years produces anecdotes, not data -- people with long experience of sitting on a selection committee might conceivably be capable of a somewhat qualified guess, but even if one or two of them were to be on Discord, they're most certainly going to keep their mouths shut).
Thus any responses you get will be pretty much useless relative to what you're asking for, and the risk of such discussions turning toxic takes precedence in our moderation policy.

[loud brook]

Hello math wizards, I'm applying for a research position (not masters or PhD) and writing my first SoP.

Is it advisable to cite a few research papers within the document?

[half meadow]

For a research position, I'd say yes -- not just to "cite so-and-so many papers", but to demonstrate you are familiar enough with the state of the art in the field you're proposing to do research in to put your plans in context.

[paper granite]

Question for anyone who applied to a different field from your UG or Masters, who did you pick as letter writers?

I’m considering applying to PhDs in quantum compiling/ optimisation as well as maths and I’m wondering if I should change my letter writers.

I took a course in my UG with a pretty big name in the field (though it’s a very close knit community anyway) and I’m wondering if it would be better to ask him for my second letter than my second maths option. My concern is that he doesn’t know me all that well, I took his course, I did well, but I did also talk to him about working on additional material and he gave me additional assignments for it that I did well on.

I guess my question is, is it better to get an decent letter from someone very relevant or a good letter from someone pretty irrelevant

This is as a second letter mind you, my UG thesis supervisor will certainly be my first in any case (I’m unlikely to have made any meaningful progress on my masters thesis by the time I’m sending these out)

[silver drum]

Okay, I mean in reality I think its useful to check how delusional one is, but I get your point

And anyways, the point of a ‘chance me’ post isn’t to get a numerical answer. Its to receive feedback on the overall strength of one’s application, relative to others

[paper granite]

At the end of the day who cares? Send out some applications, you’ll get what you get.

As tropos said, none of our opinions matter and talking about it only brings bad vibes

There’s much discussion about this in the channel pins

[visual lagoon]

Yeah we don't allow any sort of chance me posts here

[silver drum]

If I’m spending around $60 per application, it’s nice to know what schools I actually have a chance at. That’s all.

[visual lagoon]

We honestly couldn't tell you

[paper granite]

Damn the US sucks

In any case, see what I said before lol

[visual lagoon]

It's probably better to talk to professors irl about that

[silver drum]

Well, no worries, sorry

[grand trellis]

I'm considering either adding a double major or doing a master's degree to add a year to my non-PhD studies, since otherwise I would have only two years of undergrad, which doesn't seem like enough to do research to me
Which of these options is better for PhD admissions in the US?

[cosmic magnet]

I can't chance your application but I can give some more context for one of the schools you're applying to in DM's

[cosmic magnet]

A double major + extra research would be a better fit since expectations for Masters students are usually higher

[silver drum]

Added you

[glacial pendant]

does anyone have any insight on this btw?

[shell kindle]

Just do 500 words then

[glacial pendant]

i mean, sure i could submit a heavily reduced sop, but presumably someone has filled out this application last year or is working on it now and is facing the same inconsistency if it actually exists and might have insight.

not to mention one of the profs websites talks about the varying lengths that students can submit etc., which makes me think im misunderstanding something

i just want to avoid emailing them unless i have to, since i think others probably have asked about this already

[paper granite]

I would imagine if others have asked they’d update the website

Don’t fuck your application over on the basis of a simple admin issue that you can easily clear up would be my advice

[agile shuttle]

So I’m back to square 1

[past axle]

I think this is better suited to the people who would be writing letters for you

[empty bridge]

Any idea as to how hard it is to get into UToronto master’s program?

[scarlet barn]

I’ve heard mixed things

[paper granite]

Impossible if you don’t apply. May as well give it a bash and see what happens

[glacial cedar]

funnily enough this might not actually be true. I didn't apply for the masters program im currently in

sometimes it depends on the school and idk specifically about UToronto so I cant say for sure

[paper granite]

I mean what did some random uni contact you lol?

[glacial cedar]

No i applied to the PhD program and they rejected me but accepted me to a masters there

[paper granite]

Ok well that’s different

[foggy prism]

should a 890 89% on subject gre be submitted or skipped if its optional? barely missed 900

[past axle]

how is this a question?

[cosmic magnet]

Bait used to be believable

[foggy prism]

so i should submit? idk the standards of gre i assumed u have to be 900+ or something💀

for schools like berkeley and ucla etc

cuz most of my target doesn't even take gre im only thinking abt submitting gre to reach

[past axle]

89th percentile shows that you did better on the test than 89% of people who took it

How can that possibly reflect poorly on you?

[young yoke]

Any tips on how to save space with citations for GRFP? For instance, can I include only 1 author (X et al) for each?

[mossy niche]

do you have them all in one line already

if not then thats the first step

[young yoke]

holy tech

[mossy niche]

presumably still formatted correctly lol

[foggy prism]

just that idk if some schools, especially those that are reach for me, have higher expectations if I am applying for pure math, that's all. I'm sure 890 is a good score, but idk if it is competitive enough for those schools that I should submit.

[young yoke]

ty, good idea

got it working now

(i am still over the limit)

[wind plinth]

if im not mistaken berkeley requires mgre scores regardless of how good or bad they are

[foggy prism]

right, i just realized that, but my point was abt school similar to uc berkeley that might not require mgre

[wind plinth]

gotcha. yeah idk, i do get your concern, but objectively 89th percentile is remarkable and you're prrrrobably only helping your shot if you submit. but that's completely speculation on my part. i certainly dont have the luxury of wondering if i did well enough. scores arent back for the 24th yet but i can tell u right now i dont think i cracked 600 lol

[foggy prism]

Thanks for the input . Hope for the best for ur mgre. i thought u r a postgrad from your roles

[wind plinth]

yeah, i have a masters. but its big kid degree time for me

[past axle]

if a school would sneer at an 890, they're likely to assume the worst if you don't submit it at all

it's important to keep in mind that the ONLY people taking the math subject gre are also people applying to math phd programs

[mossy niche]

it probably wont hurt to submit, and probably only helps if you go to a school that isnt a top math school

[foggy prism]

my non top are mostly in canada and they dont care abt mgre

[mossy niche]

im talking about your current institution

[foggy prism]

anyways thanks for all of yalls input

[foggy prism]

which is in canada

[mossy niche]

i still dont see how being canadian is relevant

[foggy prism]

am i misinterpreting somehing? im just saying all my non top schools are in canada and they dont want mgre. So this is mainly a top school issue

[shell kindle]

The math GRE is more important if you are coming from a smaller, lesser known school

[foggy prism]

OH

thats what they meant mb

🤦‍♂️

i thought they meant if im applying to the institution im in

[willow spruce]

I mean I’m also Canadian and had never heard of these tests before joining this server

[viral idol]

How optional is the "optional" personal history statement? (not the statement of purpose)

I assume this is not really optional but I have no idea what to actually write for it

[scarlet barn]

I would include it

You want to give them as much information as possible.

[pallid geode]

One university I am applying for has two rounds one ending soon and one in april. If I apply to the current round and get rejected is that likely to affect my chances in the second round? I am asking because I have just started my master thesis so I dont have much to show for it yet so if it does matter I would apply later

[nocturne radish]

I am a second year student. I want to do a maths phd out of undergrad. Does anyone have any recommendations for things I should do to maximize this other than get good grades and participate in undergrad research?

[gentle basin]

get to know your profs well

a really good recommendation can take you far

[blissful crystal]

take grad classes

or as many undergraduate math classes as possible

[tacit lark]

Dont overload yourself with math classes. Be realistic about what you can handle. You should push yourself but dont overdo it.

[gentle basin]

don’t be like me and neglect to actually do research

if I can get a job offer before apps are due I might just not bother this cycle tbh

[tame sundial]

i learned this lesson this semester

you will quickly realize that time is not your only enemy, your mind will genuinely begin to sabotage you if you dont take time to take care of yourself and let the difficult ideas develop naturally

[past plume]

Gl graduators

[main aspen]

What should go in a personal/research statement for PhD applications in Europe?
I've got
Interest areas/own reading
Summer project
Courses/Masters Thesis
Subsequent Career objectives
rn

(All of this has an implicit ("and how it relates to the PhD topic" after)

[scarlet barn]

How screwed am I if I don't have 3 math people

[tacit lark]

hard to say without more info

can you be more specific

[cosmic magnet]

Not really screwed? I think a letter can still be immensely beneficial if it can attest your skills in teaching, research (not necessarily math), attentiveness and work ethic etc. A strong letter is a strong letter regardless of who's it written by (assuming it's a non-mathematician academic)

[scarlet barn]

My 3rd one is my boss whose programming class I have TA'd for for 3 years