Multiple Infusions

Hey! Congrats on making a decision! I will also be going to SU this fall, but in a different department. I already found an apartment and I think I got a pretty good deal with some help from the following sites: orangehousing.com oocp.syr.edu/offcampusliving/apartmenthunting/index.htm Orange housing is really quite good. It has a somewhat minimalist design and really gives pretty reliable descriptions. I used the addresses listed with google maps to see where in Syracuse the places were in relation to the neighborhoods/attractions on the interactive map on the oocp website. Google maps also has a handy tool in beta to be used to calculate approximate times by walking and biking (in low traffic, the times seemed to be a bit on the long side; i.e., what google said would be a 15 min walk took me about 8 mins). I also looked on campus-side.net and they had some pretty reasonable apartments in good condition. I met the owner, Paul, and he seemed to be a friendly and helpful guy; his previous tenants didn't seem to have any problems with him. As far as location goes, I'd recommend getting a place in the Westcott, Near Eastside, or University Neighborhoods (all surrounding University Hill on the oocp map). They are all pretty residential (with a few other things in Near Eastside) and decent places to live.

Look into the SUNY system, I believe some of their master's programs have rolling admissions.

The only thing I have to say about the department is that they seem difficult to contact if you have not been admitted; I've sent many emails and the only responses I have received have been via auto-reply. As far as the city goes, it seems rather big but isn't really that bad. Public transportation is great and so is the thriving academic culture (it's nicknamed "The Athens of America"). If you have a choice between having a car and not having a car, I recommend not; the city is notoriously bad to drive in, the city is a bit tricky to navigate and the drivers can be pretty aggressive. The area around the college is pretty nice, sort of the architypical collegiate atmosphere, but housing prices tend to drop off as you get farther from the campuses. Good luck visiting!

I like math, particularly commutative algebra and algebraic geometry (like so many others in this forum :]). I'm yet to have a firm grasp on scheme theory, but I've really enjoyed what I've seen in classical algebraic geometry (the contravariance sometimes gets a little screwy though). I guess that is just one of many things to conquer in the next year.

I emailed the department about a week ago and, in response, they notified me that they will be making their final offers to some of the 30 or so applications they still have in consideration when the admissions committee meets next on March 29.

I'm no humanities-type, but I believe the Spivak pronouns have a place here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spivak_pronoun Now perhaps we can do our part to propagate eir use!

I do not know if this has been remarked upon above, but I belive there is an important distinction that was not made in this quote (and that I didn't see when I skimmed the article): teaching undergraduate classes and teaching undergraduates are not the same thing. Generally, a graduate student teaches intro-level undergraduate class (e.g., a Ph.D. student in mathematics will teach calculus) and by the time they have achieved the position of "graduate student in ____" the intro-level material should be trivial to them. If a student intends to pursue a career in academia, then this should be a benefit to both him/her and the department. The student is then placed in an important learning role; they must become competent in the conveyance of their knowledge to others, particularly the easy stuff. Sure, both grad students and undergrads complain about this, but since TAs are covering these large lectures (teaching undergraduate classes), the members of the department are allowed to have free time to teach upper-division classes (teaching undergraduates), instruct graduate students and other necessary tasks. This influx of free time should, in theory, lead to an increase in scholarship in the department by alloting professors with ample opportunities to work on papers to be placed in peer-review journals; allowing the accomplished contributors to academics to further their work, while putting a little more responsibility on untested researchers, the teaching assistants. In turn, the TAs learn how to organize a class and (hopefully) teach efficiently, which should be beneficial to them when they obtain tenured positions in academics. The doctoral thesis then becomes a determining factor in one's capacity for research, but not necessarily a masterpiece; it shows that its author is capable of producing exemplary work.

Would anyone like to share their opinion?

Boston is a great college town; I believe it is true that at any given time about 1/3 of Boston's population is comprised of college students. Just look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_metropolitan_Boston So, if you are interested in the social scene I highly recommend Bean Town. I have a lot of family there and have spent a chunk of my life in the region, so take this piece of advice seriously: Do Not Drive. Between the infrastruction and the aggressive drivers, it's probably the worst city in the country to drive in. As you said, the public transportation system is great, so make use of it . Also, a silver lining on the weather situation; cold, snowy winters are great for keeping you hard at work indoors. Good luck with your decision!

I have only heard of this from a friend, but I believe it is similar to a personal statement. Just express your strong desire to attend the particular institution and give some very specific reasons why (i.e., who you want to work with, why it is particularly important to get into this school, etc.). My approach with this would be the same as my approach with my personal statement; advertize yourself well, but don't gloat and show immense interest, but don't sound desperate. Good luck

In addition to this, I believe you may want to submit a document to the department called a statement of continued interest. I recommend asking about this.

I have a tough decision to make, these are my considerable options so far: Syracuse University: Pros: -Offered University fellowship entailing -full tuition and fee waivers -$22k 9 month stipend 1st and 4th years (no responsibilities) -minumun $17k 9 month stipend 2nd and 3rd years (teaching classes) -several thousand available annually for summer assistance -amazing subsidized health insurance plan (including prescription, dental and vision) -guarenteed for 4 years -fifth year of funding available -small office area (probably cubicle) -My best friend lives blocks away (with a tenure-track position) -The department has many strengths in field of interest -Friendly people in the department -Closer to family -Lower cost of living -Very "collegy" campus -big lawns -nice architecture -Easier to travel to conferences for presentations Cons: -Climate -"The Syracuse metro area receives more snow on average than any other large city in the United States." -I've dealt with lots of long, cold winters and am sick of cleaning driveways, cars -Difficult city for biking (few lanes, lots of hills, ice) -Crime rate in this city is significantly higher The University of Hawaii at Manoa: Pros: -Climate (duh!) -Very friendly department -Still fairly strong in my field of research -Lower crime rate -One of the highest ranked cities in quality of life -TAship (for at least 2 years) -Full waiver (minus small fees) -$17k stipend -3-4 recitation sections per week -basic health insurance -given a small office -policy is to renew on semester-by-semester basis (providing I make satisfactory progress) -SUPER-M fellowship (planned for 2 years) -$30k stipend -tuition, fees payed for by other department funding -work with talking about research in mathematics in local schools (I'm very interested in doing this) -Good city for bikes -Good public transportation -Farther from family Cons: -Cost of Living -Department is not as strong in what I want to do -Funding is "essentially guarenteed" but not "actually guarenteed" -I have no feeling for the campus or area (never been there) -Inevitable culture shock I also have a significant other coming with me. She will be going into a graduate program withing 2 years, but plans to work for a while first. When she goes, she plans to stay with me so this decision will be by/for both of us. Syracuse is the better school for her, but Hawaii is comparable. There are more job opportunities for her in Hawaii.

Since my admission to SU I've become quite familiar with their website; here's a link that might help. http://ischool.syr.edu/prospective/graduate/lis.aspx Good luck finding the rest of the information you need

I've received notice of funding; I'm receiving a minimum of $1500 per month, with a possible increase to $2500. If I attend, I'll want to live off campus; should this be enough to have a decent 2 bedroom apartment and possibly start saving? Also, I'd hope to live close to campus (i.e., biking distance) is there anywhere in particular that I should look. Online listings would be a plus

As a fellow mathematician I am appalled that you would say this!