someDay

@Subject test: One professor (at a top5 school) put it as "it tests your ability to solve a lot of problems in very little time, and a lot of people on the adcom want to see at least 750". Individual professors may be of different opinions, but depending on the school it's very likely you'll find that some of the people on the adcom will put a fair share of weight on the subject test score. Essentially: Grades are expected to be stellar, subject score is expected to be 80-85%+, letters are very important, SOP isn't too important (unless you have a really good idea in mind what you want to do) - this is what various profs have told me at my school / prior to application / at interviews. Personally I think the subject test is superfluous and not a good estimator for the quality of your thesis (btw, schools in the UK don't use it at all). Obviously, what matters is the "overall impression". There're outliers, and there're loads of applicants being rejected with nearly-perfect test scores. @Good fit: Did you apply to pure maths programmes, bongrips69? (Do pure maths adcoms really care about work/military experience?!) sD.

No offense intended, but I consider Michigan a Top25 rather than a Top10 school. Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Princeton, Caltech, Berkeley, Stanford probably rank above Michigan, and there's too much competition from the likes of Yale, Penn, Courant, Cornell, Brown, ... to definitely put Michigan in the Top10. sD.

The Top10 schools want to see at least 750 on the subject GRE, unless you have done some serious (original & interesting) research. The Top25 are much open about candidates with slightly lower test scores (simply because those people with top letters, top grades and top scores tend to go to the top schools, so they have to compromise on applicant quality somewhere). "Good fit" is not very important, unless you've already done serious research. sD<

Another BA. I don't really know what you mean by proof-based linear algebra. Algebra 2 will essentially introduce you to the concept of a group and some first theorems in linear algebra. Bear in mind this is a course for first year students (first year = party, as it doesn't count towards your degree), so essentially it's some boring crap for lazy people suffering from hangover. If you're serious I'd advise you to take Algebra 4 instead, which is still fairly elementary, so you wouldn't be completely lost. sD.

I don't know much about US Masters, but if you applied to UK unis (for an MS), they'd probably accept you into their Bachelor's programme and let you skip the first year. If you're serious about a maths PhD, then I would recommend Algebra 4 or even Commutative Algebra, but it just might not be worth missing out on social life in London. (Which is awesome.) sD.

I respectfully disagree with origin415 here - given your background, it would appear extremely difficult to get into a decent PhD programme, solely because you've not seen much - if any - serious mathematics. You might rise to the challenge, but adcoms at decent schools won't take that much of a gamble. You should take modules in algebra and analysis (forget about number theory, stats, calc or anything applied ) to survive the first year of a master's degree. I strongly advise you to not look abroad for master's degree, as a master's degree in most non-US countries is a preparation for a 3 years PhD and therefore require a roughly similar background for admission to master's degrees as US unis do for admissions to PhD. sD.

mariogs379, I would imagine UCL stipulates that you take at the very least Honours Y2 modules; and possibley even requires to you take some Y3 ones. If you think you can do a PhD, then you really *should* take a lot of Y3 ones and put a tremendous amount of work and effort in, but you'd not see much of London. I suggest you delay choosing your modules until you're in London and had a talk with your tutor about this. sD.

Princeton, unless you're insane or rich. sD.

Funding (for men) = she pays the dinner, invites you over to her place, introduces you to her very hot flatmate and you have amazing sex. The next morning she gets up early to prepare breakfast for you. More on topic - there's no reason to rush your decision! Visit the schools (perhaps they fly you out), talk to profs, look at their placement record, etc. sD.

Both Kansas and UNLV support the "April 15" resolution, which means that the schools should give you until April 15 to accept or decline offers of financial support. I would think that you're better off asking UNLV for an extension of the deadline rather than other schools to hurry with their admission process. sD.

I don't know whether it's perfectible fine, but from what various professors have told me transferring phd courses is acceptable and will not label you a traitor for the rest of your (academic) life. sD.

There is a general agreement that one should not accept unfunded offers, so you really don't have much of a choice? McGill and UoT are both very excellent schools, so you should definitely accept McGill's offer. Gratulations BTW! sD.

Although this depends on the university, my experience is that most schools still require you to take the usual number of taught courses, regardless of whether you have a master's degree or not. sD.

To qualify for home fees, you'll need indefinite leave to remain status and "permanent resident" status, usually acquired after three years in the UK for purposes other than higher education. Besides, depending on your course the home fees might not even be cheaper, particularly for professional degrees. sD.

@DrFaustus666: In case you're referring to my post, let me clarify. Whether you have lived your life to the fullest I do not know, but judging by your postings here what you haven't done in this time is the only thing that matters in academia, namely research. It will take you another couple of years to learn this, by which you'll be in your mid sixties. You might be able to publish some interesting papers, but you can't make up for all those years. I understand you want to do a PhD in music theory / computer science. Label me a pessimist, but I don't see how a Master's degree in German will greatly support your application. It's great you managed to overcome difficulties in your life and learning a foreign language on your own initiative deserves a lot of credit, but stamina is just one of the skills required for a PhD. It's fine to have a dream, but a significant part of your dream- and the way you present yourself here - seems to be more about recognition rather than academic curiosity. The latter I encourage, the first is up to you to prove. As you quite rightly point out, I am not the one making decisions, but my I believe my conclusions resonate with a majority of posters here. Wunschträume sind schön, aber meist nur Träume. sD.

@DrFaustus666: Universities don't give credit for "fair share of life-problems". Your application is weak, from an academic point of view you've pretty much wasted your life. A perfect GRE result, whilst demonstrating your commitment, would not significantly strengthen your application. Prescience is not my strongest point, but there's no way in hell a top uni is going to accept you. It'll be tough enough to get accept *somewhere*. sD.

3 for some. And yes, I genuinely believe it does help you to get into grad school. sD.

It's impossible to assess your chances. Study hard for the subject test, it's quite important and apart from that, don't worry too much. As Grendel suggested, apply to a wide range of schools. The top places get at least 5 extremely qualified applications per place (3.7+ GPA, 80%+ on the subject test, lots of grad classes, very good letters etc.), so you need something to stand out from the crowd. This could be a great SOP & good fit; or IMO medals, Putnam, publications, etc. sD.

Bristol is an excellent institution and well known in the UK, East Anglia and Holloway fall into the "average, not much to say about" category. Although Holloway has a gorgeous campus. This might not apply to all courses though. sD.

My gf studies law, something I am not interested in. At all. And, unfortunately, something she loves to talk about. So, when we end up talking about her studies and job etc., my input is really limited to the occasional "ah", "mhm", "oh!" etc. For me, this is the time to come up with brilliant ideas about what to cook for dinner or that we need toilet paper. She knows I don't care, but loves to imagine I do. In the words of the previous poster, she has yet to yet fully accept the passion is not in me. sD.

I'd take it as a good sign! A number of schools seem to send out some acceptances, then a huge wave of rejections, followed by a handful of acceptances and wait-listings. UCLA is definitely past the huge wave of rejections phase (I got mine. yay.), so be positive. sD.

No. Although this is an awesome strategy - apply to crappy state uni (not implying anything here!) + Harvard, be accepted at crappy state uni, be informally told by Harvard you're rejected, then withdraw your application and brag to all your friends that you "are so elated to go to crappy state uni cos it perfect fit + you love the brutalism architecture that obviously you withdrew your Harvard application - only morons go there anyway". sD., regretting he didn't apply to Harvard.

Glucklich, LSE is certainly on par with Oxbridge in economics, but it might be a slightly different story in the social sciences. I suppose you applied for Gates (/ Rhodes) scholarships at Cambridge and Oxford? If so, you're probably not an American applicant (as you'd have heard back by now). Are you aware that the department have to nominate you for the Gates scholarships and interviews are in early April? You should also note that, since you'd have to send off your application for US PhDs barely 2 months into your course, there's limited time to get to know any Oxbridge profs which you could then ask for reference letters. You might well find that, unless you delay your application by one year, getting into Oxbridge will not greatly increase your chances at the top US unis. If I were you, I'd take the fully funded PhD position. Obtaining funding for MA degrees at Oxbridge is a pain in the a** and for precisely this reason the courses are not as competitive as undergrad or research degrees. sD.

I would respectfully disagree with that decision. Don't forget that your profile is good, you just made a mess of your subject test and applied to very competitive universities. Talk to potential advisors at less reputable schools, there's always a chance of finding a professor who is on the hunt for a good student. Getting a scholarship is not easy, and usually these are tied to specific projects, so you're limited in your choice of schools. And even with the scholarship and very good subject test scores, you'll still have an uphill struggle against all those Fulbright scholars who have won several IMO medals. Be realistic. It might make a (huge?) different whether you attend Harvard or *random state uni*, but whether it's Top 50 or Top 100 doesn't really matter *that* much. And if you're really awesome, you can always go to another uni and then apply again to Princeton & Co. sD.

It helps you if you're a marginal candidate and the university has funding issues. Otherwise it depends on the nature of the scholarship - Fulbright will help you get in, the Scholarship of Mum&Dad will not. The more competitive the better. A couple of top universities have financial problems.. you really should have applied to UCX and UPenn sD.