[Questions About Math PhD Admissions Standards]

Yeah I think you'll be fine with the research you've already got. It's also not too terrible that you have research in Applied rather than Pure math. I know a couple of people attending the programs you mentioned,they had very similar levels of research (if not less) than you. Obviously they're a small sample size, but yeah they had approx 80th percentile in the MGRE. You could prob get away with a little less. 

 

Your GPA isn't too bad, but it's not as relevant as what classes you took and what grades you got in the more relevant and/or tougher classes.

[2013 Applications and Results Thread]

Undergraduate Institution: Trinity College Dublin (University of Dublin)
Major: Mathematics B.A.

GPA: 4 (outright top of class, so far every year!)
GRE: Verbal 164, Quant 170, AW 5.0

GRE Math: 91st percentile.... Can't remember the score, 8xx

Citizenship: Ireland

Important Classes: real/multivariable/complex/functional analysis, multivariate calculus, linear algebra, measure-y stuff, etc. I've also done some probability and statistics courses: some "basic" ones plus generalised linear models, baysian inference, time series, stochastic processes, all the MCs
Research Experience: Final year thesis with one of my LORs

Publications: -

Grants: Have a full-ride scholarship (trinity scholar)

Teaching experience: Some - taught some revision classes, graded HW

Other stuff: Represented Ireland in the IMO (badly...), internship with Data vis stuff with Ernst & Young

LORs: Knew them all very well, had done well in their classes, as mentioned done some minor thesis work with one, and had corrected homework for another

Applied: UPenn, Stanford, UChicago, Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, UCLA, Berkeley, Northwestern, NYU, Duke, UW, JH, Princeton, UMich (all Stats PhDs except NYU and Princeton: Operations Research)

 

Note: I turned down NYU during their interview process, and turned down Duke after their initial shortlisting (i.e. both before they made a decision)

 

Accepted: All except NYU, Duke (I turned them down) and Berkeley, Northwestern
Rejected: Berkeley, Northwestern
Attending: UPenn

 

So not Stanford! I'm pretty happy with the decision though, don't think I'll regret it.

[How much of an advantage do you have as a perm resident vs international?]

Talking to some of the professors at various schools: Some of the private universities are pretty free when it comes to admission, they could basically admit anyone. They have no spots to fill with citizens or PRs. Some of them say the real disadvantage is being east asian, since they don't want to take loads and loads of east asians, for various reasons. A few said I was at exactly no disadvantage being from Ireland, other than that my program and professors might be less well known.

 

Schools like Berkeley and UW for example do have requirements in that regards, as cyberwulf says. I guess the question is, is it worth a year to wait, to have a bit of an advantage at a few schools? I mean, you can always reapply of course, but that does cost money. My guess would be that it's not worth it to wait to be honest. Unless you have a great plan for the year off of course, go exploring etc!

[Harvard GSAS Notification Medium]

Probably the same for me as you guys. After the login page, you get a page with this stuff:

 

GSAS Application

 

something something 

 

LORs

 

Decision Status  Available beginning 2/6/2013

Your application decision is here, click me etc etc

 

Supplemental Data

 

something something

 

It's not actually in red of course, but that's where the decision goes, under your letter writers' details, and above your supplemental data thing.

[Harvard GSAS Notification Medium]

It's both: they send you a letter and also update the page. It's actually slightly difficult to spot on the webpage (I guess the letter is easy to spot in your mailbox at least!), but yeah it's on the apply-yourself site.

[Duke statistics PhD interview]

No problem. I can't imagine they would, but I hope the professors don't mind this information being shared.

Hey DMX, I'm not 100% sure that they've contacted all 40, but unfortunately my guess would be that they have contacted at least most of them.

Also I haven't quite decided yet! Hard to pass on Stanford for sure, but I hope to find out more from visiting a few places.

[Duke statistics PhD interview]

Hey h.ude,

My information is from one of the Professors there in charge of admissions. He told me they had 240 admissions, 40 shortlisted, and in fact were going to take approximately 11 people (not 10, my mistake). Although yeah, that number might be their intended number of acceptances, rather than offers, based on that previous data. Admitting 15 or so per year wouldn't add up, as they would have more students in total than they do if they let in that many every year. So I guess 15 or 16 offers makes sense, especially if they include offers made to waitlisted people as actual offers (e.g. they'll make 11 intially, 4 people won't take the offer, so the next four will get offers. One of those won't take it, and one more waitlisted person gets an offer, for a total of 16 offers).

[Univ. of Washington waitlist]

Can't you just wait for a little while? I don't think you're under any obligation to make a decision till April 15th. Plenty of schools haven't yet made decisions, along with the fact that some people will need to take some time to decide where to go.

Also, UW's visitation day is March 1st. Plenty of people won't want to decide till they visit, and some visitation days are after that, some even extending till April. So it could be a while till a spot comes through, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

[Duke statistics PhD interview]

I think they shortlist about 40 people (who they have already contacted as far as I know). They admit 10. They invite all domestic shortlisted students down to visit.

[Is research important for applying a graduate program?]

For something as competitive as mathematics, it's often quite important in order to separate yourself from the other applicants. In statistics and economics for example, it appears to not be as vital (simply based on the fact that I've seen people get places at top ranked departments in these fields without previous research).

What's most important is that you show somehow that you have the aptitude to do research in the future. Often, your letter writers can make this clear. Plenty of people get into good programs without much research at undergrad level. Having good grades in relevant/tough classes often also makes the case for you.

[Reason to worry?]

I don't think having a 4.0 GPA and top GRE score is necessarily a guarantee of a good profile.

Firstly, that's the old system 800, which is only 94th percentile. A great score, but a lot of people get that sort of score. Even a 170q isn't standout necessarily.

Secondly, 4.0 means very little without knowing what subjects were taken, and where (which school). If you avoid all the hard classes, the department you're applying to will notice.

[For PhD in Statistics admissions, should I take Linear Algebra or Real Analysis?]

Tough one. Real analysis will look better I think, but linear algebra is probably more relevant. Maybe not.

Take the analysis course I'd say. I know some professors wonder why some people don't take analysis if it's offered, they view it as a bad sign.

[15 minute skype interview]

Depends. Often nothing of any great concern, more just gauging your interest levels etc. In fact, it's probably more likely to be you interviewing the professor in a sense, as in you'll be asking more questions than them.

-Are you still interested in our program?

-Some question about your research interests. Up to you how you answer, no right or wrong way.

-"Any questions for me?"

At least that seems to be the pattern.

[Just got into Ohio State]

And didn't I tell you you'd get in somewhere!

[Just got accepted into Northwestern]

I'd put good money on you getting into somewhere you applied.

[Reason to worry?]

Did someone just get accepted by letter?

Was it you?

[Reason to worry?]

No problem.

I was emailed, and they said they'd like to call me. Organised a time and then they called.

[Reason to worry?]

applyin&prayin, I applied to the Wharton program. And no problem!

sisyphus, I appreciate your compliments! By "first round" I guess they just mean people they're giving an offer to without any further queries. I wasn't sure exactly, I think they have a list of people they've definitely decided to offer a place to (and they haven't even contacted all the people on this list yet), they also have a few that they will either offer a place to or waitlist, but haven't gotten around to sorting that yet. And then they have more people who are waitlisted.

[Reason to worry?]

That was me in U Penn. Don't worry too much yet, I talked to them and they haven't contacted everyone they're taking either (not even all the first round people). Also, these are early days, some people are bound to reject a lot of their offers and the position will go to people on the waitlist.

EDIT: Also, as far as I can tell, Bio and Statistics are (mostly) unrelated in most schools as to when they send offers.

[One-year masters program in mathematics]

As far as I'm aware: Part III is not hugely competitive for entry, but it is once you're there. However, this is simply because some departments in Cambridge choose their PhD applicants from the pool of people who do Part III, so there are a lot of people strongly competing for a very limited number of PhD spots.

If you don't want to do a PhD in Cambridge, then Part III isn't so bad. However, I have also heard they have a strong focus on material to be learned and repeated. It's hard to say how accurate this is: it probably strong depends on which lecturers you have.

[Statistics PhD Application from Ireland - Need help!]

Wow, thanks Cyberwulf. Input much appreciated! Also, your positivity is quite relieving.

I just have a quick question if you have time. Indeed, biostats is not something I've looked much into, and while it sounds interesting I guess it's not what I'm focussing on. Same with OR. However I really do enjoy probability. Measure theory was a class I really enjoyed. Would that affect your list of schools to not bother with? Also, are any of the programs on my list overly applied? I've nothing against applied statistics, I just wish to keep things at least partially theoretical for another while!

And just one more question. Is there any truth at all in colleges being worried that you won't accept their offer, and thus don't offer you one?

Thanks so much for the input so far.

[Statistics PhD Application from Ireland - Need help!]

Thanks!

Yeah, fall 2013. I hope those November GRE math subject test scores come in quickly... Apart from that I have most of my application in order. I just need to tailor my statement of purpose to each school and send it off. My only real worry is that some schools (University of Washington for example) strongly recommend international applicants apply by November 1st. But I should have everything together by most of the deadlines. Although I realise I am pushing it ever so slightly.

Regarding schools: Yeah I guess it's kind of hard to pick between all of them. I just searched all the rankings I could find, and combined those with the schools my advisors have connections with (although luckily a lot of those are high on the ranked lists). I realise Princeton doesn't have a typical PhD, but I was going to apply to the ORFE department for a PhD, from which one can study stats...? Maybe I need to look into that a bit further.

Also, you mention I should cull the list. I know obviously this will save me some money, but apart from that, do you just think that it's easier to send a solid application if you apply to less places? Or is there a further reason to cut down on the number? One of my LORs said that a lot of Unis won't accept you if they think you won't accept their offer, is it something to do with this?

[Statistics PhD Application from Ireland - Need help!]

Hi,

I'm applying to the US to do a PhD in statistics. I'm in my final year of a BA in mathematics here in Ireland. Could anyone please give me some information regarding my chances of getting in?

Institution: Best Irish University (small country, so that's not necessarily too big a deal)

GPA: 4.0 (this part is confusing... our system is different to the US system, it's more like the British system, i.e. a "first" is 70% or above)

GRE (unofficial): 170q(99th); 164v(92nd..?); AW unknown;

GRE Math subject test: Unknown. Hard to say, decent? Maybe 80th percentile?

I've covered all the standard classes one would expect in a mathematics major - real/multivariable analysis, multivariate calculus, linear algebra etc. I've also done some probability and statistics courses: some "basic" ones plus generalised linear models, baysian inference, time series, stochastic processes. I've gotten a "first" in every class, although it's hard to say how that'll translate to the US system. I've come first every year in my class, although it's not a huge pool. Also, 4.0 might look impressive, but I don't think our maths course is as difficult as other places.

I don't have much research experience. I'm currently writing up a final year project with a statistics professor in my Uni.

In terms of letters, I have one from the statistics professor mentioned above, who will hopefully sing my praises regarding research capabilities with the final year project. I have a letter from another statistics professor who seems to like me, and a third from a maths lecturer who knows me well (I've done well in his classes and corrected his freshmen/sophmore classes homework).

My Uni offers a rather comprehensive scholarship in 2nd year, which I got (it gives free accommodation, pays for fees and provides evening meal for five years). Hopefully this will come across well.

I did an easy enough data analysis/visualisation internship with Ernst and Young. I also represented Ireland in the IMO (although Ireland isn't very good at it, and I didn't do well at it). I assume secondary school (high school) results aren't relevant for such an application.

I think that covers me. I'm applying to a lot of schools, but basically mainly the top schools:

UCLA

Berkeley

Princeton

Harvard

Wharton (UPenn)

Columbia

Stanford

Johns Hopkins

Michigan

NYU (math department here - probability is in the math department and stat dep. doesn't seem like it's for me)

Carnegie Mellon

Washington

Duke

Chicago

Cornell

Northwestern

I am aiming quite high here... I'm also flying pretty damn blind here. If any of you guys could weigh in, that would really be awesome. Also, it's hard to rank schools very well. If we assume for a moment that indeed these are the schools I should aim for, then are there any schools I've stupidly not included? Are there any in my list that aren't great programs?

One other reason for me to aim high is that I'll be quite far from my family and friends for a long time, so I guess the course I would take in the US would need to be good to balance this out.

Any help at all would be much appreciated, even if it's negative. Thanks!