Will going to UIUC for undergrad put me at a disadvantage when applying to ivy/top 20 phd math grad schools?
Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 11:05 pm
As opposed to say going to an Ivy or a comparable top 20 institution
for current and prospective graduate students in mathematics
https://mathematicsgre.com/
My advisor told me this "School's like Harvard, Stanford and MIT only accept the top 2 students from each of the top 50 undergrads in the world. In order for someone from a school like UIUC or UIC (we're sister schools + I go to UIC) to even have their application looked at, that student must have letters of recommendation from big professors that say 'This student is the best student I have seen in my decades of being at this school'. They also have set criterion like if Peter May (Algebraic Topologist from UChicago) says something very positive, then that's guaranteed success. Beside those three, every other program is something you have a shot at."duck_syndrome wrote:As opposed to say going to an Ivy or a comparable top 20 institution