Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 1:25 am

FreddieBiddleBooty wrote:
Your three points are very weak.

In any case, it's just a damn internet thread.
Perhaps I should point out that I never once gave my opinion on the matter of whether or not Rise's posts are appropriate! I simply pointed out the (seemingly obvious) fact that BU was not his top choice. If you really want evidence, why don't you look at his posts?

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 1:26 am

Clearly Rise has a very big ego. That's okay, I don't have a problem with ego. I also don't have a problem with people, many of whom haven't gotten any offers yet, pointing out to him that he isn't likely to find too many sympathetic to his situation. And, yes, it does show a somewhat lack of understanding to complain about how you got into Wisconsin but not your "safety school" to a forum of people who haven't gotten any offers, and by the way, who also worked hard and spent a lot of money, etc.
Last edited by under_my_wng_yngGxy on Sun Mar 18, 2018 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Peregrine
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Peregrine » Sun Mar 18, 2018 1:45 am

I do agree that people without offers naturally have more leeway to be anxious. I personally am waitlisted at numerous places, without an offer, but I saw nothing wrong with Rise's comment. They worked just as hard and spent just as much money, yet all their anxiety is supposed to subside after receiving an offer? I get that most can't empathize, but on a thread centered around the anxiety of the application process (the word "sweat" is in the name for God's sake), are you guys seriously chastising Rise for caring about where his time and efforts are going?

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:11 am

Peregrine wrote:Are you guys seriously chastising Rise for caring about where his time and efforts are going?
That's a strong word. I would liked to see an example of this so-called "chastising".

lothiriell
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by lothiriell » Sun Mar 18, 2018 2:40 am

Jeeeez, relax you guys, what is this pointless conversation...

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 3:15 am

Peregrine wrote:They worked just as hard and spent just as much money, yet all their anxiety is supposed to subside after receiving an offer?

He was the one that brought up work and money:
Rise wrote:It's not do or die but I still am invested in the success of the rest of my applications, especially considering how much work and money I put into each of them.
Is anyone actually reading the posts before they comment...?
Last edited by under_my_wng_yngGxy on Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

lambert
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by lambert » Sun Mar 18, 2018 10:36 am

under_my_wng_yngGxy wrote:Clearly Rise has a very big ego. That's okay, I don't have a problem with ego. I also don't have a problem with people, many of whom haven't gotten any offers yet, pointing out to him that he isn't likely to find too many sympathetic to his situation. And, yes, it does show a somewhat lack of understanding to complain about how you got into Wisconsin but not your "safety school" to a forum of people who haven't gotten any offers, and by the way, who also worked hard and spent a lot of money, etc.
lmao what is this shit?

Now we're down to personally accusing each other in a thread about sweating it out and posting admission results? You know, for someone who claims they're not personally invested in what Rise said, you sure do spend a lot of time replying to everyone and continuing this conversation, even when others claim that this is rather pointless. You also claim no one's chastising Rise, but your posts come off as very, very thinly veiled negative criticism. Actually no, they come off as thinly veiled talking shit.

So Rise now has supposedly a "big ego" for being disappointed that he was rejected from Boston? Where did that come from? Let me reiterate for good measure, this is a thread about sweating it out and posting admission results, so he's getting flack over doing exactly that. There was another person here who kept whining about having a terrible profile and not getting in anywhere, despite already having acceptances from a bunch of hard-to-get-into places, and that made others uncomfortable, so I made sure to call that person out. Rise did none of that, he just made a simple one-line post about not getting to BU.

Is he supposed to shut it because he got into better ranked schools? No. Also you're completely not authorized to make claims like "his top choices correspond to the most prestigious schools", that's on Rise to say. Even if that were the case, it's unrelated to what is being discussed and it's also absolutely fair game; probably the vast majority in this forum has top choices corresponding to top schools anyway.

All of us worked hard and spent a significant amount of money on this application season thing, nobody is undermining anyone's efforts. Rise did the same and he has (apparently) a strong application, so it's only natural to be disappointed when you get rejected from a place that you thought was "in the bag" due to your credentials. Lots of people have also not gotten offers from anywhere (yet) and those too have the right to be anxious / disappointed. I know it sucks but it's part of the game. Also they're not the only group of people in this forum. I think most of us have gotten some kind of offer by now. There's people who got into top 5 places too. There's a huge spectrum of groups and no one is unwelcome to post in this thread about further acceptances or rejections or whatever.

Anyway if this thread hadn't already gotten off-topic, it must surely have gone off the rails with my multi-paragraph rambling. There's no point to argue further and I suggest everyone do the same. I also find it kinda distasteful to keep talking about Rise behind his back. He didn't do anything and he most likely doesn't care / hasn't seen this entire thing. Focus on your own application decisions.

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:43 am

For the record, I feel no animosity towards Rise whatsoever. Anyone who thinks I am "talking shit" about rise is clearly not actually reading my posts...In fact, the argument that has developed has almost nothing to do with Rise anymore, and the only problem I see now is people commenting when they haven't actually read the relevant posts... Shame on you Lambert for claiming people said things they never said.

kayiilu
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by kayiilu » Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:55 am

Relax guys LOL There seems to be some misunderstanding on both sides...
Anyways:
I think there is nothing wrong for someone to feel disappointed/sad at a rejection... Because rejections are always hard to accept. >_<
And we should stop the above arguments and post related contents on this thread now. It has been very helpful for me to browse through information on this forum; and we should keep useful information visible, not buried in arguments. :)

lambert
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by lambert » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:05 pm

under_my_wng_yngGxy wrote:For the record, I feel no animosity towards Rise whatsoever. Anyone who thinks I am "talking shit" about rise is clearly not actually reading my posts...In fact, the argument that has developed has almost nothing to do with Rise anymore, and the only problem I see now is people commenting when they haven't actually read the relevant posts... Shame on you Lambert for claiming people said things they never said.
I've read them thoroughly and you're either feigning ignorance right now or you're just that oblivious. Seems like this "you didn't read my posts" quip is your fallback line when someone calls you out. The only one who should feel shame about thinly-veiled accusations is you, and that's the end of this discussion.

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:23 pm

lambert wrote:
I've read them thoroughly and you're either feigning ignorance right now or you're just that oblivious.
Tell me, when did I say that Rise has a big ego for being disappointed that he was rejected from Boston? Seriously, show me.

Many of us when we see him posting about being a "shoo-in" at BU or how he is surprised that he didn't get a first round offer from Minnesota or how he thinks his 80-something percentile GRE score is low or when he says he is going to give Illinois the opportunity to offer him more money think he is being cocky and a bit entitled. If you don't see it that way, that's fine. Like I said, I don't have a problem with ego, and my original replies were only superficially about Rise.
Last edited by under_my_wng_yngGxy on Sun Mar 18, 2018 3:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

stopthetorture
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by stopthetorture » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:38 pm

Got rejected from Minnesota =(. Oh well, there's always that UChicago acceptance.

mooooo
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by mooooo » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:41 pm

Hopefully I get some success during the wave of second-round offers because after mulling it over I'm not too keen on attending any of the safety schools I've already been accepted to. I'm considering waiting a year to improve my subject GRE score and to apply again, if I don't get accepted to any of my reach/reach+ schools. Is anybody else in the same boat? I wonder how bad of an idea this is.
Last edited by mooooo on Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

home1915
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by home1915 » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:44 pm

Sometimes the arguments are just the reflections of our anxiety, I guess no one would really like to condescend each others although the standard of goodness may be different for somebody. Btw, small arguments may somehow release our pressure in the real world also. :)

lothiriell
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by lothiriell » Sun Mar 18, 2018 12:51 pm

home1915 wrote:Sometimes the arguments are just the reflections of our anxiety, I guess no one would really like to condescend each others although the standard of goodness may be different for somebody. Btw, small arguments may somehow release our pressure in the real world also. :)
Wait are you suggesting we fight or not? :mrgreen:
stopthetorture wrote:Got rejected from Minnesota =(. Oh well, there's always that UChicago acceptance.
Uh oh...

thesieve
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by thesieve » Sun Mar 18, 2018 4:34 pm

mooooo wrote:Hopefully I get some success during the wave of second-round offers because after mulling it over I'm not too keen on attending any of the safety schools I've already been accepted to. I'm considering waiting a year to improve my subject GRE score and to apply again, if I don't get accepted to any of my reach/reach+ schools. Is anybody else in the same boat? I wonder how bad of an idea this is.
I'm in a similar boat. After finding out my last "good" prospective school is likely not taking any students this year, I'll probably be falling back on a funded masters offer to build up my research, letters of rec, and test scores and will try again in 2 years at more ideal places. I do have multiple acceptances to less quality PhD programs (entirely unranked in one case), but it really feels like the best move in the long run to stay focused on getting into a program that is a better fit for my research interests and whose name will carry more weight when I get done, even if it takes more time.

Junaid456
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Junaid456 » Sun Mar 18, 2018 4:39 pm

thesieve wrote:
mooooo wrote:Hopefully I get some success during the wave of second-round offers because after mulling it over I'm not too keen on attending any of the safety schools I've already been accepted to. I'm considering waiting a year to improve my subject GRE score and to apply again, if I don't get accepted to any of my reach/reach+ schools. Is anybody else in the same boat? I wonder how bad of an idea this is.
I'm in a similar boat. After finding out my last "good" prospective school is likely not taking any students this year, I'll probably be falling back on a funded masters offer to build up my research, letters of rec, and test scores and will try again in 2 years at more ideal places. I do have multiple acceptances to less quality PhD programs (entirely unranked in one case), but it really feels like the best move in the long run to stay focused on getting into a program that is a better fit for my research interests and whose name will carry more weight when I get done, even if it takes more time.
I'm in a similar boat as well. My profile wasn't strong enough to get admitted into a top 40 PhD program. I have offers from Arizona State and Kansas State, and I'm now hoping that, if I can do well over there, I can graduating from these places with only a Master's and then move on to a better PhD program. Would this plan work, given that I have been admitted to the PhD programs at these schools?

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 4:50 pm

egoyaq wrote: While prestige is likely a factor it may not be the only or most important factor in his choosing his top choices. There may be a mathematician at Boston University whom he would like as an advisor. He may like the campus and location of Boston University. I do not presume to know the factors he finds important or his top choices.

It is not a non sequitur because it was not meant to be an argument at all. It was just meant to be a positive sentiment to try and diffuse an unnecessarily tense and combative atmosphere.
I apologize if my non-sequitur comment came off as harsh. The point I was trying to make with that reply was that, if you want to know what his top choices are or what his reason is for being frustrated with his rejection (or even how much of a factor prestige plays, etc.), you only have to look at his posts: he already responded with a reason for being frustrated, and BU being a top choice was not one of them. You can also look at a previous post where he says he is likely to go to Wisconsin and the first reason he gives is "prestige". Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.

For some reason, which boggles my mind, FreddieBiddleBooty, lambert and others want everybody to believe that we are being unfairly harsh, even insulting. The idea that we are chastising Rise for being anxious about his applications is pure strawman and the perpetuation of this by Lambert is so disingenuous I find it morally reprehensible. Of course Rise has a right to be frustrated, no one is saying he doesn't! But that doesn't mean he should always express his frustration on here, especially not by talking about how he should be a "shoo-in" for everyone who got rejected from BU to read.

I truly do not understand where FreddieBiddleBooty is coming from. Password and djysyed simply, gently pointed out to Rise that he should be more empathetic to other people on this forum. Do you really want to come off as someone who will defend entitlement at the drop of a hat?
Last edited by under_my_wng_yngGxy on Sun Mar 18, 2018 7:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.

thesieve
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by thesieve » Sun Mar 18, 2018 4:59 pm

:|
Last edited by thesieve on Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

junglemath
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by junglemath » Sun Mar 18, 2018 8:40 pm

mooooo wrote:Hopefully I get some success during the wave of second-round offers because after mulling it over I'm not too keen on attending any of the safety schools I've already been accepted to. I'm considering waiting a year to improve my subject GRE score and to apply again, if I don't get accepted to any of my reach/reach+ schools. Is anybody else in the same boat? I wonder how bad of an idea this is.
First of all, I think that you should definitely get advice from someone like a professor or an academic advisor before you make such a weighty decision.

Now in my opinion, I think that your time is more important than a GRE score, and that if you have the opportunity to study math you should seriously consider doing that instead of waiting another year. The relative rankings of the schools are overrated, and the math is the same regardless of which school you attend or which book you read.

If you don't mind sharing, what was your GRE score, and where were you accepted to/rejected from? Did you receive a funded offer?

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Sun Mar 18, 2018 10:48 pm

lambert wrote:
ArtinWedderburn wrote: It at least shows that the school is still interested in you otherwise they wouldn’t bother notifying you.

Unlike me, no school contacts me and no school wants me :lol:
Is there a reason you're being so pessimistic all the time?

Heck you already were admitted at a good place, got an interview somewhere else and UIUC contacted you as well, so your statement is just plain false dude lol.
password wrote:
Rise wrote:Just got rejected from Boston University. That’s very shocking, I thought I was a shoo-in :cry:
Is this type of post necessary? You have acceptances to three great schools. If I were you I would stop sweating and log off this website forever lol
Last edited by under_my_wng_yngGxy on Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:37 pm, edited 2 times in total.

mooooo
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by mooooo » Mon Mar 19, 2018 8:34 am

junglemath wrote:
mooooo wrote:Hopefully I get some success during the wave of second-round offers because after mulling it over I'm not too keen on attending any of the safety schools I've already been accepted to. I'm considering waiting a year to improve my subject GRE score and to apply again, if I don't get accepted to any of my reach/reach+ schools. Is anybody else in the same boat? I wonder how bad of an idea this is.
First of all, I think that you should definitely get advice from someone like a professor or an academic advisor before you make such a weighty decision.

Now in my opinion, I think that your time is more important than a GRE score, and that if you have the opportunity to study math you should seriously consider doing that instead of waiting another year. The relative rankings of the schools are overrated, and the math is the same regardless of which school you attend or which book you read.

If you don't mind sharing, what was your GRE score, and where were you accepted to/rejected from? Did you receive a funded offer?
My subject GRE score is around 700 (around 60th percentile) and the best school I was accepted to so far is University of Iowa (funded), a rank 50ish program. I got rejected so far from schools like Ohio State and Wisconsin-Madison and received no word yet from many other schools. I spoke with the graduate director of my top-choice program (in the 20s rank) and he basically said my application is too risky overall but if my GRE score was significantly better then it'd very likely I would have received an offer from them already.

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:34 pm

lambert wrote:Seems like this "you didn't read my posts" quip is your fallback line when someone calls you out.
under_my_wng_yngGxy wrote:
Peregrine wrote:They worked just as hard and spent just as much money, yet all their anxiety is supposed to subside after receiving an offer?

He was the one that brought up work and money:
Rise wrote:It's not do or die but I still am invested in the success of the rest of my applications, especially considering how much work and money I put into each of them.

a6f9
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by a6f9 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 1:47 pm

Out of curiosity, is there anyone here who has applied for the Mathematical Sciences Master's at Oxford? I applied to it on a whim and got an offer today but there's no word on funding. The more I look into the program, the more it looks like a cash grab Master's to me. I was pretty much certain on where I would go, but this program seems kind of interesting.

regularitylemma
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by regularitylemma » Mon Mar 19, 2018 2:58 pm

a6f9 wrote:Out of curiosity, is there anyone here who has applied for the Mathematical Sciences Master's at Oxford? I applied to it on a whim and got an offer today but there's no word on funding. The more I look into the program, the more it looks like a cash grab Master's to me. I was pretty much certain on where I would go, but this program seems kind of interesting.
I don't think it's a cash grab Master's, but I would expect that (outside-EU) funding would be quite limited. The course itself is starting next year and should be almost identical to the 4th year of the standard 3+1 year integrated MMath program at Oxford.

djysyed
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by djysyed » Mon Mar 19, 2018 4:47 pm

stopthetorture wrote:Got rejected from Minnesota =(. Oh well, there's always that UChicago acceptance.
username checks out :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

I love how Rise is probably wondering wtf just happened. In all honesty, I just lolled at his comment about being rejected from BU.

Now, imagine being rejected from all your safety schools and getting into one of your reach schools. Would that not be grounds for imposter syndrome in the near future?

MathCat
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by MathCat » Mon Mar 19, 2018 4:57 pm

a6f9 wrote:Out of curiosity, is there anyone here who has applied for the Mathematical Sciences Master's at Oxford? I applied to it on a whim and got an offer today but there's no word on funding. The more I look into the program, the more it looks like a cash grab Master's to me. I was pretty much certain on where I would go, but this program seems kind of interesting.
I don't know the specific program, but generally masters programs in Canada and the EU are not cash grabs - they're required before you can do a PhD (generally speaking, there are exceptions). Usually they're funded, but funding for international students is often extremely limited. I wouldn't expect to be offered funding if you are not an EU resident. There are some extremely competitive scholarships/fellowships you may be able to apply for, depending on where you're from.

math_hopeful
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by math_hopeful » Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:46 am

Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.

iamgoudan
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by iamgoudan » Tue Mar 20, 2018 4:45 am

math_hopeful wrote:Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.
Ohh..I am waiting for it. Thanks for the information!

FreddieBiddleBooty
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by FreddieBiddleBooty » Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:08 am

math_hopeful wrote:Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.
Whoah... UIUC has gone down to 19, and UTK down to 74...

heshan666
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by heshan666 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 12:22 pm

math_hopeful wrote:Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.
These rankings are confusing. For an ex: Pittsburgh math grad program is ranked 55th in the nation but not even among the top 200 math programs in the world; where as Florida ranked 62nd in the nation and 154 in the world. I see Maryland's world ranking has dropped to 103rd also.
Last edited by heshan666 on Tue Mar 20, 2018 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

FreddieBiddleBooty
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by FreddieBiddleBooty » Tue Mar 20, 2018 12:27 pm

heshan666 wrote:
math_hopeful wrote:Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.
These rankings are confusing. For an ex: Pittsburgh grad program is ranked 55th in the nation but not even among the top 200 math programs in the world; where as Florida ranked 62nd in the nation and 154 in the world. I see Maryland's world ranking has dropped to 103rd also.
I am wondering how "world rankings" are calculated. Obviously there are more variables than just math program.

heshan666
Posts: 24
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by heshan666 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 12:36 pm

FreddieBiddleBooty wrote:
heshan666 wrote:
math_hopeful wrote:Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.
These rankings are confusing. For an ex: Pittsburgh grad program is ranked 55th in the nation but not even among the top 200 math programs in the world; where as Florida ranked 62nd in the nation and 154 in the world. I see Maryland's world ranking has dropped to 103rd also.
I am wondering how "world rankings" are calculated. Obviously there are more variables than just math program.
These are global rankings for Mathematics. Maybe undergrad math programs have a significant impact on these rankings. But again, they have mentioned indicators and they're very much based on academic research performance. I don't know what to choose between QS world rankings and US rankings.

under_my_wng_yngGxy
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by under_my_wng_yngGxy » Tue Mar 20, 2018 12:46 pm

FreddieBiddleBooty wrote:
I'll accept an apology whenever your ready.

FreddieBiddleBooty
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by FreddieBiddleBooty » Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:18 pm

Oh I see! I'm not sure what goes into the rankings then... I wish that weren't such a big factor in decisions/future imployment.

hooruru1995
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by hooruru1995 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:20 pm

math_hopeful wrote:Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.
Thank you for letting us know this!

Funny that I have been waiting for revised rankings but now I want the old one back so I can compare with the new one. :D
Does someone know where to find the old one?

Rise
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Rise » Tue Mar 20, 2018 2:29 pm

It looks like all Midwestern Public Schools got hit in this patch. Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois all took a small slide.

I'm interested in seeing which schools out of the big 4-way tie for #2 make it out in 2023. It's essentially Massachusetts versus California.
FreddieBiddleBooty wrote:Oh I see! I'm not sure what goes into the rankings then... I wish that weren't such a big factor in decisions/future imployment.
It unfortunately is a big factor for future employment in academia, but it can be overcome with hard work and a helpful advisor. We had a very incredible student graduate our program (ranked 40-50 at the time) and land a Postdoc at Princeton! She had been working on publishing since day 1 and graduated with over 7 publications under her name. I'm not planning to do academia, but I'm always inspired by that kind of passion.

For industry, it matters a lot less as you mostly learn your skills on the job. In this setting, the value in the PhD is more about showing you know how to start and lead a research program. Every industry researcher I've ever talked to has told me that what they research for work is much different than for their PhD.
hooruru1995 wrote:
math_hopeful wrote:Head's up: the new US News rankings for math PhD programs have just been released! These are only done every 5 years so this is the first time they've been updated in a while. You probably shouldn't base your decision on these rankings, but they're fun to look at nonetheless.
Thank you for letting us know this!

Funny that I have been waiting for revised rankings but now I want the old one back so I can compare with the new one. :D
Does someone know where to find the old one?
https://web.archive.org/web/20170406064 ... s-rankings
It's pretty laggy but it should work.

FreddieBiddleBooty
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by FreddieBiddleBooty » Tue Mar 20, 2018 3:27 pm

Rise wrote:It unfortunately is a big factor for future employment in academia, but it can be overcome with hard work and a helpful advisor. We had a very incredible student graduate our program (ranked 40-50 at the time) and land a Postdoc at Princeton! She had been working on publishing since day 1 and graduated with over 7 publications under her name. I'm not planning to do academia, but I'm always inspired by that kind of passion.
Good to know. My advisor also told me something similar - that lower prestige can be overcome by great research.

Junaid456
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Junaid456 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 3:49 pm

Just got invited to a Skype interview from Western University (UWO) in Canada. They have a 1 year (I believe) MS program in Math. Does anyone have any concrete information on the strength of the program.

Right now, I'm hoping for an offer from McGill or Waterloo. If that doesn't work out, I'm thinking of enrolling in Arizona/State, and then seeing if it'd be possible for me to do well in the first year and then re apply later. Or should I really consider the program at UWO? Any ideas about the strength of the program?

FreddieBiddleBooty
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by FreddieBiddleBooty » Tue Mar 20, 2018 4:05 pm

Junaid456 wrote:Just got invited to a Skype interview from Western University (UWO) in Canada. They have a 1 year (I believe) MS program in Math. Does anyone have any concrete information on the strength of the program.

Right now, I'm hoping for an offer from McGill or Waterloo. If that doesn't work out, I'm thinking of enrolling in Arizona/State, and then seeing if it'd be possible for me to do well in the first year and then re apply later. Or should I really consider the program at UWO? Any ideas about the strength of the program?
Perhaps look at the world rankings? I'm not too sure. 1 year sounds rather short though, although research or masters project is maybe doable. Do they fund?

mooooo
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by mooooo » Tue Mar 20, 2018 4:11 pm

Rise wrote:It looks like all Midwestern Public Schools got hit in this patch. Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois all took a small slide.
It looks like Iowa State improved at least.

Junaid456
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Junaid456 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 4:23 pm

FreddieBiddleBooty wrote:
Junaid456 wrote:Just got invited to a Skype interview from Western University (UWO) in Canada. They have a 1 year (I believe) MS program in Math. Does anyone have any concrete information on the strength of the program.

Right now, I'm hoping for an offer from McGill or Waterloo. If that doesn't work out, I'm thinking of enrolling in Arizona/State, and then seeing if it'd be possible for me to do well in the first year and then re apply later. Or should I really consider the program at UWO? Any ideas about the strength of the program?
Perhaps look at the world rankings? I'm not too sure. 1 year sounds rather short though, although research or masters project is maybe doable. Do they fund?
The program seems to have more focus on coursework. For example, students are expected to complete 8 courses, at the minimum. They also allow students to complete only coursework and not write a thesis. In that case, one has to take 3-4 extra courses. Some of the courses offered are listed in this document:

http://www.math.uwo.ca/graduate/docs/CoreMScCourses.pdf

The courses seem to be strong, but I doubt I, given my background, will be able to ALSO do a MS project within a year. I believe I need to spend more time completing my coursework.

Funding seems to be available, but I think only a limited funded spots will be available for internationals.

djysyed
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by djysyed » Tue Mar 20, 2018 6:41 pm

Having looked at the new rankings, I'm quite surprised to see UC Berkeley on top for both Algebra/NT/AG and Topology. However, they have quite a few professors in Algebraic fields outside of Algebraic Geometry. I'm happy to see that UIC's Logic ranking went up to #4. It's a bummer their overall ranking went down a few positions (#34 to #39). It seems UIUC is placed higher than Northwestern (#19 vs. #22) and Johns Hopkins is now tied with Northwestern.

Is it just me or did UCSD jump up quite a few places?

blahquaker
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by blahquaker » Tue Mar 20, 2018 7:13 pm

djysyed wrote:Is it just me or did UCSD jump up quite a few places?
Their ranking rose from 23 to 19, but in reality, they only jumped over Maryland and Northwestern.

Rise
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Rise » Tue Mar 20, 2018 7:18 pm

djysyed wrote:Having looked at the new rankings, I'm quite surprised to see UC Berkeley on top for both Algebra/NT/AG and Topology. However, they have quite a few professors in Algebraic fields outside of Algebraic Geometry. I'm happy to see that UIC's Logic ranking went up to #4. It's a bummer their overall ranking went down a few positions (#34 to #39). It seems UIUC is placed higher than Northwestern (#19 vs. #22) and Johns Hopkins is now tied with Northwestern.

Is it just me or did UCSD jump up quite a few places?
Yeah, UCSD definitely leaped up in rankings. In my opinion if you want to do military research after you graduate, UCSD is a Top 5 school for that. The city itself is a military fortress and defense is one of main industries. I talked to Professor Kiran Kedlaya about the program and he says that organizations such as Institute for Defense Analyses send their researchers to go on campus to attend seminars and reach out to students.

blahquaker
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by blahquaker » Tue Mar 20, 2018 7:40 pm

FreddieBiddleBooty wrote:UIUC has gone down to 19, and UTK down to 74...
UIUC was in a 6-way tie for 17, and UTK was tied for 73, so neither of those rankings really changed.
Rise wrote:It looks like all Midwestern Public Schools got hit in this patch. Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois all took a small slide.
Michigan was tied for the spot above 13, and is still above 13, so their ranking didn't really change. Wisconsin fell out of a tie with Brown and Texas, but they're still in basically the same spot. Minnesota and Illinois didn't move either - they were previously tied with 4 other schools, 2 that rose slightly (Duke, Penn) and 2 that dropped (Northwestern, Maryland).

The overall order didn't change that much.

Schools that dropped: Northwestern, Maryland, Penn State, North Carolina, UIC, CUNY, Brandeis, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Tulane, Rochester, Kentucky, Claremont, Buffalo, Oklahoma State, Albany

Schools that rose: UCSD, WUSTL, UCSB, Virginia, Northeastern, UMass, Pitt, Emory, LSU, UConn, Temple, Syracuse, South Carolina, Miami, New Mexico

MathCat
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by MathCat » Tue Mar 20, 2018 9:15 pm

Junaid456 wrote:Just got invited to a Skype interview from Western University (UWO) in Canada. They have a 1 year (I believe) MS program in Math. Does anyone have any concrete information on the strength of the program.

Right now, I'm hoping for an offer from McGill or Waterloo. If that doesn't work out, I'm thinking of enrolling in Arizona/State, and then seeing if it'd be possible for me to do well in the first year and then re apply later. Or should I really consider the program at UWO? Any ideas about the strength of the program?
1 year masters programs in Canada are generally just one year of course work. Sometimes there's a small "thesis", but since you still have to do a lot of coursework, it's really just a little project, not a thesis. It does mean you're more prepared for your PhD program, in terms of general background, but not much in terms of research. The 2 year programs with a real masters thesis are research focused instead.

There's some clearly-the-best schools in Canada: McGill, Toronto, UBC, Waterloo (for some subjects). Other schools may have specializations that make them worth mentioning, but in overall reputation those are the top ones. If you can get funded, doing a 1 year masters at McGill or Waterloo would be a much better choice than Western (is this what you've applied for?). Choosing which would have more to do with what your interests are or where you'd prefer to live.

If you don't get an offer from McGill or Waterloo, I'd go to Western for the masters if you get funded - it's less likely to get full funding for a masters in the US.

Tianma799
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Tianma799 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:10 pm

djysyed wrote:Having looked at the new rankings, I'm quite surprised to see UC Berkeley on top for both Algebra/NT/AG and Topology. However, they have quite a few professors in Algebraic fields outside of Algebraic Geometry. I'm happy to see that UIC's Logic ranking went up to #4. It's a bummer their overall ranking went down a few positions (#34 to #39). It seems UIUC is placed higher than Northwestern (#19 vs. #22) and Johns Hopkins is now tied with Northwestern.

Is it just me or did UCSD jump up quite a few places?
:lol: Do you know how much the professors care about those rankings?

Also notice that their general score doesn't change, quite steady actually :lol:
Last edited by Tianma799 on Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tianma799
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by Tianma799 » Tue Mar 20, 2018 11:15 pm

Junaid456 wrote:
FreddieBiddleBooty wrote:
Junaid456 wrote:Just got invited to a Skype interview from Western University (UWO) in Canada. They have a 1 year (I believe) MS program in Math. Does anyone have any concrete information on the strength of the program.

Right now, I'm hoping for an offer from McGill or Waterloo. If that doesn't work out, I'm thinking of enrolling in Arizona/State, and then seeing if it'd be possible for me to do well in the first year and then re apply later. Or should I really consider the program at UWO? Any ideas about the strength of the program?
Perhaps look at the world rankings? I'm not too sure. 1 year sounds rather short though, although research or masters project is maybe doable. Do they fund?
The program seems to have more focus on coursework. For example, students are expected to complete 8 courses, at the minimum. They also allow students to complete only coursework and not write a thesis. In that case, one has to take 3-4 extra courses. Some of the courses offered are listed in this document:

http://www.math.uwo.ca/graduate/docs/CoreMScCourses.pdf

The courses seem to be strong, but I doubt I, given my background, will be able to ALSO do a MS project within a year. I believe I need to spend more time completing my coursework.

Funding seems to be available, but I think only a limited funded spots will be available for internationals.
I think it might be better if you can enroll in ASU and do better and transfer. I mean one year at UWO is too short to improve your profile.

gradapps2017
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Re: Fall 2018 Sweat Thread

Post by gradapps2017 » Wed Mar 21, 2018 6:22 am

Did any other UChicago admits get a follow up email last week?



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