Cornell vs UW applied maths

[james84]

Hi all, anyone have any opinions or experience regarding how these two Phd programs compare? Seattle seems like a much more liveable and interesting place to live but Cornell seems like a (much?) better school. Any input greatly appreciated.

Edited June 20, 2010 by james84

[lhfields]

The OP seems to indicate that the trade-off basically boils down to prestige v. location. Academically speaking, I think UW program is great. My undergrad math dept head was UW PhD, and he was excellent. I am a Cornellian, so I am biased, but your access to resources Cornell math faculty provides will be unreal. As for living, Ithaca can be snowy, cloudy, and cold. I have never visited UW, but I strongly recommend visiting both places. I don't know how many offers are made each year and whether the accepted students ever come visit, but getting an idea how the town works, whether it is college-y, or the like is important. I mean, you will be spending about 4-6 years!

LHF

[kaz]

One professor at my universitiy said that Harvard, Cornell, Caltech, MIT are super competitive (among a list of some top schools), I took that to mean Cornell is comparable to those, although I had the impression it may be less competitive compared to Harvard, MIT, Caltech.

[james84]

Thanks for your responses. I am interested in them both for their mathematical biology research -- the trade off, in my mind, being one of location vs prestige.

Being an international student may make visiting somewhat difficult although yes, it does seem necessary to make an informed decision.

My own feeling is that Cornell's maths dept is held in very high regard, 'clearly above' UW's maths dept -- and as Kaz says, somewhat comparable to Harvard, Caltech and MIT. However, how the applied maths depts compare I am less clear.

How do you find living in 'isolated' Ithaca?

[physviti]

Thanks for your responses. I am interested in them both for their mathematical biology research -- the trade off, in my mind, being one of location vs prestige.

Being an international student may make visiting somewhat difficult although yes, it does seem necessary to make an informed decision.

My own feeling is that Cornell's maths dept is held in very high regard, 'clearly above' UW's maths dept -- and as Kaz says, somewhat comparable to Harvard, Caltech and MIT. However, how the applied maths depts compare I am less clear.

How do you find living in 'isolated' Ithaca?

I don't know if Cornell's applied math department is held in a much higher regard than UW's. Here are the 2007 rankings:

http://www.university-list.net/us/rank/univ-1005.htm

As you can see, the applied math rankings are very different from the pure math rankings. Harvard isn't even top 20 (and this might still be a bit generous) and UMinn is top 5.

If you are interested in mathematical neuroscience, I would definitely choose UW (http://www.amath.washington.edu/~etsb/). If you are not, then Cornell has a couple of very good math bio guys that would be fun to work with (think Strogatz).

[equinox]

I did an REU at UW Seattle, and my impression is that the dept is NOT very applied.

To answer this question, you have to figure out what kind of biomath you want to do- because what UW has to offer is pretty limited. Cornell has a huge variety of people doing different things. Also, Cornell has more funding opportunities, you might get out of there faster, and then you can move to Seattle.

Seattle is awesome, but pretty expensive for a grad student living on a TA stipend from a public school

In the end, it boils down to- will you be able to find an advisor? Because they are both good schools, and people will be looking at what kind of a thesis you wrote.

[hubris]

Not to sure about the applied aspect, but UW's programs is stellar.

[Matt W]

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

[kdilks]

Yeah, you want to be as specific as you can when you're looking at potential graduate schools. How well known your advisor/research group is known in the mathematical biology world is far more important (for your career) is the most important thing. Going to a big name/Ivy school might impress your friends/family, going to a school with a well-known applied math program might impress your fellow grad students, but going to a school that's good at mathematical biology will impress potential employers. Check to see what kind of seminars they have going on, which professors indicate interest in your area, try and gauge how active/well-known they are, etc.

[BG7]

has anyone not heard back yet from Cornell? I called them yesterday and they told me NO decisions had been made yet! yet I see lots of people posting their results here about whether they've been accepted , waitlisted or rejected. The wait is killing me

[Hanmyo]

University of Washington is held in high respect for Applied Mathematics. Some hold it higher than Cornell. It all depends on what you are looking for and who you might be able to work with. On the general rankings, they are about equal. ( http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/applied-mathematics-rankings ) This is the first website that comes up on Google for the search: Applied Mathematics Rankings. As you can see, some ranking systems place UW higher, and some place Cornell higher (as someone linked above).

As for climate, University of Washington definitely has the upper hand in that battle. It rarely ever snows (maybe once a year at most) and has nicer weather for much longer. If you can handle a bit of rain and prefer rain to snow, I would suggest going here. It's surprising how much weather and atmosphere can affect your studies. Also, if you like nature, the Northwest is beautiful. UW is in the middle of Seattle, which is exciting, but it is easy to get to some very pretty places not too far. Ithaca, on the other hand, is mainly a college town with most of the people there attending various colleges. Although the nature there is also beautiful, there is not much time in the cold school year you would be able to enjoy it. (Think waaarm coats.)

Cornell may be a shiny name, but again it all depends on who you work with. After you get your PhD it matters more who you worked with and what your PhD was on than which school you chose. I would try talking to some professors, either through phone or email, at each of the schools to get an idea of which ones are taking graduate students. Keep in mind that not all professors are actively taking graduate students and some may already have an idea of which incoming students they want to work with.

And finally, if you have an idea of what type of mathematical biology you want to do, I would check out the CV's of all of the professors at each school to see if anyone is currently working on that.

Edited February 19, 2011 by Hanmyo

[kaz]

I have not heard anything too.

has anyone not heard back yet from Cornell? I called them yesterday and they told me NO decisions had been made yet! yet I see lots of people posting their results here about whether they've been accepted , waitlisted or rejected. The wait is killing me

[Ventulus]

I got an e-mail on the 13th saying I had been waitlisted at Cornell. I asked for some admission stats and I was told that there were around 200 applicants, 10-15 first round admissions, and 10 waitlistings. I was also told that historically, 0-3 people get in off of the waitlist.

[BG7]

I got an e-mail on the 13th saying I had been waitlisted at Cornell. I asked for some admission stats and I was told that there were around 200 applicants, 10-15 first round admissions, and 10 waitlistings. I was also told that historically, 0-3 people get in off of the waitlist.

Did they say how many 2nd round admits, if any, they plan to have? If only 10-15 people get admitted, then their website is bull**** as they say they usually admit 15% of their applicants

Edited February 24, 2011 by BG7

[Ventulus]

The guy said that offers to waitlisters are based on how many first round applicants accept and how many get outside funding. I am guessing the 0-3 number refers to a second round of offers.

Edited February 24, 2011 by Ventulus

[kaz]

Does this apply to all mathematics or just applied maths?

[equinox]

I'm also on the waitlist-I can't believe that they admit so few... hopefully people turn them down quickly. This is horrible!!

Do you guys know specifically what you want to work on?