Getting into Phd. Math

[pty1196]

I would like to get into phd of discrete maths and combinatorial.

Now I am doing master of computer science. I didn't take any math courses for this master. I took one course in algorithm for computer science.

It will take one more year to graduate.

What should I do to get into the best math school?

Because I have a master in computer science, do I have a chance of getting in or very little chance?

I think taking maths gre exam will help me with my application.

I don't mind doing self study of math textbooks but how to show that I am competent in maths?

Thanks a lot.

[qqyyzz]

What is your background in math? This might be bad news but the math GRE is a tough test and it will be even tougher if you haven't taken some of the topics. Yes you can self study, but there will be some topics that are difficult to self study. Analysis, for example, is difficult to self study as a lot of books don't have answers for proofs exercises. As a result you might go about a lot of proofs the wrong way and have no one to tell you. Besides that I think at a very minimum for math phd programs you are going to need all of calculus, linear algebra, abstract algebra, real analysis and/or advanced calculus, and perhaps complex analysis. Keep in mind that's probably an absolute minimum. Realistically math programs would probably expect at least 30 credit hours of upper division math courses.

You might be able to study discrete math and combinators in the CS department if that's what you're interested in. Although I expect that probably depends on which CS department you are at.

Edited April 22, 2011 by qqyyzz