Profile eval

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
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mdiag
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 4:34 pm

Profile eval

Post by mdiag » Sun Jun 14, 2020 7:22 pm

Type of student: Domestic Asian Male

Undergrad: US large public (very well-known)

Major: Math

GPA: 4.0

Courses: ~10 grad courses

GRE: 166 Q, 167 V, 4.5 W, 86% mGRE

Experience/Other:

-- Should have a good paper in the next few months with my adviser following work over the last 2-3 years (so maybe 4-5 by the time I apply)
-- Expect at least two (very?) good recommendation letters, all from well-known profs.

The issue is that there are very few top institutions (~2 out of the top 5, and nothing else near them) with anybody in the area that I am interested in, and my letters are definitely going to go mostly into my work in this area. The other schools that have people in this area are far worse as far as the quality of my likely adviser and the overall institution is concerned (top 50 maybe) is concerned. What are the best chances I can expect to get into at least one of these two schools? I have heard admission into them is quite noisy, and I want to know just how noisy it is. In particular, roughly how many applicants are rejected who have similar "fundamentals" (publications, grades, etc) to those who are accepted? Of course, there exists little data on this (especially with rec letters which aren't floating around muddying the waters), and the question is not very well defined. Despite this, I was wondering if anybody has even a very rough estimate perhaps from conversations with people who have been involved with admissions committees.

test12345
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:14 pm

Re: Profile eval

Post by test12345 » Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:32 pm

Admissions to top institutions are very noisy. From my experience and people I know, unless you are a URM (or a female), most top applicants only get 1-2 out of HPSM. Even the very top applicants (multiple good papers, Putnam fellow and etc.) are not necessarily accepted to all 4. You might stand a better chance if you have some sort of contact with the professors in your field of interest but my advice is to not count on it. It might be better to prepare to switch to a nearby subfield if you got into the other top institutions. It is also possible to pursue your field even if there are no experts in it. You just have to be prepared to be more independent than others and I believe there are many such cases of students pursuing their own interests successfully at top institutions.

mdiag
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 4:34 pm

Re: Profile eval

Post by mdiag » Tue Jun 16, 2020 9:27 pm

I was under the impression that schools tend to only admit people whose research interests correspond to those of some people in that area. Is this not the case, or is it only true to a limited extent?

test12345
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:14 pm

Re: Profile eval

Post by test12345 » Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:30 pm

Definitely not the case (but it should help a bit) since you aren't expected to know what area you wish to pursue in your first year of graduate school (many people change their focus from undergrad). You can also try changing details of your SOP to match the professors of the school you are applying to, or even write that you are currently undecided for those with no professors in your area.



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