graduate-applications

[spring portal]

I honestly don't know

My answers surely didn't excite them since I didnt get into that school

[glacial cedar]

Probably want people who are self sufficient

[foggy prism]

u dont have to be married for that💀 nor is it hard to learn to cook simple dishes

[glacial cedar]

well like if you cook then you’re more likely to be self sufficient

[spring portal]

Probably was asked about it to know if i would be coming in solo or with dependent people, as it might affect time one spends on phd as well as finances. Still a little odd.

[foggy prism]

💀 then ig my uni residence attempting to make ppl insufficient by mandating a meal plan package

[deep zealot]

i'm applying to 7 schools total and i'm getting increasingly nervous that i'm not gonna get admitted anywhere US applications are rough

[smoky jetty]

7 is really tiny

you should apply to like

15+

iirc I applied to almost 20

[deep zealot]

can't really afford to apply to more and also finding labs that do the specific research i'm interested in (math oncology) has been difficult

[glacial cedar]

Yeah i only applied to like 7 last year

[tacit lark]

might be worth considering broadening your interests

[cosmic magnet]

Math bio as a whole is a pretty broad field so I'd recommend adding a few more schools (I'm in a mathbio program rn) and take advantage of fee waivers

If you're receiving any form of federal aid, most schools will offer some form of a fee waiver if you ask. If you're an international applicant, schools are still open to offering fee waivers based on financial need and/or other factors (attend prospective's day etc.)

[deep zealot]

can i ask what your research focuses on?

[cosmic magnet]

I can DM for more details if that works

[deep zealot]

yes please!

[foggy prism]

but at that point ppl might not be inclined to submit recommendations. One of my recommenders told me that one of their students applied for like 20+ schools and they just said they aint gonna submit so many recom letters.

[smoky jetty]

Interesting

[foggy prism]

15 is pretty good imo

[smoky jetty]

My recommenders were fine with this but I said I was applying to that many when asking

[foggy prism]

def recommender dependent

some may modify the recom a bit for diff uni and it might take more time for them

[foggy prism]

like 2 safeties 8 targets and 5 reach or maybe even 10 targets and 3 reach

[glacial cedar]

my recommenders suggested I apply to more schools lmao

[cosmic magnet]

I think if you're applying to PhD in this climate you def should

At least 15 schools (if you have the finances for it) minimum

[glacial cedar]

yeah even my 15 this year feels a little small

[tacit lark]

oh wow

ya i think some places are drastically reducing phd cohort size

[glacial cedar]

nothing really feels like a safety either, since everything is so competitive in TCS

[foggy prism]

COOKED

imma get rejected from every school man

i was trying to find more schools, but then i was also looking for good model theory schools, and the latter is very restrictive

[nimble scroll]

Yeah I applied to 7 in the US I'm def feeling cooked this year lol

Hope one of my choices outside US pans out

[midnight sable]

anyone look at new MSc Mathematics from LSE?

[glacial cedar]

Submitted my first app 🔥

[primal pollen]

I get 1 week 💪

divine intervention

[spring portal]

Same

Graduate programs are quite competitive now. I think most professors are understanding even if students apply to 15-20 places.

[glacial cedar]

I got the godfather of my field to write one of my letters. If that doesn’t get me in i think it’s just joever for me

[spring portal]

That's crazy

[spring portal]

Applied to zero in US

I wouldn't even get my visa approved if trump saw my reddit and discord messages

[quiet stag]

The summer before I applied, I sent my tentative list with like ~18 schools to one of my recommenders asking for her thoughts. I was hoping she could tell me which schools to take off. Instead she gave me more

(I ended up applying to 15 and it all worked out)

[glacial cedar]

Some profs did tell me to drop schools. Like TTIC and UW Madison

[smoky jetty]

TTIC seems cool

Especially for CS stuff (sadly no one really doing algebraic complexity there)

[foggy prism]

to apply for more reach school or more safety schools?

[glacial cedar]

TTIC cuz there’s no shot I’m getting in

UW Madison cuz all the profs there doing complexity aren’t likely to take students cuz they’re senior

[foggy prism]

who knows, maybe u will

[tacit lark]

TTIC is cool. You should consider applying to their summer internship program at some point. They have a program for grad students to visit and work w a faculty member for a summer.

[smoky jetty]

I've applied only to be rejected lol

also idk who i'd work with anyways

[tacit lark]

ah i misread your comment. i thought you said there was someone doing algebraic complexity there.

[glacial cedar]

What do PhDs even do over the summer? Continue their research? Take summer courses?

[smoky jetty]

reading, research

[tacit lark]

the same thing during the year but without courses

[smoky jetty]

depending on the field, go do an internship / visiting program

[glacial cedar]

Oh okay so basically what I did last summer

[smoky jetty]

HMMMM Razborov is a "resident adjoint professor" at TTIC lol

long shot

[tacit lark]

i think you can work w people at uchicago maybe northwestern

[glacial cedar]

Yeah Razborov was the biggest reason i had TTIC on my list

[smoky jetty]

he doesn't really do algebraic complexity so eh

idk I'll think about it later, I think I have other stuff I need to focus on for this summer

[lone vessel]

it’s crazy TTIC used to employ a bunch of PL people because the previous director apparently really liked PL (this is from an interview with Derek Dreyer who worked there)

but it’s a really cool place

[nova hare]

filling out apps last minute was disastrous

Oh my Lord

I was like no way I'm gonna miss the deadline

And ruin my life

At least I have good experience for next year because no way I'm getting in this year

[foggy prism]

whats due at this time?

i thought most due after middle of dec

[nova hare]

A lot of my applications were due December 1st for some reason

[glacial cedar]

I only had one

[nova hare]

They weren't math programs though

[glacial cedar]

Last year ik MIT was 12/1 tho

[nova hare]

Makes sense

[foggy prism]

oh wth

they tryna be special

[spring portal]

MIT tryna act cool against Harvard

[spring portal]

A lot of unis in canada and Europe are due dec 1st too.

Or atleast the funded deadlines

[raw quail]

something I can't tell, how explicit should I be in my SOP about being rejected from programs in the past

obviously it's not a central focus of my statement, but it's kinda awkward to just not talk about it

[agile shuttle]

The main thing ishow you frame it from what I hear

Like if you frame it in a way of "this is how I overcame/moved on from this obstacle" then that works

it just need to reflect a grow mindset

[wind plinth]

irvine and washu were due yesterday. and if you wanted your fee waived rice was due on Thanksgiving lol

[glacial cedar]

How many apps do you guys do a day? How long does each one take after the first one

[foggy prism]

10

once i finished a SoP i didnt have to change much for most schools

so its just 10 min edit and 10 min of submitting the files

[glacial cedar]

Huh guess my edits are just more involved

[cosmic magnet]

I did three applications the day they were due. This is a bad strategy though all things considered

[cosmic magnet]

Once you get the final draft of your SOP done it's pretty chill

[foggy prism]

how much can u even go beyond "i wish to work with this prof" and "i want to attend these specific events"

a paragraph for these i think is enough

other paragraphs id write abt myself

[glacial cedar]

yeah its just the one paragraph but I need to mention how the profs research interests intersect with mine

[paper granite]

Yeah for my masters apps I broadly had a base template, but there could be reasonably significant edits depending on where I was applying and who was there. Ill be starting my PhD apps this weekend and I imagine thatll take much more rewriting, because different places Ill be applying about different interests

[foggy prism]

i just write "their interest directly aligns with mine"

my interst is not specific enough and my knowledge is not deep enough to write about it more

[paper granite]

Real

[glacial arch]

For work experience sections, is it necessary to even fill these out if your professional experience is already listed on your CV?

[foggy prism]

i did so , i mean they asked it so

[raw quail]

makes sense, but it's hard to grow when it's four sometimes 5 months of radio silence followed by a "nope" 😭

[worthy peak]

I forgot that a lot of scholarship deadlines already passed 😭

but I wasn't getting any to begin ith

[spring spoke]

anyone here, did CS undergrad and AMATH Masters?, I am in UW AMATH and this is my first quarter
honestly feeling like I am exhausted and considering just dropping out, idk how much gap did I have. I only took 2 classes, Numerical Linear Algebra and Scientific computations. And honestly scientific computations was hell for me, despite the fact I did the undergrad version back in CS undergrad.
I just don't know what knowledge gap am I missing at this rate
I did ODE, PDE, Vector calc, Scientific computations, Linear Algebra, Discrete math but never done any analysis based classes, I was wondering if that was why I was struggling so hard.

[livid shore]

I haven't began grad school applications yet am I cooked?

I asked for letters awhile ago so that aspect is fine

and already have a CV and such things

just not statements

[paper granite]

No I wouldn’t say so, but you should probably get on it

I haven’t started yet either, I’m starting over the weekend though because most of my deadlines are the 19th, that’s in the UK though

[main aspen]

Except agq, where in the UK has deadline on the 19th?

[paper granite]

I think Bristol and somewhere else has it officially as the 19th, but the martingale deadline is the 19th

So the broad 19th thing is more specifically a me deadline

[blissful crystal]

idk about anyone else, but a large number of the schools on my list have a dec 15th due date. so even if you start now u should be able to apply to those, and ofc any later ones

[tacit lark]

You probably already missed some deadlines. But other than that no. Assuming you have letters.

[glacial cedar]

When a school asks you which other schools I am applying to, should I enter in all of the schools?

[spring portal]

i don't enter any personally

i kinda don't like that question at all

[glacial cedar]

UChicago says the following btw: If a recommender asks you to write or draft a letter, please let them know that you can provide them with supporting information, but that you are not allowed to write your own letter. Anyone who agrees to write a recommendation letter for you should understand that they are expected to write and submit it themselves. We do not accept recommendation letters from the applicant. You are welcome to use recommendation letter services like Interfolio.

so make sure to check what the schools say

[green fulcrum]

what ya applying for?masters? phds?

[paper granite]

PhDs

[green fulcrum]

gl

[foggy prism]

but how would they know

[pure linden]

anyone applying here to schools in germany?

[foggy prism]

i am for bonn

[polar turtle]

it was nice to speak to my advisor (who reads these statements for admissions regularly) and get in person feedback on my statement

[glacial cedar]

You sign saying you didn’t do it. If they find out you did, they’ll rescind your degree

[foggy prism]

they could just let the advisor sign

probably the advisor would not care to tell

[hidden sleet]

I think it would be pretty easy to tell

Just from reading it

[hidden sleet]

do people calculate subject gpa on their own or is it officially provided by their institute?

If I can calculate it on my own can I exclude non proof based courses from first year 😭

[foggy prism]

some school says don't calculate by yourself. there is an unofficially provided major gpa provided on the unofficial transcript for me

[hidden sleet]

ok thanks!

my institute doesn't provide it so I probably won't include it

[foggy prism]

but you should check school by school to see whether you should calculate it or not tho

maybe some are weird

[hidden sleet]

Sanity check: I did a research project in my sophomore year but it is not really related to the kind of math I am currently interested in and my supervisor for that project is not one of my references.

For this reason, I only wrote very briefly about it in my SOP. This is fine right or could it be viewed negatively in some way?

[paper granite]

I don’t see why that would be an issue. I’m not American so I don’t know which one sophomore is, but I think it’s early, there’s no expectation that you’d have your interests pinned down by then

[shell kindle]

Sophomore is second year

[smoky jetty]

Wouldn't be negative

I guess add to your CV and if you have enough on your statement that you don't need to mention it it's fine I guess

You probably have a pretty good app if you can afford to not include any particular research or not even use them as a recommendation

[pearl palm]

guys i have a mini project second semester and im thinking about Visualizing Linear Transformations in 2D and 3D but i didnt study graph theory or normed vector space does it effect and should i choose one of them instead of my theme

[foggy prism]

second semester of your last year? is that gonna be on your application?

[trail vigil]

anyone applying to UChicago?

[blissful crystal]

yes

but that was due already was it not

[trail vigil]

for pure math?

[trail vigil]

this is actually my question (regarding the math deadline)

[blissful crystal]

yes pure math

due date was dec 4 but considering its chicago it was prob due at 12 cst or whatever

or idk what timezone they use

[trail vigil]

okay, if this is the case I am good. Because I submitted my application 12:25 am EST, and my payment for the app went through as well

but I was (am) just paranoid if the system would still reject my application

[blissful crystal]

uhh yea i mean i dont remember for sure if its timezone independent, you can probably find it on the website tho

but if it took ur app i assume youre okay

[trail vigil]

thanks for the assurance. Btw what subfield are you applying for/who you are hoping to work with there?

[blissful crystal]

number theory/alg geo

[trail vigil]

similarlish boat - I am trying to do anything math/phys + geometry. Seems like Geometric Langlands should be my go to

[blissful crystal]

uhhhh maybe? i mean math physics could be a lot of stuff, like lie theory or geometric topology or something

but ya langlands stuff is cool thats part of y i wanna do it

[trail vigil]

I am very much interested in applications of Quantum Field Theory to AG

[blissful crystal]

well then ya number theory could work fs i know they love their class field theory or wtv

[trail vigil]

oh, I meant QFT 😭

[blissful crystal]

ohhh

😭😭

i didnt know that was related to langlands tbh

[trail vigil]

Yea, look up langlands and conformal field theory

There is appearently a lot of rich physics involved in langlands

[pearl palm]

It's not my last year
I still have two more years
And it's mini project

Next year I can choose speciality too

[glacial cedar]

Yep

For me tho it’s 12/11

[urban crown]

I want to apply for masters in pure maths, but when i visit the websites they either shows applied mathematics or just mathematics so can i consider later as pure one?

[pearl palm]

Yeah I guess second one is pure mathematics

[urban crown]

oh i see, thank you :D

damn its hard finding fully funded scholarships in mathematics :c

[pearl palm]

You're welcome

[glacial cedar]

Im unsure if the answer to this question is yes or no. I am doing a MS and am currently doing research (and will be next semester), but did none during undergrad. Is my MS research considered "post undergraduate research"?

[tacit lark]

I think so

Its research experience

And its post-undergraduate

[glacial cedar]

that was my thought okay thanks

and does anyone know where I can find this info? I checked https://seas.harvard.edu/computer-science/graduate-programs/how-apply but didnt see anything. Or should I assume I don't need to

[foggy prism]

well u could probably learn the stuff along the way. it probably looks well on an application to graduate school

but if it go badly just don't let the advisor write your recom letter in the end

[pearl palm]

I just checked with my friends it turns out it's about learning something new instead of actual project

I don't know what theme I should do research about

[pearl palm]

What do you mean

[foggy prism]

u have an advisor guiding you through he project right? im just saying if u did poorly dont let the advisor write your recommendation letter . and u get an extra thing to put on your cv

if u have no other ideas on what to do why not do this mini project

will probably look good on ur cv

[pearl palm]

That's actually a good point

[pearl palm]

Idk they said that it should be something I didn't study about

I might do that project idea alone

In summer vacation probably

[foggy prism]

didnt u say u dont know abt graph theory?

[pearl palm]

Yup

[foggy prism]

so isnt that not applicable to u?

or did u study the mini project in mind alr without knwoing graph theory?

[pearl palm]

The project in my mind is application of what I already studied it feels so simple so I think to learn more about linear transformations I might add numerical methods in 3D
Something like that

You think I should go for graph theory

The object of my project is creating a program that ask the user to enter a vector or specific matrix with a vector and turn it into 3D before and after matrix multiplication
The user can see what happened
It's like educational program
SVD
Projection matrix ect
Householder QR and LU factorization ect
So students can understand algebra in different angle
But I guess it's a program that needs more ideas

What do you think I should add for this program

[foggy prism]

this feels too specific/math heavy, you should ask in the other channels that might fit better. I'm just giving the general advice that you probably should do a mini project if you have the opportunity to (without disturbing other opportunities ofc). But to the specifics of what you want to do within a specific project I don't think I have much advice because I'm not qualified to answer.

[pearl palm]

Oh it's okay
You might be right tho

[foggy prism]

since this is a grad-application channel all i can say is that itd prob look good if you are to apply to grad

[pearl palm]

Which channel I should ask tho

[pearl palm]

Ahhh okay I'm new so I don't about know these channel topics exactly 😅

[foggy prism]

idk. but probably stuff that is more subject specific like #linear-algebra (if ur project is the vector thing) or #advanced-lounge

thats why at first i thought u were doing it for the grad-app

[pearl palm]

Thank you

[pearl palm]

Hhhhhhhh

My bad

[worthy peak]

So I've decided (based on a sober assessment of my competitiveness as an applicant, given my mediocre grades and research experience) to not apply to PhD programs

however I already contacted some professors at direct phd us schools who also replied & expressed (some level of) interest in me (but in a noncommital fashion)

I already mentioned my new plans to a couple but im not sure if that is a good idea or if I should also do that for the prof i haven't followed up with yet

I kind of want to leave the door open for future supervision (if they're also willing) after i get a masters (assuming i do)

[main aspen]

In the US/Canada, yes
It costs a fair amount of money

[foggy prism]

but not if the applicant is alr studying in us/can, as the money spent is comparatively very little unless u r on some huge scholarship

[foggy prism]

doesnt hurt to try although i wouldnt follow up on ppl who ghosted u. Did any supervisor tell you to apply?

[neon shadow]

i want to apply for master course for 2026, can anyone please guide me to related to this?

[main aspen]

Where?
(As in, in what part of the world)

[paper granite]

How do you approach reaching out to profs where you really dont know that much about their work? Like theres someone I see who does some cool looking stuff in algtop, but like its just so far beyond what I currently know (which, at least as far as is generally available in masters course in the UK is quite a lot, but still were only talking like cohomology, soon to learn homotopy theory for my MSc dissertation).

I guess I just reach out and say, I dont fully understand it, but I had a look and it seems cool. Ill be learning more in this direction for my thesis etc, would you be willing to talk/supervise?

[urban raft]

At least in the UK, I don't think it's uncommon for people applying for PhDs to be at/around the level that you're currently at

[paper granite]

Yeah I guess, like I think unless I did part III (and got lucky) or a bunch of independant study, I couldnt know more algtop than I do now. But it feels weird to reach out and say, I dont understand your work but it seems cool

like that doesnt feel very substantive

[main aspen]

That’s essentially what I did, my emails essentially broke down as
Hey, I want a PhD in ggt
Here’s my background (tailored more towards what they do specifically)
What specifically within your research would you expect one of your PhD students to do during it
+- some logistical questions for some of the places abroad

[paper granite]

Hmm yeah I guess

[main aspen]

When I say “tailored” I mean like
If they worked more geometrically, I emphasised looking at Bridson & Haefliger’s book, and my intention wrt part iii essay
If they worked more algebraically, I emphasised the stuff I did in my summer project
If they worked more analytically, I emphasised the operator algebra/metric approximation stuff I did towards the tail end of my project
And of course listing different courses of the ones I’ll take this year

[foggy prism]

one of my prof said: Do not be too specific with what you want to do (in most cases). That should definitely apply here. As well i asked another prof and they said: they probably will ghost you but its fine.

[urban raft]

also, most people who did degrees in the UK and are now academics in the UK come from one of a small number of universities, so if you say I was at X and I am now at Y they have a reasonable guess as to what you have learnt in your courses

[main aspen]

Tbh with ghosting, out of 50 people (across UK, EU, Aus, NZ, Canada), only 3 have ghosted me

[urban raft]

I feel like that's more of a US thing, where individual profs have very little influence over the admissions process

[main aspen]

(Exactly why I specified country)

[urban raft]

(and I think most applicants for alg top will have come from one of the small number of universities tbh)

[paper granite]

This is true. Tbh because I like noncom rings and algtop, pretty much everyone is from the same like 4 unis

And the two that I haven’t attended, half the people there did their PhD at them lol

I had a fun moment of thinking someone’s work looks sick, only to realise they were the student of the person who got me interested in that stuff lol

[main aspen]

lol mood
It feels like half the UK people in ggt did their PhD in Oxford

[worthy peak]

i can go back and check but i think they just wanted to zoom or said i could be a good fit

I might have shot myself in the foot by telling the prof who wanted to zoom that i dont think i'll apply to a phd anymore

[urban raft]

I think other than minor detours via exotic places such as Oxford, Imperial and Edinburgh, my maths genealogy is just cambridge lol

[urban raft]

when I was applying to PhDs, I think almost everyone I applied to was a PhD descendent of Donaldson

[foggy prism]

wtf mine is 2/4 didnt ghost

[main aspen]

Where?

[foggy prism]

uic uoft berkeley and ubc

[main aspen]

.

(I know at least two of those are Canada)

[foggy prism]

ah i guess that makes sense

just hoping for a hit where the prof i talk to is on the committee

[worthy peak]

mostly wondering if i should try again

but im really not sure i'm a competitive applicant

[foggy prism]

try again why not

rizz them up

tell them ur concerns

if ur original intention is alr to not apply then this meeting wouldnt hurt

[worthy peak]

i dont want to shut the door completely, just feel a bit demoralized already

it's coming up soon though so i need to make a decision and i dont want to submit last minute either

[strange yoke]

Does anyone know like reasonable achievable programs to get into for logic?

[worthy peak]

but i might reach out again on monday

[foggy prism]

yeah then don't reject a meeting

[foggy prism]

gl

[foggy prism]

UIC

UIUC (harder)

maryland (dunno if its hard

notre dame (dunno if its hard)

münster, freiburg, konstanz

but most importantly, ask your logic professor if you have one. They def have a better idea

[livid shore]

is there like a FAQ section of this channel

before I ask really basic questions like whats the most important part of your application i was wondering if that might exist

[paper granite]

From what ive been told, your references. Like your grades need to be good enough, but I presume if youre thinking about a PhD they are, and after that its refernces, any reasearch/project experince you have then lastly its your statement

[tacit lark]

I think your coursework and grades are very important

[void berry]

Guys help😥

What am I supposed to put for this one

I’m only involved in two groups and both of them did not get any certificates

Or top ranks

🙏

[cosmic magnet]

There aren't that many people there for logic

There are two new professors who joined but the long-term faculty left a couple years ago

[neon shadow]

First I am thinking for eastern countries, for example Japan, but for me US and Europe will be more comfortable than Japan because japanese seems difficult

[foggy prism]

my model theory prof recommended it still, knowing that anand pillay left

they were talking abt ben castle i think

[wind plinth]

does johns hopkins require general GRE scores for math phd applications? the admissions page does not mention general GRE at all, only that math subject GRE is optional. in the application, it says "In general, departments within the Johns Hopkins University require the GRE Examination" but by "in general" do they mean "all" or "check your programs requirements page?"

[foggy prism]

https://krieger.jhu.edu/graduate-admissions/apply/exams/

no

math is in the "gre not required" section

[livid shore]

If I am lacking letters

how good is a letter from a postdoc at a school that i dont go to?

He has been liking my github of some of my research for awhile so I thought to ask

[tacit lark]

You have 5 research experiences on your cv. You cant get 3 of them to write letters?

A letter from a postdoc that you didnt work with but just likes your github doesn’t sound great.

You also have some teaching/tutoring experience. Can you get the profs worked under to write you a letter

[livid shore]

they are repeating professors

2 of them are writing for me

and I've asked the other

As for the tutoring, it isnt under any professors and the TA'ing again is repeated professor

[livid shore]

He did seem very willing at least?

[tacit lark]

Do you know them

If you didnt work with them then i think its weird

[livid shore]

No, he just said he uses and recommends my algorithm to his colleagues and would be happy to recommend me

I thought it would be better than nothing

[tacit lark]

Ask the profs that are writing your letters what they think

Theyre more experienced

If your thesis advisor and the coauthor on your paper write you very good letters then your third letter shouldnt matter too much.

[livid shore]

the coauthor on my paper is a fellow student

😭

[tacit lark]

Can a supervisor write about that paper in their letter

Like your thesis supervisor

Also i think its weird to say where you submitted it but maybe thats me

Id just talk to your thesis supervisor about what they should do. Your ug is a good school so and the prof has probably served on admin committees so they can prob give you good advice

[livid shore]

yes, i started it in a graph theory class and then he helped me with writing and submitting it and is writing me a letter

then my other letter is from someone who supervised my research

[tacit lark]

When are you applying?

[livid shore]

earliest application is on the 10th

then a lot on the 15th

and then later ones

[shell kindle]

You are asking someone to write a letter for a deadline in 3 days?

[livid shore]

I already asked and they already agreed

but I am in such a position yes

[tacit lark]

I guess go with the postdoc. Idk how you got in this situation though

[cosmic magnet]

Yep, he recently joined in Fall 2023

[foggy prism]

yeah thats one of the reason they said uiuc is good

[livid shore]

Okay so

I now have a different letter writer

Let me try to be more clear my confusion

[cosmic magnet]

Stuff happens and academics can send in letters quick even given time constraints. Send in the letter requests to your confirmed letter writers asap if you can

[livid shore]

So, I am being recommended by one of my closest letter writers / professor who is advising my applications that I should apply to a very large amount of schools this year and I plan on following his advice

[tacit lark]

good idea

[livid shore]

and because of that, not all letter writers are okay with submitting letters to so many places

so I am asking for more, (well, I have already asked for more) but yes it was on quite short notice regretably (5 days in advance to the earliest deadline)

and being that I am already where I am, which I know is not great, I am hoping for advice on how to decide which letters to use for which schools

if that makes sense

like, depending on who the recommender is

to me

[tacit lark]

like i said earlier your best option is to try to discuss this with the letter writter youre closest with. They can probably offer much better advice.

[livid shore]

this is the context in which the postdoc letter would be

I could also use my algebra professors letter

but I did not ever attend his class or office hours throughout the year

he still said he is happy to write me one

im just not sure there would be much substance outside of my grades in his courses

and then, the other writer does not know me personally, and is a postdoc, so that has its own issues as well

[tacit lark]

I dont think postdoc itself is a problem

i had a letter from a postdoc and got into many good schools

[livid shore]

This would make 2 of my letters be from postdocs

but I personally dont see an issue with it being from a postdoc, I just hear it to be frowned upon

[tacit lark]

in general its not ideal

[livid shore]

I emailed him asking for advice on how to distribute the letters the reason I ask here as well is because my algebra professor said he will write the letter tomorrow morning and wants me to have the schools send him an email request

so I sort of have to decide tonight and I am not sure if I will hear back for his advice

[tacit lark]

ya that sucks

is the postdoc at a good school?

[livid shore]

I am not sure the status because it is in China and I don't know how to interpret their schools but he is at Hunan University in China

[tacit lark]

if your other letters are really good id probably say a mid letter from your algebra prof is safer than the postdoc.

[livid shore]

which is according to google about top 15 (in China)

[livid shore]

Can I ask why

[tacit lark]

im not sure. For one at least you know the prof. Also, theyre a prof at a reputable US university and know how the US system works. You don't know the postdoc, havent worked with them and they arent in the US. Theyre probably less familiar with the US system in particular what makes a "good" letter of rec. Also, i think being a postdoc in a kind of random chinese university will make their letter hold very little weight.

[livid shore]

Ok that is valid

I guess I thought it might sound good that he liked my work

[paper granite]

Knowing the US is something in particular. I had a few of my profs tell me to let them know if they were going to have to write any letters for the US because the style is expected to be quite different

[livid shore]

but then maybe he is not reputable or like the things you were saying

[paper granite]

But primarly knowing your work really well yeah

[livid shore]

he seems to speak very good english if thats the concern

[tacit lark]

Its nice that he likes your work. But hopefully your thesis advisor will convey your work is good.

[livid shore]

I think that he will, one thing is that my thesis advisor does not actually work on the topics of my thesis

so he is more so just advising in the writing style

and formatting citations

like we are very friendly

but he is less familiar with the topic than I am

[paper granite]

I think even just the phrasing of this shows that you dont know each other super well. Which is fine, I need a third letter for oxford and thatlll probably be tenious, but ideally youd want two people who know your work well

[livid shore]

whereas this other writer seems interested in the topic at least

[livid shore]

Yes we do not know each other at all, he just keeps hearting my projects github repo

so I emailed him

[paper granite]

I wouldnt think this would be a great option, if you have other options anyway

[livid shore]

Yah ok

I have 2 what I would think are going to be very strong letters for all my schools

and then its just a matter of distributing from multiple people for the 3rd

[cosmic magnet]

How many schools are you applying to if I may ask?

[livid shore]

Well I dont want to say specifically but I was planning based on his advice to apply to more than the standard amount and then he doubled down on it recently

so a lot

[foggy prism]

just make sure that all ur letter writers are willing to submit that many letters

some can't be arsed to submit more than 20

[worthy peak]

i didnt reject per se

i was like, still down to meet but fyi my plans have changed a bit

[foggy prism]

then shouldnt u arrange it soon because the appli deadline is soon?

[worthy peak]

yeah i emailed

the application is indeed very soon

im so glad canadian unis are mostly later than this

[foggy prism]

so tru, i filled out all my application but am too lazy to write the letter of intent for some canadian unis

[worthy peak]

good luck!

yeah at this point im finding it difficult to narrow down a single research interest

[foggy prism]

i do it specific to school

i say im interested in one field if the school is good for one field

cuz if i don't have a specific interest anything is fine

i can mold myself into a good fit

[worthy peak]

me too but it's still hard to be specific

[worthy peak]

yeah same, but talking about a super specific topic is hard for me to do, like i don't know enough about the field

[foggy prism]

i do not talk too specific lol: im just do someth like "alg number theory" or something like that

[worthy peak]

haha nice

[nimble scroll]

Are grad admissions fine with me submitting english test scores a week after the deadline? I'm emailing the specific programs I just want to get a sense of if I'm fucked lol

[spring portal]

Most should be okay with test result coming in little later.

[hidden sleet]

In the UCLA app, there is a section on "relevant coursework" that allows you to list 5 courses. Is this distinct from the "List of mathematics courses taken" that is written as a requirement?

[spring portal]

If you are applying for math programs, both must be the same I would guess.

[hidden sleet]

Ok I'm only concerned cause it only allows me to list 5 courses

I will write an email

[hidden sleet]

Any tips for writing a personal history statement? I haven’t had to overcome any major personal or professional challenges beyond what a typical undergraduate would, and I’m fortunate to be relatively privileged compared to the average person in my country. It feels a bit "whiny" to write about anything else. (I am not from the US and I have never had to write anything like this before)

[tacit lark]

Do they say whats expected in the personal history statement? If not you can write about your life and how certain events influenced your goals.

[hidden sleet]

UCSB gives the following guidelines:
"discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree.
Include educational , familial, cultural, economic or social experiences, challenges , or opportunities relevant to your academic journey. Optionally, discuss how you might contribute to social or cultural diversity within your chosen field; and/or how you might serve educationally underrepresented segments of society with your degree."

I can write a bit about social and cultural diversity but not sure what else to write

Yeah I guess writing about my life and what influenced my goals makes the most sense

[haughty heart]

Hey guys, I have a general question.

I am currently doing my Master’s in Europe and I'll be writing my thesis next term. However, almost every application deadline for PhD positions is in mid-March 2026, which is before my last term/thesis work really even starts.

• Does anyone have experience applying while currently just starting their thesis?
• Did this affect your chances of getting an interview?

Thanks for the help!

[glacial cedar]

There’s no real way of knowing the latter

[paper granite]

Im in the same boat but in the UK so my deadlines are even earlier, like within the next month mainly, so I havent even started to look at my thesis (beyond actually just finding a topic). From what ive been told they generally just know that you havent really started on it yet theyre ok with that. Its probably a good idea to be able to say like why you picked it, roughly what it is and what you plan to do, but yeah from what ive been told youre not expected to be an expert and they kinda understand the situation

My MSc is only even a year long, and we sit all our exam in spring, so I dont have anything to say about my MSc lol

[haughty heart]

Thanks for your answer! It helps to hear others struggle with this too.

[haughty heart]

Yes you are right, maybe someone got some feedback on why the application was rejected.

[glacial cedar]

Idk about europe but in my experience in the US, most schools make you sign something saying you won’t ask why you got rejected (if you do)

Or something that says that they won’t tell you why

[main aspen]

There is an interpretation of gdpr where a lawyer could argue for it
But also they can argue a whole host of reasons why not

[foggy prism]

cant u just ask ur letter writer tho

some prof just dont care enough

could one argue that prof may submit diff letter for diff school that the generic template that u see (if a prof is willing to share) is not the LOR for each school?

prob not but idk what defines a LOR to a school, whether it is strict or not.

like what if u waive your right for every other school but not for a safety school

[paper granite]

Dear [Name]

I hope this email finds you well. I am an MSc student at [Uni 2], and I previously did my undergrad at [Uni 1]. I am interested in algebraic topology and I was wondering if you would have any availability to supervise a PhD project next year.

As for my background, I have mostly specialised in algebra, and more recently algebraic topology. My MSc thesis is titled "Loop Space Homology of Classifying Spaces and The Squeezed Model Structure" which I will be working on under the guidance of Professor [Name], and my final project in undergrad was titled "Betti Numbers in Algebra and Topology". I have attached my CV which contains some more details and relevant courses. I am also a Martingale qualified candidate, so would likely have my own funding.

I admit I don't fully understand your work yet, however I watched the first part of your talk [Title] and found this to be incredibly interesting (from what I followed!). Given my interest in ring theory, algebraic K-theory would be another area I would love to explore, so if you had any projects along these lines, I would love to discuss some possibilities.

Thanks,
Nope

Is this an appropriate email to reach out with? It feels very detail light but I know its usually good to keep it breif

[foggy prism]

i feel like this is too long of an email

[paper granite]

Too long? Also for context, im in the UK and its expected that you reach out first.

[foggy prism]

oh nvm then

[paper granite]

Like its 7 sentences

[foggy prism]

but also i tried reaching out for oxford but got ghosted?

[paper granite]

This is still possible, they have guidance for that on their website

[main aspen]

I’ve not had the best luck with Oxford (specifically Oxford)
3/50 people ghosted me, and that included 2/4 of the Oxford people

[main aspen]

I’ll dm you mine if you want

[paper granite]

Ive been ghosted by a guy at manchester, who like has an advertised PhD topic which is odd

[paper granite]

Yeah that could be good thanks!

[main aspen]

Some people needed reminders for me

[paper granite]

I am actually pretty interested in this one so I want to make a reasonable impression

But trying to balance details and also sending something theyll read is delicate

[foggy prism]

yeah dont mind me, i mostly asked profs in NA. i kept it under a paragraph with about 4 sentences

but thats prob just NA

my letter writer said to keep it short and simple

[foggy prism]

o god u sent 50 emails?

is that like 25 schools?

[main aspen]

Mine is 12 lines, excluding formalities

[main aspen]

18

[foggy prism]

damn

1/1 ghosted me for oxford

do you just use the "contact them" button on oxford website?

[main aspen]

I emailed directly
But I suspect that works (it’s just easier to keep in one place directly)

[foggy prism]

oh ok i see i thought its the "official" way to contact them.

[undone yacht]

I would

1. drop "I hope this email finds you well." This phrase is hatted by a lot of people and may very well just send the email directly to Spam.
   and
2. move
   "I have attached my CV which contains some more details and relevant courses. I am also a Martingale qualified candidate, so would likely have my own funding. "
   to after the third paragraph
3. Change "Thanks," to something a bit more formal.

[paper granite]

I have unfortunately sent it now (oops, should really have waited until tomorrow I guess ) but I did reformat it a little closer to the form you mentioned. But the thanks and hope it finds you remain

Setting up a filter to send any emails which contain I hope this email finds you well to spam seems insane though

Like yeah it’s a pointless thing to say but so are all of the formalities of emails

[undone yacht]

For me it is a mental spam filter, I just stop reading 🙂

[paper granite]

Can I ask why? That feels… extreme

[undone yacht]

because most emails that contains it is borderline spam/written using a template

that is at least my experience

[paper granite]

Well let’s hope this prof doesn’t have quite the same irritation by it lol

[undone yacht]

I am exaggerating about just stopping reading....but it is definatly a very "correct" filter. I can personally not recall a single interesting email starting like that. Anecdotal evidence though, but I have discussed this with colleagues and I am not alone on this 😛 It is a standard phrase used in automated templates from certain countries.

[paper granite]

Well hopefully my CV and funding is interesting enough lol, I would quite like to work with said professor

[foggy prism]

i feel like for 3) "thank you," is fine. I only used "thanks," for emails after the first.

i literally send every email with "thank you," nowadays

i did "thank you for your time," for these inquiries

Here's what I did:

I am a fourth-year undergraduate student at the [uni name], currently applying to Master's and PhD programs in mathematics. My academic interests lie in both applied and pure model theory. I am taking a course in [relevant course] and recently completed a research term with [prof name] on DCF_0/DCF_{0,m}, both of which greatly fostered my interest in Model theory. [same prof name] mentioned to me the recent applications of model theory to number theory. Given my strong interest in both of Model theory and Number theory, I am writing to ask if you are taking new graduate students for the upcoming academic year (fall 26), specifically those interested in the applications of model theory to number theory.

Thank you for your time,
qwertytrewq

but keep in mind there is a 2/4 ghost rate from NA for this template (whether this is good or not idk)

[undone yacht]

I would split that to two paragraphs, with the actual question "Given my strong interest ..." in the second one

[foggy prism]

yeah but its alr sent , and almost done with my appli anyways it shouldnt be too much of an issue....i hope....

i only have bonn left to apply if i get rejected everywhere

[paper granite]

Speaking of ghosting, what is the etiquette on following up on these things? I feel like you shouldn’t, but at the same time, professors are inundated with emails and it’s entirely possibly it was genuinely just missed and I’d hate to lose out on a very interesting PhD because an email got missed

[foggy prism]

a prof of mine said for NA its common for ghost, and this is also confirmed by the chat here, so I don't want to follow up at least for NA. For Europe honestly idk

i dont want to bother a busy prof too much ig

[undone yacht]

Two weeks (f not in the middle of summer)?
And check their homepage (and check how admittance is done for the position of interest).

[paper granite]

Ok but following up on PhD “reach outs” isn’t just a total faux pas?

In good news though, the professor from earlier just got back to me!

he said he is taking on students but doesn’t have the time to have a chat, but pointed me to some papers which should indicate the kinds of things we could do. He also said he doesn’t pre propose topics with students he likes to get them to do a bunch of reading for at least a semester than come up with something together

[foggy prism]

thats fast , congrats

[paper granite]

Fully could be automated lol

[undone yacht]

Maybe it is elsewhere? For me these emails are just as any emails, and personally I usually try to reach out to people after say 2 weeks if they do not answer me (some people do it sooner).
Thing is that, for me, we have a very structured way to hire PhD students and Postdocs here, so 99% of the time these emails do not follow this (stated on my homepage) so I just ghost.

[paper granite]

I’m really just hoping that having my own funding carries me far

[foggy prism]

doesnt school in the uk offer a lot of nonfunded positions

i say u have a very good shot if u alr have funding

[paper granite]

Fair enough yeah. I think for the places I’m reaching out to it’s expected that you already have (though not strictly required at all of them)

[paper granite]

Well yes but also like the funding is only valid at the top 5 unis in the UK, and I only get the funding if both I get accepted, and also not too many others do. Like they only have so many funding spots for each of those 5 programmes

But yeah it is in theory free money for the department so it should hopefully incentivise people

[foggy prism]

i thought oxford/cambridge acceptance for phd without funding is pretty high (but that was just hearsay)

[paper granite]

I don’t know any exact rates, but I do know unfunded positions are offered in the uk. That’s kinda here nor there though because it’s as good as a rejection

[foggy prism]

glad that its not a rejection for u tho i think either oxford/cam had a stat that 40% are unfunded

[paper granite]

I think that’s much more common for international students though tbf, a lot of UK funding is for UK nationals only

[undone yacht]

Here (Sweden) it is illegal to do a Ph.D. without funding

funding = full salary (either from university of university+company)

[foggy prism]

they are all taxed then?

[undone yacht]

yes. For PostDoc it is ok (typically) to get a tax-free stipend, there are some resources like that

A Ph.D. is like a normal job

[main aspen]

iirc "without funding" at Oxbridge means "find your own scholarship/etc outside the dept" not "have enough money to essentially do a full-time job without pay"

[half meadow]

"Illegal" hopefully meaning that the university gets into legal trouble if they let you do it, not that the student can get prosecuted for it.

[vagrant glacier]

any advice to tailoring your app for a specific school, or am I overthinking it?

there's the basic idea, they offer what I want; the location is where I want; ...?

[spring portal]

Look into research area fit, then also research of individual professors which closely aligns to your idea. To taylor to each school you can mention what is special about the program and how it fits your need (maybe a unique program, or unique/niche research field), mention professors and their work if it interests you or closely aligns with what you want to do.

[blissful crystal]

also i could be wrong but i dont think its worth it or it possibly could even be harmful to mention location i think

i think i read this somewhere a while ago but yea correct me if im wrong

[vagrant glacier]

shoot would love to know

I mean I wouldn't give it more emphasis than research interests

but I'd die to live and go to school there, specifically there lol

[blissful crystal]

i mean if i had to guess id think that everyone wants to live in certain college towns or wtv especially the usual suspects

so it might not be very special to add it to ur application

i suppose as a passing side note tho it couldnt hurt prob

[undone yacht]

None of universities will admit you to a Ph.D. program without it since like the 90:s. So, not an issue.

[livid shore]

To what proportion of programs do u reach out to a professor, and why?

[foggy prism]

5 contacted/ 15 schools: cuz they are a good match

my niche interest is niche enough that only a few does such work

the other ones are just matching my general interest and i didnt bother

13 are NA, 2 europe,

4 contacted in NA, 2/4 ghost, 1 contacted in Europe, 1/1 ghost

[hidden sleet]

University of conneticut has third party credential evaluation as a requirement on their website, does anyone know if this is a requirement for people completing their degrees?

also I could swear the math department did not require this, I checked the website today and it does

[livid shore]

How normal or not normal is it to see your recommenders letter for you?

like, before they send it in

[hidden sleet]

oh wait maybe they want this if you are accepted?

I don't think it's required for the online part of the application

this is stressing me out

[foggy prism]

i didnt. but some prof dont care, if u ask them for it.

[foggy prism]

they mustve specified it somewhere. but u should email the uni’s admission email (whatever that may be) for these

[livid shore]

oh ok, I thought it was more frowned upon? The reason I ask is because a professor sent me their letter out of the blue and I was not sure if it was appropriate

[hidden sleet]

yeah, emailed them

[foggy prism]

prob doesnt hurt to ask, a prof surely dont expect u to know all these etiquettes.

[hidden sleet]

The say it is required for admission/application and they say "the online part of the application should be submitted by dec 15th"

I had a look at some of the credential evaluation websites and I dont think they verify unofficial transcripts

I dont even think my school has an option to send unofficial transcripts directly to a third party

so I hope its not required by dec 15th

[foggy prism]

“Proof of degree completion must be included within the application. To meet this requirement for institutions outside the U.S., you should upload a copy of the third-party degree evaluation or a copy of the degree diploma/certificate, depending on that program’s requirements. If you completed a degree and it is not indicated on your transcript, then we will require a copy of your degree diploma/certificate to be uploaded to your application.”

so u orob need to upload it

[hidden sleet]

there's no place to upload it

also I have a couple months more till I finish my degree

[hidden sleet]

you are supposed to send it via the third party to them

[foggy prism]

uh idk then

[hidden sleet]

Quant internships pay you enough to survive 3-4 years?

[urban raft]

As far as I can tell, Oxford maths won't let you

[urban raft]

If you did 1, then you really have to stretch the definition of survive

but if you managed to do two of them, it's enough but not comfortable

If you did three, then you'll have a comfortable amount for the PhD

(Probably more than the stipend lol)

[paper granite]

Definitely more than the stipend lol, I’m pretty sure the JS internship rate is 30k

But also if you’re getting 3 quant internships and then going for a PhD that isn’t funded by industry…

[cosmic magnet]

This is most likely the case if you've accepted an offer and have to send your official transcript through such a channel for verification

[cosmic magnet]

Candidates still obviously have to go through some vetting process I assume?

That's how admissions work in America too?

You could get in as an unfunded MS though I think this is a bit scummy

Yeah, they just reject you in that case unless you have external funding (NSF, DOE etc.)

From what I understand in the UK, the Masters is just the senior year schedule of an advanced senior (in America) though it's def heavier in terms of coursework

[urban raft]

it's probably true at the top/wealthy places, but some places do give out unfunded offers...

[cosmic magnet]

The benefit to the UK system is that if you're good/quick at research you can get your degree quickly

[shell kindle]

Some places reject you even if you have external funding

I know someone who got NSF but got rejected by all the places and getting NSF didn't change any of the rejections

[cosmic magnet]

I have heard of that happening but I assume it's due to an advisor mismatch? Reject a GRFP fellow is a bit crazy unless you're applying to an Ivy/public Ivy

[shell kindle]

In this specific instance I do not think so

[cosmic magnet]

I feel like this has to be quite rare

They don't get in as is the numbers game but I think the majority of awardees are of T5 calibre. In that case you're right about the difficulty just purely in terms of the numbers

Fair point

[shell kindle]

I think that this is also not true

I think you underestimate the number of public universities among the top US schools

In my mind at least 3 of the top 10 are public

Some private places like U Chi are also having funding problems

[lone vessel]

my friends who are doing quant are getting 100k in total compensation for the summer (signing bonus + salary)

[tacit lark]

yea some places pay that much

theyre very competitive though

[lone vessel]

yeah definitely

[foggy prism]

for math?

i thought umich would be better than caltech and yale for math

[tacit lark]

Its hard to rank schools

[foggy prism]

yeah tru

[tacit lark]

yale and caltech are both very small so Im sure many people would say mich is better

but yale and caltech have good faculty

and really good students

[cosmic magnet]

Good is an understatement

[tacit lark]

Sure

[fierce bobcat]

yet another crazy GPA scale menu...

[wind plinth]

ja ja sehrgut

[final yarrow]

for UCLA, is it necessary to upload a Personal Statement? the math PhD page doesn't mention it being required, but the application says the personal statement is missing

[half meadow]

That sounds like pretty good evidence that it is necessary.

(And you wouldn't want to send in an application without one anyway, given that you're going to compete with other applicants who do have it).

[final yarrow]

yeah that makes sense

[foggy prism]

maybe its required but they just didnt mention it on the math phd website

i submitted mine with one

its hard to write a personal statement that different from a sop ngl

[wheat grove]

welp

submitted my u of t app

pit of a shot in the dark but well see what happens

[scarlet barn]

I didnt put who I was mentored by in all of my cv bullets: How fucked am I?

[tacit lark]

Not sure it will matter too much

[hidden sleet]

UW Madison requires you to submit a list of math courses you took, on their website it says to put the 20 most advanced courses you took, are taking and plan to take but within the application it asks for all courses you have taken. Which instruction should I follow?

[paper granite]

If they application is asking for all, I’d think all

I’d maybe list them from most to least advanced to be safe though. I also think reverse chronological is just sensible and these probably (pretty much) agree

[hidden sleet]

Also I know my (provisional) grades for the just completed fall semester, but it doesn't get updated on the transcript till next semester. Would it be frowned upon if I included them in the course list with an asterisk?

[fierce bobcat]

I would put in progress …if only not to jinx myself

[hidden sleet]

We receive the grades via email and they are basically final

[fierce bobcat]

Ah ok

[hidden sleet]

(I ask because I did a lot of grad courses this sem and I feel it would help my application a lot)

[fierce bobcat]

If you’re certain the grades won’t change, I would say put it with an asterisk and put something like “transcript not yet updated” since they’ll probably look at transcript as source of truth

[tacit lark]

you can try to attatch the email with your grades for this semester

[foggy prism]

telling ai to do a shitty "chance me"

[blissful crystal]

ai too optimistic

it doesnt wanna make u feel bad fr

[foggy prism]

good, i only want to feel bad after decision date

they changed a 10% to a 50% just cuz one person on the admission committee said "id be interested in working with you" like wtf

[blissful crystal]

10% wth 😭

[foggy prism]

I mean, even uoft is 8% for internationals...

its hard for interenationals😭

[blissful crystal]

oh yea its rough out there fr

[foggy prism]

in 10 years its abt to be like: "yo im interested in your research, can you pls move to this easier to apply school so i can work with you"

[spring portal]

Laat time I applied to a program with 2.5% chance. Guess what! I didn't get in

[paper granite]

Does anyone have any advice about how to avoid sounding just painfully generic in response to statements like “Why do you want to undertake graduate studies in maths?”

Like obviously you want to avoid the whole “ive loved maths since you came out of the womb” nonsense, but like fundamentally I want to do more maths because I like it, and I think I’m reasonably good at it. It’s something that I’m passionate about and makes me happy

I think for my masters applications I kinda got around this by saying “ I want to do a PhD and become a researcher etc” I.e. kick the can down the road, but I guess that’s harder to do now

Hmm this is true, but I still need to come up with something kinda specific lol.

I remember my undergrad project advisor giving similar advice though, like he told me to make sure not to just talk about having done your courses and stuff but show how you’ve engaged with maths outside of that

Which feels ok for like a general purpose statement, but specifically for why graduate studies it feels a bit harder. I guess you can spin it though

[shell kindle]

Why do you like math

[paper granite]

Fun init

Like puzzles but someone might pay me to do it

I’m being kinda flippant there but like, I don’t think I have a particularly deep answer to it. I find it stimulating and fun, I enjoy the process of learning and doing it in a way I don’t enjoy doing a lot of other stuff, even stuff I like.

[terse junco]

should i scrap plans for grad school if i get a C in my real analysis also scrap plans for REUs? im on my fourth semester undergrad and have 4 more semester to go and am taking analysis in R^n next semester

i no longer qualify for the accelerated masters at my school so but i hear phd programs may or may not be different

i have more math classes I’m taking next semester

i kinda feel my grade doesn’t 100% reflect the effort I’ve put in to RA

im not crazy about getting into a T30

my life has kinda been all over the place bc dealing with all sorts of things

im tbh it’s kinda depressing not that i want it to make me sad and my friend was saying all sorts of insulting things before my final that may or may not have affected my performance

[tame sundial]

You should tell ur friend about that

[terse junco]

he made me cry a lot like 10 min before my exam and i told him i was about to take it and I probably won’t talk to him for a week

[terse junco]

idk i haven’t checked my overall RA grade is it reasonable to email my professor for feedback on my performance and advice that could help me for future classes?

not asking him to change the grade or anything

[smoky jetty]

this is too early to be worrying about grad school chances

I don't see why you can't still try for REUs

don't reject yourself, let them reject you if they must

this is a setback, it happens, you'll be ok

it'll suck in the moment sure but you can still apply for REUs, I really don't see any issues

[terse junco]

im taking grad PDEs next semester so i hope that’ll be interesting and im gonna study lebesgue measure theory this winter break

[terse junco]

i guess it depends partially on LoRs and personal statements right

[smoky jetty]

yes but I don't see the relevance to what I said

[terse junco]

ok fair

yea it is kinda my first semester of taking serious math classes so I guess I should give myself grace

[glacial cedar]

One of my LOR writers asked that I use his personal email address for the rest of his letters instead of his school email. Is that gonna set of alarms at any schools?

[quiet stag]

Idk, but to be 100% safe I'd email the graduate directors of each place you're applying to let them know

[tacit lark]

does it say you have to use their school email?

[shell kindle]

Why would that be a problem

[glacial cedar]

just because most of the time they say "if they have a school email, use it"

[foggy prism]

probably cuz school dont want to go through a lot of trouble to verifying that the person is indeed the person you are talking about? And you are not just creating a random gmail that resembles profs gmail to submit your own recommendation letter in the profs name

[shell kindle]

I feel like you’re over thinking this

[foggy prism]

considering they, a lot of the times, put "use their business email address", this seems like a valid reason tbh

[raw quail]

I think some maybe most of the portals flag reviews from personal email accounts for manual review or something

I've come a across a couple that explicitly say it, and given that like 2/3rd of schools just use the same portal software I'd guess the others also do this and just aren't so explicit about it

did you provide your recommender with the deadlines?

[shell kindle]

How does being on a call help

[fierce bobcat]

y'all I dunno 😂 -- any better ideas though lol

[glacial cedar]

they typically don’t have to submit by the deadline

[raw quail]

some schools do though, and it's hard to tell which are which

I would just email to remind them and make sure they're actually getting the requests

[fierce bobcat]

ok -- thanks all for the input, trying to manage my spiraling 😅

[terse junco]

okay im tbh im a little frustrated that I got a B- bc my analysis final exam which wasn’t the best even though I studied quite a bit.

but now im pretty mad at my friend saying disparaging things to me right before the final exam and made me cry and it probably affected my exam performance and now im disqualified from doing the accelerated masters at my university 🫠 like I wouldn’t do a masters if it wasn’t the accelerated one bc it saves money and im in the US 🫠

or maybe i can just go to Europe like germany and get a masters for no/low tuition if they’ll accept me or just do a PhD

otherwise B- is not the end of the world but I needed a B or better for my 4+1

[tacit lark]

rip

[terse junco]

i can still take grad classes tho

it just doesn’t count towards a grad degree at my institution

also probably so REUs for research experience i guess

[final yarrow]

for a personal statement (not statement of purpose), would discussing how my math progress was accelerated during high school and university be suitable?
here, the issue is that when i started my degree, i didn't optimise it well, but still ended up doing a majority of 4th year math units in my 2nd year and beginning my 4th year project in my 3rd year. unsure if this is a good angle to take

in general writing a personal statement has been hell because i feel i can only write from academic experiences, but most of that's already in my statement of purpose

[lofty plover]

yo for application of ms applied math at a competitive uni, do i need to take applied math courses like optimization and num anal, or will taking common pure math courses be fine ?

[foggy prism]

From Berkeley Website: "Explain how your life experiences inspire or motivate you to apply to graduate school. Highlight experiences that demonstrate your promise, initiative, and perseverance, as well as your ability to collaborate and communicate effectively across different communities." So you should maybe begin even earlier: what made you so interested in math that you started taking 4th year courses second year

[weak cape]

hey so i had some doubts for a phd application how much does a under grad gpa matter if it is around 3.15 zone , if you have some paper publications , research experience and relevant industry / work experience
deeply appreciate any fruitful responses

[tacit lark]

It's impossible to answer these questions. This depends a lot on what schools you're applying to, what programs at those schools, the quality of your "paper publications", rec letters, what you mean by relevant industry experience, etc. Another big factor is your school and the average gpa there. At most US schools a gpa of 3.15 is not great. At some schools outside the US, a 3.15 gpa is great.

Regardless, a gpa of 3.15 will hurt your application at many schools. It's around a B average which is much lower than the average gpa at many schools, say t50. The chance you get admitted to one of the schools would be much higher if your gpa was much higher. Obviously, admissions is not determined soley by gpa. Having good research experience and recommendation letters will help your application. It will likely make your application more competitive than someone with a similar gpa but no research experience. How much it compensates for your gpa will depend on the quality of the rest of your app and the committee reviewing your app. Some places value gpa more than others.

Many programs, like math, require passing coursework and qualifying exams. A low gpa is a signal that you may not do well on qualifying exams/coursework.

[weak cape]

i see , what letter of recomendations are we talking about from the profesors of my grad school right ?

but if i am already doing a job how can i access a letter of recommendation from grad uni ? also any other ways that make me stand out i really appreciate your input but what is done is done , i now need to work on future ways that can improve my odds if you have any idea your response would help me gain more mental clarity and edge thanks

[tacit lark]

Most grad programs (in the US) require around 3 letters of recommendation. Ideally, at least one of these come from a professor. If you have a publication, then a natural person to ask if the most senior person on the publication.

[weak cape]

i see

since you are online can we take this convo to dms

id deeply appreciate your input

[tacit lark]

sure

[glacial cedar]

im confused. is the GRE required or no?

maybe ill just call the school

[glacial cedar]

it was not (for anyone else applying to BU)

[paper granite]

Looks like it pretty clearly states that it isn’t

Seems they just haven’t updated the first webpage in a while. Which is unfortunately not uncommon. It seems to be a requirement that university websites are so complex that they’re impossible to navigate or keep up to date

[glacial cedar]

what was weird is that it was the same webpage

It just clearly stated it both is and isnt required so I wasn't sure

[paper granite]

I’m 99.999% sure it is not required

[glacial cedar]

yeah I called and it wasnt

[worthy peak]

gotta prepare for the worst

this maybe won't matter for december schools for january schools my grades this term will definitely be bad

[tacit lark]

Rip

[worthy peak]

i probably passed this course but my performance on the final was...less than ideal (including at least one "low level" mistake) and from what i can tell well below my classmates

it's an advanced course, but still, there will be applicants who did well in those

[glacial cedar]

yeah I didn't do well on one of my finals. Think I still got a decent final grade. Gonna calculate (edit: damn i was one question on the final away from an A)

[foggy prism]

for those who got conditional offers, what are the conditions usually

[flint falcon]

What's gpa? And how does it translate to the European system?

Like, in France at least, your exams are out of 20 and each year, accounting for coefficients, you get an average grade out of 20

[lone vessel]

gpa is just ur average grade across all ur classes and all ur semesters

[smoky jetty]

Yea, it stands for "grade point average" but it's not exact

Typically it's like 93% is a 4.0, 90% is a 3.7, 87 is a 3.4, 83 is a 3.0, etc etc

No idea how it translates to the French system tho sorry

[foggy prism]

there is high variance for this: uoft lists 85+ (including 85) as 4.0

[shell kindle]

Well an A becomes a 4.0, but universities and classes may assign grades differently

Some places do A- as 3.7 and B+ as 3.3, other places treat A- and A the same and B+ and B the same

Some places do a 4.3 for A+ so you can go above 4

I found this conversion chart online

[scarlet barn]

How do I unlock my transcript?

[shell kindle]

?

[quiet stag]

Do you mean, like, your transcript is an encrypted PDF and you need to unencrypt it for an application? If so, then just "printing" it but selecting Microsoft Print to PDF (or whatever the equivalent is for your OS) should give you an unencrypted version

[agile shuttle]

I figured it out

[glacial cedar]

how much of your "why school" paragraph is fill in the blank?

[fierce bobcat]

A lot lol -- but it depends, some of the schools I have less of a connection with are pretty fill in the blank, but for my alma mater and schools that have some kind of interesting program/requirement I try to write a little more

[smoky jetty]

Mine was kind of fill in the blank yea

[foggy prism]

all of mine was fill in the blank

[glacial cedar]

Might make mine fully fill in the blank

Like you don’t mention papers at all,

?

[smoky jetty]

why would you mention specific papers

like cool you found their CV and listed one of their most recent papers?

[glacial cedar]

just to show more effort

[wind plinth]

i only did this this when i emailed a faculty member directly

[glacial cedar]

but also you gotta pick papers that match what you say in the essay, so it also shows you read it

[wind plinth]

i was like "hi i'm very interested in your work specifically xyz paper are you taking grad students?"

[foggy prism]

i would if i am not risking them catching up to my bs and realize that idk what the paper is talking abt

[tacit lark]

Very superficial effort. They will see through it.

[smoky jetty]

Yea it's so superficial it's worse than just mentioning the profs and their areas by name

[smoky jetty]

You literally just need to read a title and maybe abstract to do this

[glacial cedar]

So are you saying don’t even mention profs?

[tacit lark]

Spamakin did not say that

Hes just saying superficially mentioning some paper titles and writing a sentence ab it is worse than the standard thing of just listing names of profs.

[glacial cedar]

Yeah i just thought the implication was that it was bad to do either

thank g-d cuz I already submitted like 5 apps

[foggy prism]

so u didn't do it for those 5 apps?

[glacial cedar]

no I did the name but not the papers

but was going to do the papers for the apps I was submitting today through monday

[foggy prism]

yeah its better not do that i know someone who tried to rizz up a prof but they caught their bs

[glacial cedar]

if my SOP is written in LaTeX, but one of my apps only has a text field for the SOP, is there an easy way to convert LaTeX to text? Copy and Paste formats strangely (nvm i found a really sketchy converter online)

[sage harbor]

When speaking about past research for a SOP, is it best to say what exactly you did or it is better just to say the subject area?

As an example " I've done research on the Linear Stability Analysis of Rayleigh-Benard Convection" or just "I did research in Fluid Dynamics"

[smoky jetty]

How much latex are you using that you can't just copy paste the text

[glacial cedar]

I used a fair amount, but my main concern was with when latex would split a word across lines, but I got it all figured out

[half meadow]

For formulas, you can probably get away with pasting LaTeX source into the application text field -- anyone who is qualified to judge your SOP on its merits should also be able to read that.

[main aspen]

If not, then you should think about if what you’re doing is something slightly more involved than you want for a SOP

[tacit lark]

Why not

[main aspen]

When they’re saying Latex I assume like
a_n sort of stuff
Not full on rendered equations

[glacial cedar]

yeah I mostly have like square roots and subscripts

[vagrant glacier]

waiting for writers to submit on the day of the deadline

[tacit lark]

Sometimes the letters arent due on the same day as the application.

[vagrant glacier]

this one says they are, hopefully it's a little more bark than bite

anyhow it's tomorrow, and I'm reading this is normal ig

karma for all of the assignments I submitted with minutes left

[glacial pendant]

is there a spreadsheet with info about interviews / decisions release and stuff

i feel like ive seen one for previosu years

[tacit lark]

I dont think so.

[terse junco]

how do you write a good/polished research/academic related CV/resume as an undergrad? im somewhat baffled in terms of what to include

im a 3rd year undergrad in math and physics so ive taken all the way up to intro analysis and “advanced” linear algebra and thermo + optics. next sem im taking grad PDEs, analysis in R^n and intermediate abstract algebra, and quantum mechanics

not much research or academic work experience except I did an online reu but I didn’t get results because i lacked analysis background then but i got to help with the research presentation and i had a job in the physics department setting up physics labs

ive also done projects with professors and have taken honors sections of classes (not necessarily notable cuz it doesn’t show up as an honors course on my transcript)

[smoky jetty]

Here you can see my current CV: https://anakin.phd/cv

Anything in 2023 is basically what I had in my CV (as I sent all my apps Dec. 2023). Although some 2024 stuff was on there as I already knew it was gonna happen (one paper preprint, some of the TAing, the undergrad research).

I also included a list of advanced courses but in hindsight I don't think this is necessary as all schools ask for a transcript anyways

idk if the CV is worth stressing over

Transcript, letter, and statement matter more

[spring portal]

Very clean CV. Mine looks mostly like this (minus the colour), but I also included a section on research experience with 3-4 bullet points for each experience I had. Do you think it was unnecessary? I have seen quite a few do it.

Idk if its CV padding but I dont really have anywhere else to write it down ig (minus the statement, but I only explain the relevant experiences I have, not all).

[soft zealot]

[trail vigil]

This looks clean!

[smoky jetty]

Here's the template https://github.com/moderncv/moderncv

[smoky jetty]

IDK I see that more on resumes than CVs but it probably doesn't hurt to include?

[wheat grove]

Is it fine if my referee submitted the letter a couple days late

[tacit lark]

Probably

[gentle basin]

depends on the school

[smoky jetty]

Unless it's extremely late I think schools are forgiving about this

they aren't going to hold it against you, it's not your fault really

[foggy prism]

should ask the the school. All we can give are speculations and it's probably fine.

[worthy peak]

if recommender still hasnt submitted their letter is it rude if i send another email reminding them

i already sent one yesterday

[worthy peak]

should I contact them beforehand

right now my application is still "incomplete" on the portal

[worthy peak]

welp

i hope it's fine but there's 3 hours left...

[vestal basin]

grad schools usually dont mind if recommenders submit late but better not to risk it

[raw quail]

I'm applying to some Canadian masters programs and some of them have an optional "research proposal" slot, how serious is this?

[fierce bobcat]

hi--yeah I know how stressful that is, I don't know how close you are with your recommenders but I def sent a bunch of reminders (mostly as an actual email not always via the portals which might help )

[worthy peak]

I have done both, no idea if it works

[fierce bobcat]

Fingers crossed—sorry that’s happening though

[foggy prism]

do so, cant u tag ur email as urgent too?

i feel lucky for my prof is more punctual than i am

[worthy peak]

ok there is a grace period

[gentle basin]

sent my first apps out yesterday

not feeling good

[glacial pendant]

hey it's done though!

congrats on finishing some of them :-D

[terse junco]

can someone give me advice on my CV?

im applying for national lab jobs and reus

[gentle basin]

you don’t need quite so many courses listed

everyone has to take diffeq, intro mech, intro E&M, etc; those courses are implied by your major

pick the most advanced ones you have and leave out the rest

[foggy prism]

i wouldnt put "wrote a finalized report of my solution in LaTeX" idt "in LaTeX" is a detail that ppl care enough for a cv

and idk if ppl typically write skills section, I would remove it but that might just be me

and to be consistent with the format, remove the two "I have"'s under the Society of Physical Mathematics?

[lone flax]

it is conceivably helpful to have some skill in tex, eg for reus, but the argument is not strong

I would probably put it into the skills section, and remove the last two skills (they seem hard to prove?) and maybe add a programming language or something instead

also if you are going to put latex as a skill (or mention it anywhere in your cv), you should use the built in command \LaTeX{}

[lyric whale]

Hi everyone, I am relatively new for channela nd just found out this is the most suitable channel to ask the following question (which I already ask in general discussion but I realized it is not the most suitable channrl position: I will go to either Master in Finance or Master in Quantitative Finance (or similar name like Mathematical Finance, Financial Mathematics and Financial Engineering), is doing well (which idk how high) in GRE Math Subject Test (Calculus 50%, Algebra 25% and others 25%) significant assuming it is not required? Btw, I am from Stat major for Bachelor.

[foggy prism]

prob not significant if its not required, and prob school dependent to be fair.

[terse junco]

okayyy

[terse junco]

okayyy

[terse junco]

fair enough I can just talk about those in real examples in personal statements or questions regarding these

[smoky jetty]

• Don't have lines which are only 1-3 words long (such as the line break for the research interests). Either fill out the second line a good amount or cut it down to one line
• I don't get the point of listing courses, they will see your transcript if they care about courses
• Capitalize models in the project title
• Your tense is all over the place. Some bullets are written in the normal resume/CV style but then others you say "I ..." or say "my ..."
• Holy hell a bullet point continues to the next page
• For programming languages I see absolutely zero point in saying your skill level. Either list the programming language if you're comfortable enough using it to use it for research / job or if you're confident enough that you can get up to speed quickly with that language
• Why do some dates for experiences go across 2 lines
• Why do some dates not have an end date? Either say start - current or start - known end like the degree has
• kill the bottom skills section, it's not the 80s anymore

ok that's all I got at a glance

I also do not know if attending lectures in something counts as extra-curriculars or work experience but your mileage may vary

[terse junco]

Okay

Some of the activities are current?

[smoky jetty]

idk you're the one saying January 2025 - for the Clinic

[terse junco]

Okiii I’ll basically cut out the last skills section

[terse junco]

Bc I still volunteer there???

[smoky jetty]

ok so say January 2025 - current

not just January 2025 - that looks weird

for what it's worth, this is more typical to how academic CVs are formatted: https://anakin.phd/cv

but I see enough CVs formatted like yours that I wouldn't say you have to change up the format

[terse junco]

Okayy

I am not sure why the dates are in two lines I’ll see if I can change that I guess for readability

[smoky jetty]

yea the thing that sticks out to me is that there are many inconsistencies in phrasing, formatting

which to me indicates that this is a hasty first draft

which may not be the case but that's what it reads as to me

[terse junco]

Yea I’ll change the I have … stuff I get that is inconsistent

[terse junco]

Well idk I made this earlier this year but I’ve only recently updated yesterday I was working on as much as I could yesterday 😅

I’m just asking for feedback now thooo

Hmm some people do a little summary section at the beginning is that necessary?

Like 2-3 lines of summarizing my position and what I’m looking to do for research and other interests

[smoky jetty]

it's not the 80s anymore

so no

that's a very dated thing to do

[terse junco]

Fair

I just wanted to check

Thanks everyone for the comments

[smoky jetty]

one thing that could be good to add is a projects section

[terse junco]

I do have one?

[smoky jetty]

if you have some personal projects on GitHub

?

[terse junco]

Oh I don’t have stuff on git hub

[smoky jetty]

Oh right I thought that only said Research Experience

[terse junco]

I wrote a projects section it’s just very limited

Yea I put my honors projects and also the research experience

[smoky jetty]

ok anyways personal projects are a better way to talk about programming languages you know and tools you know than just listing them

but if you don't have any then don't sweat it

it's not super important anyways if you're applying for labs and REUs

[terse junco]

I mean yea im just an undergrad

I’m barely going into my junior year next sem 🫠

[smoky jetty]

You can have personal projects as an undergrad? I don't see your point

[terse junco]

I’m a junior in credits tho

True

[smoky jetty]

No one cares about credit hours

[terse junco]

im just referring to this

Okii thanks

Imma make these changes

Is it necessary to link LinkedIn I just put my email

[smoky jetty]

not necessary but can't hurt

[terse junco]

oki i took your suggestions mostly but idk i kept the coursework section just in case they dont ask for transcripy

i didnt include my gpa bc its below 3.5 rn 😭 ive been dealing with some stuff

[vestal basin]

I listed courses I audited (so those were not on my transcript). Also something I figured is that if some course is extremely relevant - like a higher level grad course - might make sense to put it on the CV because PIs don't look at transcripts in that much detail

[terse junco]

oh yea the pde course is a grad course and its just reserved credit so idk if it shows up on my transcript

[vestal basin]

it does not make sense to have primary level courses you need to take for the degree, however.

[terse junco]

fair enough

[smoky jetty]

• research interests doesn't need a bullet point if there's literally only one bullet point
• Still don't know how I feel about list of courses
• Capitalize current for the date and add it to the other in-progress date (again this seems like you didn't proof read this before sending)
• What is this ordering of stuff in the Organizations sections? It is neither by start nor by end
• either extend the Sahara clinic bullet or cut it to one line
• (copy pasted from above) For programming languages I see absolutely zero point in saying your skill level. Either list the programming language if you're comfortable enough using it to use it for research / job or if you're confident enough that you can get up to speed quickly with that language

[terse junco]

okayy

[smoky jetty]

My view is either the PI cares about courses and will ask for transcript or they don't care about courses and so listing them is a waste of space

otherwise it does look better than before so it's a good start

hopefully you get whatever you're applying for

[terse junco]

Im tbh for the organizations i only ordered it that way because of relevance

[smoky jetty]

oh it's by relevance?

[terse junco]

Yea for research

[smoky jetty]

Eh fair enough I guess, that's not a bad way to order it

[terse junco]

Im tbh I hate java even though I took two courses

I should get into it more

[smoky jetty]

I'm not saying remove Java lol

I'm saying that saying elementary vs intermediate or whatever is useless

[terse junco]

ASU sucks sm for making us take Java courses and making us use zybooks

ts was torture

[smoky jetty]

either you know it well enough to use it in research / work (or enough to quickly pick up more of it) or you don't

Java sucks to use, I agree, but it's everywhere so it's good to know

[vestal basin]

don't most universities make you take java

or some other OOP language

[terse junco]

i hear c++ is more "useful' but people say its better to learn java first bc c++ is just difficult

[terse junco]

in math? maybe idk

[vestal basin]

i meant with a cs undergrad

[terse junco]

oh yea

im not cs tho

[vestal basin]

ah okay

[smoky jetty]

C++ is also everywhere, and it's good to learn a lower level language that makes you manage memory yourself

[vestal basin]

i find c++ and java pretty similar in terms of underlying structure

[terse junco]

I shoudlve taken a dat science class so i could learn R and python maybe those would be more suitable for me but idk its always been a struggle for me to code

[smoky jetty]

coding is a useful skill even for pure math

[terse junco]

I need to get out of that

Yea true

Debugging code drives me nuts

[vestal basin]

you can pick up python on your own

[terse junco]

Yea ive done python with my physics classes but its mostly stuff we've been guided through

[vestal basin]

i did not have python in uni and that is probably the language i use the most

[terse junco]

I know real programmers usually dont like python apparently

Like mt friends

[smoky jetty]

I think Python is bad as a first language

it's too loose

IMO a first language should force you to reckon with types

anyways this is not what this channel is for

[paper granite]

Undergrad comp sci students shit on it*

not quite the same thing

[terse junco]

Haha real

[smoky jetty]

hopefully the resume advice was good

[terse junco]

thank you

[terse junco]

lol yea they are undergrad comp sci but my friend likes other languaes

[paper granite]

Yeah I mean I don’t want to keep this going and get off topic but like programming languages are just tools to solve problems, and for a lot of people python is the right tool for a lot of problems. It’s not super performant sure but if you just need to crunch some data with something you can knock together in a couple hours it’s perfect

[terse junco]

its so jover with these job and reu applications tho but eh imma try worst case scenario i just work for my dad but that means i stay in arizona and suffer in the heat but eh i need money even if it does not align with my interests

i am applying to an asu reu tho

i made that mistake last time applied and its better than nothing

[marble zealot]

I’m a first year PhD student I just finished my first semester, am I still eligible to apply for nsf grfp?

[quiet stag]

You mean like, next fall? Most years, second-year grad students are eligible. But it was different this year, and it's not clear whether that'll still be the case next year

Assuming you didn't also apply this year, that is (grad students can only apply once)

[marble zealot]

Yeah I haven’t applied at all yet

I really want to focus more on research instead of teaching load so I am looking into funding for programs like this that will give me more time to do so

[mossy niche]

i heard its unlikely they will change it back

[marble zealot]

It’s only per year right, not per semester?

[mossy niche]

yes

[marble zealot]

Are there any other similar programs for pure math?

[tacit lark]

There are other fellowships like NDSEG, Jane street, and probably others

[agile shuttle]

Does anyone know about post post back opportunities

[tacit lark]

Phd or masters

[agile shuttle]

Not necessarily either?

Like for example if I wanted to do work in between Phd years

[livid shore]

Could I also have my CV fried?

[agile shuttle]

wtf is there to fry 😭😭😭

[livid shore]

idk any formatting or whatever

like just to be improved

or take out

like feedback

not necessarily fry

[agile shuttle]

The content is good you need stronger verbs

I recommend looking at Purdue’s CCO handbook

[livid shore]

does anywhere stick out where I use particularly weak ones

[agile shuttle]

Like wrote is a week choice

avoid things like that

if you wanna look up the power verb section in the CCO hand book

[mossy niche]

cv doesnt need any verbs

[agile shuttle]

yus

[livid shore]

ok so just got 2 very contradictory advice immediately

[mossy niche]

are you talking about in an academic context

or general job applications

[livid shore]

CV for graduate applications

[agile shuttle]

From what I have heard in general spaces when it comes to cvs/resumes if you have verbs, having the right ones is important even in an academic CV

[livid shore]

why else in this channel

[mossy niche]

cv is just a way to list what you did

i left out anything jobwise that wasnt directly relevant to math

[agile shuttle]

Sure but isnt it also a way for people to see you can talk about what you did on a technical level? (Im an undergrad so I cant really speak with too much authority here)

[mossy niche]

no

thats your sop

[agile shuttle]

Could this also be a discrepancy on the level in which the cv is being written on? Like an undergrad cv versus a post doc?

[agile shuttle]

Sure but you only have like 1000 words?

[mossy niche]

and in your cv you have even less

[agile shuttle]

?

[mossy niche]

i think many schools dont even look at a cv so you can do whatever you want in it

[agile shuttle]

😭😭😭

Bro what

[livid shore]

thats crazy

[mossy niche]

all the relevant info should be in the application itself, sop, letters of rec, teanscript

[agile shuttle]

I thought a cv could be as long as your relevant experiences make it

[mossy niche]

a cv doesnt really add much

[livid shore]

ok but a SOP should be limited to 2 pages and you cant really write about all of your relevant experiences along with everything else that should be included in a SOP in 2 pages

[agile shuttle]

Sure but you only have a 1000 words to convey the past 4 years of your academic life

[livid shore]

CV presents a very succinct easy way to

list achievnements

and to read them

[mossy niche]

thats exactly what I'm saying

its just a list

if its important enough to describe, it probably will end up in the sop anyways

[livid shore]

sometimes the title does not entirely describe something

okay anyways

I am just hoping for advice on how to improve my CV, for the purpose of applications

[shell kindle]

This is for resumes not CVs

[agile shuttle]

In theory this makes sense to me but from what Ive been told this is completely subjective to what the program cares about which you have no way of knowing ahead of time. And the person who told me that has been on grad committees

[agile shuttle]

Okay a resume is limited to 1 page that much I know

[mossy niche]

a resume is not limited to 1 page

[agile shuttle]

at best 2

[mossy niche]

its subject to the feelings of the job post