frsp

This is such an obscene statement, it's a little absurd. Get off your high horse, Christ.

I am just finishing at UBC. It's definitely a tight budget as an international student if you are expecting to pay your tuition out of your TA salary, but I'd still say it's possible. Paychecks are about $2000 a month during the school year and $1500 a month during the summer, and there are 3 tuition payments per year of approximately $1800 each (after the standard UBC International Partial Tuition Scholarship, which reduces the amount that non-Canadian students pay to that of Canadian students). You can find housing for about $650-750 a month if you live with roommates and commute ~40 minutes to campus. It's even cheaper if you are living with a partner / decide to live further away, but possibly more if you want to live closer and/or by yourself. (I pay $530 a month in rent with a partner.) I would not suggest living in campus housing, or nearby campus, unless you really value a short commute, as UBC is pretty far from most fun things that happen in Vancouver. But yes, overall UBC is a very good deal considering the alternatives in the US. Plus, health insurance is *very* cheap in BC compared to the USA - it's only $68 a month. If you have further questions you can message me.

You'll be in a much better position for PhDs if you come with a masters from Cambridge than from Bonn. Part III is internationally renowned, while Bonn is less so. I'm not sure what the other poster is getting at regarding difficulty getting an academic job. You will have better PhD options *anywhere* in the world--certainly in the US, Canada, UK and other commonwealth countries, Europe--with a masters from Cambridge, and going to a prestigious PhD program is probably the best thing you can do to have a successful career in academia. If you wish to continue to a PhD immediately after the masters, then at Cambridge you will have to apply during your first few months there. Then, if your undergrad degree is less-than-stellar, there is an advantage to having a two year program rather than a one-year, because you will have marks to show for it and more developed relationships with your professors. If you are willing to wait until the end of Part III to apply for PhDs, or if your undergrad degree is already excellent and you don't need to strengthen your application significantly, then it's a no-brainer to go to Cambridge.

Canadian universities have funded masters and are generally great stepping stones for further graduate work (and don't require the math GRE subject test). I applied to PhDs two years ago plus a Canadian masters (in pure math), and ended up choosing to go to the Canadian MSc because I wasn't happy with my PhD options. Just applied to PhD programs in Stats and OR this year and have significantly better options for PhDs this time around. I was on an 'upward trend' during my undergrad, and so my GPA really improved with my last year's grades (which weren't available when applying in 2013, but are now). I had also submitted an article for publication, but it wasn't accepted until after I applied in 2013. These, plus success in a reputable masters program, definitely contributed to a stronger application. The only problem is you'll usually spend 2 years in the masters, but take at most 1 year less during the PhD. i.e. canadian masters for 2 years, but then math phd for 5 years instead of usual 6. Definitely worth it if you're debating if you want to do a full on PhD. You also have to pay ~$3000-4000 tuition (but get ~$20-22,000 in funding). The best programs are McGill, Toronto, UBC, and Waterloo. Toronto's is only 1 year long though, I think, and not sure about Waterloo. McGill and UBC are 2 years.

So, did anyone get into MIT's ORC program?

meep, no word from Berkeley. congrats to those that did get in. in any case, I already committed to a visit during March 8-10 so wouldn't be able to attend Berkeley's even if they did want me... any word on funding from Berkeley? UCLA gave $20k for 9 month school year, is it the same for UCB?

Quiet here, too. :\ edit: although, looking at results posted the last few years, it looks like they stagger the first wave of acceptances over 2-3 days. so maybe all hope is not lost.

Hoping there's news from Berkeley Statistics today... and that that one result on the results search is an outlier...

It's for the 9 month school year, but it's still a bit skimpy given that they have on campus housing for the $1300 a month. Although I don't think I'm planning on living on campus, it's still something that they expect at least some portion of the students to do. I am also unsure of what happens in the US when they say that the 'stipend' is $20,000 -- is this before taxes, in general? And how much taxes can one expect on this salary? If very little then it's definitely doable but if they take 20% or so it would be cutting it pretty close.

for those accepted at UCLA Statistics: have they sent you any more information about the visit day? I was also surprised with the funding package... $20k for los angeles would be pretty difficult, especially if they expect you to live in on-campus housing for $1300 / month

What caused the change of your opinion?

Cool! Oof, didn't even notice that last sentence saying 'see you at the orientation'. I should read more carefully, hah.

Got an email from Columbia IEOR (PhD) to check the website and I've been accepted! It doesn't say anything about funding though, or any kind of visitor weekend...? Did anyone else get accepted and hear something about funding?

So few people are using this thread! Heard back from Northwestern IEMS, waiting to hear from Stanford MS&E, MIT ORC, and Berkeley Statistics. Saw a few acceptances for Stanford but nowhere else...