MathCat
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Posts posted by MathCat
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I wish you had more space to specify your preferences. I definitely prefer an apartment that's not on the first floor, but that complex is still my first choice. I don't want to take two spots to specify this. Also a spot to say what you don't want would be nice... I'd take anything over SGA!
I'm so paranoid that I'm going to miss the phone call now. My requested move in date is the middle of August, so maybe I'll be hearing soon?
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What did you put as your requested move in date?
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If you want to transfer, you shouldn't be putting anything "on hold" at your current institution. Transferring is okay, but you should be honest about the circumstances.
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I scored a 5, which was above what I was aiming for. I got an absolutely horrible topic for the analyze an argument topic that I felt like I had nothing to say about. Before the exam, a friend gave me the advice of explaining all steps in your reasoning clearly - this is a good way to add length to your paragraphs without needing to generate a ton of ideas, show your reasoning skills, and get the writing flowing. I think length does matter a lot for your scores. Be sure to actually answer the prompt and not go off on a tangent.
For the argument topic, I'd suggest being nitpicky - identify all possible flaws in the argument, no matter how small, (or whatever the prompt asks) and explain what is wrong with them, perhaps with examples. I think this is the reason my score was higher than I expected, despite the topic making me say "oh no" when I saw it.
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I would only consider the offer in Ireland if you think you can get into a much better university as a result, and realize that this is a serious gamble. If you are satisfied that the program in the Netherlands will allow you the career you want, I would go there instead. To judge this, consider looking at the success of graduates from that program in the career you desire.
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If your research interests are flexible, I don't think you should put *too* much weight on that factor. There is a good chance your interests will change. Since that is the case, I would recommend you go to the place that you want to go to more, since you've said there are things there that look interesting as well. You are far more likely to succeed and do good work in an environment you are happy in.
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I've only recently taken a good look at myself and questioned if I'm actually capable of a math PhD, or even a math major. Up until PDE's, whenever I struggled in math, I made excuses, i.e. "I'm only a junior, it's okay if I can't quite get the hang of calculus yet!", or "I'm just a high-school senior, so the fact that I'm in multivar and LA already makes me a winner!" This past semester, I almost fell into the same trap again ("This class isn't even meant for first-years; I'm doing fine!"). I decided I need to stop making excuses and sugar-coating the truth. But, goodness gracious, the truth hurts!
I don't think it's that you need to stop making excuses. I would suggest that you stop taking advanced classes early. It seems like you got used to always being ahead in high school, but I don't think that's a good long term strategy. Take your time. It is good to challenge yourself, but be realistic as well. Don't overburden yourself, don't take classes you're not yet prepared for, and don't take too many at once.
This is a pretty common transitional thing, I believe. Good students are used to being more advanced and always at the top of the class, and when they move on to the next stage, it can be a tough adjustment because of that attitude.
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Online shopping is easy in the US, and if you care more about how they look than how they feel, that is an option. I imagine you will have to search to find a size 4 or 5 in stores, but it won't be impossible.
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I was basing it off that, and the fact that grad housing at UCSD is a month to month lease, not an extended lease. There is really no way UCSD could hold your apartment for months waiting for you to move in.
The ARCH office told me that I should not expect to hear any sooner than 30 days before my move in, but most likely 2 weeks prior to the move in date.
Your apartment will be available the day you requested to move in. I guess I don't know how leases work around the world, but in the USA you don't start paying for the apartment until the day you agreed to start the lease. It is a legally binding contract, for both parties.
It is my understanding that the housing is only month to month for people with SHORE (or perhaps other priority programs). Most people are there on a longer agreement, I think. So, I wasn't expecting that they're holding an empty apartment, but rather that they already know somebody is moving out then, so you can move in once they're gone.
2 weeks notice to move isn't going to be fun
But thanks for sharing what ARCH told you about the timeline.edit: Yeah, the ARCH application page says "Each new resident, with the exception of students with children and priority students, will receive a non-renewable two year fixed term rental agreement. After residing in campus housing for two years the resident will vacate the apartment and move off-campus." So I was expecting that this means they can pretty easily predict when apartments will be vacant.
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3 (4 credit) grad-courses per quarter.
I was under the impression that UCSD is going to offer priority housing candidates their housing choice around 2 weeks before the move in date put on the applications. I've got a move in date of August 1st and I don't expect to be offered housing until around July 18.
Are you basing that on the bullet point that says "All rental charges begin on the date listed on the Rental Agreement, which is determined by the Housing Office. This date may not be your exact move-in date. The rental agreement start date may be two weeks prior or after your requested move-in date." on the SHORE page? I hadn't interpreted it in that way. If that's the case, it makes moving internationally a lot harder to plan for! I thought this meant that they might give you an agreement to sign in advance (e.g. in June), but the date it starts on might not be exactly the date you requested (e.g. you requested August 15, but they are starting the agreement August 7, or something). Perhaps I should just inquire. It's weird that it's not on the FAQ, since it is probably something a lot of people are wondering about.
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MathCat, first, congratulations on getting into a top program! Second, the upper-level class I took was Partial Differential Equations, so it wasn't super abstract stuff like what I'll be encountering next semester and beyond. I found the lectures to be easy to digest (I had an excellent professor), but the homework and exams were tough. I feel like they involved intellectual leaps that I usually could not make as easily as most of the other kids. Now that I think about it, I'm kind of scared that my own advisor doesn't think I'm capable of doing math. Halfway through the semester, she said I should drop the class because it's not meant for first-years. And near the end of the semester when I picked out classes, she recommended not overloading because she didn't want me to burn out, which I find a little strange because overloading is not uncommon at my school. :/
Maybe I'm just freaking myself out now, ha ha!
As for other interests, I think physics, biology, philosophy, and computer science are interesting; and I REALLY like chemistry. But math tops them all.
What you described does indeed fall under "mathematical maturity". You will get better at it with time. Definitely do not overload, though. Burnout is a real risk - I had more than one extremely capable classmate fall victim to this (and the result was one dropping out of grad school after).
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Also, the class I struggled in IS an upper-level class, which is one of the reasons I'm scared.
What class, if I may ask?
As you go through a math degree, you gain a hard-to-measure ability usually referred to as "mathematical maturity". It is not surprising to struggle with an advanced class when you are new - even if you nominally have all the prerequisites, you don't have the same experience as somebody who is taking that course in their third or fourth year. By taking a lot of math classes and being exposed to abstract ideas and new ways of approaching problems, things in another class can become easier, even if the material is not directly related. You become better at grasping abstract concepts and become more comfortable writing proofs and following the omitted steps when reading proofs.
You don't need to be worrying so much about whether you can do a math PhD at this point. It's possible your interests will develop differently throughout your degree anyway. A lot of people change their majors (and career goals) as they move along. It sounds like you have the right plan for figuring out if this is for you (getting to know your profs, REUs, etc.), so just do your best and try to enjoy it. Don't be afraid to try other things as well. I'm happy to talk about things if you wish to message me. I changed majors twice before settling on math, got a lot of research experience, and am heading to a top 20 PhD program in the fall.
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Full time is 3 courses.
For 3 quarters, right?
I've not heard back about housing yet.
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Is he officially your advisor already? Your first post sounds like that's not the case - I can't imagine the regulations would require him to take on a new student while on sabbatical, but he probably can't toss out his current students.
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Definitely check for yourself, but for most programs the answer will be yes. A few programs around here accept applications until May 15, so I suppose there's a chance still - generally the only ones still accepting will be at fairly low ranked schools.
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Yeah, SHORE is a special housing program, but you have to be nominated by your department. It's intended as a way for them to entice a few of their applicants (there are not that many spots available for each department).
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I think the problem lies in the assumption that they become self-conscious. That to me, is a leap. Just because someone doesn't follow up with more questions or whatever doesn't mean they are self-conscious. That would mean that because you are a masters student (which really isn't that big of deal to begin with) that they are embarrassed what you think of them (the definition of self-conscious). That seems kind of arrogant to me.
I mean for example. Say you and I were having this conversation about what ''you do.'' And you said you were a grad student that studies biophysics, I don't give a crap about biophysics so I doubt I would want to talk to you about it. Does that mean I am self-conscious? No, it means I don't care about what you do. The two things are vastly different.
Certainly, some people just don't care to hear about it. But, in that case, there are probably other topics of conversation to switch to where we might have more in common. That doesn't usually happen for me.
Usually, the conversation gets to the point where I'm asked what I do, and I say I'm a math student. Some people are not put off by this, and the conversation keeps flowing (and often away from this topic), but this is not the majority. Most of the time, I get the "Wow, you must be so smart!" type response. It's then that it really does seem that the person gets self-conscious (or, at least, uncomfortable. Perhaps the reason for it is different.), because it seems like they've classified me in their mind as some sort of genius who can do anything. I make this assumption because they seem uncomfortable to talk about themselves after, not because they don't ask further questions about what I do. They also often put themselves and their work down ("wow, well, I don't do anything like that. I'm just <occupation>, it's not as impressive." [another awkward moment, like the "you must be so smart" moment...]) It's not my intention, I don't look down at them for not liking or not being good at math, and there are of course many, many things that I am completely incapable of, and their occupation often falls into this category. I don't really know how to change this result - most responses I could come up with would probably come across as patronizing, and it's not like I want to lie about what I do to avoid this.
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Can we keep an interesting thread on topic and amicable?
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Mathcat, what you describe is EXACTLY what I am talking about. People seem to shut down. It seems as if I am put in a different category in their mind (not better or worse... just weird and different or something). When I try to ask them questions about their work, they just seem to not want to go into detail really.
Yes, I think we have similar experiences. People tend to ask what I do as an opener, so I can't really avoid it. I think they then see me as somebody completely different from them. I wonder if it's stereotypes of mathematicians (and other scientists) from TV and other sources at play. It's like they don't expect that I also watch the TV shows or movies they watch (or whatever) because of it. I'm just as happy to talk about the most recent episode of Game of Thrones or the new Marvel movie as my friends in other fields would be. I find the conversation dies when I return the question and ask what they do (seems like the polite thing to do), but maybe I'd have more success if I went straight into asking about hobbies...
@Mechanician2015 Because I have no interest in applications, I'm also quite unaware of them when they do exist. To me, and most of the professors who taught my courses (also pure mathematicians), an application is a use of this theorem in some other area of pure math, haha. @GeoDUDE!, I think you're right, and if I was more of an expert I would probably have better analogies or examples that I could use to explain ideas to a general audience.
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One common reaction that I really dislike is when the other person says something like "Wow, you're a scientist, you must be so smart!! I was so bad at math/physics/whatever in school, I could never imagine doing this. That is so cool!"
I don't like encountering this reaction because firstly, I think this view of scientists is harmful to public perception of science. Scientists are humans doing a job, just like other professions, fishers, doctors, teachers, plumbers etc. Secondly, this puts me in a kind of awkward situation...what do I say? If I disagree with them (and say something in the vein of "no, I'm sure you're smart enough to do it!") then it sounds very patronizing. I could also self-deprecate and downplay how cool/hard it is, but then that feels a lot like I'm downplaying science, and I don't want them to come out thinking that science isn't that great either. My current solution is to just side-step the issue and just say something like how much the topic excites me etc.
Yes, this is the most uncomfortable part. I say I study math, and people almost always say something like "You must be so smart!" (or, as Page228 says, they phrase it as a question, which is even worse). I don't know what to say to that. Usually people get a slightly sick look on their face, and (I think, at least) don't want to hear anything more about it. Or, they ask questions about what I do, but it is extremely hard for me to answer in an understandable yet truthful way - math is a very inaccessible field. I don't want to oversimplify, because anything I can come up with to explain it (e.g. "I study the theory of calculus" instead of "I'm studying analysis") gives the wrong idea about what I do and what I like about it - I don't like computation at all, for instance, and actually have almost no interest in calculus. They usually want to hear about what applications there are, but I'm interested in pure math - I really couldn't care less about the applications. Non-math folks tend not to really get this, which is understandable given that most people's exposure to math is entirely computational. I want people to understand the difference, and that math is really more about logic and puzzle solving than about crunching numbers all day, but I find it hard to explain.
The worst part is that after the "You must be so smart!" exchange, when I try to turn the conversation to them instead, people often shut it down, or seem embarrassed when they answer, as if my doing math is somehow more impressive (to be clear, I don't believe this to be true, it's just the vibe I get). It feels like I've intimidated them, which makes me feel bad, but I don't know how to prevent it. If that doesn't happen, I can usually keep the conversation going pretty well, so I don't actually consider myself a terrible conversationalist, I guess.
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I just got my I-20. I had to pay $40USD to get it couriered, and they left it in a puddle at my door, and didn't even knock to say it was there. Yay UPS...
Proof of ties for Canadians in the US?
in IHOG: International House of Grads
Posted
I've done a search but none of the old topics have a very clear answer, so I'll ask again. I'm a Canadian citizen and I've accepted an offer to an American PhD program. I have my I-20 showing full financial support from the university, and I have paid my SEVIS fee. I believe the only other thing I need is proof of ties to Canada, and I'm worried about being denied at the border for lacking proof here. What is sufficient?
My entire immediate family is in Canada. I have bank accounts with significant savings in Canada that will remain open, as well as a credit card. If these would be sufficient, what would I actually have to bring with me to the border? Can I just print off statements? Do I need to get something notarized?
Another thread mentioned proof of a residence that I don't intend to abandon, but given that I live at home, I don't think I can provide this - I don't have any rental payments or an ongoing lease or anything like that. Worse than that is that my parents intend to move (within the same city) about the same time that I'm moving to the US. So my parents' address, which I would use as my permanent address, is not really that permanent!