2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[liuluck22]

Undergrad Institution: Top Big State
Major(s):Mathematics, Electrical engineering
GPA: 3.84
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test: N/A

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A, take one in my sophomore year and get around 70%

TOEFL Score:[N/A]

Program Applying: Pure Math, graph theory, combinatorics, ACO programs, all PhD, except master in canada

Research Experience: 5 research experience , one in material science, four in math, one is about partial differential equation, the rest three are all extremal, structural graph theory, all results in posters and reports, one paper in preprint, one of the math research is an REU like program.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several Deans lists, one scholarship in material science, higher honor at Budapest Semester in mathematics, department scholars, etc, nothing special...


Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Budapest Semester in Mathematics with higher honor, took 5 math classes there; 3 grad class in graph theory and combinatorics in my home school; took around 7 classes in graph theory and combinatorics in all, including extremal, structural, random graph theory, probabilistic methods, etc; 2 recommendation letters are from famous professors. I think they are committees of the most famous journals and conferences in these areas. Honor undergrad analysis

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Dual degree in electrical engineering with around 170 credits when I graduate

Applying to Where:USA, Canada, UK, Germany. All pure math except CMU and Gatech (ACO there)

Dream
MIT
Princeton
Stanford
Oxford
Cambridge


Reach
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Emory]
CMU
Gatech
Berlin Mathematical school
Rutgers

Safe
University of South Carolina
University of Memphis Admitted ( message from committee)
University of Victoria
University of Illinois, Chicago

How are you applying to Oxford and Cambridge PhD programs with just a Bachelor's degree?

They don't need master degree. If you check their websites carefully, they just said a first honor class undergrad, i.e. GPA>3.7

[WithinEpsilon]

Undergrad Institution: Small State University
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Physics
GPA: 4.0/4.0
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 163 (80%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
(Canceled due to COVID) Unfortunate, since I was kind of relying on the mGRE to counteract the fact that I went to a small school.

Program Applying: Pure Math - something algebraic related to mathematical physics

Research Experience: Two years of research experience in experimental condensed matter physics on two separate projects. The first was regarding a patented technology developed by my advisor. The second resulted in a publication in Phys Rev B. One year of research in algebra (semiring theory) where I looked at non-unique factorization (semi)domains and subtractive ideals. A publication is in preparation now and I have given numerous talks regionally and at my university for this work. The research on subtractive ideals in semirings was part of a summer research experience at my home institution. No REUs because of COVID and a late switch to mathematics (end of junior year).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholar. 2x Peggy Dixon 2-Year Scholar from Society of Physics Students. AT&T Stem State Scholarship. Several institutional scholarships. Also, I have a 4.0 so... Dean's list every semester (I suspect nobody cares).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Informally tutored for every course I have taken through the creation of a study group that meets twice per week. President of our physics club and secretary of our math club. I had an internship at an environmental engineering company writing proposals for government contracts in my sophomore year.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I have taken 8 graduate courses in mathematics and 2 in physics. Unfortunately, since I come from a small university I have absolutely no connections to any Group 1 schools. I probably should have cultivated that a bit more...
However, I am a non-traditional student with an even more non-traditional background. I am not sure if being a convicted felon and former heroin addict makes me a minority but I certainly spun it that way pretty hard in my personal statements. That could either help or hurt depending on if I did a good job of focusing on the positive experience that I have gained from it. I think that I did.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I do outreach to other felons and recovering addicts by visiting drug rehabilitation centers and sharing my story and some fun accessible maths (usually inspired by demonstrations that I have seen in class or online). I also coordinate a regional physics competition for high school students. I have a really good relationship with each of my letter writers and have taken grad classes with each of them. My two research projects in algebra were under one of my letter writers as well.


Applying to Where: (I am applying to so many schools because I am extremely worried that I won't get accepted and I am hoping that it will alleviate the anxiety induced by the inevitable rejections.)
Accepted, Pending, Rejected/Declined
Reach
USC - Pending on (11/30)
UWash - Pending on (12/10)
UPenn - Pending on (12/29)
Penn State - Pending on (12/29)
Stony Brook - Pending on (12/31)
Yale - Pending on (12/15)
Rutgers-NB - Pending on (12/15)
Purdue - Pending on (12/31)
Rice - Pending on (1/3)
UVA - Pending on (1/11)

Match
Kentucky - Pending on (1/11)
U Mass - Amherst - (yet to submit)
Northeastern - Pending on (11/30)
Oregon - Pending on (1/5)
NC State - Pending on (1/16)
LSU - Pending on (1/10)
Tufts - Pending on (12/15)
Temple - Pending on (1/4)

Safety (Nothing actually seems safe)
U Montana - Pending on (1/7)
Iowa - Pending on (1/5) (two letter writers received their Ph.D. here)
U Wisconsin - Milwaukee - Pending on (1/24)
Kansas State - Pending on (1/10)

[elene201]

Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal Arts College in the US
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.94 (Math GPA: 3.99)
Type of Student: (International white female )

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 158 (79%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Couldn't take it.

Program Applying: Pure Math (Differential Geometry/PDE)

Research Experience: I did some sort of research every summer. After my first year, I stayed in my college and worked on a problem in fractal geometry. We still haven't submitted it but we will in the next couple of weeks. I'm one of the co-authors. Next summer I was just mainly learning differential geometry. Last summer I did 2 research projects both outside of my home institution. One of the papers is submitted and we will submit the other one somewhat soon. Both of them are on arXiv. I also did a poster presentation and a talk at JMM, but that doesn't seem very important.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I won most math competitions in our department, had somewhat okay scores at Putnam (usually around 20), I got Highest Honors at Budapest Semester in Mathematics. Before college got an Honorable Mention at IMO, and a Silver Medal at European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutored calculus almost every semester. I was a writing associate for abstract algebra (helped students with math writing), and for several semesters I was a TA mostly for Transition to Theoretical Math. I also graded physics homeworks for a semester.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I think I know my professors very well. They seem to like me a lot, and I've worked with them quite a bit. I also don't have any graduate classes, since we don't have any at my school. But I took independent studies whenever there weren't enough math classes offered. I'm graduating with 20-25 math classes above the calculus level.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I think I covered everything.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Dream
Berkeley - Pending
MIT - Pending
NYU - Pending
Duke - Pending
Brown - Pending
UT Austin - Pending

Reach
Johns Hopkins - Pending
Rutgers - Pending
Stony Brook - Pending

Match
University of Washington - Pending
UNC - Pending
UC Irvine - Pending

Safety
Vanderbilt - Pending
NC State - Pending
Temple - Unofficially Accepted (01.23)

[emmynoether126]

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, unknown for math
Major(s): Mathematics (BS)
Minor(s): Applied Mathematics, Spanish, Statistics and Operations Research
GPA: 4.0 / 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic White Female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 157 (75%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: cancelled twice due to COVID, and I was hoping it might boost my application

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (research interests: number theory, maybe algebra and analysis or applications)

Research Experience:
Research at my university since the second month of undergrad (includes summer) in analytic number theory. No publications or talks. My one class was research-based, and my group researched mathematical aspects of brain stroke detection (microwave technology) using numerical techniques. We were supposed to have a poster at our university's STEM research expo, but it was cancelled due to COVID. Accepted to REU in analytic number theory, but it was postponed (see below).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Honors concentration at my university. Mathematics Scholarship from the math department for this academic year. Accepted to REU at a small school (their first REU program) for Summer 2020, but it is postponed to Summer 2021 due to COVID. At my county college, I was a member of Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society), and at my university, I was supposed to be inducted into Pi Mu Epsilon (math honor society) last spring, but it's postponed to this spring due to COVID. I doubt this helps, but President's List (4.0) every applicable semester at my university and county college.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Math tutor (paid) for my county college for 3 years. Math tutor (volunteer) for my university for 2 years as a member of Math Team. I doubt it matters, but I have a leadership role in my university's women in STEM club.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
2 grad classes during my senior year: 1 in numerical analysis, 1 in linear algebra. (At my university, undergrads are only allowed 2 grad classes.) I'm assisting with Putnam practice this year, but I don't mention it; my one letter writer might. Female (and 1 of the schools I'm applying to is a predominantly-female-undergrad/gender-inclusive-grad institution).
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I took lots of college courses in high school, so I am graduating after 2 years. I am hoping it is looked upon positively (as a result of my determination) rather than negatively. I did a lot of independent study for math courses, mostly lower-level classes, but some upper-level as well. Some of these are reflected on my transcript, others are not. I consider myself first generation, but on some applications I do not count as first generation due to the wording (no one in my household has a college degree, but a few of my siblings have bachelor's degrees). For the schools that have world language requirements, I mention in my SoP that I have intermediate proficiency in Spanish and am trying to learn French.

Applying to Where:
Applied, Accepted, Rejected
Bryn Mawr College - Applied 12/31
Pennsylvania State University - Applied 12/05, Accepted 01/22 with $28000+ (10 months) stipend, guaranteed support for following summer, TA duties, very excited - first acceptance
Rutgers University - Applied 11/29
University of Maryland - Applied 12/31
Wesleyan University - Applied 12/31

Note: My 1 recommender suggested I apply to some more reach schools. I didn't.

[contingent]

Undergrad Institution: Small University of California
Major(s): Pure Math BA
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.62 both cumulative and major (weird right?)
Type of Student: DWM

GRE: Nope. Very encouraged to see so many in the same boat. My picks were heavily based on each department's view on the GRE.

Program Applying: Pure Math Ph.D. (Algebraic Geometry/Topology <-> Particle Theory)

Research Experience/Workshops:

• Nothing in math. Joined a QED/optics lab at the particle physics research institute at my UC -- developed detectors for the LHC and other particle colliders -- realized data modeling wasn't for me and left after a few months, now desiring a fully pure track
• Weekend-long workshop for transfer students on bayesian astrostatistics

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

• UC Regents Scholarship
• Major Honors, four-times Dean's honors

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

• Tutored a quarter of undergraduate number theory at UC
• Have been remotely tutoring math full-time for K-12 students from indigenous communities in CA during the pandemic

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:

• Took undergrad algebraic geometry, graph theory, topology, both advanced linear and an unofficially graduate algebra course (only one required for major) and both real and complex analysis (only one required for major)
• Had an extremely accelerated undergraduate track due to transferring in with little to no math. I went from Calc 1 to finishing the math major in 2 calendar years. Every quarter I took either 3 or 2 upper-division courses. I think this shows my preparedness to survive the first two years of the PhD.
• Strong senior capstone in geometric topology topic
• 4 LOR from profs I took upper-division classes with: two researchers in my field of interest, one algebraist and one was both my capstone advisor and topology prof -- A's in all their classes. Also 1 LOR from my UC tutoring supervisor/the program's director.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

• Three years of formal education in audio engineering/sound design/music production -- drew parallels to math research in my essays

Philanthropy:
Caltech - Submitted 12/13
Cornell - Submitted 1/3
Duke - Submitted 12/6
NYU - Submitted 1/4
Stony Brook - Submitted 12/30
UCB - Submitted 12/15
UT Austin - Submitted 12/13
UW - Submitted 12/10

Fingers knotted:
NCSU - Yet to submit, deadline 3/15
OSU - Submitted "standby" app 1/26 which are only accepted on a space-basis. Confirmed there were slots available 1/25
UCI - Submitted 12/16
UCSB - Submitted 1/2
U Utah - Yet to submit, deadline 3/15 for possible TA funding on position-available basis

Safety:
Syracuse - Submitted 1/27
Tulane - Yet to submit, deadlline 2/15
U Hawaii Manoa - Yet to submit, deadline 2/15

[contingent]

I was homeschooled through highschool

Same here! Also relate to the family struggles, perhaps not an uncommon symptom of homeschooling.

I also wrote all of my documents in LaTeX, for style points.

OMG why did I not think of this! Good luck, fellow UCB and UCSB applicant

[woeinorwin]

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Public US
Major(s): Mathematics and Economics
Minor(s): CS
GPA: 4.00
Type of Student: International, Asian, Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (95%)
V: 157 (75%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: -

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Math Ph.D. (Probability and discrete math)

Research Experience: (Seems weird because I have done in math and econ)

• Two years of research in dynamical systems (1 working paper & 1 in-progress and presented in AMS sectional meeting and symposium at my own university)

• One year of independent research in graph theory (1 working paper on arXiv)

• One year of research in matching theory in economic theory (1 working paper, 1 in-progress, and senior thesis)

• (Not research but summer experience) PCMI and REU at U. Chicago (1 expository paper on diffusion processes with some new results)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Three Putnam HMs (Top 40 in the first two years), Three IMO Silver medals, Government Scholarship, 2x best math major at my university, Research fellowship for my work on dynamical systems
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for stochastic processes, combinatorics, and "pre"-analysis classes, Grader for real analysis
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: So far I have finished 7 graduate mathematics courses (Analysis (I,II), ODE, Differentiable Manifolds, Theory of Probability, Stochastic Analysis, and Modern Discrete Probability) and 4 graduate economics courses (Not sure if they are counted lol). Two of my recommendation writers are pretty famous at least in their fields. One of them is my research mentor for my work in dynamical systems, and he said that I am the best student he has ever had.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: At first I thought I would just apply to economics programs, but I just became interested in probability theory after I participated in REU at U. Chicago. So I decided to apply to both Ph.D. programs in mathematics and economics

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) (only math programs)

MIT
Courant
U. Chicago - Accepted! (Unofficial email 12/23; Official letter in the portal 1/8)
CMU (ACO Program)
U. Michigan--Ann Arbor
U. Texas at Austin
Duke (Invited to interview 1/22)
U. Wisconsin-Madison

[sallysellsseashells]

Undergrad Institution: small/medium private on the east coast
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
Minor(s): Data Science & Analytics, Environmental Science
GPA: Major: 3.98 ; Math Courses: 4.0
Type of Student: Female, White, Domestic

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 161 (75%)
V: 158 (79%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
(since it wasn't mandatory for a lot of mine because of covid, I only submitted where necessary or to where I thought it would help)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
canceled:(

Program Applying: Mostly Applied Math and some Computational Engineering/Mathematics/Biology (interdisciplinary types)

Research Experience: three main research experiences, one in hydrology/environmental engineering, one in mathematical epidemiology, and one in computational mathematics (summer research experience at UT Austin, continued through the semester) - presented at 2 conferences, 2 posters, honors thesis on the way.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: An early math research promise award, graduating with honors in the major (presentation stuff), merit scholarships, stuff like that.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Lead Tutor of the Math Lab at my college (I tutor a whole slew of math courses and manage/train 5 other tutors), President of Math Club, Vice President of Student Chapter of AWM.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I know my letters of recs are top tier. (one of them told me I was like the granddaughter he never had lmao). I asked more than the required amount so I had 4 options from close professors at my college and then 1 was my research supervisor at UT Austin who was super awesome (Since I had more than 3 in my pool I chose which profs to request for each school based one who I thought each grad school would like better). I'm also really into teaching and did a lot during covid to provide online math tutoring. I'm hoping to get TAships.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I've taken basically all of the upperlevel math courses my school has offered and have a 4.0 in math, but it is definitely still probably not as broad in the pure math as some other bigger schools. I also started as an environmental science major so I have all these random science classes which hopefully helps with my applications to the interdisciplinary schools. My research experience also spans a large variety of fields which I definitely focused on in my app. I also emailed professors at almost every school I applied to and basically just said that I thought their research was awesome, looked forward to meeting them in the future, and was excited to submit my app. I got a lot of nice replies saying they would look out for my application (they maybe just replied to assuage fears and depression though LOL)

Applying to Where: (all PhD programs)

Convinced to apply to these (it will be fun to get rejected from Stanford for a third time!)
Stanford University (Computational and Mathematical Engineering) - submitted
USC (Computational Biology and Bioinformatics) - submitted - 1/13/2021: invited to their interview day which is on Jan 29.
Stony Brook (Applied Mathematics) -submitted - 1/15/2021: invited to interview with the GPD on 1/20/2020.

Reach/Dream Schools:
CU Boulder (Applied Mathematics) - submitted
UT Austin - Oden Institute (Computational Engineering, Science and Mathematics) - submitted
University of Utah (Pure Mathematics) - submitted
UC Davis (Applied Mathematics) - submitted

Match:
Colorado School of Mines (Computational and Applied Mathematics) - submitted
Arizona State University (Applied Mathematics) - Admitted 12/16 - no funding information yet
University of Arizona (Applied Mathematics) - submitted
Claremont Graduate University (Pure Mathematics) - Admitted on 12/14 over the phone - I was told offer includes fellowship ; on 1/8 got an email saying the fellowship offer is $18k for 12 units enrolled towards tuition each semester (this is about 80%) ; official offer from admissions coming soon. Pretty sure stipends from Research Assistantships are a different thing? If not, I cannot survive in LA on this haha

I'm seeing others on here also got in to ASU so congrats!! I probably won't go unless I have sufficient funding, so not feeling much relief quite yet.

[Hallauer]

Undergrad Institution: Top 40 in USA for Math and Overall
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): CS
GPA: 4.00/4.00
Type of Student: Domestic White Male (DWM)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 850 (86%)

TOEFL Score: NA

Program Applying: Math PhD unless noted, focusing on Combinatorics/Algebraic Combinatorics/Theoretical CS depending on school

Research Experience: 2 REUs and 1 Math Internship. Resulted in one paper published in lower-tier journal, one paper on arxiv/under review at average journal, final report thing at the internship, and lots of conferences. Continuing to research with prof from one REU.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Top 500 Putnam, Honors in Budapest, Undergraduate scholarship, Normal GPA stuff
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math TA during senior year, math club
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: 7 math grad classes by graduation, 3 fellowship applications
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My rec letters are from the REUs+internship and I'm sure they say nice stuff. That said, my writers aren't super famous or anything.

Applying to Where:
Reach
MIT -
Stanford -
Princeton -
UC Berkeley -
Cornell -

Match
Carnegie Mellon (ACO PhD via Math) -
Illinois (UIUC) -
Georgia Tech (ACO PhD via Math) -
UC San Diego (UCSD) -
Washington (UW) -
Rutgers -

Safer (not 100% safe)
UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) (CS PhD) -
UC Davis -
Illinois at Chicago (UIC) -
Colorado (CU Boulder) -
Northeastern -

Fellowships
NSF GRFP -
DoD NDSEG -
DoE CSGF -

[d17gl57]

Undergrad Institution: Pretty good US Private, top 10-20 in math.
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Could get minor in physics but not sure whether it is worth it.
GPA:3.8-3.9
Type of Student: International boy.

GRE Revised General Test:
Did not bother.
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Would have bothered but, well... Kinda sucks, would have gotten full score.

TOEFL Score: Not required, thanks to undergrad in US.

Program Applying: PhD in pure math. Geometry and Dynamics + Symplectic Geometry. Hope to be able to work on the intersection of the fields.

Research Experience: Not much. Independent study one semester, maybe one more with possible senior thesis. **** Covid, weakest part of my app.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Standard dean stuff, few top 300 scores on Putnam, IMC first prize once, gold in national Olympiad from high school.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutoring in the department for 2 years.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: 7 grad classes for now, could be more. Able to code (internship/etc.). Should be decent letter or two, quite known and respected recommenders.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: All PhD in math.

Pure donations:
MIT
Princeton
Columbia (If I get sober before Jan 14th and actually submit)

Donations with a chance for fit:
UC Berkeley
UChicago
Home School
UPenn (Top realistic choice)

Match in terms of stuff I want to do:
UToronto
Penn State
Northwestern
Stony Brook

No real safety schools - if I’m not in, I’ll get a job and actually do something useful. Or do drugs and play poker (used to do it pretty professionally) - better then spending 5 years in a place I don’t like.

Good luck y’all!

[riemmanmath]

Undergrad Institution: Top 3 UK (Not too hard to guess).
Major(s): Mathematics-3 years. Doing a Master at the same uni.
Grades:Top 10% at my uni. Top 5% in my last year.
Type of Student: International.

GRE Revised General Test:
N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
N/A. Thankful that most unis waived it, I hate tese kind of tests.
TOEFL Score: Not required, undergrad in UK.

Program Applying: PhD in pure math. Number Theory and Algebraic Geometry.

Research Experience: Two months during summer 2019, published a paper in a low tier journal. However the topic is no longer of my interest.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Got a grant for the above research, standard academic awards at my uni, IMO participation back in high school.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I wrote mini-thesis (Weil Conjectures) last year, and got a 90% grade for it.
My main reference is somewhat well-known (my advisor for the mini-thesis), he was the cohead of the number theory department at my uni. The second reference is a prof at my uni and the grader for said mini-thesis. The last one is a young postdoc (PhD at Harvard under a very famous mathematician) and my current advisor for my master's thesis.


Applying to Where: All PhD in math.

Applications in the US in my perceived order of how hard are they to get in:
Harvard
Princeton
MIT
UChicago
Stanford
UC Berkeley
UMichigan

UK applications for what is worth
Cambridge Interview on 27/01
Warwick
LSGNT
Oxford

Rogue application - My advisor is really keen on Peter Scholze
Bonn Rejected 25/01

I prefer US programmes, except for the LSGNT, which is similar to US grad school. No safety school in the US, so I only expect a modest acceptance rate there, but I would be very happy if I get in any of them. Two of the UK ones I would consider them safety. One of them is my current uni and they like to take their own students, the other one is where my recommender is working now, and I am applying to be his student.

[lia.lee]

Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts College
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.98 overall 4.00 major
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Female

GRE Revised General Test: N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A

Program Applying: Mathematics/Applied Mathematics

Research Experience: 4 years of undergraduate research in mathematics. Two years of physics research.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: One national scholarship and local scholarships.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutoring in mathematics and TA for class too.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Graduate classes and good letters.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Yale
Harvard
Princeton
MIT - ADMITTED ~ research fellowship for first two years. Full funding.
Cornell
Minnesota
OSU - ADMITTED ~ $21K stipend and summer funding
Washington

[UniformlyDivergent]

I was homeschooled through highschool

Same here! Also relate to the family struggles, perhaps not an uncommon symptom of homeschooling.

I also wrote all of my documents in LaTeX, for style points.

OMG why did I not think of this! Good luck, fellow UCB and UCSB applicant

Greetings fellow homeschooler! I definitely feel like it's a trend for sure. I hope you make it into your top pick. If there's anything I can do to help, hit me up.

[themathgeek]

(deleted)

[crystal_math]

(quitting due to toxic forum and entitled people)

You're the toxic *** ****. **** you

[sean_k]

Undergrad Institution: Private research; top 50
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.9x / 4.0, Math GPA: 3.9x / 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 164 (83%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 5.0 (92%)


TOEFL Score:
N/A

Program Applying:
Pure Math (Geometry/topology)

Research Experience:
One summer research internship in quantitative finance, nothing to show for it. Junior summer at well-known REU, a few papers still in preparation, but no publications at this point.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Full merit scholarship to university, nominated for Goldwater, junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa, and some departmental awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Graded, tutored (paid and volunteer), and TA’d throughout undergrad. I'm on the executive board of my school's math society.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Took all the first-year core graduate courses and several graduate topics courses and reading courses specifically in geometry/topology. My university isn’t ranked, and the PhD program is relatively new, but it does have a reputation for the strength of its faculty in geometry/topology; I’m hoping this overcomes the general lack of prestige. Expecting strong letters (isn’t that the standard?): the first writer was my REU supervisor; the second I took an undergrad elective with, is advising my senior thesis, and I currently TA and grade for; and the third I took a first-year graduate class and a reading course with. All of them are full professors and pretty well-known in the field.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Applied for the NSF GRFP and a Fulbright, and listed this information when applications asked about fellowships I applied to. Yale’s the only school I’m applying to that requires the general GRE, and I'm not sending the scores elsewhere.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Brown
Caltech
Cambridge Part III
Columbia
Cornell
Duke invited to interview 1/18
Georgia Tech
Harvard
MIT
Princeton
Rice
Stanford
U Chicago
U Michigan
U Penn
UC Berkeley
UC Los Angeles
UC Santa Barbara
UT Austin
Yale

Could you share any detail about the interview invite, e.g. what is it about and who contacted you? Thank you!

[reluctantforumuser]

Undergrad Institution: Private research; top 50
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.9x / 4.0, Math GPA: 3.9x / 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 164 (83%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 5.0 (92%)


TOEFL Score:
N/A

Program Applying:
Pure Math (Geometry/topology)

Research Experience:
One summer research internship in quantitative finance, nothing to show for it. Junior summer at well-known REU, a few papers still in preparation, but no publications at this point.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Full merit scholarship to university, nominated for Goldwater, junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa, and some departmental awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Graded, tutored (paid and volunteer), and TA’d throughout undergrad. I'm on the executive board of my school's math society.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Took all the first-year core graduate courses and several graduate topics courses and reading courses specifically in geometry/topology. My university isn’t ranked, and the PhD program is relatively new, but it does have a reputation for the strength of its faculty in geometry/topology; I’m hoping this overcomes the general lack of prestige. Expecting strong letters (isn’t that the standard?): the first writer was my REU supervisor; the second I took an undergrad elective with, is advising my senior thesis, and I currently TA and grade for; and the third I took a first-year graduate class and a reading course with. All of them are full professors and pretty well-known in the field.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Applied for the NSF GRFP and a Fulbright, and listed this information when applications asked about fellowships I applied to. Yale’s the only school I’m applying to that requires the general GRE, and I'm not sending the scores elsewhere.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Brown
Caltech
Cambridge Part III
Columbia
Cornell
Duke invited to interview 1/18
Georgia Tech
Harvard
MIT
Princeton
Rice
Stanford
U Chicago
U Michigan
U Penn
UC Berkeley
UC Los Angeles
UC Santa Barbara
UT Austin
Yale

Could you share any detail about the interview invite, e.g. what is it about and who contacted you? Thank you!

I was contacted by the director of graduate studies. When I showed up, it was the director, together with the two professors I mentioned in my SOP. They asked me to go over my research from my REU from this past summer (which I reviewed before the interview) and asked me a few questions about it. It was totally casual. The questions were curious rather than quizzing, so felt comfortable replying "I don't know much about that..." After 15 minutes, they asked if I had any questions for them. I had a few prepared, and I asked for grad students I could get in touch with. My hunch is that the adcom was already interested in admitting me based on my online app, that the interview was to screen for sociopathy and/or to recruit, but *I'm inferring* that they're waiting to know their full funding information before making offers. They didn't say anything explicit about an offer, so who knows. Hope that this helps!

[blue_math]

Undergrad Institution: Private research; top 50
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.9x / 4.0, Math GPA: 3.9x / 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 164 (83%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 5.0 (92%)


TOEFL Score:
N/A

Program Applying:
Pure Math (Geometry/topology)

Research Experience:
One summer research internship in quantitative finance, nothing to show for it. Junior summer at well-known REU, a few papers still in preparation, but no publications at this point.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Full merit scholarship to university, nominated for Goldwater, junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa, and some departmental awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Graded, tutored (paid and volunteer), and TA’d throughout undergrad. I'm on the executive board of my school's math society.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Took all the first-year core graduate courses and several graduate topics courses and reading courses specifically in geometry/topology. My university isn’t ranked, and the PhD program is relatively new, but it does have a reputation for the strength of its faculty in geometry/topology; I’m hoping this overcomes the general lack of prestige. Expecting strong letters (isn’t that the standard?): the first writer was my REU supervisor; the second I took an undergrad elective with, is advising my senior thesis, and I currently TA and grade for; and the third I took a first-year graduate class and a reading course with. All of them are full professors and pretty well-known in the field.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Applied for the NSF GRFP and a Fulbright, and listed this information when applications asked about fellowships I applied to. Yale’s the only school I’m applying to that requires the general GRE, and I'm not sending the scores elsewhere.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Brown
Caltech
Cambridge Part III
Columbia
Cornell
Duke invited to interview 1/18
Georgia Tech
Harvard
MIT
Princeton
Rice
Stanford
U Chicago
U Michigan
U Penn
UC Berkeley
UC Los Angeles
UC Santa Barbara
UT Austin
Yale

Could you share any detail about the interview invite, e.g. what is it about and who contacted you? Thank you!

I was contacted by the director of graduate studies. When I showed up, it was the director, together with the two professors I mentioned in my SOP. They asked me to go over my research from my REU from this past summer (which I reviewed before the interview) and asked me a few questions about it. It was totally casual. The questions were curious rather than quizzing, so felt comfortable replying "I don't know much about that..." After 15 minutes, they asked if I had any questions for them. I had a few prepared, and I asked for grad students I could get in touch with. My hunch is that the adcom was already interested in admitting me based on my online app, that the interview was to screen for sociopathy and/or to recruit, but *I'm inferring* that they're waiting to know their full funding information before making offers. They didn't say anything explicit about an offer, so who knows. Hope that this helps!

Any chance they mentioned whether or not they expected to generally send out decisions soon?

[reluctantforumuser]

Could you share any detail about the interview invite, e.g. what is it about and who contacted you? Thank you!

I was contacted by the director of graduate studies. When I showed up, it was the director, together with the two professors I mentioned in my SOP. They asked me to go over my research from my REU from this past summer (which I reviewed before the interview) and asked me a few questions about it. It was totally casual. The questions were curious rather than quizzing, so felt comfortable replying "I don't know much about that..." After 15 minutes, they asked if I had any questions for them. I had a few prepared, and I asked for grad students I could get in touch with. My hunch is that the adcom was already interested in admitting me based on my online app, that the interview was to screen for sociopathy and/or to recruit, but *I'm inferring* that they're waiting to know their full funding information before making offers. They didn't say anything explicit about an offer, so who knows. Hope that this helps!

Any chance they mentioned whether or not they expected to generally send out decisions soon?

I asked the POI, and they said decisions probably won't come for a few weeks, and that there are still many files for the adcom to look through. I have no idea what the apply/interview/admit ratio is. In any case, my intention with posting here is to provide users of this forum with as much information as possible for their benefit. Usually it would go without saying, but recent posts on here have challenged this basic fact: we are all in the math community together. This field is hard enough already, and absolutely more so for URM and women. The point of this forum is always to help each other out.

[solmaffs]

Undergrad Institution: Small Public Engineering College, USA
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.76/4.0 Undergrad, 4.0/4.0 Masters
Type of Student: Domestic White Female
GRE General & Subject Test: N/A (Taken in undergrad, not submitted with applications)

Program Applying: Pure Math (Combinatorics, Commutative Algebra, Number Theory)

Research Experience: Undergraduate research project (1 paper, 2 conference talks), Master's thesis (in progress)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Undergraduate research awards, Graduate teaching awards.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Instructor of Record for 3+ semesters, TA and Grader for several others.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Second time through the PhD application cycle... last time I applied to 6 and was rejected from 5, accepted at home institution. Hoping this time goes better!

Applying to Where:

Reach
Illinois - UIUC - Pending
MIT - Pending
Rutgers - ADMITTED(1/20) - Unofficial, letter to come soon. Full funding.
Washington - Pending
Wisconsin - Madison - Pending

Match-ish
CUNY - Pending
Florida - Pending
Minnesota - Pending
Oregon - Pending
Penn State - Pending
Purdue - Pending
UGA - Pending
Vanderbilt - Pending
Virginia - Pending

[sean_k]

Undergrad Institution: University of California
Major(s): Pure Math
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 3.8 (Math 3.9)
Type of Student: Domestic (US Citizen) Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: RIP

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (Geometry)

Research Experience: Two summer projects at home institution (individually with professors). No publications.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Received a highly selective department award (one of three recipients). Math departmental honors. Dean's List every term. Top 500 in Putnam a few times. UC Regents Scholar.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math teaching experience through local math circle.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Passed the department's graduate qualifying exam after freshman year. Took more grad than undergrad math classes. Graduating with Master's degree.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A

Applying to Where: (Ordered by deadline since I was too lazy to reorganize)
UChicago (pending 11/27/20)
USC (pending 11/27/20)
Duke (invited to brief interview 1/18)
Stanford (pending 11/27/20)
Harvard (pending 11/27/20)
MIT (pending 11/27/20)
Princeton (pending 11/27/20)
Berkeley (pending 11/27/20)
UCLA (admitted 1/21)
Caltech (pending 11/27/20)
Michigan (pending 11/27/20)
Northwestern (pending 11/27/20)
Yale (pending 11/27/20)
UT Austin (pending 11/27/20)
WashU (pending 11/27/20)
Georgia Tech (pending 11/27/20)
Stony Brook (pending 11/27/20)
Cornell (pending 11/27/20)
NYU (pending 11/27/20)
Boston University (pending 11/27/20)
Rice (pending 11/27/20)
Notre Dame (pending 11/27/20)
UCSD (pending 11/27/20)

Do you mind if I ask how were you notified the decision from UCLA? Has your portal changed?

[loewner]

Undergrad Institution: Indian, relatively unknown
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Not a minor, but a few courses in CS
GPA: 3.90/4.0 Math GPA: 3.98/4.0
Type of Student: Male, US citizen, but studying in India

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 167 (89%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Could not take

TOEFL Score: 114

Program Applying: Mathematics (interested in analysis and applied math)
Research Experience: A few projects, no publications, working on a senior thesis, written a few expository articles on some recent research
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A few national level honors and scholarships, and deans list type stuff
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for two semesters (Complex Analysis and Differential Geometry), tutor at my university math helpdesk.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I know my recommenders quite well, but am unsure of the quality of the recommendations. They are well connected within India, but not sure about their international recognition. I have not taken any graduate level courses but have taken courses that are of an advanced level offered at my institution such as Measure Theory, Algebraic Topology, Functional Analysis, Fourier Analysis, Operator Theory, Complex Dynamics, Wavelet Analysis, Advanced Algorithms and have studied graduate level Matrix Analysis in depth.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
PhD programs:
UC Berkeley -
UCLA -
Yale -
NYU -
UT Austin -
UIUC -
Rutgers
Texas A&M
UC Davis
U Minnesota
U Washington
Georgia Tech

Masters

Berlin Mathematical School (Phase 1) - Invited to interview 21/1
Bonn Accepted 26/1
TU Munich
ETH Zurich

[CategorifiedCat]

Undergrad Institution: Ivy,( with math PhD program among top 10 )
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): many courses in literature, not counted as a minor due to bureaucracy.
GPA: 3.8
Type of Student: International Asian Female

GRE Revised General Test:
N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
N/A


Program Applying: Pure Math PhD

Research Experience: REU two times, have a publication under review and a survey article.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Standard ones ( Dean's list, honors etc.)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TAed a few times
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Female. Two famous recommenders, one of them is a Fields medalist .
Many grad-level/ research level courses taken. Co-organizing reading group on research-level math.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Statement of Purpose discussing in detail of recent research work in progress.
Pending external funding.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Duke interviewed on Jan 18th
UWaterloo unofficially admitted
MIT unofficially rejected on Jan 22ed when I emailed to ask if I am on the shortlist. SAD

[anonymousanalyst]

Do you mind if I ask how were you notified the decision from UCLA? Has your portal changed?

I've edited my post to reflect it better, but I was notified by email from the graduate director (Professor Wilfrid Gangbo); my portal has not changed.

[blue_math]

Undergrad Institution: Ivy,( with math PhD program among top 10 )
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): many courses in literature, not counted as a minor due to bureaucracy.
GPA: 3.8
Type of Student: International Asian Female

GRE Revised General Test:
N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
N/A


Program Applying: Pure Math PhD

Research Experience: REU two times, have a publication under review and a survey article.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Standard ones ( Dean's list, honors etc.)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TAed a few times
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Female. Two famous recommenders, one of them is a Fields medalist .
Many grad-level/ research level courses taken. Co-organizing reading group on research-level math.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Statement of Purpose discussing in detail of recent research work in progress.
Pending external funding.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Duke interviewed on Jan 18th
UWaterloo unofficially admitted
MIT unofficially rejected on Jan 22ed when I emailed to ask if I am on the shortlist. SAD

Could I ask how your interview went? Was it formal or informal?

[sean_k]

Undergrad Institution: Ivy,( with math PhD program among top 10 )
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): many courses in literature, not counted as a minor due to bureaucracy.
GPA: 3.8
Type of Student: International Asian Female

GRE Revised General Test:
N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
N/A


Program Applying: Pure Math PhD

Research Experience: REU two times, have a publication under review and a survey article.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Standard ones ( Dean's list, honors etc.)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TAed a few times
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Female. Two famous recommenders, one of them is a Fields medalist .
Many grad-level/ research level courses taken. Co-organizing reading group on research-level math.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Statement of Purpose discussing in detail of recent research work in progress.
Pending external funding.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Duke interviewed on Jan 18th
UWaterloo unofficially admitted
MIT unofficially rejected on Jan 22ed when I emailed to ask if I am on the shortlist. SAD

which professor did you contact?

[CategorifiedCat]

MIT unofficially rejected on Jan 22ed when I emailed to ask if I am on the shortlist. SAD

which professor did you contact?

I contacted their DGS, per UWaterloo's request of wanting to know my chances at more prestigious programs before giving me an offer.

[CategorifiedCat]

ne of them is a Fields medalist .

Duke interviewed on Jan 18th

Could I ask how your interview went? Was it formal or informal?

Just as someone described earlier, we were invited for an interview on the 18th, with time slots to choose later in the week. The interview is 30 mins long. Kind of chill. They asked me about the research I am doing, and asked me a few questions along the way. Then, they asked me to ask more about the program/ school/ teaching etc.

[sean_k]

MIT unofficially rejected on Jan 22ed when I emailed to ask if I am on the shortlist. SAD

which professor did you contact?

I contacted their DGS, per UWaterloo's request of wanting to know my chances at more prestigious programs before giving me an offer.

Yeah I mean who is their DGS this year?

[SSLyn34]

which professor did you contact?

I contacted their DGS, per UWaterloo's request of wanting to know my chances at more prestigious programs before giving me an offer.

Yeah I mean who is their DGS this year?

Curious to know too!

[chuuuby]

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Public US
Major(s): Mathematics and Economics
Minor(s): CS
GPA: 4.00
Type of Student: International, Asian, Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (95%)
V: 157 (75%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: -

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Math Ph.D. (Probability and discrete math)

Research Experience: (Seems weird because I have done in math and econ)

• Two years of research in dynamical systems (1 working paper & 1 in-progress and presented in AMS sectional meeting and symposium at my own university)

• One year of independent research in graph theory (1 working paper on arXiv)

• One year of research in matching theory in economic theory (1 working paper, 1 in-progress, and senior thesis)

• (Not research but summer experience) PCMI and REU at U. Chicago (1 expository paper on diffusion processes with some new results)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Three Putnam HMs (Top 40 in the first two years), Three IMO Silver medals, Government Scholarship, 2x best math major at my university, Research fellowship for my work on dynamical systems
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for stochastic processes, combinatorics, and "pre"-analysis classes, Grader for real analysis
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: So far I have finished 7 graduate mathematics courses (Analysis (I,II), ODE, Differentiable Manifolds, Theory of Probability, Stochastic Analysis, and Modern Discrete Probability) and 4 graduate economics courses (Not sure if they are counted lol). Two of my recommendation writers are pretty famous at least in their fields. One of them is my research mentor for my work in dynamical systems, and he said that I am the best student he has ever had.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: At first I thought I would just apply to economics programs, but I just became interested in probability theory after I participated in REU at U. Chicago. So I decided to apply to both Ph.D. programs in mathematics and economics

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) (only math programs)

MIT
Courant
U. Chicago - Accepted! (Unofficial email 12/23; Official letter in the portal 1/8)
CMU (ACO Program)
U. Michigan--Ann Arbor
U. Texas at Austin
Duke (Invited to interview 1/22)
U. Wisconsin-Madison

Have you taken the interview yet? If so, would you mind sharing the details and questions in the interview?

[woeinorwin]

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Public US
Major(s): Mathematics and Economics
Minor(s): CS
GPA: 4.00
Type of Student: International, Asian, Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (95%)
V: 157 (75%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: -

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Math Ph.D. (Probability and discrete math)

Research Experience: (Seems weird because I have done in math and econ)

• Two years of research in dynamical systems (1 working paper & 1 in-progress and presented in AMS sectional meeting and symposium at my own university)

• One year of independent research in graph theory (1 working paper on arXiv)

• One year of research in matching theory in economic theory (1 working paper, 1 in-progress, and senior thesis)

• (Not research but summer experience) PCMI and REU at U. Chicago (1 expository paper on diffusion processes with some new results)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Three Putnam HMs (Top 40 in the first two years), Three IMO Silver medals, Government Scholarship, 2x best math major at my university, Research fellowship for my work on dynamical systems
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for stochastic processes, combinatorics, and "pre"-analysis classes, Grader for real analysis
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: So far I have finished 7 graduate mathematics courses (Analysis (I,II), ODE, Differentiable Manifolds, Theory of Probability, Stochastic Analysis, and Modern Discrete Probability) and 4 graduate economics courses (Not sure if they are counted lol). Two of my recommendation writers are pretty famous at least in their fields. One of them is my research mentor for my work in dynamical systems, and he said that I am the best student he has ever had.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: At first I thought I would just apply to economics programs, but I just became interested in probability theory after I participated in REU at U. Chicago. So I decided to apply to both Ph.D. programs in mathematics and economics

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) (only math programs)

MIT
Courant
U. Chicago - Accepted! (Unofficial email 12/23; Official letter in the portal 1/8)
CMU (ACO Program)
U. Michigan--Ann Arbor
U. Texas at Austin
Duke (Invited to interview 1/22)
U. Wisconsin-Madison

Have you taken the interview yet? If so, would you mind sharing the details and questions in the interview?

I will have the interview tomorrow. I will let you know again after finishing the interview!

[blue_math]

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Public US
Major(s): Mathematics and Economics
Minor(s): CS
GPA: 4.00
Type of Student: International, Asian, Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (95%)
V: 157 (75%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: -

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Math Ph.D. (Probability and discrete math)

Research Experience: (Seems weird because I have done in math and econ)

• Two years of research in dynamical systems (1 working paper & 1 in-progress and presented in AMS sectional meeting and symposium at my own university)

• One year of independent research in graph theory (1 working paper on arXiv)

• One year of research in matching theory in economic theory (1 working paper, 1 in-progress, and senior thesis)

• (Not research but summer experience) PCMI and REU at U. Chicago (1 expository paper on diffusion processes with some new results)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Three Putnam HMs (Top 40 in the first two years), Three IMO Silver medals, Government Scholarship, 2x best math major at my university, Research fellowship for my work on dynamical systems
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for stochastic processes, combinatorics, and "pre"-analysis classes, Grader for real analysis
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: So far I have finished 7 graduate mathematics courses (Analysis (I,II), ODE, Differentiable Manifolds, Theory of Probability, Stochastic Analysis, and Modern Discrete Probability) and 4 graduate economics courses (Not sure if they are counted lol). Two of my recommendation writers are pretty famous at least in their fields. One of them is my research mentor for my work in dynamical systems, and he said that I am the best student he has ever had.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: At first I thought I would just apply to economics programs, but I just became interested in probability theory after I participated in REU at U. Chicago. So I decided to apply to both Ph.D. programs in mathematics and economics

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) (only math programs)

MIT
Courant
U. Chicago - Accepted! (Unofficial email 12/23; Official letter in the portal 1/8)
CMU (ACO Program)
U. Michigan--Ann Arbor
U. Texas at Austin
Duke (Invited to interview 1/22)
U. Wisconsin-Madison

Have you taken the interview yet? If so, would you mind sharing the details and questions in the interview?

I will have the interview tomorrow. I will let you know again after finishing the interview!

Good luck!

[chuuuby]

Undergrad Institution: Top 20 Public US
Major(s): Mathematics and Economics
Minor(s): CS
GPA: 4.00
Type of Student: International, Asian, Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (95%)
V: 157 (75%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: -

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Math Ph.D. (Probability and discrete math)

Research Experience: (Seems weird because I have done in math and econ)

• Two years of research in dynamical systems (1 working paper & 1 in-progress and presented in AMS sectional meeting and symposium at my own university)

• One year of independent research in graph theory (1 working paper on arXiv)

• One year of research in matching theory in economic theory (1 working paper, 1 in-progress, and senior thesis)

• (Not research but summer experience) PCMI and REU at U. Chicago (1 expository paper on diffusion processes with some new results)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Three Putnam HMs (Top 40 in the first two years), Three IMO Silver medals, Government Scholarship, 2x best math major at my university, Research fellowship for my work on dynamical systems
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for stochastic processes, combinatorics, and "pre"-analysis classes, Grader for real analysis
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: So far I have finished 7 graduate mathematics courses (Analysis (I,II), ODE, Differentiable Manifolds, Theory of Probability, Stochastic Analysis, and Modern Discrete Probability) and 4 graduate economics courses (Not sure if they are counted lol). Two of my recommendation writers are pretty famous at least in their fields. One of them is my research mentor for my work in dynamical systems, and he said that I am the best student he has ever had.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: At first I thought I would just apply to economics programs, but I just became interested in probability theory after I participated in REU at U. Chicago. So I decided to apply to both Ph.D. programs in mathematics and economics

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) (only math programs)

MIT
Courant
U. Chicago - Accepted! (Unofficial email 12/23; Official letter in the portal 1/8)
CMU (ACO Program)
U. Michigan--Ann Arbor
U. Texas at Austin
Duke (Invited to interview 1/22)
U. Wisconsin-Madison

Have you taken the interview yet? If so, would you mind sharing the details and questions in the interview?

I will have the interview tomorrow. I will let you know again after finishing the interview!

Thank you! Would appreciate any updates!

[woeinorwin]

Have you taken the interview yet? If so, would you mind sharing the details and questions in the interview?

I will have the interview tomorrow. I will let you know again after finishing the interview!

Thank you! Would appreciate any updates!

Prof. Durrett interviewed me yesterday. The interview was informal. In the first ten minutes, I was asked to explain my research experience (also what method I used to conclude the result) and my area of interest in probability. After that, we just had some talk about the math program at Duke and how Durham looked like. I would say that the interview was not intense at all. I just got the e-mail from him saying that "We had our admissions meeting (for probability group) today, but we will not be able to make any offers until the end of February. If the number of offers we area allowed to make does not change then you will be admitted.

[sean_k]

I will have the interview tomorrow. I will let you know again after finishing the interview!

Thank you! Would appreciate any updates!

Prof. Durrett interviewed me yesterday. The interview was informal. In the first ten minutes, I was asked to explain my research experience (also what method I used to conclude the result) and my area of interest in probability. After that, we just had some talk about the math program at Duke and how Durham looked like. I would say that the interview was not intense at all. I just got the e-mail from him saying that "We had our admissions meeting (for probability group) today, but we will not be able to make any offers until the end of February. If the number of offers we area allowed to make does not change then you will be admitted.

Thank you so much for providing these details! Also congratulations on "presumably" getting the offer! By the way, do you prefer Uchicago or Duke?

[epsilon.0]

Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school (such as Big state/Lib Arts/Ivy/Technical/Foreign (Country?))
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): German, Physics
GPA: 3.3
Type of Student: (Domestic, Male, ME)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: xxx (xx%)
V: xxx (xx%)
W: x.x (xx%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)

Program Applying: (Pure Math, Algebra, Groups of the Lie type (and similar fields))

Research Experience: (Combinatorics Research at University with Professor)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Tutor)
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: (4 Grad classes)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Severe Extraneous Circumstances Affecting Fall GPA (graduated in 2 years, so large effect on GPA, 3.8 Before)

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Davis - Pending
UCSC - Pending
Utah - Pending
Boulder - Pending
Oregon - Pending
UMASS - Pending
UVA - Pending
UVT - Pending
Syracuse - Pending
Dartmouth - Pending
Hawaii - Pending

[phdapplicant100]

Undergrad Institution: Foreign Indian Research Institute - Integrated BS-MS Program
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 9.52/10
Type of Student: International Female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 4.5
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Cancelled

TOEFL Score: (113 = R30/L30/S27/W26)

Program Applying: Applied Math or Math depending on university

Research Experience: 1 somewhat prestigious Indian internship during undergrad which was just a reading project. DAAD-WISE Fellowship to study in Germany with a famous faculty in my field who is also one of my recommenders. 4 month minor project in computational biology. One year masters thesis in my field.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: DAAD-WISE, INSPIRE Fellowship which funded my studies, Indian Academy of Sciences' Summer Research Fellowship, and Australian National University's Future Research Talent Award (could not take up due to pandemic).
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Have participated in my institute's outreach activities to teach school students but other than that, not much teaching experience.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Female, I expect my masters' thesis advisor's recommendation to stand out, and I have two recommenders who are renowned in my field.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Did two years of coursework in Physics and Chemistry in addition to my minor. Hopefully that will help. But I have in a few B+s in my transcript which I am worried about.

Applying to Where:
Brown - Applied Math
University of Maryland - AMSC
Purdue - Math
Texas A&M - Math
UC Davis - Applied Math - Admitted (unofficial)
University of Utah - Math
North Carolina State - Applied Math
Iowa State - Applied Math
Rensselaer (RPI) - Math

I hope this helps someone with a similar profile. Good luck to everyone!