Graduate School Application Results and Strategies - Fall 2008

In summary, the author applied to a variety of math graduate programs but did not hear back from any of them. He is hoping to get into his "bottom 5" (Rutgers, UPENN, Duke, UCSD, Texas) and anyone of his mega reach schools (Harvard-Cornell). He is suprised none of his friends have heard from Princeton since they had a December 1st deadline for the Math PhD program. The author believes the best schools for math-physics are: Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Columbia, Yale (even though it is small, there are some good people for representation theory and they have a general relativity guy), UPENN, Duke (really really impressed me
  • #1
JasonJo
429
2
Since every other message board has it, why not us?

So what schools did you apply to and which ones did you get into?

I applied to the following Math graduate programs:
MIT
Harvard
Berkeley
Stanford
Princeton
Chicago
Columbia
NYU
Yale
Cornell
Texas
UCSD
Rutgers
Duke
UPENN
Baruch Financial Math Masters
Carnegie Mellon Computational Finance Masters

I did not hear back from any of them. I'm hoping to get into my "bottom 5" (Rutgers, UPENN, Duke, UCSD, Texas) and anyone of my mega reach schools (Harvard-Cornell).

I'm suprised none of my friends have heard from Princeton since they had a December 1st deadline for the Math PhD program!

To be honest, I do not expect admission from any of the programs, but we'll see what happens. I'm sitting on eggshells until then!
 
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  • #2
Wow. You want in NYU so bad you applied twice!
 
  • #3
will.c said:
Wow. You want in NYU so bad you applied twice!

haha, oops, fixed it :-p
 
  • #4
The grad maths department at Rutgers is very good! Although the graduate lounge is always occupied by the financial maths students.. haha...

They usually response in late march. Take your time to wait and enjoy the rest of your undergrad
 
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  • #5
It's impossible to enjoy your last semester when you're waiting for grad school decisions. Impossible.
 
  • #6
That is an impressive list.
 
  • #7
That's also a lot of money!
 
  • #8
Good luck, i hope everything works out for you, mate.
 
  • #9
Waiting to hear from:-

Berkeley
Stanford
Cornell
Chicago
Michigan State
Ohio State
Stony Brook
Maryland

have also applied to the elementary particle physics program at Munich... (IMPRS)
 
  • #10
iceman99 said:
That is an impressive list.

Yeah but I doubt I'll get into any of those schools. I choose my school list to reflect my interest in geometry (differential geometry, geometric analysis, ricci flows, geometry of PDEs) and mathematical physics (mostly how geometry is used in quantum field theories, general relativity and possibly grand unified theories like string theory).

From my research on grad schools I believe that the better schools for math-physics are: Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Columbia, Yale (even though it is small, there are some good people for representation theory and they have a general relativity guy), UPENN, Duke (really really impressed me with the emphasis they place on geometry and physics), Texas, Rutgers (seems to have a great quantum department).

For geometry, it is the usual suspects. Stanford in particular sticks out with just the sheer percentage of professors who research geometry. However, again Duke really impressed me with their faculty and they even have a geometry/physics track for PhD. I cannot tell you how exciting it is to see a math PhD program list General Relativity as a regularly offered graduate course.

And I would like to give some advice for potential grad applicants:
1) Do not judge a program squarely based on it's overall rankings. Columbia is lower ranked than Berkeley, but if you want to study Ricci flows, it is one of THE places to be. Likewise, UC-San Diego has an excellent geometric analyst in Chow.
2) Do apply to a wide array of schools. I applied to Yale, which is a smaller department but I also applied to Berkeley, Texas, Rutgers, etc. which all have very big faculty (all also happen to be public, which is another thing to keep in mind). Harvard has a 15 member senior faculty but it also only admits 8-10 students a year, so you get to interact with top notch faculty.
3) I tried to make sure each school had at least 4-5 faculty members that I would have no qualms doing a thesis under, at least material wise. This way I have a sizeable pool of possible thesis advisors and I can choose which one I mesh the best with.
4) I also applied to a school in an area that isn't necessarily as appealing, but I kept the option open. Considering most applications cost $60-70 for the fee, $15 for extra GRE scores and $10 to send a transcript, you figure at most $100 to keep an option open.

If I could apply all over again I would:
1) Apply to "realistic" reach schools. I know reach schools are supposed to be unrealistic, but I don't think I have a shot at the top 6 (Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, Princeton, Chicago). I would probably apply to 1-2 super reaches, 2-3 reaches, 2-3 comfortable admits and 2 safety schools. My list does not really have any safety schools, even the lowest schools are top 25 ranked and ranked top 10 in specific research areas. I might very well end up not getting into any PhD program.
2) Write a better grad school essay. My statement of purpose was not so great. I stated what I wanted to study in grad school, but they were all rushed because I wanted to get my applications in so early, which did nothing since some of my recommenders took so long to send in letters.
3) Definitely study more for the GRE and the GRE subject. I thought I could take an honors thesis on an open problem, an independent study in general relativity, an independent study in topology, a course on measure theory, a seminar on geometry of physics, write all my grad school essays AND study for the GRE and the GRE subject exams. Big mistake. I have a great GPA, good letters but a terrible GRE score. It is the one blotch on my application and it might potentially hold me back from a better school. If I could do it again, I would have set aside 2-3 months during the summer of my sophomore year and studied regularly (nothing crazy) for the GRE and have taken itduring the fall of my Junior year, allowing me to completely focus on upper-upper division math courses, grad courses, independent studying, an honors thesis, etc. during my Junior and Senior years, the most crucial years in the grad school application.

Yes math is about working hard and being a good mathematician, but getting into grad school is not 100% about being the best math student. You have to be on your heels and be able to stay on top of deadlines as well as being able to convey what kind of math student you are, on paper.

As I type this, I am going insane waiting on grad decisions.
 
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  • #11
haha, I'd go insane if I tried to apply to that many schools. I applied to six schools for a PhD in electrical engineering (I'm interested in molecular and organic electronics).

MIT
Michigan
Cornell
Texas
Penn State
Arizona State

They are not ranked in any particular order. I'd probably be happy at any of those schools. I've heard from ASU already. They invited me out to their engineering graduate student open house and they're paying all travel expenses. They said I would know whether I am accepted 2 weeks before the event, so I take the invitation to the open house as like an informal acceptance...I know it doesn't mean I can be 100% sure I will be admitted though.
 
  • #12
I'm really surprised you didn't apply to Stony Brook given your research interest.
 
  • #13
zhentil said:
I'm really surprised you didn't apply to Stony Brook given your research interest.

I know, I actually wasn't familiar with Stony Brook's research at the time I applied. I researched schools pretty heavily too, which is the sad part.

edit: I assume that was directed toward me...
 
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  • #14
I want to study Algebraic Geometry: Algebraic Curves and possibly Teichmuller TheoryUIllinois
UWashington
Duke
Rice
CUNY
University of Southern California
two masters programs: Boston College, Wake Forest University.

So, basically, my aim was to get into a school with strong emphasis in Geometry and specifically Algebraic Geometry with at least a decent overall rating. I listened to a professor that knows me best and his advice very carefully and took it. I originally was going to apply to Berkeley and Brown, and some lower schools overall such as Chapel-Hill and Washington University. I cut these four schools out of my list. Then I realized that all of my schools are basically the same overall and that I do not have any super-safe schools. As I didn't want to go to place like University of Oklahoma (or in other words a school that I wasn't really excited about for the Ph.D.) So, I applied to two masters programs (didn't want to stay at my school either for I am tired of it), as ultimate safety schools (BC and WFU do not have ph.d. programs so there is support for the masters degree). As it turns out, I got accepted to the highest ranked school on my list and now I feel as if I should have applied to something higher up.

Feb 1st: acceptance to UIUC
 
  • #15
Hey eastside, congrats on UIUC, I wanted to apply there but for some reason I just didn't but I really do like that school and that faculty.
 
  • #16
Some factors that may have lead to acceptance is that UIUC is very big school (no word yet on finances so they could be expecting just to let me in and have me pay for it), I wrote my personal essay specifically for UIUC mentioning people I wanted to work with and specific things about their department, and my letter writers. I will know more about how I compared to others when I hear from schools like Duke and Rice who let in very few people a year. But, it seems early for a decision at any rate and for that reason I am expecting to receive support from UIUC.
 
  • #17
Hey, JasonJo. Thanks. Yeah Illinois was basically my first choice.
 
  • #18
eastside00_99 said:
Hey, JasonJo. Thanks. Yeah Illinois was basically my first choice.
Have fun at Altgeld. :-)
 
  • #19
Manchot said:
Have fun at Altgeld. :-)

Altgeld is the math building? I have seen a picture of it; it looks nice. Of course, I go to school in this circular building built in the 60s that my school is going to tear down in a few years because it has not been kept up, so almost anything is better than that.
 
  • #20
Congratulationg for the acceptance on UIUC!. It is a fine school, at least from what I've seen.
 
  • #21
going to grad school for condensed matter theory

uc santa barbara
stanford
berkeley
illinois-urbana/champaign
chicago
mit
harvard
cornell


at the moment, only four of the eight schools have contacted me to let me know that my application is complete. :/

i might hear back from some of them as early as next week.
 
  • #22
I want to do physics, specifically particle theory. I wrote a bit in my essay about wanting to work on GUTs and fundamentals of physical theory. My GPA is ok (not outrageously good), my test scores are pretty good, but I have no research experience and my undergrad degree is in a different field. I applied to:

Chicago
Berkeley
Stanford
Austin
Seattle
UCLA
Santa Cruz
Davis
USC
San Diego

So far I've been accepted to USC!

Also, Austin sent me a letter that I'm in a group of remaining applicants out of which they plan to choose half, by the 6th (which is tomorrow). I haven't heard anything else yet, so I'm crossing my fingers...
 
  • #23
Sheesh that's a boatload of schools. I just graduated this December with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and I decided to apply to my alma mater (UF) and another, slightly more prestigious school I am very interested in attending (Georgia Tech). I probably got in easily to both schools with my credentials (Tech mailed my decision letter to my old, unforwarded address though, argh!), but I didn't bother applying to the biggest name schools; Perhaps it is nonsense to say this, but I believe grad school is what you make of it, and you would have a much harder time getting personal time with those faculty who inspired you to apply in the first place.

Random comment about Stanford, since I saw it on your list: Two profs at my uni are recent grads from Stanford that I happen to know pretty well. They both exclaimed that "quals" at Stanford are the hardest and most arbitrary tests you could imagine.
 
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  • #24
Yeah but it really wasn't the professors who inspired me, I didn't take a calculus class and all of a sudden fall in love with math, I loved it in high school. No offense to professors who may be on this board.

I heard Stanford has difficult quals, but I think mathematics is partly about the raw challenge and going to a place that will push you is good, IMO.
 
  • #25
Congrats on getting into USC! I applied there too but they have lost my college transcript so I do not know if I should resend it or not?!
 
  • #26
Do Physics and Math PhD programs usually give out their admissions at the same time? I know a couple of physics majors who have received admits and I don't know any math majors.
 
  • #27
I'm not sure but I got my admit :D.
 
  • #28
JasonJo said:
Do Physics and Math PhD programs usually give out their admissions at the same time? I know a couple of physics majors who have received admits and I don't know any math majors.

Considering you're admitted by the department, admissions decisions would vary quite a bit in timeliness. Probably not telling you anything new, but I doubt the two departments coordinate in any way.
 
  • #29
Wow the ETS needs to be exterminated, not because of the GRE's but because the way they report scores, for 2 schools I've had to send the scores TWICE! Yeah it's not like this isn't a crucial time in the graduate decision process. UGH!
 
  • #30
Hey guys, here is a great site to check which schools started giving grad decisions, thegradcafe.com.

I just got my rejection email from Princeton and I see on thegradcafe.com that Columbia, Berkeley, John Hopkins, Wisconsin-Madison, Chicago, Cornell, Duke, MIT and UCSD (all math phd) have been starting to roll out decisions.

Coincidentally enough, I applied to almost all the schools that have been rolling out admissions and I am actually starting to think I might not get into any grad schools.
 
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  • #31
JasonJo said:
Hey guys, here is a great site to check which schools started giving grad decisions, thegradcafe.com.

I just got my rejection email from Princeton and I see on thegradcafe.com that Columbia, Berkeley, John Hopkins, Wisconsin-Madison, Chicago, Cornell, Duke, MIT and UCSD (all math phd) have been starting to roll out decisions.

Coincidentally enough, I applied to almost all the schools that have been rolling out admissions and I am actually starting to think I might not get into any grad schools.

Ah...getting a rejection letter as your first letter I am sure is discouraging, but it is Princeton! They let in like 5 to 6 people and I would think that those people are as bright as could be.

Also, grad schools don't make all their decisions at the same time. The people the absolutely want will probably be first but there is a whole second round of decisions to make as I understand it.

I actually suspect you will get into a very good school as you sort of bombarded the top 15 list of schools. But, then you will have to decide if that type of place is the kind of place you want to go to.
 
  • #32
got accepted to arizona state for the PhD in electrical engineering and I got accepted into U of Michigan's master's program (it said "master's only" on the bottom of the acceptance letter :frown: ). No info on fin aid yet.
 
  • #33
They both exclaimed that "quals" at Stanford are the hardest and most arbitrary tests you could imagine.
I've heard the same thing about Stanford's EE department. From what I understand, they admit about twice as many master's students as they have Ph.D. slots for.
 
  • #34
Manchot said:
From what I understand, they admit about twice as many master's students as they have Ph.D. slots for.

Do you think Michigan is the same way? I got into the master's program but I was rejected from the PhD program.

Do you think funding will be nonexistent? If they want to fund me for a master's then I will do my master's degree there and then when I finish that I will apply for a PhD.
 
  • #35
leright said:
Do you think Michigan is the same way? I got into the master's program but I was rejected from the PhD program.

Do you think funding will be nonexistent? If they want to fund me for a master's then I will do my master's degree there and then when I finish that I will apply for a PhD.

Have you looked into the details of the masters program? Perhaps you can transfer into the Ph.D. program before completing your masters if you meet various requirements, are doing well, etc. I'm not sure if it would be like that in the US since they do admit directly into the PhD program, but in Canada you can transfer into the Ph.D. program before completing your masters (but Canadian universities only admit directly for masters if you don't have a masters yet, so that might make things different).
 

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