What Are My Chances for Acceptance to SUNY-SB's Applied Math PhD Program?

  • Thread starter Thread starter automorphic
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on an individual's inquiry about their chances of acceptance into the applied math PhD program at Stony Brook University. The applicant has a strong academic background, including a 3.96 GPA at their current institution and a 3.93 GPA in their major, despite facing challenges such as financial issues and working nearly full-time. They have relevant experience in a lab using machine learning and are working on an honors thesis related to pseudo-Anosovs. Their GRE scores are competitive, with a 710 in verbal and a 760 in quantitative. However, they have not taken the Math Subject GRE and have a couple of lower grades due to their work commitments. The applicant also mentions a recently accepted conference paper, though it cannot be included in their application. The main concern is whether their application is significantly weak or if they still have a chance for acceptance.
automorphic
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hey all,

I know these threads are annoying, especially since hey, once you've sent in your application materials, there is nothing left to do but wait, and whatever anyone tells you about your chances of acceptance after that means nothing.

That said, I wondered if anyone would opine on my chances of being accepted to Stony Brook's (SUNY SB's) applied math PhD.

Here's me:
-Started as national merit scholar at a top music conservatory
-Switched to math, took semester off to take care of financial issues, transferred to a state school
-Have been working for 1 year at a lab doing computer work, using machine learning
-Working on honors thesis related to pseudo-Anosovs

Math subject GRE - not taken.
General GRE - Verbal 710 (99 percentile), Quant 760 (84 percentile)

GPA at current institution: 3.96
GPA in major at current institution: 3.93
Cumulative GPA: 3.68
Cumulative GPA in all math classes: 3.79

My major is mathematics, and I have a physics minor.
A couple of semesters after I switched to math, I started working almost 40 hours a week to support myself, and that semester I received two C+ grades in math classes--hence the lower cumulative GPA.
A conference paper I coauthored was recently accepted, but this is too late to include in my application.
I haven't taken any graduate-level courses, but I got an A in the most difficult undergraduate course offered at my school.

I guess I'm asking: is my application really, horribly weak? Or do I have a chance?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
TL;DR? Or was the answer to my last question just a communal "uh, well..."
 
I’ve been looking through the curricula of several European theoretical/mathematical physics MSc programs (ETH, Oxford, Cambridge, LMU, ENS Paris, etc), and I’m struck by how little emphasis they place on advanced fundamental courses. Nearly everything seems to be research-adjacent: string theory, quantum field theory, quantum optics, cosmology, soft matter physics, black hole radiation, etc. What I don’t see are the kinds of “second-pass fundamentals” I was hoping for, things like...
TL;DR Summary: I want to do a PhD in applied math but I hate group theory, is this a big problem? Hello, I am a second-year math and physics double major with a minor in data science. I just finished group theory (today actually), and it was my least favorite class in all of university so far. It doesn't interest me, and I am also very bad at it compared to other math courses I have done. The other courses I have done are calculus I-III, ODEs, Linear Algebra, and Prob/Stats. Is it a...

Similar threads

Back
Top