Recent content by mrb

I specifically said I did NOT get into a top program... And I promise you, most grad students at top schools did not finish undergrad early. So graduating early is neither necessary nor sufficient to get into a top school. In fact, it's probably mostly irrelevant, except for maybe a small...

gretun: Assuming you're replying to me: it's not at all clear to me what you are saying. You seem to be under the impression that I have said that grad schools are only after students who graduate early and throw away applications from older applicants. All I can say is, that's not what I said.

BSCMath: Unfortunately, I have some bad news. Yes, I believe the limited number of advanced math classes available to you will have a very big impact on your grad school applications. By which I mean, getting admitted to a prestigious program will probably be impossible. And YES, this will in...

I graduated in 3 years. I didn't have any credit from high school; I just took summer courses and took an extra class each semester. I actually could have graduated in 2.5 years just as easily (and that was in fact my original plan), except I would have been taking random classes I didn't care...

See this thread: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=409464 If you can put together a profile that looks something like that, you're on your way.

You need 3 letters at every school I know of. Nobody here can answer your question (what level of schools), especially not with the amount of information you have provided. There are absolutely hellacious, brilliant students at great schools, as well as complete dullards at worthless schools...

? Is this a joke I'm not getting? Harvard's math dept is extremely strong, right up there with Princeton.

As someone who recently applied to some strong programs, got massacred, and will now be attending a school of a "lower tier" than where I hoped I'd be... Let me just say: it's ridiculously competitive. I was told by someone who would know that Harvard and Princeton pretty much only take students...

Yes, you can. Just do it. If you have real research in math before grad school, and done all on your own, that will certainly get you noticed. The only gap will be recommendations. Find some way to make contact with some mathematicians who can get to know you and your abilities and could...

Deep Water, It is unlikely you would be able to produce research in pure math that would be worth anything without lots of guidance, which it sounds like is not available to you. You could probably be admitted as a Masters student at a halfway decent school. This would let you play catch...

Joe, I don't know how many replies you will get here; it would make a lot more sense to start your own thread about this topic. Even then, I'm not sure anyone on this forum knows much about mathematical neuroscience specifically. Here's what I can tell you: * Often a PhD is more or less...

This sounds great if it is possible. The thing is, at the school I graduated from, it would never work. You have to finish Calc 2 before you can take ODEs. You have to finish ODEs before you can take abstract algebra (why? I don't know). You have to take Calc 3 before you can take analysis. Etc...

Good grief. When I started my math major I knew, more or less, elementary algebra and I had some vague recollections of plane geometry and trig. Your preparation is fine, trust me. The web pages of the math departments at the schools you're looking at will very likely list the required classes...

I don't know German or Russian; I am doing French instead. The secondhand thing I can tell you is that I've heard that most Russian papers get translated into English, so it may be less useful than the other languages. Overall this matters much less than it used to; I don't know how much time...

If you have any inclination to go to graduate school, German or Russian could be helpful in reading papers in those languages, and some schools require that you get a reading knowledge of either German, Russian, or French. Spanish is not useful for this purpose. On the other hand, if you're not...