/sci/ - Science & Math

I really really do not get it

>>9663438
How is university of Wisconsin Madison for mathematics (pure)

>>9663534
quite good https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/mathematics-rankings

>>9663534
idk but they're pretty fucking good in the computer architecture arena

>>9663534
they've got a pretty nice campus too. i was there last may on a business trip

Already defended and am working but let's do it.

>Where did you get accepted
I got accepted to pretty much every major school that wasn't MIT or Caltech.
Started at UF then transferred to GT when advisor moved.

>Where did you get denied
MIT and Caltech, I just wanted the rejection letters

>What're you working on
I studied organic and polymer chemistry. Specializing in optoelectronic properties tuning. Did lots of synthesis and characterization. Lots of patents and papers.

>How is your advisor a shitter
He was such a nonconfrontational asshat it was annoying as fuck. Way too political in handling disagreements and issues. He was pretty great overall though. Let me really do what I wanted to, surrounded me with brilliant post docs to help me and grow. Introduced me to many industrial contacts. Handy when looking for a job.

>How often do you think about killing yourself
Not often but since I live in the bay area, more than I used to. This place is shit. I would rather die fighting in a war though. I would quit and join the military rather than an hero.

Can extensive industry experience (1000s of hours, incl big 4 internships) somewhat substitute research experience for EECS grad admissions? For natural sciences I get the importance of undergrad research but for ECE/CS a summer ""research"" job usually entails codemonkeying for the grad students then typing up a shitty report so I never bothered with lab positions.

Looking at ML/Robotics specifically for top 10.

>>9663438
>Where did you get accepted
t./gsg/
>Where did you get denied
paradoxplaza, grandifa, all 50 steam/discord groups
>What're you working on
The most aesthetic netherlands colonial empire
>How is your advisor a shitter
Dude's eating 20 gold a month and his ability is inflation reduction...
>How often do you think about killing yourself
twice a week

Reminder that Huey Long did nothing wrong

>>9663484
why the fuck does ottomans have a colony in the kurils

>>9663625
Lmao, there's no way my school's shit tier math department is #34

just got a travel grant but it's only 40% of what the max award was and I can't feasibly travel on the amount. Is that some kind of soft rejection?

>>9663438
UMD College Park
N/A
M.E. in Cybersecurity
Communication is dead, rare to get replies/confirmed meetings
Never really

Is a masters in Aerospace Engineering worth it?

>>9665306
I go to that school

Pretty comfy besides the wearher desu

>>9663438
>Where did you get accepted
Duke
>Where did you get denied
Before interview: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Berkely, Columbia, UC San Diego
After interviews: Colorado Boulder, Chicago, Wisconsin, UNC Chapel Hill
>What're you working on

RNA therapeautics

>How is your advisor a shitter

He's a breddy good guy, but he doesn't respond to emails.

>How often do you think about killing yourself

About once a month.

>>9663438
What's the difference between a "letter of motivation" and a "statement of purpose"?

[*bumps*][/*bumps*]

>>9663438
How should I get to know an advisor BEFORE going to grad school? Should I email the school and set up a tour?

Also is florida state a scam? Its one of my backups since theres a prof who shares my interest. Ive read conflicting opinions by alumni. Some say it is a scam, some say its nice. Apparently the housing is in a crime hotspot

>>9668123
after you get accepted you go to the open house and talk to potential advisors

>>9663484

Will it hurt me if I have no discernible personality and no social skills in grad school?
Will my advisor want to be my friend? Bc I have no friends, im fucking socially clueless

>>9663699
>hating on the bay
the food is the best there tho

>>9668177
what do you think dipshit

>>9663438
> Where did you get accepted
Harvard, MIT, CalTech
> Where did you get denied
CSU Chico
> What are you working on
Simpletic Geometry right now, but I am switching to representation theory next month (long story).
> How is your advisor
I LOVE my advisor; he is at the top of his field (representation theory) and is willing to work with me on anything I need to.
> How often -
No. I do not ever consider such an ugly proposition.

>>9668226

>>9663438
>Where did you get accepted
FSU, UGA, UTK, Drexel

>Where did you get denied
Duke, UNC, MSU, Princeton, Vanderbilt, UCo Boulder

>What're you working on
big large matrix diagonalization

>How is your advisor a shitter
He's as autistic as I am. I don't think I'll end up being friends with him.

>How often do you think about killing yourself
I'd never kill myself, but I reflect on how unhappy I am probably a couple times a day.

>>9668237
I do not understand why you believe that I am a fake man: I am true to myself and am a strong individual as a result. I would prefer to not disclose further details of my profile (to avoid a dox), but at least you could comprehend that people of a caliber as high as mine do indeed exist, yes?

>>9668266
He's committed to the role, this one. Were you in good will hunting?

>9668266
spoken like someone with an 11th grade vocabulary

>>9664031
Loled

>where did you get accepted
My top choices were MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale and Berkeley.

>where did you get denied
Harvard, Cornell, UChicago and Caltech

>what are you working on
Not sure yet, choosing between atomic physics and condensed matter physics. I like experiment more than theory.

>how is your advisor a shitter
Haven’t chosen one yet

>how often do you think about killing yourself
I don’t because I’m happy. Or in denial. I haven’t found out which yet.

>>9668266
>>9668266
>>9668266
>>9668266
>>9668266
here have some (you)s

>>9668375

>>9668462
Are you just posting this bs whenever you see someone who got into a good school?

>>9668467
theres no one going to an ivy on a south african dildo trading forum m8

>>9668480
idk i've met some dumb shits that go to harvard.

>>9668480
stop putting the ivys on a pedestal. most of the best stem schools arent ivy

>>9668480
Proof by counterexample: I go to Columbia. Any lions in the house?

>>9668462
>>9668480
Read it an weep bitch.

>>9668498
Also this. Ivies are not all that special. The only good ivy STEM schools are Harvard, Princeton and Yale (for engineering/applied physics). Princeton is good for theory and EE only, and Harvard is pretty good over all, but I would argue that Berkeley is better than all of them.

mathematics PhD student here
if anyone has any questions on math grad school let me know and i'll reply whenever i decide to check the thread again

t. mathfag

>>9668508
What kind of math do you do?

guess i'll answer the OP

>Where did you get accepted
UChicago and NYU for a CS phd
attended UChicago, then left to do math at FSU

>Where did you get denied
i got in everywhere i applied for math
got rejected at caltech, BostonU, and some other good schools for CS

>What're you working on
machine learning and optimization on riemannian manifolds

>How is your advisor a shitter
don't have a set advisor yet; my advisor at chicago was a perfect human being

>How often do you think about killing yourself
literally every day

>>9668513
applied math mostly focussing on machine learning and numerical optimization, though i'm trying to find some time to learn monte-carlo methods on my own since they seem cool and their areas of application are intersting

guess i'll answer the OP
>Where did you get accepted
two nice schools for a computer science phd; attended one then left to do math at florida state university
>Where did you get denied
i got in everywhere i applied for math
got rejected at caltech, BostonU, and some other good schools for comp sci
>What're you working on
machine learning and optimization on riemannian manifolds
>How is your advisor a shitter
don't have a set advisor yet
>How often do you think about killing yourself
literally every day

>>9668516
>don't have a set advisor yet; my advisor at chicago was a perfect human being
how do you not have an advisor yet in spring semester

>>9668529
still haven't passed my quals
typically we don't choose our advisor until the end of the second year, after quals

>>9668536
wow what a waste of time

>>9668539
how so? this is very typical of graduate math programs
in that time we're doing coursework and preparing for our qualifying exams, engaging in research on the side if we have time or if we come in with a master's degree already like some of my colleagues

>>9668546
my school did the opposite, got rid of quals and throw you right into research because if you have quals, you can't focus on research because you're studying.

>>9668555
that tends to not end well in the experience of many programs, since there is usually a high barrier to entry for mathematics research
quals are not just some arbitrary milestone; they show that the student is competent enough in the basic material, has enough mathematical maturity, and has a bare minimum of mathematical breadth to meaningfully engage in academic work and contribute to the corpus

>>9668561
wew forgot my faggy trip

>>9668561
>has a bare minimum of mathematical breadth to meaningfully engage in academic work and contribute to the corpus
that's what undergrad is for

>>9668566
undergrad just barely dips your toes into the world of mathematics and prepares you for whats coming in grad school
i say this as someone who took topology, graph theory, combinatorics, automata theory, two semesters of analysis, two semesters of graduate algebra, and three semesters of graduate set theory in undergrad

is math your field? because you sound clueless about the state of modern mathematics

>>9668576
>is math your field? because you sound clueless about the state of modern mathematics
nope and i don't give a shit. but keep trying to justify wasting 2 years for quals and not getting any research done

>>9668579
>nope
k opinion discarded
sorry that you can't understand that different fields operate differently

>>9668582
i understand it, just saying it's dumb as fuck and you're dumb by association

>>9668590
>i understand it
nah, but keep pretending that you do
meanwhile the rest of us will continue doing mathematics, and you won't

>>9668595
yeah you must be very smart i'm sorry i'm not as smart as you

>>9668576
Why didn't you do basic algebraic topology, algebraic geometry, differential topology, differential geometry, real analysis, complex analysis, homological algebra, commutative algebra at the graduate level as an undergraduate student? These are the basic courses that any true mathematician should take. Sounds like you had a pretty poor education, in my opinion.

>>9665310
Unless you're planning to work for Boeing, SpaceX, or NASA, yes.

As an anecdote, I know 2 people that worked for two of those companies. One brainlet broke his hand during his work at SpaceX, and he now works for NASA.

>>9668616
>Unless you're planning to work for Boeing, SpaceX, or NASA, yes.
Meant No
>img related

>>9668611
not saying i'm smart you're just feeling insecure because of the fact that i study math and because of the way that math is performed at the graduate level
try not to do that; it's sad

>>9668613
never gave a shit about analysis until now, so i never took complex analysis nor differential anything
i took two semesters of real analysis and i don't understand how you didn't read that
i did an REU in commutative algebra
and as you can clearly see by the courses i took i was much more interested in logic and set theory than the areas you've listed

btw those courses at the graduate level are absolutely atypical of an undergraduate student and i don't understand why you feel the need to posture on an anonymous imageboard online

Hey anons

I've got a shitty GPA as a CS student, but mostly due to negligence. My professor asked to turn my undergrad project into a paper so he could coauthor it with me.

How do into masters? I want to work for a bit. How do I find out about this stuff?

>>9663438
Physics, condensed matter theory

>Where did you get accepted
Berkeley, UMD, UIUC, UCSD, BostonU

>Where did you get denied
UCSB, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Princeton, CU Boulder, UChicago, Yale

>What're you working on
Right now trying to get an oncology paper into a journal; separately doing exploratory work involving exceptional lattices + condensed matter. Also interested in ultracold molecules.

>How is your advisor a shitter
All my advisors (UG) have been super awesome tbqh.

>How often do you think about killing yourself
These days not so much. The 4 weeks in a row where I was getting nothing but rejections were pretty difficult tho..

>>9668642
>The 4 weeks in a row where I was getting nothing but rejections were pretty difficult tho..
most of us feel your pain, anon
glad it all worked out for u

>>9668642
You should be beyond psyched about UC-Berkeley. They are one of the best universities in the whole world.

The only thing that sucks is that it's located in Berkeley, CA.

>>9668627
lol you're the one that got all defensive, are you sure you're not insecure?

>>9668647
thanks anon. i remember seeing these threads browsing /sci/ way back in high school. crazy to think that i'm on the other side now.

>>9668650
I really am.

Actually I like the location quite a lot, at least from the handful of times I've visited. Probably helps that I'm hippie trash lol. Getting housing is definitely a real pain though.

>>9668655
>lol you're the one that got all defensive
show me on the doll where i touched you

>>9668659
we're all gonna make it, anon
congrats on Berkeley, i have a colleague there and he absolutely loves it

>>9668627
Okay now, we get it: you are a female. Now could you do us all a favor and stop whining?
Those courses are the bare minimum that any mathematician going to graduate school should take, and anything else should be taken on top of those courses. And I am not posturing here, I am trying to guide you to the correct path: I did much more than the minimum in my undergraduate (I followed this guide: http://imperium.lenin.ru/~verbit/MATH/programma.html).).

>>9668659
I had an... interesting experience there.

At the end of the visit, I took the BART to SFO. Upon entering the subway car, I was greeted by the sight of a homeless man shitting on one of the seats.
The worst part was that no one else in the car seemed to pay any attention to it, which makes me think that this wasn't abnormal.

>>9668662
>Those courses are the bare minimum that any mathematician going to graduate school should take, and anything else should be taken on top of those courses.
nah, you're wrong and your view of mathematics is myopic
you can keep believing that if you'd like, but it just makes you sound like an undergrad
i'm a guy btw sry to disappoint

>>9668500
whats your gpa and all that relevant stuff look like?

>>9668663
that sounds about 2 std deviations away from normal lol.

I know there's definitely nicer / more bougy areas of Berkeley, but they can also be tricky to find places at as a grad student.

>>9668662
just in case anyone is reading along this autistic adventure:
i have one colleague who has never taken a formal proof-based mathematics class in his life; he does fluid dynamics and has never needed to; he's doing just fine in our program
i have another who never took topology or any of the advanced algebras; her focus is in PDEs and dynamical systems
and i have another who, like myself, was previously into theoretical computer science and set theory; he now does geometric topology

please don't be like this poster. mathematics is a huge and wide field with many different possible angles of attack

>>9668526
What is fsu like?

>>9668627
>you're just feeling insecure because of the fact that i study math
How full of yourself can you be
/r/iamverysmart

>>9668674
> trip
> social criticism
> lower case 'I' when referring to self
> it's sad
There is so much more, but everyone should see the point by now: you are either female, or one of the most effeminate males to ever exist.

>>9668676
it's pretty great. i love the weather (except the humidity during the summer) and all of my colleagues are wonderful for the most part
campus is beautiful and tallahassee isn't that bad if you stay away from niggertown north of campus
some of the faculty is kind of shit, but some of them are really really great, particularly the financial and applied divisions (though pure also has some amazing people, like Paolo Aluffi)
i'll probably end up transferring after my masters though, just because i think my interests are shifting away from what is typically researched in applied math here

>>9668678
that was the only thing mentioned in the post he (you?) replied to
please learn to be less sensitive; you'll enjoy life more

>>9668684
>actually using the shift key like a soycuck
>unironically putting spaces after your même arrows
if you want my boypussy you're going to have to work harder than that

i adopted the trip for this thread so people interested in math could ask someone in a phd program questions
instead what i get is a bunch of faggot undergrads who think they know better

>>9668686
im interested in mathbio. specifically disease modeling. fsu has a few profs there for that. currently app math+stats major with cs minor with a 3.6 (stupid spanish requirement). i havent taken analysis yet but if its as hard as some of the brainlet grad students say, my gpa might be lower

anyway. i heard the housing at fsu is in a high crime area. do you know anything about that?

i read the thread btw and you are right, from what ive heard from profs and grad students, about math courses. fuck that other guy

>>9668700
math bio here is exceptional from what my colleagues tell me. you're going to want to work with Dr. Bertram, he's fucking great
undergrad analysis isn't that hard but you're going to want to make sure you're confident in your proof-based math skills, since you're applied math + stats
also your credentials look more than good enough to get accepted

on-campus housing is exceptionally safe, but it's much more expensive than you're going to want to pay
i'm living just north of campus (literally across the street to the north) and it's not bad at all, but you'll occasionally happen across a homeless person or a stray nigger
there's plenty of really great graduate housing to the east and west of campus which is exceptionally safe. i'm moving into a big house with some colleagues to the west of campus next semester. the rent will also be much cheaper (i'll be paying around 370 per month)
the south side of campus is also super safe, it's just full of undergrads who love to party late and drink heavily so be warned before moving there. there are plenty of bars and restaurants in that area and it's nice as fuck.

hope you end up applying; it's honestly really great here. just stay out of "frenchtown" and you'll be fine. crime tends to keep itself contained within the ghetto.

>>9668700
Right about what? That low-tier graduate schools should be renamed undergraduate 2.0? You cannot do any meaningful (pure) mathematics research without those courses. That there are not too many students who accomplish the task is irrelevant: Show me any top mathematician who has not followed a path like the one above.

>>9668773
You just don't get it bro, you're not smart enough

>>9668519
>applied math

>>9668123
>>9668141
Depends on the university and programme. At most EU universities (where you need to do a masters first) you need a PhD advisor already BEFORE acceptance. So if you have collaborators that's the best place to start. Otherwise just try to email professors in your field of interest (try not to be too discouraged when they don't respond).

>>9668177
Academia is literally a popularity contest. Your research is just a minor tool in that contest.

>>9668590
I am a japanese man in a steamy tokyo bathhouse laughing at your post

>>9668508
I just got a fully funded position for a phd in algebraic geometry/number theory starting this september (background info). I have a couple questions

>How much are you expected to know
>how can you tell if you know what youre doing, that is, if you know you can do original work
>what hours do you spend on your own work vs time you spend doing TA duties
>how big is the department, like, how many other grad students doing what you're doing?
>how often do you travel for conferences etc?

>>9669208
>>How much are you expected to know
a fucking lot mate. be prepared to be studying math all of the fucking time
>>how can you tell if you know what youre doing, that is, if you know you can do original work
you dont really, you just trust that your advisor can help you through the appropriate stuff
>>what hours do you spend on your own work vs time you spend doing TA duties
75/25
>>how big is the department, like, how many other grad students doing what you're doing?
~40 others
>>how often do you travel for conferences etc?
few times a year

>>9669217
hmm thanks, what about grad students in the pure departments? I'm pretty sure applied math has a shitload more people in it for obvious reasons.

Also
>75 hours a week
how much of that do you spend actually thinking or doing things that aren't just tedious work? Like, do you read books and do exercises, read papers and check the proofs, etc?

Reed here, this thread belongs to me now.

>>9664031
based

>>9669208
what was your uni/gpa ?

>>9669244
Well I'm from the UK, so the uni is Durham university, and not gpa, but I currently have a high first class (haven't graduated yet) at 82%

>>9669243
talex

t. Reed

>>9669248
Well good on you then.
I want to study number theory but keep being discouraged by profs. I know there are basically no positions available, but I don't believe I'll get a position regardless of the field of study, therefore I'd still like to head that way. Current grades are close to what UK people call first class I guess (top 5-10% in terms of rank currently), although it is not easy to compare since I am neither from the US nor the UK.

>>9669263
I've got rather lucky, it's the only one i've been accepted to (rejected from 4 others) and its top 30 in the world. I think it's mostly because
1. I didnt get an interview (I had an interview at oxford and fucked up badly)
2. Not that many people actually apply to pure math phd as you'd think
3. I threatened to not go (in a polite manner) if i didnt get funding

Best thing you can do is try, speak with your lecturers about doing a phd and buttering them up so they write a nice recommendation letter, and well, do well in your degree.

>>9669208
different mathfag here

well you have quals. probably for your masters and your phd. the exams should be fairly easy unless your prof is a dick. so you should know enough to do well on them.
think about how much your prof knows. thats how much you should know at the end of your phd. roughly. obv he will have more knowledge in his specialty.

you should know youre doing things right because math follows a logical formula for the most part. stick to whats proven. follow recent research. follow that into your own research. terry taos blog has some good tips.

im pretty sure other anon meant the time ratio is 75/25 not the actual hours. maybe im wrong tho. i spend 50 hours on my own and about 20 TAing. but i also know people who basically blow off their TA duty and spend 5 hours weekly on it.

>>9669284
but like, for example, do you read through books, do exercises, etc? I can't imagine reading on recent research on algebraic geometry without first having read a couple books on it and done most of the exercises

>>9669146
based laughing japanese man in a steamy tokyo mathhouse

>>9669208
>How much are you expected to know
this depends on your particular program and university but typically knowledge of undergrad topology, real analysis, abstract algebra (groups, rings, fields, not categories), and complex analysis will be assumed
since your program is in algebraic geometry and number theory, you'll be assumed to have taken at least undergraduate versions of number theory and algebraic geometry

>how can you tell if you know what youre doing, that is, if you know you can do original work
even after completing a phd many people still don't really know what they're doing and have feelings of inadequacy or insecurities about their abilities
the fact that you were accepted to the program means they believe you have the potential to succeed; the rest is up to you, but you can always confer with your professors and advisors to see what they think of your abilities and if they have any suggestions

>what hours do you spend on your own work vs time you spend doing TA duties
this is going to depend on your particular department's regulations. i spend around 8 hours per week TAing classes and i have 2 hours dedicated to office hours for my students. on a typical day, i'll probably spend between 4 and 10 hours doing work outside of class, but my schedule is highly irregular at the moment so i'm probably not the best gauge.

>how big is the department, like, how many other grad students doing what you're doing?
there are about 15 other students in my year, i think we have anywhere between 40 and 50 graduate math students total. in my specific concentration, there are two other students in my year and no more than 10 total i believe.

>how often do you travel for conferences etc?
maybe once a year. will be attending conferences more furiously once my coursework settles down and my research picks up.

>>9669463
thanks. I read from some other anon that if my uni is not top 10-15, i dont really have much of a future as an academic. Do you feel this is similar? It is true that most of the teachers i've had were cambridge educated so...

>>9663438
>Where did you get accepted
University of Washington
>Where did you get denied
Princeton, UCLA, Dartmouth, PSI, Michigan, UT
>What're you working on
Mostly harmonic/functional analysis, some signal processing and mathematical physics as well
>How is your advisor a shitter
He's kind of stubborn about things, a really nice guy but once he gets his mind on something it takes a VERY long time for him to come around and realize he was wrong.
>How often do you think about killing yourself
Only time I considered it was back in High school and the several weeks where I though my future as a mathematician was over as the rejections kept rolling in.

>>9669552
>I read from some other anon that if my uni is not top 10-15,
that's absolute bullshit, and that's why i get so triggered by fags like the guy i was arguing with earlier
i went to a literally no-name undergrad. it is actually not even ranked by USNewsToday. i ended up getting accepted to arguably the best program in the world for a theoretical computer science phd (uchicago) with a fellowship before i decided to do math.

if what you're worried about is the ranking of your grad program, a similar maxim applies. at the end of the day, especially if your intent is to go into academia and not industry, people won't really give a shit if you graduate from Harvard if your dissertation is garbage, and people will be begging for your dick if you have a remarkable dissertation even if you're coming from a not-so-great university

at the end of the day, what's most important is that you're happy at your graduate program and that you enjoy what it is you're researching. take my experience into consideration: i left arguably the best program in my field because i was unhappy where i was and i wasn't enjoying what i was studying. i'm now at a state school which is nowhere near as "highly ranked" but i'm much happier and feel overall healthier and better about my station in life.
it will be very difficult for you to complete all the trials and tribulations of a phd if you are not healthy in both mind and body and if you are not happy where you are, so make those top priorities instead of masturbating over ranking.

>>9663438
Depression really fucked up my Master's degree and made me accomplish nothing so I applied to mediocre programs to hedge my bets.
>Where did you get accepted
North Carolina State University, Utah University, Santa Cruz, Chapel Hill, Drexel
>Where did you get denied
Columbia, Georgia Tech
>What're you working on
Story generation, image generation
>How is your advisor a shitter
He's cool
>How often do you think about killing yourself
Too often

Would a Masters in Aerospace be a good idea with a background in ME?

finna apply to get a Masters in Civil Engineering next year. Currently a grad student in Urban and Regional Planning. It's a dual degree program so I would get to double count some courses. No background in STEM. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

>tfw u go to a new school for free and accidentally fall in with a lazy advisor and now are trapped in a never ending thesis even though you have a job in your field and are raising a family
I can't get out from under this, sci. But at least I'm always learning.

>>9669563
Went to UW for undergrad, James Morrow is the sweetest old man.

>>9669581
>That grad student that's not going to graduate until after he's 30
Kek just go to technical college brainlet

>>9669849
i don't understand your post. i'm 23 and on track to graduate when i'm around 26/27, which is fairly normal considering i essentially took a year off

i really wish brainlets would cut the shitposts for one fucking thread so we could have an actual conversation about grad school

>>9669770
Yeah, from what I've seen there's actually a lot of people over there doing really interesting work (in both the math and physics department) and from some of my exchanges they seem like really nice people. It was also pretty cool to talk to John Lee and Folland considering I had always seen them as names on textbooks. Where'd you go after UW?

>mfw undergrads

>>9669874
In the real world (AKA after graduate school) you will find that that other poster has a point. Nobody cares where you went for undergraduate, but people do care where you go for graduate school, and you will be hurting really hard if you go to a mediocre program in pure mathematics. The edge cases you provided are not the norm: most dissertations from Harvard tend to be well written, and most dissertations from lower schools tend to not.

>>9670000
all i was getting at is that you will be hard-pressed to actually finish a phd at a program where you are unhappy, regardless of how well it is ranked, and if you don't finish your degree then you may as well have not gone to the really great school at all (as was the case with me)
of course good programs produce good theses, otherwise they wouldn't be good programs

i don't see what this has to do with >>9669849

>Where did you get accepted
Rockefeller/Harvard/Yale
>Where did you get denied
Penn/UCSF
>What're you working on
RNA biology
>How is your advisor a shitter
Very nice actually
>How often do you think about killing yourself
Suicide is for the weak

>>9670000
This is just plain wrong.

Your grad-school rating matters under the following conditions:
>You're an American and you want to work at American universities.
>You don't have a network where you want to apply for postdocs.
>Your research is mediocre.

If your research is of international quality, it doesn't matter if you went to gradschool in Lithuania, Greece, India etc. You WILL get into contact with the leaders of your field (assuming your research is good enough to impress them).

You can track these kind of careers on faculty pages at any top university. Many people do their PhDs at mediocre universities, then do a post doc or two at top tier uni. They have a much higher chance of obtaining a faculty position than people who did their PhD at a top tier school, but have a lower h-index (or don't contribute anything unique to a research team).

In fact I would that if you're confident in your abilities, then a lower tier university might even be a better career move. Reason being that you are allowed more freedom both in terms of time and safety to pursue your own ideas. At top unis the professors tend to keep you on a tighter lease, so you publish something in their domain as first author, but the credit will go to the prof (and corresponding author), and you will struggle to impress other researchers who will assume (usually correctly) that it was your professors idea and your creative input was minimal.


t. Gradstudent at top-tier uni

>>9670091
You certainly know more about this than I do, but isn't Princeton known for a very individualized graduate program? Harvard is certainly one of the prime examples of an institution to get directed for a PhD.

>>9663438
>Accepted
Cambridge

>Denied
Oxford, ETH Zürich (was my 1st choice...)

>Working on
Not started yet, computational fluid dynamics (specifically, direct numerical simulations over textured surfaces)

>How is your advisor a shitter
Idk, haven’t started yet but seemed like a super chill guy

>How often do you think about killing yourself
Never, but maybe that’s because I am just an undergrad yet...

>>9663438
Huh the Lego guy is speaking at PSU soon, is he any good?

>>9670202
Princeton math is amazing. Graduate programmes differ a lot. In general the better/more ambitious your adviser the more likely that you'll have to do something that falls within his own interest.

>Accepted
Cambridge, Manchester Edinburgh

>Denied
Nowhere

>Working on
Dynamic phase transitions

>How is your advisor a shitter
He is actually the thing stopping me from thinking I am a terrible person

>How often do you think about killing yourself
Sometimes :D

Also hey to the fluid dynamics guy above, we might be sharing a pavilion dude (PAV G for life)

>>9670091
thank you for saying what i had trouble saying

>>9665310
Kind of feels like it's almost a requirement, unless you want to go the design engineer -> management route or something. At my last job, everyone on my team either had a master's or was working on one (myself included), and my lead engineer was working on a 2nd master's. I just started my new job, so I haven't gotten to know everyone yet, but I do know that my lead has a master's.

>>9669611
That's what I did, and it's what my last boss did. My current boss did ME for both BS and MS, I think. Though, the aerospace industry is in the shitter right now (except maybe avionics), so I'd encourage you to look at other career options.

>>9663699
>>9664031
>>9665306
>>9665423
>>9668226
>>9668253
>>9668375
>>9668526
>>9668516
>>9668642
>>9669217
>>9669563
>>9669600
>>9670064
>>9670221
>>9670328
can't believe you people still fall for the datamining NSA threads, jesus christ, enjoy being GS'ed the rest of your lives

>>9671198
Is that you Richard Stallman? Are you still living at MIT? When was the last time you shaved and showered?

>>9671198
>GS'ed
what?

>>9670278
Makes funny posts on Facebook, I don't think he's a STEM major though.

>>9671198
damn dude i was just trying to facilitate the conversation

>>9663438
How do I pay for grad school? Was thinking of going back to work for a year or two after my BS, however it would be nice to continue straight into an MS but I don’t know where that money would come from if not from my pocket? Just more loans?

>>9675008
fuck no. assistantships and/or fellowships

>>9675008
if the school's not paying for you to go to grad school then the degree isn't worth it.

>>9675017
>>9675008

For a PhD, the school should be paying you.

For an MS/MD/JD, tough shit senpai.

>>9675042
well it's grad school general, not med school general
and for an MS, you should apply for a PhD and duck out once you get the credits for the masters. going for a straight masters is dumb because you have to pay for it.

>>9675046
>and for an MS, you should apply for a PhD and duck out once you get the credits for the masters

this, just don't tell anyone (classmates, even family) so you don't get sued by the school for fraud

>tfw want to go in for MS in human genetics or bioinformstics at mcgill university as an international


I'm too dumb to get in

>>9675144
>Canada
fucking do it mon ami
Je t'aime beaucoup
j'ai un ami qui été lá pour l'engineering de mechaniques

Does program ranking matter more than overall school rank?

>>9663438
Accepted: British columbia, Texas and a bunch of backup schools

Denied: nowhere cause I didnt apply anywhere else. Thought I might get denied ubc

nothing, start in the fall

n/a

occasionally. i was really excites for ubc, its my dream school but the cold weather sends me into a major depression so I applied to texas and will go there for the weather

are american students who get full scholarships through their department eligible for any tax credits? i used to claim the american opportunity credit in undergrad but can't in grad school.

>>9671198
This but ironically.

>>9676056
https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-benefits-for-education-information-center

>>9663438
Accepted: UW-M, CMU, UCL, a few other European schools.
Denied: literally every top 10 doctoral program in my field I've applied to.
Nothing at all atm, taking a break this semester before starting grad.
He's actually not, and is one of the reasons I got offers at all tbqh.
Every time I'm reminded some of my peers are literal geniuses and I'm not ever going to compare to them.

>>9670091
i went to northwestern for phd and left it for a phd at a shitty school in the uk that i am finishing up now. i hope you are correct- i have a few big first author pubs but am still worried

>>9676215
go to ucl or uw-m.

Stemlords, what are my chances for getting into a good grad school for math

Stats:
>Finance & Accounding double major, Mathematics and Econ double minor at a mid tier state school

>Will end graduating with 169 credits in 4 years, 3.8 cummalitve gpa, 4.0 in major, 4.0 in all math classes except calc 1 where I got a 2.9 because I fucked around

Math classes:
>calc 1-3
>probability theory
>statistics
>advanced calc 1
>linear algebra
>diff equations
>scientific computing for math I
>economic statistics
>econometrics

>had internships every summer, leadership roles in several club orgs

>presenting finance based research at 2 conferences and looking to get published

>yet to take gre but assume perfect scores

>>9676747
Yeah, accepted UW-M, since UCL is being too stingy with their offer. Then again, the latter is a masters program, so nothing surprising here.

>>9676826
>advanced calc 1
lmao

also this doesn't look like enough for a bachelors in math

>>9676826
>calc 1-3
>probability theory
>statistics
>advanced calc 1
>linear algebra
>diff equations
>scientific computing for math I
>economic statistics
>econometrics

That's all the math courses you took? No abstract algebra, PDE's, year long real analysis, complex analysis, topology, stochastic processes, or anything else? I mean, if you're applying to for applied math, like NYU or Courant, then you might be able to get away without having a background in algebra or geometry, but you really should have a strong foundation in analysis and stochastics. You're gpa is high and so that'll get you into a lot of places, if you have near perfect gre's, some research experience, and some strong letters of rec, shooting for a top 50 school is doable. Of course, make sure to have some reach schools as well, maybe two or three in the top 25 and maybe one in the top 10.

>>9676826
>no real analysis/topology/abstract algebra
Nah. You'll be better off going into finance or something.
As for everything else, it's just a bunch of filters. The only things that actually matter are your rec letters and maybe publications in the relevant field.

/sci/ I’m an undergrad getting a BS in bio and a BA in chem getting ready to start applying to schools once I take the GRE this summer. I’m planning on an ecology and evolution PhD but I go to a shit college and none of the advisors are worth anything. I have
>~3.65 GPA
>assume high GRE scores
>a year of undergrad research experience
>strong letters of recommendation
What tier of school should I be aiming at? I really like the work they’re doing at Berkeley but I can’t expect to get in there.

>>9676900
Amazingly a lot of state schools hand out a BS in math without any algebra, analysis, or topology.

>>9677158
but that would mean any science/engineering major could just take 1-2 extra courses for a math major

>>9677063
Your GPA is kind of low but not low enough to rule anything out, and you don't have a whole lot of research experience but again not enough to rule anything out.

Always always always apply to SOME top school because you can definitely get lucky, and always apply to some safety school.

I would say your "match" school are top 30-50 range, safeties are <50 and reaches are >30. But I wouldn't be surprised if you got into at least 1 top 20 program.

My background is in physics mind you, so I can't say too much. I don't know how competitive the climate is.

But your best bet, above everything else, is getting in contact with faculty ahead of time. Start sending emails out in September and get as many phone conversations as possible. Make sure you have a list of question prepared. This will give you something to write about in the "why I want to go to [School]" section of your SoP.

>>9677292
top schools* and safety schools*, don't know why I left those singular.

I should also clarify, I said September because physics grad apps are due mid December, but I don't know if it's the same for your field.
The bottom line is give yourself ~2-3 months before apps are due to make good connections at the places you're applying.

>>9677292
>>9677297
Thanks for the advice. After I take my GRE I intend to start looking more seriously, right now it's all kind of speculation without that score. I'll definitely leave myself enough time to get connected though.

>>9677158
>BS in math without any algebra, analysis, or topology.
I don't want this to be true
>>9677063
I can second this >>9677292, I got into a top 25 (top 15 in the sub-field I want to work in) school and I had a lower gpa than you, but I supplemented that with a lot of research experience and very strong letters. Generally your letters of rec will be the most important single component, gpa acts more as a filter

>>9677342
I've got some pretty great letters, I've done all manner of gymnastics to get them, so hopefully that's enough to help me out a bit.

>>9677336
Make sure you do well on those, especially the subject test if you have one.
At least with regards to the physics subject test (for domestic applicants), below a 60th percentile hurts you, between a 60th and an 85th percentile doesn't affect your admissions to much, but above an 85th percentile is very impressive and helps your application.
The weight of the general GRE depends on what department your applying to, so I would do some research, but for most sciences they don't care as long as it's not low. A good or great score doesn't help you but a poor score will hurt you.

>>9677363
I was told that the subject test for biology doesn't matter for the program I'm going into but I'll double check on that to be sure. There was some reason or another why it doesn't matter but that reasoning escapes me right now.