MathCat

I'm in pure math, and don't know much of anything about applied math or stats programs, sorry.

I agree with this, but I wouldn't count being "relatively close to NYC" as a benefit for Ithaca. It's not really that close at all. When I visited, students all told me they pretty much never go. I think UW sounds the best if you get in, but I don't know much about statistics programs.

Thank you very much TakeruK!

Yeah, I know re-entry is a possibility. But I'd be worried about them being jerks about it if I was re-entering from Mexico, and returning to Canada to re-enter wouldn't be cheap. It is doable, though. Thanks for the info.

Certainly I would prefer a semester system, but I don't think it is important enough to be a deciding factor. I actually accepted a quarter-system based offer, because the research and personal fit are really great for me. Classes aren't what a PhD is about, and won't be the focus of your time, at least after the first 1-2 years, depending on your program structure. edit: I now see this is not a general thread... I guess for a Masters it might matter more, but I still don't think it's a big deal!

I'm sure this information is buried in the forums somewhere, but it was not coming up when I searched. I just accepted my offer to a school in California, and I'll be attending on F-1 status. I'm Canadian. I have to submit a housing application by next Friday, and it has to include an intended move in date. I recall reading that I can move to the US on F-1 status one month before the start of term, but I haven't found the webpage again to verify that. I'd like to move as early as possible, but I don't want to put a move in date that is too early and have to pay rent before I can actually be there! Can anyone with experience comment on this?

Sorry, no. I didn't get one there - I declined my offer at U of T long before NSERC decisions.

I decided to attend a US school, so I'll be declining my NSERC offers.

Heard from all programs now. One offer, one alternate that already became an offer, and another alternate. The third surprised me, as that department repeatedly assured me it was a near-guarantee, but I guess they don't get to decide, so they probably shouldn't have said this. Still, that one's a bit disappointing.

Now I got an email saying I will be offered it at the school I was an alternate for... is he just misinformed or did somebody decline theirs already?!

My offer at U of T explicitly stated what would happen if offered the NSERC. If it's not in your offer, you should ask.

Congrats! If the first part is directed at me re: OGS, I'm aware of this - if offered the CGS-M, it replaces the OGS.

Wow, I got offered the NSERC at my undergrad institution, where I ended up not applying. That's odd. Alternate at one program that I can't afford without the NSERC. It would have been my top choice Masters program if I'd gotten it, but unsure now (though I suppose it's still a possibility). No news from the other program I applied to.

I only applied for OGS at one school, and I was awarded it about two weeks ago. I'm hoping for it to upgrade to a CGS-M, though I may end up attending an American institution anyway....

That'd be nice.

I don't think you can conclude anything from it. I've only had my status updated at the schools I should not have a chance at (two that I didn't end up applying to, one that I declined an offer from).

I would say the only red flag that I can see is your GPA. I don't know what schools you are applying to, but it certainly could hold you back at some places. Another possibility is that your LORs are not that strong (which is not the same thing as them not thinking highly of you - some people just can't write a decent letter). I think you are doing the right thing to overcome your GPA (gaining experience), but I wonder if perhaps you are aiming too high with your program choices?

Maybe this is just my mathematician bias showing, but I think experimental "hard" scientists overstate their results as much as so-called "soft" scientists. People like to talk about proving things all the time, but I feel that in the 'real world' there can't be complete certainty in any result based on observation/data. Certainly theories can be disproven, but we only collect evidence that supports an idea, without knowing if it is the whole story. So it seems funny to me when "hard" scientists slag on "soft" sciences for this. Really, I think all disciplines are guilty of tooting their own horn too much, trying to justify getting more funding, recognition, etc.. Certainly mathematicians or logicians or others working in nicely defined, axiomatic approaches definitively prove results all the time. But this is not an experimental science, and often these results don't really mean much for the real world.

I've started getting emails that my status has been updated for NSERC. Two have been declared ineligible, as I ended up not applying there, while the third just says the status was updated. I assume that to be a rejection or perhaps something about ineligibility as well, as I declined my acceptance at that program about two months ago.

I should have been more clear: the quoted acceptance rate (i.e. people getting offers) at NYU was around 40%, but not many people actually enroll in the unfunded Masters programs. I honestly think you should just accept UIUC's offer. Do you have anyone who knows you that can give advice (e.g. profs that wrote LORs, advisors)?

I would personally never take an unfunded Masters in the hope it will lead to better PhD prospects after. UIUC is a good school in general, although I can't comment on your field specifically (I'm just assuming it's good), and so I would take the funded offer there. It seems that many unfunded Masters programs at prestigious universities are not actually prestigious programs, more of money grabs than anything. Have you asked how many students successfully transition to the PhD program? In another thread, people were discussing NYU's unfunded Masters programs, and it was something like a 40% acceptance rate to that program with almost nobody transitioning to PhD, and almost no support for the Masters students (maybe no advisor or lab!)

Is UIUC's offer funded? Is the cost of Stanford an issue (it certainly would be for me!)?

I had a friend in what sounds like a similar situation. She took leave for mental health reasons (with Dr's note). Is this a possibility? There are limits to how much you should prioritize school or how future PhD programs will look at things. I think your health, both mental and physical, should be a greater priority. And what you have described does not sound healthy for you.

It's not really directed at you, people say that kind of thing all the time.

This is what it is for me. I don't think "soft" sciences have no value or any nonsense like that, but it does irk me when anyone claims to have definitively proven anything with statistics. Certainly something can be said from these results, but "definitively proven" is an overstatement.