master's in applied math

[ymyook]

Hi, first time posting here.

 

So right now my plan is to work for a few years, apply to a respectable master's program in applied math/statistics before possibly going for a phd in economics.

 

I am currently a senior in a top 30 undergrad majoring in economics and minoring in mathematics.

 

My gpa is around 3.3 (similar gpa in major and much higher in math minor)

 

I just would like to get an idea of how tough it is to get into a respectable master's program in applied math.

 

What do I need to do right now or soon in order to prepare for/maximize my chance to get into such a program?

 

Any advice is welcome!

 

Thanks

Edited April 14, 2014 by ymyook

[the_sheath]

What's your cv look like in terms of math? Coursework? Have you gotten good rec letters lined up? How about the mGRE? Are you looking for funded Masters programs? Research experience of any kind? Coding experience of any kind? Math minor gpa? Where do you plan to work?

[ymyook]

I am still in undergrad. I hope to go into the Actuarial profession, work there for 2-3 years before applying for a master's.

As of now, all I have are courses in Economics with 3 semesters of calculus and 1 semester of linear algebra. I have gotten A's and one A-. I have not taken the GRE. I am not sure what to expect as far as funded masters programs go, but I just want to know if I can get into a okay master's. I know how to code in Java, Python but not great. No research experience. Rec letters are probably meh. 

[the_sheath]

Grades look okay (in math). I'd take at least one course in real analysis. Depending on your area of research, I would also suggest numerical analysis. Generally a lot of course work in math is recommended. Graduate coursework would be even better because it demonstrates your ability to handle the workload. Though, since you're a senior and it's spring quarter/semester pretty much everywhere... I dunno how much you could fix that.

 

Take the GRE and do well on it, probably the subject GRE as well (I heard the general rule for the subject GRE is to get >50%, but "good" would be >80% or 800+).

 

I hear that programming and applied math go hand in hand. You don't need CS-graduate status coding experience, but having some under your belt, especially software specific to your area of interest (I think stats people use R or something like that, for example), looks pretty good. But I'm biased because I applied to a specialization specifically geared toward scientific computing. Can't hurt though, since you may have to learn that software down the line anyway.

 

You should probably get better than meh letters of rec. You want to shoot for good letters of rec from big-name faculty. But you could probably do okay with good letters from relatively unkown faculty or meh letters from big-name faculty (I did the former and I hear the latter goes a long way).

 

I can't tell you whether or not you can get into an okay masters program, because I do not know what that means. But your profile doesn't look terrible.

 

I have no idea how competitive stats masters are, and this is just based on my experience in math/applied math.