Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
tzwxy
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:09 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by tzwxy » Fri Mar 01, 2019 1:26 am

MMDE wrote:
tzwxy wrote:
johanMo wrote:
I also have not heard a word from IU Bloomington yet. They're one of the few responses I'm still waiting on along with Amherst and BU. If anyone has heard anything from these schools I'd be interested in hearing about it.
I have received an email from UMass-Amherst. They put me on the waiting list, and I think they have sent out the first round of offers. :oops:
For pure or applied?
Pure Math Ph.D.

neptunian
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 6:39 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by neptunian » Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:39 am

johanMo wrote:
tzwxy wrote:Got rejected by Wisconsin-Madison yesterday :cry:

Did everyone that applied for Indiana U-Bloomington receive a message from the Department? I saw some posted acceptances in this forum and Gradcafe as well. :oops:

Good luck to everyone!

I also have not heard a word from IU Bloomington yet. They're one of the few responses I'm still waiting on along with Amherst and BU. If anyone has heard anything from these schools I'd be interested in hearing about it.
Indiana mailed me to see whether I am still interested in their program or not, it can be regarded as an unofficial acceptance. Amherst sent me an official acceptance but I heard nothing from BU. According to gradcafe, there is a bunch of acceptances / rejections from BU but I have not heard anything.

cornerstone
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2018 9:30 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by cornerstone » Fri Mar 01, 2019 2:17 pm

tzwxy wrote:
johanMo wrote:
I also have not heard a word from IU Bloomington yet. They're one of the few responses I'm still waiting on along with Amherst and BU. If anyone has heard anything from these schools I'd be interested in hearing about it.
I have received an email from UMass-Amherst. They put me on the waiting list, and I think they have sent out the first round of offers. :oops:
I hope you don't mind me asking. Are you an international student? The other person that mentioned getting an email from umass is international and I was thinking it might be possible that they inform domestic and international students at different times.

tzwxy
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:09 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by tzwxy » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:28 pm

cornerstone wrote:
tzwxy wrote:
I have received an email from UMass-Amherst. They put me on the waiting list, and I think they have sent out the first round of offers. :oops:
I hope you don't mind me asking. Are you an international student? The other person that mentioned getting an email from umass is international and I was thinking it might be possible that they inform domestic and international students at different times.
Sure I don't mind your asking. I am an international student; I agree what you said, probably they inform students differently. :D

Good luck to your application!

tzwxy
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:09 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by tzwxy » Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:29 pm

Replied to Pittsburgh's asking about last minutes update on profile yesterday and got an offer today. Excited! :D

sacamano
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:10 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by sacamano » Fri Mar 01, 2019 11:28 pm

tzwxy wrote:Replied to Pittsburgh's asking about last minutes update on profile yesterday and got an offer today. Excited! :D
What'd you say when you replied

SoboloevSpace
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2019 9:01 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by SoboloevSpace » Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:55 am

I saw on Grad Cafe that the Stony Brook rejection letters were fantastic. What did they look like!?

optimisticnihilist
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 9:27 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by optimisticnihilist » Sat Mar 02, 2019 3:55 am

young556646 wrote:
So is it safe to believe that I am one of them if I heard nothing yet from UCSD?

Did you hear from them? I got an acceptance on 28th.

Dopeboyz
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 12:53 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by Dopeboyz » Sat Mar 02, 2019 3:58 am

optimisticnihilist wrote:
young556646 wrote:
So is it safe to believe that I am one of them if I heard nothing yet from UCSD?

Did you hear from them? I got an acceptance on 28th.
No acceptance for me, I guess that must mean I'm finished = /.

young556646
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:33 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by young556646 » Sat Mar 02, 2019 4:20 am

Dopeboyz wrote:
optimisticnihilist wrote:
young556646 wrote:
So is it safe to believe that I am one of them if I heard nothing yet from UCSD?

Did you hear from them? I got an acceptance on 28th.
No acceptance for me, I guess that must mean I'm finished = /.
Same here.

tzwxy
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:09 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by tzwxy » Sat Mar 02, 2019 4:40 am

sacamano wrote:
tzwxy wrote:Replied to Pittsburgh's asking about last minutes update on profile yesterday and got an offer today. Excited! :D
What'd you say when you replied
I just said I have nothing to update and told them the schools from which I received offers.

qaopor
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2018 1:48 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by qaopor » Sat Mar 02, 2019 11:55 am

Why was the Purdue thread deleted?

djysyed
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:59 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by djysyed » Sun Mar 03, 2019 12:32 am

The claims made by the poster were rather outrageous and misleading. I brought up this post to different graduate students because I wanted to know EVERYTHING about what happened. Of course some of them were willing to answer my questions as much as they could and all of their stories matched up. If you want an answer because you attended the Purdue visit weekend, feel free to message me and I'll tell you everything i've heard.

The poster seemed to bring up the issue of gossip among the graduate students and professors. Based on what I've seen at my campus and other campuses, mathematicians talk about everything. If a relatively big professor (AMS Fellow) decides to move from university Y to university Z, almost every mathematician (including graduate students) in the same field of mathematics will likely hear about it. If a professor is rough on one of his students, quite a few students and professors, including those from other universities, will likely hear about it. Mathematics is a very collaborative field and, as a result, everyone will talk to everyone.

Edit: Yes I like this place since they really do a great job of maintaining the happiness of graduate students and have a lot of funding for pretty much anything. I may be a bit biased since the professors I am closest to at my school are always writing papers with Purdue students/professors and visit quite often.

elgringo
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by elgringo » Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:24 pm

Does anyone know when UT Austin, NYU and UCSD will be sending more decisions? I haven't heard anything from them yet... Does it mean I have no chance?

optimisticnihilist
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 9:27 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by optimisticnihilist » Mon Mar 04, 2019 12:34 pm

elgringo wrote:Does anyone know when UT Austin, NYU and UCSD will be sending more decisions? I haven't heard anything from them yet... Does it mean I have no chance?
I believe UCSD is going to release all their decisions by 8th.

ramseytype
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2018 2:17 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by ramseytype » Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:06 pm

optimisticnihilist wrote:
elgringo wrote:Does anyone know when UT Austin, NYU and UCSD will be sending more decisions? I haven't heard anything from them yet... Does it mean I have no chance?
I believe UCSD is going to release all their decisions by 8th.
UCSD is supposed to release a second round, and as said above, release all decisions by the 8th. Now since, some acceptances were reported on grad cafe at the end of last week, I have a feeling that this was the second round. I think it is likely that remaining decisions will be waitlist or rejection.

phoko
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:32 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by phoko » Mon Mar 04, 2019 3:12 pm

djysyed wrote:The claims made by the poster were rather outrageous and misleading. I brought up this post to different graduate students because I wanted to know EVERYTHING about what happened. Of course some of them were willing to answer my questions as much as they could and all of their stories matched up. If you want an answer because you attended the Purdue visit weekend, feel free to message me and I'll tell you everything i've heard.

The poster seemed to bring up the issue of gossip among the graduate students and professors. Based on what I've seen at my campus and other campuses, mathematicians talk about everything. If a relatively big professor (AMS Fellow) decides to move from university Y to university Z, almost every mathematician (including graduate students) in the same field of mathematics will likely hear about it. If a professor is rough on one of his students, quite a few students and professors, including those from other universities, will likely hear about it. Mathematics is a very collaborative field and, as a result, everyone will talk to everyone.

Edit: Yes I like this place since they really do a great job of maintaining the happiness of graduate students and have a lot of funding for pretty much anything. I may be a bit biased since the professors I am closest to at my school are always writing papers with Purdue students/professors and visit quite often.
I spent far more time at Purdue than you have, so if you'll allow me, I'll give you my two cents. Although, I suppose if you decide to attend Purdue, you'll–-statistically speaking--spend more time obtaining a PhD than I spent as a student there, if we are strictly talking graduation averages from the mathematics department. Want to fact check me? Email Shannon Cassidy--who is very kind and helpful, and whose email you may find on the math dept website--and ask for graduation averages corresponding to year and advisor. For the sake of my own identity I would rather not provide too much information about myself because the department was not very kind to me overall. I spent about 6 years at Purdue. But I will try to allow any readers of my response to check this out for themselves so that they are not simply putting their trust into an arbitrary forum post online (as the previous Purdue poster attempted to do prior to being shut down).

With all due respect, you do not have any authority to state the other post was both "outrageous" and "misleading." Firstly, simply out of common sense. Do you really think you're going to encounter significant dissent amongst students who volunteered to showcase their own graduate program? Do you really think you're going to find representative answers from asking around during a short visit when there are over 160 graduate students in Purdue's math department? You can find the number of students on math {dot} Purdue {dot} edu, under the People dropdown menu select graduate students, and simply perform a page search with "@purdue.edu". Even talking to, say, 30 graduate students about said post is not going to give you a well-rounded idea of how all one hundred sixty students feel about the department. Perhaps you do not remember, but the original poster mentioned they did not often interact with people at the department (and there is a handful of these kinds of students, sadly), so you likely never had the opportunity to meet them. This part I suppose you'll either have to disbelieve or take on faith. Or you could carry some healthy skepticism that, in fact, there are actually quite a few graduate students in the department, and talking with a small fraction of them won't do much for you.

There was a student who left because they felt that other students in the department treated him differently because of his race. This person left after their first year in the graduate program. You can take this information however you would like to take it; but also, what incentive do I have to share this information, other than to dissuade people from attending a troubled institution? If you want a "more legitimate" criticism, look at Edray Goins' article in the NYTimes, or look at his post in the Inclusion / Exclusion section on the AMS blog. Both of these may be found by a Google (or DuckDuckGo if that's more your style) search.

It is sad to see your justification for gossip. I do not believe what you said really refutes what the original poster had in mind, either. Obviously as humans we all gossip. But I believe what the original poster was referring to was the fact that the graduate students within the department behave like high school students, form cliques, and gossip amongst those cliques about other students. Yes, I am biased, because I was frequently the target of some of these conversations. I have overheard people speak about others academic capabilities, as well as their personal traits. This is not very welcoming for some, as you may imagine. There is much more that I could talk about, but at this point my post has become long enough and I anticipate that it will be flagged and removed.

Again, with all due respect, perhaps Purdue math is right for you. Many people find it a great place to do their undergraduate and/or PhD. During my ~6 years there, I met far more people who enjoyed Purdue at various levels (students, professors, staff, visitors, etc) than who did not. That being said, shame on you for discounting other students' experiences. Unfortunately that is commonplace at Purdue.

DiscoVolante
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:47 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by DiscoVolante » Mon Mar 04, 2019 3:26 pm

phoko wrote: I spent far more time at Purdue than you have, so if you'll allow me, I'll give you my two cents. Although, I suppose if you decide to attend Purdue, you'll–-statistically speaking--spend more time obtaining a PhD than I spent as a student there, if we are strictly talking graduation averages from the mathematics department. Want to fact check me? Email Shannon Cassidy--who is very kind and helpful, and whose email you may find on the math dept website--and ask for graduation averages corresponding to year and advisor. For the sake of my own identity I would rather not provide too much information about myself because the department was not very kind to me overall. I spent about 6 years at Purdue. But I will try to allow any readers of my response to check this out for themselves so that they are not simply putting their trust into an arbitrary forum post online (as the previous Purdue poster attempted to do prior to being shut down).

With all due respect, you do not have any authority to state the other post was both "outrageous" and "misleading." Firstly, simply out of common sense. Do you really think you're going to encounter significant dissent amongst students who volunteered to showcase their own graduate program? Do you really think you're going to find representative answers from asking around during a short visit when there are over 160 graduate students in Purdue's math department? You can find the number of students on math {dot} Purdue {dot} edu, under the People dropdown menu select graduate students, and simply perform a page search with "@purdue.edu". Even talking to, say, 30 graduate students about said post is not going to give you a well-rounded idea of how all one hundred sixty students feel about the department. Perhaps you do not remember, but the original poster mentioned they did not often interact with people at the department (and there is a handful of these kinds of students, sadly), so you likely never had the opportunity to meet them. This part I suppose you'll either have to disbelieve or take on faith. Or you could carry some healthy skepticism that, in fact, there are actually quite a few graduate students in the department, and talking with a small fraction of them won't do much for you.

There was a student who left because they felt that other students in the department treated him differently because of his race. This person left after their first year in the graduate program. You can take this information however you would like to take it; but also, what incentive do I have to share this information, other than to dissuade people from attending a troubled institution? If you want a "more legitimate" criticism, look at Edray Goins' article in the NYTimes, or look at his post in the Inclusion / Exclusion section on the AMS blog. Both of these may be found by a Google (or DuckDuckGo if that's more your style) search.

It is sad to see your justification for gossip. I do not believe what you said really refutes what the original poster had in mind, either. Obviously as humans we all gossip. But I believe what the original poster was referring to was the fact that the graduate students within the department behave like high school students, form cliques, and gossip amongst those cliques about other students. Yes, I am biased, because I was frequently the target of some of these conversations. I have overheard people speak about others academic capabilities, as well as their personal traits. This is not very welcoming for some, as you may imagine. There is much more that I could talk about, but at this point my post has become long enough and I anticipate that it will be flagged and removed.

Again, with all due respect, perhaps Purdue math is right for you. Many people find it a great place to do their undergraduate and/or PhD. During my ~6 years there, I met far more people who enjoyed Purdue at various levels (students, professors, staff, visitors, etc) than who did not. That being said, shame on you for discounting other students' experiences. Unfortunately that is commonplace at Purdue.
Omg dude just let it go we all know it's you again. Purdue is a great school. Graduate programs in Mathematics are very difficult and people struggle in them everywhere. As for dealings with people, that is relative to individual experience and wholly irrelevant.

ponchan
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:30 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by ponchan » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:05 pm

I mean, a well known professor just left due to racism.

elgringo
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:35 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by elgringo » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:35 pm

ramseytype wrote:
optimisticnihilist wrote:
elgringo wrote:Does anyone know when UT Austin, NYU and UCSD will be sending more decisions? I haven't heard anything from them yet... Does it mean I have no chance?
I believe UCSD is going to release all their decisions by 8th.
UCSD is supposed to release a second round, and as said above, release all decisions by the 8th. Now since, some acceptances were reported on grad cafe at the end of last week, I have a feeling that this was the second round. I think it is likely that remaining decisions will be waitlist or rejection.
I just emailed UCSD today and they told me basically that and that I'm on that admission waitlist. So let's pray :lol: :lol: :lol:

kbm96
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:40 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by kbm96 » Mon Mar 04, 2019 4:54 pm

Yay! Gotta love getting rejected from Notre Dame on Friday and rejected from Dartmouth approximately 20 minutes ago! Great start to the month of March. :lol:

DiscoVolante
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2019 9:47 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by DiscoVolante » Mon Mar 04, 2019 5:13 pm

ponchan wrote:
I mean, a well known professor just left due to racism.
(by ponchan » Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:05 pm)
Is that what Dr. Goins said, or are you making an extremely ignorant and inflammatory assumption because of his ethnicity?
ponchan wrote:
Again, follow your own rule: "All information about schools should have cited evidence."
(by ponchan » Mon Feb 04, 2019 7:15 am)
Cite his words that validate your statement. Unlike the Times article, he actually wrote the article on AMS Blogs explaining his reasoning for departure by the way.

djysyed
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:59 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by djysyed » Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:25 pm

Oof I know someone at my school who left Purdue because Edray was his/her advisor and gave him/her a ton of crap. I found this AMS article by Edray and I agree with Aaron Bertram's comment. Nowhere is there mention of Purdue specifically, just the culture of group 1 schools.
phoko wrote: For the sake of my own identity I would rather not provide too much information about myself because the department was not very kind to me overall.
Just out of curiosity, is there anything you wish you did differently upon starting at Purdue? I don't like cliquey places in general but I'm going to grad school to get good at math, not join a clique.

Rkahtoaz
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:41 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by Rkahtoaz » Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:47 pm

djysyed wrote:Oof I know someone at my school who left Purdue because Edray was his/her advisor and gave him/her a ton of crap. I found this AMS article by Edray and I agree with Aaron Bertram's comment. Nowhere is there mention of Purdue specifically, just the culture of group 1 schools.
phoko wrote: For the sake of my own identity I would rather not provide too much information about myself because the department was not very kind to me overall.
Just out of curiosity, is there anything you wish you did differently upon starting at Purdue? I don't like cliquey places in general but I'm going to grad school to get good at math, not join a clique.
I am the person who originally posted the thread about Purdue. If you are coming here, I wish you the best. We will probably not meet.

My advice is to get through the quals etc. as fast as possible. Also, don't go to any department social events. There's no reason to do so. My life is much better since I stopped going to those.

Also, just because you are doing okay or even good wrt your peers does not mean much. You will competing for postdocs with those from Stanford, etc.

The biggest issue is the time to degree. Make sure you don't waste time. Get quals done quickly. Find an adviser quickly. Just pick something and go with it. It is very easy to wake up one day as a 5th year who hasn't passed advanced topics yet.

oniongood
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:33 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by oniongood » Mon Mar 04, 2019 8:19 pm

Never heard anything from UMN Twin Cities pure math Ph.D. program. Though I believe rejection (or waitlist?) is just a matter of time according to other posts on GradCafe, it is a bit annoying when no one answers my e-mail inquiry, and the application website, inbox, and spam has been lack of any UMN updates for four months......

gedt11
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:57 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by gedt11 » Mon Mar 04, 2019 8:29 pm

oniongood wrote:Never heard anything from UMN Twin Cities pure math Ph.D. program. Though I believe rejection (or waitlist?) is just a matter of time according to other posts on GradCafe, it is a bit annoying when no one answers my e-mail inquiry, and the application website, inbox, and spam has been lack of any UMN updates for four months......
From what I heard (from a friend there), they started the admission process very late and no offers have been made so far. So you still have a chance. Just relax m8.

ponchan
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:30 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by ponchan » Mon Mar 04, 2019 9:01 pm

DiscoVolante wrote:
ponchan wrote:
I mean, a well known professor just left due to racism.
(by ponchan » Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:05 pm)
Is that what Dr. Goins said, or are you making an extremely ignorant and inflammatory assumption because of his ethnicity?
ponchan wrote:
Again, follow your own rule: "All information about schools should have cited evidence."
(by ponchan » Mon Feb 04, 2019 7:15 am)
Cite his words that validate your statement. Unlike the Times article, he actually wrote the article on AMS Blogs explaining his reasoning for departure by the way.
If you're not competent enough to read an article, then I can't help you. The Times article clearly mentions he felt disrespected due to his race, even if it was not overt. That is, in fact, still racism.

mook713
Posts: 12
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:16 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by mook713 » Mon Mar 04, 2019 9:11 pm

The AMS article, written by Goins himself, mostly just mentions that he felt alone due to lack of other African American faculty in the department. He left so he could better mentor diverse undergraduates so that mathematics would be more diverse in the future.

It is an issue to be addressed, but not racism per se.

dariot96
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:46 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by dariot96 » Mon Mar 04, 2019 9:52 pm

I just got waitlisted in Rice University. So, Please reject if you don't want to go!

ethanmhny
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:41 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by ethanmhny » Tue Mar 05, 2019 11:56 am

has anyone else who applied to Oklahoma heard anything from them yet?

math94
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 12:42 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by math94 » Tue Mar 05, 2019 12:08 pm

ponchan wrote: If you're not competent enough to read an article, then I can't help you. The Times article clearly mentions he felt disrespected due to his race, even if it was not overt. That is, in fact, still racism.
You mean racism on his part?

blahquaker
Posts: 44
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 10:36 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by blahquaker » Tue Mar 05, 2019 12:59 pm

ethanmhny wrote:has anyone else who applied to Oklahoma heard anything from them yet?
I haven't heard anything.

phoko
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 2:32 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by phoko » Tue Mar 05, 2019 1:22 pm

math94 wrote:
ponchan wrote: If you're not competent enough to read an article, then I can't help you. The Times article clearly mentions he felt disrespected due to his race, even if it was not overt. That is, in fact, still racism.
You mean racism on his part?
Please don't slander Professor Goins. I apologize for even bringing up those two pieces (AMS Blog post & NYTimes article). I did not expect this forum to devolve as quickly as it did, so my apologies to everyone who is using the forum the way it was likely intended. Please, direct your words away from someone who is not here to talk for themselves.

Truly my only intention was to stir people to think a bit more carefully about choosing Purdue for studying mathematics. From my experience and many of my friends experiences it is / has not been a good place to 'get good at math.' Of course you can still succeed at Purdue, and of course you can still have a good experience there as a student. But as my friend mentioned, the time to degree, and perhaps more troubling, the time to begin research, is far longer than it should be. Many students do not begin research until their fourth year (or later). Personally, I find this alarming. The culture of the school and the department is inseparable from the relaxed nature of e.g. the qualifying exam system.

Rkahtoaz
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:41 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by Rkahtoaz » Tue Mar 05, 2019 1:49 pm

phoko wrote:But as my friend mentioned, the time to degree, and perhaps more troubling, the time to begin research, is far longer than it should be. Many students do not begin research until their fourth year (or later). Personally, I find this alarming. The culture of the school and the department is inseparable from the relaxed nature of e.g. the qualifying exam system.
This is basically a good summary. The time to start research is unacceptably long and that is completely intertwined with the culture of the department. It permeates all things in the department.

You can do whatever you want and if you come here I hope your experience is better.

It also depends on what you mean by "get good at math". One other piece of advice I will give you and anyone in the thread. Being good at problem sets, tests, etc. really doesn't mean much. Research is not like that.

All that matters for your career is research output. I think you have to be a scholar as well as a researcher. But a researcher first.

djysyed
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:59 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by djysyed » Tue Mar 05, 2019 2:17 pm

Rkahtoaz wrote:The time to start research is unacceptably long and that is completely intertwined with the culture of the department.
Is starting your research at the beginning of your fourth year not normal? I know for people interested in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, they usually take the introductory courses as second years and spent the third year learning advanced topics + reading papers.

I completely agree that Purdue's relaxed environment is rather odd but, it seems to work well for people who don't want to be miserable from doing math 24/7. I've certainly been in situations where I was miserable due to the homework load of some of my grad classes (25+ problems per week in my grad algebra sequence) and spent 30-35 hours a week on one class. While most of us liked how much better we got as a result of those classes, some of my classmates wish they never took the algebra sequence because of the stress and most others wished the homework load was at most 12-15 problems per week. I imagine the students at Purdue are similar to the students at my school so I can see most students wanting to not do math overtime.

I spoke to my advisor about this yesterday since he is the type of professor to push his students to work overtime and, to my surprise, he said having a non-stressful environment is really good. It allows students to finish in five years if they really want to.

nothing
Posts: 58
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 1:58 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by nothing » Tue Mar 05, 2019 2:37 pm

djysyed wrote:
Rkahtoaz wrote:The time to start research is unacceptably long and that is completely intertwined with the culture of the department.
Is starting your research at the beginning of your fourth year not normal? I know for people interested in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, they usually take the introductory courses as second years and spent the third year learning advanced topics + reading papers.

I completely agree that Purdue's relaxed environment is rather odd but, it seems to work well for people who don't want to be miserable from doing math 24/7. I've certainly been in situations where I was miserable due to the homework load of some of my grad classes (25+ problems per week in my grad algebra sequence) and spent 30-35 hours a week on one class. While most of us liked how much better we got as a result of those classes, some of my classmates wish they never took the algebra sequence because of the stress and most others wished the homework load was at most 12-15 problems per week. I imagine the students at Purdue are similar to the students at my school so I can see most students wanting to not do math overtime.

I spoke to my advisor about this yesterday since he is the type of professor to push his students to work overtime and, to my surprise, he said having a non-stressful environment is really good. It allows students to finish in five years if they really want to.

I'm not sure about algebra/ algebraic geometry but for most areas in analysis and pdes, you need to start doing research as soon as possible. Most successful people I know in analysis/pdes started doing research at the end of their 1st year or beginning 2nd year. The guy above is correct about competing with people from top places like Stanford,UCB etc... In PDEs & applied math then, assume you are not at a top school (top 10) then the standard rule to have a good postdoc is 2 published + preprint (could be 1 if you solved a fundamental problem and got a publication on top non-specialized journals like Duke or CPAM). I really can't imagine the fact that someone start doing research at their 4th year and got a decent result published at the end of their 5th year...
Sometimes it's very hard to find a postdoc even if you got one on a very top journal (assuming you are not from a top 20 school). I know someone who did Ergodic Theory at a top 70 school, got 1 on Inventiones upon graduation and couldn't find a decent place to do postdoc in the US.

Rkahtoaz
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:41 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by Rkahtoaz » Tue Mar 05, 2019 3:24 pm

nothing wrote:
djysyed wrote:
Rkahtoaz wrote:The time to start research is unacceptably long and that is completely intertwined with the culture of the department.
Is starting your research at the beginning of your fourth year not normal? I know for people interested in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry, they usually take the introductory courses as second years and spent the third year learning advanced topics + reading papers.

I completely agree that Purdue's relaxed environment is rather odd but, it seems to work well for people who don't want to be miserable from doing math 24/7. I've certainly been in situations where I was miserable due to the homework load of some of my grad classes (25+ problems per week in my grad algebra sequence) and spent 30-35 hours a week on one class. While most of us liked how much better we got as a result of those classes, some of my classmates wish they never took the algebra sequence because of the stress and most others wished the homework load was at most 12-15 problems per week. I imagine the students at Purdue are similar to the students at my school so I can see most students wanting to not do math overtime.

I spoke to my advisor about this yesterday since he is the type of professor to push his students to work overtime and, to my surprise, he said having a non-stressful environment is really good. It allows students to finish in five years if they really want to.

I'm not sure about algebra/ algebraic geometry but for most areas in analysis and pdes, you need to start doing research as soon as possible. Most successful people I know in analysis/pdes started doing research at the end of their 1st year or beginning 2nd year. The guy above is correct about competing with people from top places like Stanford,UCB etc... In PDEs & applied math then, assume you are not at a top school (top 10) then the standard rule to have a good postdoc is 2 published + preprint (could be 1 if you solved a fundamental problem and got a publication on top non-specialized journals like Duke or CPAM). I really can't imagine the fact that someone start doing research at their 4th year and got a decent result published at the end of their 5th year...
Sometimes it's very hard to find a postdoc even if you got one on a very top journal (assuming you are not from a top 20 school). I know someone who did Ergodic Theory at a top 70 school, got 1 on Inventiones upon graduation and couldn't find a decent place to do postdoc in the US.
Yes, this is all right. I haven't heard of that "rule" before but it sounds like a reasonable goal.

To djysyed if you come here, I wish you the best even if we don't meet. My advice is to get through quals etc. very fast and don't get sucked into any nonsense. Realize that you will be competing for postdocs with people from MIT, Harvard, etc. That's not to say that everyone at these schools is better than everyone here. Definitely not true. There's going to be very good students everywhere.

I will say I really am a happy person and I am in a good spot now. I have a good adviser, good friends and a good life. None of the nonsense bothers me anymore. You can definitely have a productive time here. I just think the program is somewhat deceitful. It comes off high ranked, good program. They bring you to the visit weekend with a bunch of rah rah grad students. Then you actually get into it and it's a lot different. Many students have said that they felt lied to. Myself included.

I wish you the best.

djysyed
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:59 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by djysyed » Tue Mar 05, 2019 4:04 pm

Rkahtoaz wrote: I will say I really am a happy person and I am in a good spot now. I have a good adviser, good friends and a good life. None of the nonsense bothers me anymore. You can definitely have a productive time here. I just think the program is somewhat deceitful. It comes off high ranked, good program. They bring you to the visit weekend with a bunch of rah rah grad students. Then you actually get into it and it's a lot different. Many students have said that they felt lied to. Myself included.

I wish you the best.
Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad to hear you found happiness :mrgreen: .

FtYoU
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:25 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by FtYoU » Tue Mar 05, 2019 4:09 pm

Rkahtoaz wrote: To djysyed if you come here, I wish you the best even if we don't meet. My advice is to get through quals etc. very fast and don't get sucked into any nonsense. Realize that you will be competing for postdocs with people from MIT, Harvard, etc. That's not to say that everyone at these schools is better than everyone here. Definitely not true. There's going to be very good students everywhere.

I will say I really am a happy person and I am in a good spot now. I have a good adviser, good friends and a good life. None of the nonsense bothers me anymore. You can definitely have a productive time here. I just think the program is somewhat deceitful. It comes off high ranked, good program. They bring you to the visit weekend with a bunch of rah rah grad students. Then you actually get into it and it's a lot different. Many students have said that they felt lied to. Myself included.

I wish you the best.
Legitimate question :

How hard is it to apply to an other graduate program since after 2 years you have not started doing research ? I am asking because I would guess that a student with 2 years in a PhD program could have an edge on the admission process compared to fresh undergraduates.

Is there other elements that tie you down to Purdue per say ?
Again, I am asking with genuine curiosity.

Thanks !

Rkahtoaz
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:41 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by Rkahtoaz » Tue Mar 05, 2019 4:14 pm

FtYoU wrote:
Rkahtoaz wrote: To djysyed if you come here, I wish you the best even if we don't meet. My advice is to get through quals etc. very fast and don't get sucked into any nonsense. Realize that you will be competing for postdocs with people from MIT, Harvard, etc. That's not to say that everyone at these schools is better than everyone here. Definitely not true. There's going to be very good students everywhere.

I will say I really am a happy person and I am in a good spot now. I have a good adviser, good friends and a good life. None of the nonsense bothers me anymore. You can definitely have a productive time here. I just think the program is somewhat deceitful. It comes off high ranked, good program. They bring you to the visit weekend with a bunch of rah rah grad students. Then you actually get into it and it's a lot different. Many students have said that they felt lied to. Myself included.

I wish you the best.
Legitimate question :

How hard is it to apply to an other graduate program since after 2 years you have not started doing research ? I am asking because I would guess that a student with 2 years in a PhD program could have an edge on the admission process compared to fresh undergraduates.

Is there other elements that tie you down to Purdue per say ?
Again, I am asking with genuine curiosity.

Thanks !
It's very hard to transfer PhD programs though possible. (Btw I am doing research, Idk if you thought I hadn't)

I have no reason to transfer really. Like I said, I get along with my adviser and I have a good life. I just want to finish and move on with my life.

oniongood
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:33 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by oniongood » Tue Mar 05, 2019 6:00 pm

To those who are waiting for Boston U, myself included, the DGS at BU replied to my inquiry e-mail that they will make additional offers (I asked for pure Math Ph.D., do not know if the DGS also includes Stats or Finance offers) later this week. Fingers crossed :idea:
Also, thanks for the news, gedt11; it is nice to know that UMN is still possible.

superballzach
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2017 8:54 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by superballzach » Tue Mar 05, 2019 8:07 pm

Does anybody have an offer to UNC-Chapel Hill that they don’t intend to accept? I was told that I’m ranked somewhere in the 7-9 range on their waitlist, and I would love to attend this school.

prospectivestudent69
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 2:54 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by prospectivestudent69 » Tue Mar 05, 2019 9:24 pm

Any news from Johns Hopkins applied math phd? I still havent heard anything.

kkky
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2018 12:44 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by kkky » Wed Mar 06, 2019 1:11 am

FourierTransformer wrote:Did anyone else get an email from UW Madison about being on a "short" wait list?
I got one. Wow, you just got off the wait list! Congrats!!!

BTW, is the email you received something like this:
{
At this point, we have selected the individuals who receive the first round of offers of admission and financial support. We have also selected a short waitlist of applicants who are first in line for possible subsequent offers. You are currently in this second group. I emphasize that all students still being considered are people we`d be extremely enthusiastic about having as students; it is merely a matter of space that prevents us from making you an admissions offer at this time.
}
I emailed to ask how long is the waitlist and what is my position but never got an reply. Do you know any info on the waitlist?

Zenan
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:20 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by Zenan » Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:39 am

Does anybody know anything about Uchicago, Upenn and UCLA pure math? I have emailed them for more than once but never got a reply.

djysyed
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:59 pm

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by djysyed » Wed Mar 06, 2019 11:54 am

Zenan wrote:Does anybody know anything about Uchicago, Upenn and UCLA pure math? I have emailed them for more than once but never got a reply.
They're all done with admissions I believe.

FourierTransformer
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2019 2:07 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by FourierTransformer » Wed Mar 06, 2019 1:47 pm

kkky wrote:
FourierTransformer wrote:Did anyone else get an email from UW Madison about being on a "short" wait list?
I got one. Wow, you just got off the wait list! Congrats!!!

BTW, is the email you received something like this:
{
At this point, we have selected the individuals who receive the first round of offers of admission and financial support. We have also selected a short waitlist of applicants who are first in line for possible subsequent offers. You are currently in this second group. I emphasize that all students still being considered are people we`d be extremely enthusiastic about having as students; it is merely a matter of space that prevents us from making you an admissions offer at this time.
}
I emailed to ask how long is the waitlist and what is my position but never got an reply. Do you know any info on the waitlist?
Thank you. Yup, I got that exact email from the graduate director. Best of luck of to you!

sacamano
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2018 11:10 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by sacamano » Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:05 pm

Any way its not a bad sign to have not heard back when others have been waitlisted?

ethanmhny
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 9:41 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by ethanmhny » Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:58 pm

U of Georgia seems to have posted some admissions decisions without sending emails about it (I didn't get one, anyway) if anyone's waiting to hear back from them

Dopeboyz
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 12:53 am

Re: Fall 2019 Sweat Thread

Post by Dopeboyz » Thu Mar 07, 2019 6:43 am

3 rejections so far and zero acceptances. Starting to get really depressed. :(



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