Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

[dujiahan]

My kiddo just got accepted by UNC Chapel Hill, this is his first acceptance, with TA-ship and all (acceptance by official e-mail). I am happy. The kid is not talking, but then he is not much of a talker anyway.

Congrats! That is great to hear. The first acceptance is a huge relief, and I hope they keep rolling in.

Yes and thank you, I hope they do. The kid is only 16, and many Universities may assume he will not be able to handle TA-ship and reject him. It's really not logical, but what can we do... At least he got this one now, and UNC is a good place.

You will not like my response: he should stay in college and finish at 22. There is no point in going to grad school at 16 unless it's a top 10 or an ivy league school (Dartmouth excluded).

[CoronalRain]

You will not like my response: he should stay in college and finish at 22. There is no point in going to grad school at 16 unless it's a top 10 or an ivy league school (Dartmouth excluded).

What do you expect the kid to do for 6 years? That sounds like a terrible idea to me. Maybe it would make sense to pursue a Master's degree in the intervening years, but just avoiding a Ph.D. for SIX years?? He obviously already has a strong undergraduate background, since UNC accepted him.

[asterac]

Yes and thank you, I hope they do. The kid is only 16, and many Universities may assume he will not be able to handle TA-ship and reject him. It's really not logical, but what can we do... At least he got this one now, and UNC is a good place.

I’ve got a classmate who was admitted to the PhD program at my uni at 17, and the teaching responsibility here is high—everyone is expected to become a full instructor after only a few months TAing. He’s doing quite well! Best of luck to your boy

[Integreat]

My kiddo just got accepted by UNC Chapel Hill, this is his first acceptance, with TA-ship and all (acceptance by official e-mail). I am happy. The kid is not talking, but then he is not much of a talker anyway.

That's awesome! Congratulations to him I wish him the best of luck

[MathParent]

Congrats! That is great to hear. The first acceptance is a huge relief, and I hope they keep rolling in.

Yes and thank you, I hope they do. The kid is only 16, and many Universities may assume he will not be able to handle TA-ship and reject him. It's really not logical, but what can we do... At least he got this one now, and UNC is a good place.

You will not like my response: he should stay in college and finish at 22. There is no point in going to grad school at 16 unless it's a top 10 or an ivy league school (Dartmouth excluded).

Guess what? I was not exactly asking for your advice, you know... Neither did he. Besides, when he goes to grad school he will be 17, not 16.

[MathParent]

You will not like my response: he should stay in college and finish at 22. There is no point in going to grad school at 16 unless it's a top 10 or an ivy league school (Dartmouth excluded).

What do you expect the kid to do for 6 years? That sounds like a terrible idea to me. Maybe it would make sense to pursue a Master's degree in the intervening years, but just avoiding a Ph.D. for SIX years?? He obviously already has a strong undergraduate background, since UNC accepted him.

Exactly.
The boy has publications already, his boss says "he is killing it" - research-wise. What the heck is he supposed to do in ANY place where he will not be able to do research right away?

[MathParent]

My kiddo just got accepted by UNC Chapel Hill, this is his first acceptance, with TA-ship and all (acceptance by official e-mail). I am happy. The kid is not talking, but then he is not much of a talker anyway.

That's awesome! Congratulations to him I wish him the best of luck

Thank you!

[MathParent]

Yes and thank you, I hope they do. The kid is only 16, and many Universities may assume he will not be able to handle TA-ship and reject him. It's really not logical, but what can we do... At least he got this one now, and UNC is a good place.

I’ve got a classmate who was admitted to the PhD program at my uni at 17, and the teaching responsibility here is high—everyone is expected to become a full instructor after only a few months TAing. He’s doing quite well! Best of luck to your boy

Thank you!

[mani_fold]

Wow. The Wisconsin gradcafe slaughter makes me
think my lack of an offer/rejection is probably a belated rejection letter rather than a waitlist. I want to have hope.....

[misterB]

Has anyone heard from Indiana or Michigan State?

[misterB]

Wow. The Wisconsin gradcafe slaughter makes me
think my lack of an offer/rejection is probably a belated rejection letter rather than a waitlist. I want to have hope.....

A senior from my college did get a late acceptance , I think sometime in March or April. Don't remember precisely. So you shouldn't lose hope just yet.

[HarmonicDog]

Has anyone heard from Indiana or Michigan State?

I received an offer from MSU last Thursday.

[noobplayer]

Wisconsin and Duke seem to have sent out rejections and acceptances, but I have not heard anything yet. I am a little freaked out, is anyone in the same boat?

Also, does anybody have information about Berkeley and Michigan? Are there going to be any more admissions?

Really feeling the pressure these days...

[MathParent]

Wisconsin and Duke seem to have sent out rejections and acceptances, but I have not heard anything yet. I am a little freaked out, is anyone in the same boat?

Also, does anybody have information about Berkeley and Michigan? Are there going to be any more admissions?

Really feeling the pressure these days...

I am sure there are other people in the same situation. I know of one. I suspect that all these (Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, Wisconsin, etc.) sent out their "obvious" acceptances, and their "obvious" rejections. And now they have a harder choices to make, and they are sitting on that third pile of applicants, giving it some time to "simmer." Ohio State, for example, has it plainly on their site: they do sent acceptances in two waves.
https://math.osu.edu/grad/future - read "admission process and numbers"

<<We typically receive between 300 and 350 applications for the PhD program each year, and our recruitment target for an incoming class is usually around 15-25 new PhDs. The process typically starts with a pre-screening of the files by the chair of the recruitment committee based on basic data such as performance in critical courses, general background, test scores, and brief inspections of letters. The graduate recruitment committee then reviews about 100-120 files in greater depth, split over two rounds, one in early January and another in late February. This review typically leads to the admission of around 70-80 students to the PhD program, as well as an ordered wait list issued sometime in March.

For MAQRM we anticipate admitting approximately 12-15 students this year, though this number may vary based on the size and qualifications of the applicant pool>>

There were 11 admitted postings to Ohio State on Grad Cafe, and 9 in the year before. Thus, form this (totally insignificant) sample of two data points, about every seventh of eighth applicant posts his/her admission on grad cafe... Obviously, this site is gaining popularity, so probably more candidates post now than before. At this time, there are only 7 admitted posts for Ohio. Seems there is more room.

I think situation is similar at other schools, but only Ohio spelled out their process so clearly on their web site, that's why I am using it as the guide.

[misterB]

Has anyone heard from Indiana or Michigan State?

I received an offer from MSU last Thursday.

Lol that can't bode well for me

[PhilippMainlander]

Curious, what time of day do schools usually send out their acceptances?

[asterac]

Curious, what time of day do schools usually send out their acceptances?

Varies. I got one at 5:21 pm in the school’s time zone, another at 7:35 am.

[LoCelso]

Wisconsin and Duke seem to have sent out rejections and acceptances, but I have not heard anything yet. I am a little freaked out, is anyone in the same boat?

Also, does anybody have information about Berkeley and Michigan? Are there going to be any more admissions?

Really feeling the pressure these days...

Exactly the same situation. I see some posts where people get acceptance from Ohio State/Galtect/something like that but get rejected by Wisconsin or Duke, so seems like they have made some "legit" decisions, not just obvious ones.

[PhilippMainlander]

I hate this wait so much .

[CoronalRain]

It looks like Brown has begun their slaughter of the applied math applicants. I wonder when the same will happen for the pure side.

[Mustela nivalis]

Wow, Brown did massive rejections today, but did not mention me. Although it touches applied math only, do I still have a (tiny) chance? I am a pure math applicant.

[PhilippMainlander]

No news from Emory yet.

[CoronalRain]

Wow, Brown did massive rejections today. Although it touches applied math only, do I still have a (tiny) chance? I am a pure math applicant.

The only movement on the pure side, as far as I can tell, is a couple professors reaching out to applicants with unofficial acceptances. I haven't seen anyone post an official acceptance/rejection on the pure side yet, so I wouldn't worry. It looks like the applied math and pure math departments are quite separate at Brown.

[AugmentedSeventh]

Anyone heard back from Columbia? There is an acceptance on gradcafe, and last year they sent out acceptances and rejections on the same day.

[Orpheus11235]

Anyone heard back from Columbia? There is an acceptance on gradcafe, and last year they sent out acceptances and rejections on the same day.

I applied, haven't heard anything...

[dujiahan]

Got accepted to Michigan AIM after rejection by Brown!
Also got into UCLA, Madison, Northwestern ESAM and Georgia Tech!
Yeah!!

This shows that schools care A GREAT DEAL about GRE subject, since I got 950(99%), which definitely helped.

Some people on this forum are downplaying the importance of the GRE subject, which I think is just misleading to many applicants. Again, most of us do not have the special qualifications that someone who got into MIT with <80% has.

[yaskhn3]

Got accepted to Michigan AIM after rejection by Brown!
Also got into UCLA, Madison, Northwestern ESAM and Georgia Tech!
Yeah!!

This shows that schools care A GREAT DEAL about GRE subject, since I got 950(99%), which definitely helped.

Some people on this forum are downplaying the importance of the GRE subject, which I think is just misleading to many applicants. Again, most of us do not have the special qualifications that someone who got into MIT with <80% has.

I agree with this 100%, and this holds especially for Internationals. Anything below 850-900 and you're out of competition. And I applied to these places with a 700

I repeat, unless you worked with super famous professors who wrote amazing LORs for you, or have bunch of international medals, don't bother applying to top 20 with a score below 850-900, no matter what. Nothing can compensate for that.

[mani_fold]

Got accepted to Michigan AIM after rejection by Brown!
Also got into UCLA, Madison, Northwestern ESAM and Georgia Tech!
Yeah!!

This shows that schools care A GREAT DEAL about GRE subject, since I got 950(99%), which definitely helped.

Some people on this forum are downplaying the importance of the GRE subject, which I think is just misleading to many applicants. Again, most of us do not have the special qualifications that someone who got into MIT with <80% has.

sInCe i GoT a 950, wHiCh DeFiNiTeLy HeLpEd

[noobplayer]

Got accepted to Michigan AIM after rejection by Brown!
Also got into UCLA, Madison, Northwestern ESAM and Georgia Tech!
Yeah!!

This shows that schools care A GREAT DEAL about GRE subject, since I got 950(99%), which definitely helped.

Some people on this forum are downplaying the importance of the GRE subject, which I think is just misleading to many applicants. Again, most of us do not have the special qualifications that someone who got into MIT with <80% has.

big congratulations!!

I don't think we can draw such a strong conclusion though - as counter-anecdotal evidence, I am from a school of similar stature, with similar profile (except that I am a domestic student and scored 970 on the mgre), and yet I don't have any good (or bad, phew?) news like that to share yet.

I guess it is hard to tell what the adcoms are looking for in the applicants that are not internationally renowned published child prodigies LOL. But we have all turned in our apps, nothing to do but hope for the best!

[noobplayer]

Wisconsin and Duke seem to have sent out rejections and acceptances, but I have not heard anything yet. I am a little freaked out, is anyone in the same boat?

Also, does anybody have information about Berkeley and Michigan? Are there going to be any more admissions?

Really feeling the pressure these days...

I am sure there are other people in the same situation. I know of one. I suspect that all these (Berkeley, Michigan, Duke, Wisconsin, etc.) sent out their "obvious" acceptances, and their "obvious" rejections. And now they have a harder choices to make, and they are sitting on that third pile of applicants, giving it some time to "simmer." Ohio State, for example, has it plainly on their site: they do sent acceptances in two waves.
https://math.osu.edu/grad/future - read "admission process and numbers"

<<We typically receive between 300 and 350 applications for the PhD program each year, and our recruitment target for an incoming class is usually around 15-25 new PhDs. The process typically starts with a pre-screening of the files by the chair of the recruitment committee based on basic data such as performance in critical courses, general background, test scores, and brief inspections of letters. The graduate recruitment committee then reviews about 100-120 files in greater depth, split over two rounds, one in early January and another in late February. This review typically leads to the admission of around 70-80 students to the PhD program, as well as an ordered wait list issued sometime in March.

For MAQRM we anticipate admitting approximately 12-15 students this year, though this number may vary based on the size and qualifications of the applicant pool>>

There were 11 admitted postings to Ohio State on Grad Cafe, and 9 in the year before. Thus, form this (totally insignificant) sample of two data points, about every seventh of eighth applicant posts his/her admission on grad cafe... Obviously, this site is gaining popularity, so probably more candidates post now than before. At this time, there are only 7 admitted posts for Ohio. Seems there is more room.

I think situation is similar at other schools, but only Ohio spelled out their process so clearly on their web site, that's why I am using it as the guide.

Thank you for the informative response! I do hope that you are right about these schools "sitting" on a pile of applications. Also, congratulations to MathSon on UNC!

[MathParent]

Thank you for the informative response! I do hope that you are right about these schools "sitting" on a pile of applications. Also, congratulations to MathSon on UNC!

You are welcome, and thanks for your congratulations!

[Otter320]

Anyone heard from UMD AMSC or JHU AMS? Besides, I haven't seen any news about Columbia APAM since Jan 25, has anyone heard from it?

[ahhhhmeh]

What’s the appropriate reaction for a masters student who gets rejected from their own school’s PhD program? [besides embarrassment obviously ]

[CoronalRain]

What’s the appropriate reaction for a masters student who gets rejected from their own school’s PhD program? [besides embarrassment obviously ]

I like UCLA's take on this:

"The UCLA Mathematics Department encourages students to change their educational institution between their Bachelor and PhD degrees to broaden their horizons. In particular, no admissions advantage is given to UCLA undergraduates."

Perhaps it stings a little more as a Master's student, but I still think it's relevant.

[Otter320]

What’s the appropriate reaction for a masters student who gets rejected from their own school’s PhD program? [besides embarrassment obviously ]

I am getting nervous now. I also applied to the PhD program in my home institution.

[ellen_klly2020]

Ahh I just saw that people have gotten acceptances to Cal tech and Columbia on grad cafe. What does this mean for the rest of us who haven’t heard back?

[mishania1996]

Ahh I just saw that people have gotten acceptances to Cal tech and Columbia on grad cafe. What does this mean for the rest of us who haven’t heard back?

[kkkkat]

Ahh I just saw that people have gotten acceptances to Cal tech and Columbia on grad cafe. What does this mean for the rest of us who haven’t heard back?

I'm in the same situation, and am expecting rejections, TBH.

[laplacian]

All Columbia posts on gradcafe are the same, there are no info about test scores or background. I feel like they are fake, but that's just my opinion.

[kkkkat]

All Columbia posts on gradcafe are the same, there are no info about test scores or background. I feel like they are fake, but that's just my opinion.

I wish I could be as optimistic as you.

[AugmentedSeventh]

All Columbia posts on gradcafe are the same, there are no info about test scores or background. I feel like they are fake, but that's just my opinion.

Someone's application profile on this website says that they were asked if they wanted to be waitlisted, so I am guessing Columbia actually did give out acceptances yesterday.

[Cyclicduck]

All Columbia posts on gradcafe are the same, there are no info about test scores or background. I feel like they are fake, but that's just my opinion.

bahaha I can confirm they are real

so now you know

(unless you think I'm a fake too)

[jamest03]

Anyone heard back from Columbia APAM, MIT CSE, Courant applied math, Chicago CAM though? I've seen these offers are all pure math.

[Integreat]

Got into Notre Dame

[chrisps1992]

Got into Notre Dame

How were you notified?

[laplacian]

I no longer think they are fake, my apologies if I revived any hopes.

[Integreat]

Got into Notre Dame

How were you notified?

Email, including the funding offer.

[chrisps1992]

Got into Notre Dame

How were you notified?

Email, including the funding offer.

Nice, congrats!

[Mustela nivalis]

It seems that I will be rejected from every school. Even university of Oregon, my utterly safe variant, says nothing, though one international applicant has already an offer.

[chrisps1992]

Got into Notre Dame

How were you notified?

Email, including the funding offer.

Is it safe to say if you didn’t get an offer today that you are waitlisted or rejected?