Matt W

I haven't heard anything either. They sure seem to be taking their sweet time.

I'm looking into attending the University of Waterloo and I have a couple of questions which I hope can be answered: How much would an apartment within walking distance of the University cost?How difficult is it to find housing? Thanks, Matt

Congratulations on being accepted to those top notch universities! I'm a little jealous . Your best bet is to go to the school which most strongly whose research strengths align themselves best with your areas of interest. If you are unsure of which area you want to go into, go to the school which offers the most breadth. Good luck making the decision, Matt

Math Stats is a fairly general term, so it's hard to give definite advice. If you will be covering much of the same material, then there is little point in taking both sequences. It would be best to compare course descriptions or to ask a professor to find out how much overlap there is.

I would definitely recommend taking real analysis. This is essential since you're planning to apply to a more theoretical program. Likewise, linear algebra is also important. It's also a good idea to take stats courses for your electives. Other than that, none of the other courses seem essential. However, doing well in advanced math courses will strengthen your application. You might want to take courses which will let pursue a PhD in either pure or applied math in case you change your mind - you still have a ways to go before you graduate. It is fairly common for people without assistantships to take 4 grad courses per semester.

http://grad-schools....chools/rankings This has rankings for both statistics and bio statistics departments. You'll notice that some schools have two rankings. Click on the school to see which department it is referring to.

Toronto, British Columbia, and Waterloo are considered to be the strongest math programs in Canada. Some would also include McGill and Alberta in this list. These universities are all very competitive and have much higher expectations than most American schools (at least in terms of undergraduate coursework). Classes in Lebesgue integration at Toronto and McGill, for instance, are offered as a third year course and cannot be taken for credit counting towards a graduate program. A difference to note between Canadian and American schools is that Canadian schools require a masters degree before entrance into a PhD program. However, masters programs are fully supported in Canada.

Be sure to compare the number of faculty interested in mathematical biology at Cornell and Washington. Cornell seems to have the upper hand in this respect. I don't know much about the University's reputations for mathematical biology, but this can be a fairly effective way of comparing particular research strengths. Matt

Having talked to professors on admissions committees at a conference, most don't care about how you did on the general GRE (its high school level math!). Its a complete formality. The only thing its good for is when you're being considered for university wide fellowships. What you should really be concerned about is the Math Subject GRE (and even this one is a bit controversial). The math subject is sort of funny: some professors say that they care a lot about it, others don't like it at all. However, chances are that there will be at least one person on the admissions committee who cares about it. Matt

Be aware that your background is weaker than many of the students you will be competing against. I'd suspect that most PhD programs would like to see how you fair in a master's program before admitting you to their PhD program. However, by all means apply to the PhD programs but be sure to mention that you would also be happy if you were accepted into their master's programs instead.

Could you provide a little more information on which math and stats courses you have taken and a general idea of how well you did in them? Depending on your existing background it may or may not be possible for you to go straight into a grad program without upgrading.