BongRips69

Starting off the month right with an acceptance (UDEL)! 2 for 2 so far... let's go March!!!

The whole math program there is huge! Over 100 each in both AMSC and pure mathematics. There's also a separate statistics department, too! I visited UCSD (also pretty big) and couldn't get a feel for the program as it was difficult getting a hold of people ahead of time. I was a little weary visiting UMD... but got a better reception. I knew what I was interested in and managed to setup meetings with professors in the research area (though not in the mathematics department). If you can narrow down your interests, you can pretty much start to view a small group in a big program in a similar vein as a small program. What are you interested in?

I tutored as an 19- and 20-year old those almost twice my age... but none of that prepared me for supervising a staff sergeant five years older than myself who ended up getting a DUI! Had to write a negative annual report on the guy; but he brought it on himself. Probably ended his career. Dealing with that BS pretty much convinced me to get out of the military.

Today: "Congratulations you've been selected!" F##K YOU DICE.COM!!!

You and Your Research - Richard Hamming http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html There's a few good paragraphs in there about dressing and the appearance of conformity. The best weapon you have in an interview is your personality. Don't hide some piece of that which will make you stand out. I went to the dentist this morning for a cleaning... you know once every six months... and everybody was commenting about how I shaved my beard. I've only been to this particular place two or three times, but they remembered me for this seemingly arbitrary piece of my appearance. So although I agree with Hamming to a point, don't cover up your strengths!

These AMSC results seem to be merely trickling in... it's killing me! This is my top choice program!

UMD College Park also has the AMSC program. http://www.amsc.umd.edu/

I'd say linguistics... language is the only truth humanity knows.

27 now, will be 28 when I start in the fall. Finished BS when I was 20, tried to apply to grad school but didn't really take it seriously, didn't get accepted anywhere. Bummed around for a year, joined the military, got married, got out, didn't do so well on the subject GRE, worked for 2.5 years, improved subject GRE score, and here I am... more focused by 10,000-fold.

Here's to March! I have one acceptance in hand, thankfully... but radio silence from all other applications. Last week started the slow trickle of news on the results search from a couple of my top choices (UMD, UCSB, UCSD), so I'm banking on some answers this week or next! I'm off to scour my spam box for missed messages and contemplate the very personal discounts on hydrocodone, viagra and high school diplomas.

Any of the UCSD folks indicate they wanted to do the CSME program? The CSME web page suggests that admissions are performed "together with the CSME admissions committee". Getting a little itchy with those offers flying around the past couple of days. Time to chug some nyquil and forget about the day's problems...

Thanks! Was able to find my UID, but PIN didn't work. Oh well. Were the notices sent yesterday only for the pure mathematics program? Have any AMSC folks heard anything?

I would suggest other ways to show your enthusiasm. If the program does not have official interviews/visit and you have the means, you could contact the graduate coordinator and say you'd like to visit. Where the department was receptive, I had very good luck with this method. If they blow you off, no biggie.

For another data point: I visited UCSB this past fall and everyone took great pains to describe the impact of the budget on their admissions process. In fact the head of the admissions committee sat down and spoke about their philosophy for a solid 20 minutes. In past years they have admitted 10-12 students, but had been trying to get this up to 14-15; this year it will be only 6. And they will have at most 6 outstanding offers at any time as they only accept those they will fully fund. He said it'd probably be a crunch down to 15 April trying to complete the process. I spoke with other UC's and they didn't seem to have as drastic a response, so to the OP's question: it depends. This is a perfect question to ask if you have a visit or phone call.

I self-funded a trip to visit multiple schools, all without invitation. Maybe it's just math (maybe not), but it seems only the top programs offer reimbursed visits. It was pretty clear from email which schools were receptive to such am uninvited visit and which weren't. Contact the graduate coordinator first and tell them you be in the area, etc. Ask if they can suggest anything or if you should contact professors individually. In the best case, you identify who you'd like to speak with and this person sets it up providing you a full schedule. In the worse case, you're left to contact professors/graduate students individually. This can be very difficult. I drove far to one school in this situation only to learn very little (and have a flaky grad student stop returning emails the day before the trip... arrrrgh). Besides that case, all the other visits were extremely helpful. As others mention, it's easy to get a quick gut feeling about the department when in person. And if you're a stud like me, getting some face time is the best way to help your application! And to the OP... I think you're getting hung up on the word 'visit' vs. 'interview'! It's an interview! Dress business casual, bring your notes and be yourself!

Meh. I began my school search focusing on geography (close to in-laws or my family) then found programs which matched my interests. I then stated as much on my statement of purpose and in interviews. Having a well-reasoned answer is probably equally as important as your particular reasons.