joenobody0

You should have replied: Dear Professor, I don't wish to attend your school. However my friend Lil Kiwi also applied. He/she is far smarter and harder working than I am. Yours truly, Other Person

I like "Linear Algebra Done Right" by Axler. I second the Schaum's guides as well. They tend to be fairly basic, but almost always provide the most gentle and complete introduction possible. Depending on how deeply you wish to learn, Schaum's might be all you require.

I actually do know someone who deferred a PhD admit off the waitlist at Stanford a few years ago. It is definitely a possibility, but don't be too surprised to get a "No." Good luck though!

I seriously question if they'd be willing to give you a deferral off of the waitlist. Not to be rude, but you are already not one of their top choices. Why would they admit you then defer you a year, instead of just admitting someone else off the waitlist that actually wants to attend right now? The goal of the waitlist is to fill the incoming cohort group. Your situation is directly opposite that aim. It never hurts to ask, but you'd be in a far better position to defer if you were their 100% top choice.

Did this professor write the OP a LOR? If so, that seems questionable. If not, it's simply unconventional.

I was awarded 27.5K (including summer) tax free 4-5 years ago. I lived comfortably, though I didn't save money (I was less responsible back then). My rent was ~$1025 and I ate out a lot. I think you could get by fine on 22K-25K, especially if you are willing to live with people (with your own room though). Make sure that amount of money lasts for the duration of your studies. My fellowship lasted two years. After that... 17.5K.

I'd be more worried about seeing if you would like living there than I would be about funding. If you know (for some reason) that you'd like to live in the area, I don't think you're missing out on anything by not going. Start emailing professors now to network, if you think it's possible to get some funding this way.

I actually live in Oakland now, and it's much cheaper than Berkeley. To anyone who's reading this and thinking of trying to make a go with a 17.5k stipend, let me give you some points of advice (as a 5 year Berkeley resident). Forget about living on northside.Try to find a place on the west side of town. University and San Pablo is a good location. The bus runs right up University and comes fairly often.If you can't swing University and San Pablo, try looking North on San Pablo. The bus runs up/down San Pablo and then up to campus on University.Take a look at the west side. Past Parker might me a little more affordable. The area is filled with UG students though.Try Oakland but be aware that there are some really horrible parts of town (30th and MLK I'm looking at you), and you might not like walking to/from the bus at night.I'm not trying to be a bummer. I just want people to have a real idea of what they're getting into. I know I had no idea when I moved up. Anyone who wants more specific info shoot me a PM (if this forum supports it).

This is so important. I went into a PhD program 4 years ago based on it's univeral #1 rank. I didn't consider anything about the area, the social climate, or anything else like that. I hated it and left with a Masters after 2 years. I'm reapplying this year, and still shooting for a top school (I already have a few top ranked admits to choose from), but my choice is going to come down to where I'm going to be happy. 5 years is too long to power through while being miserable. Keep it in mind people.

I'd much rather live in Chapel Hill than Atlanta. MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH rather. Don't forget to take that into account at some level.

Your stipend is taxed. You won't see the full $17.5. Just because they say the stipend is for nine months doesn't mean they don't expect you to live on it for the whole year. I was on fellowship so I got summer suppport. People with GSI support only got summer funding if they managed to get a TA position over the summer. Even assuming your tax rate is 0 (which it won't be), 800*12 = 9,600. Leaving you with 7900/12/4 = 165 per week to live on. Assuming you spend 400 on food + 100 on phone/internet, that's going to leave you 35 per week. You won't die on the stipend, but if you notice exactly what I said: "horribly inadequate to live in Berkeley with any reasonable standard." Standards will differ, and I wouldn't live that way. My rent was $1025 per month FWIW.

I'd take the offer with funding 100% of the time. Do well at the "lesser" school, get great LORs, do well on the GMAT/GRE, and you can go to a "better" school for your PhD.

It's hard to say. I'm sure they can and will fund you for 5 years. After 5, it's anyone's guess. You'd most likely have to TA (GSI in Berkeley-speak) a huge amount of coursework to fund yourself. I was not in CS, so it might be better over there, but Math was not doing well last time I stopped in to talk to people. I'd strongly advise you to ask hard funding questions of everyone you talk to. Don't let them say "well in the past we did..." Make sure to get a firm commitment. Talk to the department workers. They're all upset about having their salary frozen, losing job security, and other things. They will most likely give you a straight answer. Also, the regular Math stipend was 17.5K which is horribly inadequate to live in Berkeley with any reasonable standard. Berkeley is a good school no doubt, if it works for you.

When I got into my PhD program at Berkeley (prior to the funding issues) they told me "sure funding for 6, 7, or 8 years is no problem." After the financial crash they told me "forget about funding past 5 years."

I actually got into Berkeley 4 years ago and did not enjoy the experience. I left with a Masters and went into industrial research. I'm now applying to Business School to do applied OR research. A number of my admits are very early in the cycle and I suspect the programs would prefer I not identify them.