logaritym

Hi everybody!
I chose UIUC. It was a very tough decision, because Warwick really is a top UK university and I could work with a very good professor there. However, the research in UIUC fits my current interests better, so I'm heading to USA this autumn.
Thanks for the interest and the suggestions. I hope you have been admitted to some of your favorite programs:)

I can only really comment on the UK application system, I have never had anything to do with US universities.

Warwick has a pretty good reputation for maths. Only you know if it's a good research match for you, however. If you're fully funded and interested in the research being done there, I say go for it! I considered applying to Warwick too, but didn't find a good research match for me there. Also, don't hold your breath for Cambridge, they very rarely admit anybody to the PhD in maths directly, they usually make you do Part III (the last year of their four-year masters' course) first and then admit PhD students according to their Part III results. That's why I didn't even bother to apply there. (Got a fully funded offer for Oxford now though, so no regrets. )

About waiting for another year - well, you'll be a year older, but will anything change to your application by then? It does seem weird to me though that only so few of your applications were successful, considering your excellent background. (I don't know what GRE scores mean though, not familiar with the system, but that 26% in there doesn't look great?) Anyway, if there is room for improvement in your application, it might be worth waiting a year, but really, Warwick is pretty good already and I'm not sure if the chance of going to a slightly more prestigious university is really worth wasting an entire year.

You seem to have applied to a lot of schools - did you really put any thought into your specific applications, or just applied to any school with a prestigious name? Because that might be part of the reason why you didn't get in / didn't get funding. For example, in one of your other posts (I think it was over at TSR, not at grad café) it became clear you didn't know how the college system in Oxford works, how you will be assigned a college, and you didn't find out about possible college funding opportunities before submitting your application, therefore potentially losing out on some important funding opportunities.
Familiarize yourself with the application process and system at every university you apply to. Only apply to universities you're genuinely interested in attending, not just any university with a big name. Your application materials, background, statement of purpose, research proposal etc should match the programme you apply to, and at your interviews you should be able to make clear why you chose to apply to this particular university / research group. That might be something to focus on some more if you decide to wait another year and apply again.

You have invested a lot of money and effort in this process, do you really to put yourself to it all over again? Choose from your options and don't hesitate, the longer you wait the harder it will be for you to depart from your home (I mean you will be even more attached if you wait one more year). Besides, your options are great. It is true that all of us would like to studfy at Princeton, Stanford or Cambridge, (we all like the glamour) but seriously you've got excellent options. I would personally attend UI-UC, but you seem to have already decided not to go there. A friend of mine has been attending Warwick for a couple of years now and she is very very happy. She's into dynamical systems I believe (I'm more Applied analysis-oriented, so I prefer PDE's) and it seems that they do leading research in that area.

Go for it, you really got great options.

Hmm, that's strangely worded, I mean if they're "willing to offer you a place" just without funding why would you have to ask to be "considered for an unfunded place?" Doesn't that mean you've already been considered and offered a place? I don't know much about it but I looked into studying in the UK very briefly a while ago and when I discovered that you have to prove your ability to pay tuition in it's entirety without the need for employment I just stopped thinking about it. I would email them for clarification and just put it plainly..."Is this an acceptance or not?"

I imagine, the issue is that you have specifically applied for the funded option, so in order to accept you on the unfunded option (which in most subjects in the U.K. is the usual kind of acceptance) you need to specify that you'd like to be considered for it - seems like a simple administrative requirement... or at least that is how I would be inclined to interpret it.

Disclaimer: I'm not very familiar with UK higher ed, so take the following for what it's worth.

It sounds like you're not resident in the UK. Is that correct? A quick glance at the EPSRC website seems to indicate that EPSRC studentships are available only to people who have been living in the UK for at least three years with "settled status" (http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/students/Pages/eligibility.aspx). If that's the case, and you were applying for a studentship, that explains why you weren't granted one. That would also mean that an unfunded offer from Oxford is not the equivalent of a rejection, as it might be for a UK resident; it just means that they offered you what they usually offer international students whom they wish to accept. If you were applying for something other than a studentship, I would still imagine that EPSRC funding is still available only to UK/EU citizens, as is the case with AHRC. Your friend from the UK was probably speaking from the perspective of a UK resident, for whom no EPSRC funding would be more like a rejection than anything else.

Logaritym,

You've been unsuccessful in receiving funding from the department, but what about from your college? Have you even been assigned to a college yet? In the UK, you can be funded by the school, the department, and/or your college. Just because you haven't received a funding offer from the department, doesn't mean -- from what I understand -- that you won't be successful in getting funding from the college that selects you.

My advisor told me before I applied that it is not at all uncommon to not receive funding or to not receive it the first year but to receive it in subsequent years. I certainly wouldn't consider this a "rejection."

I don't know how it works in the UK, so I don't know how helpful this will be. I was accepted into my program without funding. Everyone told me that I shouldn't have to pay for grad school, but my choices were very limited. So I went anyway, taking out a loan for the first semester. After the first semester, I was able to secure a TA position. So my tuition was waived for my second semester. Now I am currently looking for a TA position for semester #3 so I can continue to have my tuition waived. Perhaps you could ask them what your chances are of receiving some sort of position after your first semester that would qualify you for benefits.