Cambridge Tripos Part III

[dustlandfairytale]

Is it considered the equivalent of an MS in the States? Can it be a terminal degree, or is it necessarily a stepping stone to a PhD?

[balderdash]

From what I understand, it's considered like an MS. Most people will go on to do PhDs, though. There were four guys in my college last year who were doing it (2 Americans, an Eastern European, and a Portuguese guy), and all were thinking PhD.

[dustlandfairytale]

Cool, thanks! Does anyone have any first- or second-hand accounts of how the program compares in terms of rigour and future opportunities to, say, an MS in Statistics at any American university?

[alcala]

Oh! Tripos Part III is much more than an MS in the States. The difficulty its kind of crazy. The program has a pretty big intake though, and it is similar to the TWO first years of a PhD in top tier american universities in maths. Furthermore, after getting a Distinction on it, you can read for a PhD in Cambridge in just three years. Its like the only way to be able to get into the PhD in Cambridge's Math Department, probably the best in the world, with Princeton and Harvard behind.

[dustlandfairytale]

Well, my situation is such that I'm pretty sure I don't want to do a PhD, but I definitely want to do an MS. Basically, if I was to come back to the States after doing Tripos Part III, would I be on par with American MS grads in terms of employment prospects?