Re: Fall 2020 - Decision Making Thread
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:42 pm
for current and prospective graduate students in mathematics
https://mathematicsgre.com/
International students often stay on campus since going home can be pretty expensive...Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:42 pmWho the hell would want to still stay on campus after 9 months a year? Seriously, people rarely do this even in undergrad...
If you're from the east coast and heading to the west coast for phd, flights are quite expensive in the summer too.lucasmiranda wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:11 pmInternational students often stay on campus since going home can be pretty expensive...Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:42 pmWho the hell would want to still stay on campus after 9 months a year? Seriously, people rarely do this even in undergrad...
Who said anything about going home? (Not that you shouldn't) There are a million workshops, conferences, projects, internships, etc. you could be doing over the summer that's harder to do during the school year...lucasmiranda wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:11 pmInternational students often stay on campus since going home can be pretty expensive...Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:42 pmWho the hell would want to still stay on campus after 9 months a year? Seriously, people rarely do this even in undergrad...
Huh? The point made was that 9 months isn’t full year support. You still need to pay rent for 3 more months of the year. Going to conferences and workshops is great, but it doesn’t pay your bills for 3 months.Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 5:17 amWho said anything about going home? (Not that you shouldn't) There are a million workshops, conferences, projects, internships, etc. you could be doing over the summer that's harder to do during the school year...lucasmiranda wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:11 pmInternational students often stay on campus since going home can be pretty expensive...Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:42 pm
Who the hell would want to still stay on campus after 9 months a year? Seriously, people rarely do this even in undergrad...
When I was doing my PhD (in 1990), I did stay on campus without ever leaving. That allowed to get more papers published, more research done, etc. With fewer distractions like teaching.Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 7:42 pmWho the hell would want to still stay on campus after 9 months a year? Seriously, people rarely do this even in undergrad...
No...even as an undergrad it's easy to get 3 months with paid housing through conferences, workshops, camps, etc. even with a salary...there is an overabundance of such opportunities, the question is which ones to choose. I mean, it's your choice to stay on campus if you want, but if you aren't supported, it's probably not a very good idea.ponchan wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:21 amHuh? The point made was that 9 months isn’t full year support. You still need to pay rent for 3 more months of the year. Going to conferences and workshops is great, but it doesn’t pay your bills for 3 months.Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 5:17 amWho said anything about going home? (Not that you shouldn't) There are a million workshops, conferences, projects, internships, etc. you could be doing over the summer that's harder to do during the school year...lucasmiranda wrote: ↑Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:11 pm
International students often stay on campus since going home can be pretty expensive...
Conferences may pay for your travel and a place to stay locally, but you still need to pay for rent back home. Leases are typically a year, meaning you will still need to pay for 3 months of rent.Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:13 pmponchan wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 10:21 amHuh? The point made was that 9 months isn’t full year support. You still need to pay rent for 3 more months of the year. Going to conferences and workshops is great, but it doesn’t pay your bills for 3 months.Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 5:17 am
Who said anything about going home? (Not that you shouldn't) There are a million workshops, conferences, projects, internships, etc. you could be doing over the summer that's harder to do during the school year...
No...even as an undergrad it's easy to get 3 months with paid housing through conferences, workshops, camps, etc. even with a salary...there is an overabundance of such opportunities, the question is which ones to choose. I mean, it's your choice to stay on campus if you want, but if you aren't supported, it's probably not a very good idea.
ponchan wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:28 pmConferences may pay for your travel and a place to stay locally, but you still need to pay for rent back home. Leases are typically a year, meaning you will still need to pay for 3 months of rent.Cyclicduck wrote: ↑Thu Feb 20, 2020 2:13 pm
No...even as an undergrad it's easy to get 3 months with paid housing through conferences, workshops, camps, etc. even with a salary...there is an overabundance of such opportunities, the question is which ones to choose. I mean, it's your choice to stay on campus if you want, but if you aren't supported, it's probably not a very good idea.
What? Of course it's rude to ignore them, both to the program and to anyone on the waitlist. If you know you won't be attending because you have a better offer, decline promptly. If you are serious about attending a program but are waiting to hear from a higher-choice one, find out what the story is at the higher-choice school and give the lower-choice school a timeframe. Treat them the way you would want to be treated yourself.KYotodo wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:19 pmHi there. I'm receiving emails from programs persuading me accept their offer, and I don't know how to answer it. Is it rude to just ignore it and I will pay for it? Or should I reply them saying I need more time to decide because I'm waiting for other offers? How do you answer those emails?
Thank you!fluffball wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:30 pmWhat? Of course it's rude to ignore them, both to the program and to anyone on the waitlist. If you know you won't be attending because you have a better offer, decline promptly. If you are serious about attending a program but are waiting to hear from a higher-choice one, find out what the story is at the higher-choice school and give the lower-choice school a timeframe. Treat them the way you would want to be treated yourself.KYotodo wrote: ↑Fri Feb 21, 2020 11:19 pmHi there. I'm receiving emails from programs persuading me accept their offer, and I don't know how to answer it. Is it rude to just ignore it and I will pay for it? Or should I reply them saying I need more time to decide because I'm waiting for other offers? How do you answer those emails?
Where do people go after graduating? How often to graduates get NSF postdocs?analysister wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 11:55 amVisit season is beginning. Does anyone have advice on things to look out for or good questions to ask current graduate students or potential advisors?
No, unless it’s extraordinarily low. Peter Scholze only has like 300 and something citations. This is especially true for people who tend to finish off large problems. A lot of papers in inventiones only have a handful of citations.
How do you tell how prestigious a journal is? How much prestigious journals does the advisor need to be considered good? Very confusing, lol.
There's a website that ranks Journals (SJR I think). If the journal is Q1 then it's top tier. Lower means "not as great", doesn't necessarily mean terrible. I can't say anything for the second one, my professors have given me different advice about choosing advisors.EricAndre wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 5:04 pmHow do you tell how prestigious a journal is? How much prestigious journals does the advisor need to be considered good? Very confusing, lol.
Alain Connes wrote:I think the number of quotations is a very
very strange measure. If you look at citations in mathematics then it doesn’t
make sense because there are very hard papers which very few people have
read, and in fact there is really an inverse correlation between the difficulty
of a paper and the number of people who actually read it, let alone quote it.
Peter Scholze wrote:I know some very good
people who, by the time they had established themselves
as a leading mathematician, still had an h-index of maybe
two.
apparently its a metric for professor promotion and hiring of tenure track assistant professor at some places. So its somewhat important.
Honestly, no. There's always a possibility that you hate any school you visit, so if pre-visit you would be happy with any of the schools, you should just visit them all.
^^^^^
Yeah, you right.analysister wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 12:29 pm^^^^^
You need to be able to make the best decision possible no matter what happens. I hope you do get into a dream school, but that isn't always the case so you need to be prepared to make the most informed decision based on your options.
The only time it is awkward is if you get accepted to said dream school between when you plan your visit and when it actually happens, because you still have to follow through, but that isn't anybodies fault.
It’s only a shitty thing to do if you are almost positive you won’t go there (say you have better offers). It would be a waste of their time, resources, money, and someone else could have benefited from the visit. But the situation you’ve described isn’t the same thing. So there’s nothing wrong with visiting.
This actually leads into my question. This is related my current predicament. Today received an offer from one of my top choices and their visiting day is the same as I am already scheduled to visit a safety. Is it bad form to cancel? I will just pay the plane ticket, but I don’t want to be rude. Also, I feel like I have no choice. It is a couple weeks out.analysister wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 12:29 pm^^^^^
You need to be able to make the best decision possible no matter what happens. I hope you do get into a dream school, but that isn't always the case so you need to be prepared to make the most informed decision based on your options.
The only time it is awkward is if you get accepted to said dream school between when you plan your visit and when it actually happens, because you still have to follow through, but that isn't anybodies fault.
No, absolutely cancel. They'll remember your "rudeness" for about 5 minutes. You'll remember this decision much longer.peoplesjw wrote: ↑Mon Mar 09, 2020 7:08 pmThis actually leads into my question. This is related my current predicament. Today received an offer from one of my top choices and their visiting day is the same as I am already scheduled to visit a safety. Is it bad form to cancel? I will just pay the plane ticket, but I don’t want to be rude. Also, I feel like I have no choice. It is a couple weeks out.analysister wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 12:29 pm^^^^^
You need to be able to make the best decision possible no matter what happens. I hope you do get into a dream school, but that isn't always the case so you need to be prepared to make the most informed decision based on your options.
The only time it is awkward is if you get accepted to said dream school between when you plan your visit and when it actually happens, because you still have to follow through, but that isn't anybodies fault.
Yeah, I feel like if a school postpones their open house, then they should also pushback their April 15 deadline.Devilbob wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2020 5:13 pmSo Coronavirus is really making this decision much harder than it already was. I'm at 2 open house events cancelled due to virus concerns, and I'm expecting more. Digital open houses really aren't a substitute for the in person event. Any ideas on how to get a better sense of a campus / program without actually visiting it?
Unfortunately, I do not think that most schools are pushing them back, but cancelling all together. Right now, we do not have a predictable timeline for the spread or containment of Coronavirus in the US, so it is impossible to say when to push it back until.ponchan wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2020 5:18 pmYeah, I feel like if a school postpones their open house, then they should also pushback their April 15 deadline.Devilbob wrote: ↑Tue Mar 10, 2020 5:13 pmSo Coronavirus is really making this decision much harder than it already was. I'm at 2 open house events cancelled due to virus concerns, and I'm expecting more. Digital open houses really aren't a substitute for the in person event. Any ideas on how to get a better sense of a campus / program without actually visiting it?
This is a fair point.EricAndre wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:32 amI don't get why everyone is complaining about open house being canceled. Intl students have to make the same choice without visits.
https://academia.stackexchange.com/ques ... admissions
Congrats! I’m deciding between Maryland and UC Davis as well. It’s a tough call. We can talk more in the chat if you’d like to do so.turanturan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:22 amHi everybody. I'm having a tough decision trying to decide between the following schools for Applied Math:
-Yale
-Carnegie Mellon
-University of Maryland
-UC Davis
-Northwestern
Anybody have any helpful insight or words of advice about these programs? It's been really hard, because I can't even visit these schools because of COVID-19.
Advisers matter more than the school, look up the research at those places and see which place has the most people who match your research interest and their relative prestige. If you give your specific interest other people might be able to tell you what places are good for it. I would say that if you want probability CMU and Northwestern would be your top choice.turanturan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:22 amHi everybody. I'm having a tough decision trying to decide between the following schools for Applied Math:
-Yale
-Carnegie Mellon
-University of Maryland
-UC Davis
-Northwestern
Anybody have any helpful insight or words of advice about these programs? It's been really hard, because I can't even visit these schools because of COVID-19.
Agreed. Northwestern is great for probability. I don't know much about CMU. A lot of good probability groups are housed in top 20 schools more or less of Stats and Math. But these were hard to crack for an intl. applicant like myself.ThrowawayName wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 3:22 pmAdvisers matter more than the school, look up the research at those places and see which place has the most people who match your research interest and their relative prestige. If you give your specific interest other people might be able to tell you what places are good for it. I would say that if you want probability CMU and Northwestern would be your top choice.turanturan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:22 amHi everybody. I'm having a tough decision trying to decide between the following schools for Applied Math:
-Yale
-Carnegie Mellon
-University of Maryland
-UC Davis
-Northwestern
Anybody have any helpful insight or words of advice about these programs? It's been really hard, because I can't even visit these schools because of COVID-19.
Steven E Shreve is at CMU. He's aged but doesn't look like he's retiring soon.Junaid456 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 4:50 pmAgreed. Northwestern is great for probability. I don't know much about CMU. A lot of good probability groups are housed in top 20 schools more or less of Stats and Math. But these were hard to crack for an intl. applicant like myself.ThrowawayName wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 3:22 pmAdvisers matter more than the school, look up the research at those places and see which place has the most people who match your research interest and their relative prestige. If you give your specific interest other people might be able to tell you what places are good for it. I would say that if you want probability CMU and Northwestern would be your top choice.turanturan wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 10:22 amHi everybody. I'm having a tough decision trying to decide between the following schools for Applied Math:
-Yale
-Carnegie Mellon
-University of Maryland
-UC Davis
-Northwestern
Anybody have any helpful insight or words of advice about these programs? It's been really hard, because I can't even visit these schools because of COVID-19.
I'm also interested in probability (more from an applied side) and computation. Davis is great for discrete probability, but Maryland for Stochastic PDE etc. Both schools offer options to work in optimization, computation etc. via their CS department and various centers. I think qualifying exam structure is a big decision for me. At Maryland, you have to pass 1 qual and the rest can be courses, so you can effectively get the quals out of the way and still learn a lot of new things via courses. At UC Davis, though, their quals are focused more on traditional areas of applied math (applied analysis, classical applied math) and 1 year would be spent working on these quals.
I'm still, however, torn between these schools but I am as of yet favoring Maryland a bit more, even though I really like Davis' program as well.