Feanor

So... no mathematicians, only staticians?

@DBear Some programs never update it to "accepted" or "rejected" in the website and only email you to communicate the decision, it seems. Just great.

My McGill application is "In Review" for two weeks now... =x

Category Theory, one of the purest kinds of mathematics and often dubbed "general abstract nonsense".

When I have an interview, I just go with a white dress shirt, a nice sweater and a tie. Don't think you have to go full formal and wear a suit, etc (except if that is part of the culture of your field, say Law). Just ensure you are well-dressed and comfortable, they shouldn't care unless you show up with dirty/creased/damaged clothes.

Definitely depends on your relationship. I sent a gift to one of mine, but it was a Christmas present (not because of the LoR), and only because he'd been my supervisor, lecturer and all-around nice guy.

Of course there might be something about your field that I'm not aware of, but you seem to have a solid file overall. Good luck!

Hi all ! To the people who've been through this before: when do US programs usually hold interviews? I know it happens from mid December to late January in the UK, but have no idea about the US. Also, when were you notified/invited? Thanks very much

I've heard that, for some places, putting someone's name means they'll forward the application so that said person can have a look and give feedback. This can be obviously benefitial if you contacted him/her beforehand and had a nice connection. Also, I'd like to think the graduate school in general will appreciate that you cared enough to gather the data on who does the kind of thing you're interested and why, certainly beats being the generic applicant who isn't sure of anything and has no idea of what people actually do over there. Just try to make sure you wouldn't rely on a single person, that's a dangerous bet for everybody.

The reason why I'm surprised is because at the time I'd read something like this http://magoosh.com/gre/2016/gre-scores-for-top-universities/ , according to which my scores are within the average range for places such as Cornell and Penn, and just a couple of Q points away from the average at the most competitive ones. It sounds pretty extreme to say it's a bad score and that I should resit the test, but perhaps I'm mistaken?

My general GRE Scores were 164 V (94%) 163 Q (85%) 4.0 (59%). I thought these were fine albeit not brilliant scores and that I shouldn't worry about it anymore, but speaking to a prospective advisor today I got the following message: "Those gre scores will not make it easy to be admitted. You might try it again- scores usually go up on retakes. " That scared me a little bit. Is this a fair assessment or is this particular school just crazy about the GRE? The remainder of my file should be pretty strong, but is this score a liability?

I had a Skype interview for that a couple of years ago. Most of the conversation was about past experience and my reasons to pursue the degree. They did ask a few technical questions, but only very simple ones. EDIT: I just realised I misread the title. My interview was for the MFoCs degree.

Sounds like it should be generally fine, but I only do it for the ones that explicitly asked me to.

Well, there's a reason they ask for reference letters. If someone they know is trustworthy vouches for you, it will say much more than a couple of letter grades.

A master's degree is typically not necessary for PhD admissions in the U.S. It's still possible to apply (and be admitted) to PhDs there after you do a master's in Europe, and if you do it for a good reason it will only make your application stronger. Think about why you'd do a master's degree. If the answer is "to get into a PhD program" then it makes no sense not to try now, provided you have a strong file as an undergraduate (and some reasearch experience, although how much is "needed" will depend on your field). P.S.: If you wanted to start grad school in 2017, it might be a little late to take the necessary tests. There's a chance you can still register for the GRE Subject Test (paying the extra 25 dollars for a late registration), but if that's the case the deadline is likely to be...tomorrow. You'll also need to take the GRE General Test, and I'm not sure whether it's too late to take it for this round or not, have a look. In any case, you wouldn't have too much time to prepare...and you'll likely have to take the TOEFL/IELTS as well.

I'm not sure about the expectations of your particular field, but to me it sounds like you have a solid file, specially if you can write a great SoP making sure they understand you had an active role during your research experiences and have a good research plan. Since it's a very competitive program, however, you should try to improve your GRE scores. Download the free GRE verbal prep app from Magoosh, I swear the vocabulary flashcards I read a couple of days before the test made me get some extra 6 questions right, and I'm not a native speaker of English. I'm sure it could do wonders in a full month. As for the quantitative section, well, try to revise all the basic maths and the definitions in statistics, and do as many practice tests as you can.

Agreed, I think I'll cut off 80% of that.

Hey there, I just finished the draft of my SoP for the 2017 round. I'm now a mathematician, but I used to study engineering (at the same time) and eventually dropped it and decided to focus on math - for this reason, it seemed to me that I should include a couple of paragraphs to talk about my trajectory and mention how this happened. Will this just bore the reader and is unecessary since they have my CV, and thus I should remove it altogether and just add more research stuff? Or do you think that would be relevant information? Here are the "offending" bits, which open the text: "Part of the joy of mathematics is to think about unusual things in unusual ways - this aspect of the field drew me into the field in middle school, due to the timely intervention of particularly passionate teachers, who managed to not only show the beauty of mathematics but, critically, why it was beautiful. However entranced, my path was still unclear up to my undergraduate days - I started as an engineering student due to family desires and took extra mathematics courses on the side, with the intention of eventually graduating in both degrees. Managing both degrees simultaneously was my first major challenge, but my experience in Engineering allowed me to develop teamwork skills and others that aren’t as emphasized in a math degree. It was undeniable, however, that I was much more motivated by mathematics, which led to the decision of fully dedicating myself to it. Up to this point I had a deep general appreciation for the subject, but had not yet known love. This changed after I was admitted as an exchange student by the University of Bristol for one year, fully sponsored by the government - Prof. X lectured a course on Algebraic Topology and told me about Category Theory, suggesting Awodey’s book. At first, it looked abstract to the point of mystical, but had nonetheless that familiar sense of clockwork beauty that attracted me to math in the first place. Professor X supervised me for a project on Representation Theory and was open to discussions, so with his feedback I made plans and was eventually admitted to Part III at Cambridge, the place I found most suitable to learn Category Theory at a masters level. This time in Cambridge was most productive in this regard: I attended two courses and biweekly seminars on Category Theory, which helped me get in touch with the different angles of research in the field, wrote an Essay on Y, supervised by Prof. Z, and had the opportunity to give three talks of my own - one for a general audience on bla, another on the topic of my Essay (which can be viewed at -insert link-), and one on blabla. "

Have a look at rankings such as QS' but, more importantly, look at the department pages and see for yourself how well each program and city fits you.

I'm not sure about statistics, but in maths it's certainly not expected for you to have publications at this stage. Do contact people, but try to keep it short and straightforward - academics are very busy people and prone to ignoring lengthy emails. Prepare a good pdf CV (you'll need it for the applications anyway) and if appropriate attach it to your email, that can make it easier to objectively convey the relevant information. Be objective: introduce yourself with as few words as you can, ask if (s)he is interested in taking new PhD students for Fall 2017 and mention why you're reaching this one in particular. Show you've done your homework (read as much as possible about this person, the program and the department), but remain succint unless prompted to say more.

Hi everyone! So, who's applying for Maths PhDs? Which general field of interest, backgrounds...introduce yourselves!

Depends, of course, on your particular subfield.

Yes! I'm currently a Part III student, so yeah, they actually mean I need to be in the top-half of the list of people ~who got distinctions~. Who's to say Cambridge doesn't have a heart?

Unfortunately, lack of funds is not a valid reason for deferral. I'm taking this from Oxford's website: Offer Contract "The University does not normally accept requests for deferral of entry to a later term/year. You will normally be expected to start your course on the date and term indicated in your departmental offer letter. However, you may apply for a deferral of entry, under exceptional circumstances, if the following two criteria are both met: Unforeseen and unforeseeable circumstances that are outside your control will prevent you from taking up your offer on the start date indicated in your offer letter. This might include, for example, ill health or bereavement. In some instances, deferrals can also be requested because of visa application issues (see below). You have met all the departmental and college conditions of your offer, including your Financial Declaration." In the case of Cambridge, it seems you can only ask in case you want to change to another start date for your course within the same academic year (which may not exist, particularly for taught courses). I'm sorry to say, I'm also struggling with funding for Oxbridge.

Chances are you only have to meet the condition by June or July, can't you take the test again? But do as kwils76 said asap.