frankdux Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 i went to Indiana University. majored in math. minored in astronomy. gpa 3.66. graduated may '02. i did one semester of community college AFTER in order to take some inexpensive computer science classes to beef up my resume and because i didnt really take any computer science classes in college. actually i took 1 java class as a requirement, but i couldnt remember a thing from that class. so i took 3 computer classes at this community college, got all A's. also, i'll admit it was because i still wasnt sure what i wanted to do with my life. (perhaps these extra A's boosted my gpa up to a 3.69 i think) afterwards, i worked full time for a year (as a manager at a Trader Joes) while deciding what career path i wanted to take. then i decided to go to UIC thinking i really wanted to be a high school math teacher. over the course of 3 years while going to school at the minimum full time level while working part time/full time at a Best Buy, i got an MST degree with a 3.64 gpa. it was a 74 credit program. i really liked going back to school and i took quite a few extra classes too. so i ended up graduating with 102 credits. i also took a few extra independent study math courses the summer before my final semester - the semester i did my student teaching. these extra courses seriously inspired me. i realized after the following semester of student teaching that i couldnt simply JUST teach for the rest of my life. i really liked learning mathematics on my own, as i was doing in my independent study courses over that summer. i realized that what would make me most happy was if i could learn math, do research in math, and teach math for the rest of my life. at the time i had reached this 'epiphany' it was too late to take the GRE (which i didnt need for my MST) and to apply for grad school. (this was around january of '07). so i decided to put it off for next year. in the meantime i had made plans to teach overseas for a year. which is what i'm currently doing. i am living in japan and participating in the JET program through the japanese ministry of education. i am currently teaching english at 2 high schools. (jetprogramme.org) in the spring of '07, before i went to japan, i took the GRE. i got 800Q , 480V :cry: , 4.5 A . i moved to japan to teach at the end of july. so this past fall, while in japan, i applied to just a couple schools back home. i told myself i'd only apply to the schools that had the exact interests in research that i do and those that are within my 'ballpark'. and if i didnt get in, i'd stick around in japan for another year - probably move to tokyo - and perhaps take over the GRE and apply to more schools next year. a part of me is now regretting only applying to just 2 schools, but since i still haven't gotten a response back i shouldnt start kicking myself yet. as for my letters of recommendation; 2 are from my independent study professors. both got their ph.d.s from ivy league schools, another is from my MST advisor who was also my teacher and my student-teacher advisor. she doesnt have a ph.d. but i've known her for 3 years and she knows me better than anyone else. in my statement of purpose i emphasized how i took many classes in my MST program and how i really enjoyed taking independent study courses and how those influenced me to want to continue on in my studies towards a ph.d. so that i may do research and teach for the rest of my life. i also mentioned my interests in mathematics with applications towards astronomy and how my interests alligned with the interests of the school's departments. so now for the input i ask of you: what do you think my chances are of getting into the applied mathematics departments at University of Arizona, and the University of Colorado? i am specifically interested in applied math with a concentration on interdisciplinary applications of mathematics towards astronomy/cosmology/physics. i'll be 28 years old next month. i already have one masters degree in a related subject. i have pretty good grades. i have some work experience, and some 'wordly' travelling-abroad experience. do i sound like a good ph.d. candidate to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurye27 Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Yes. Go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rising_star Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Go for it! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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