2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[quanticbolt]

Undergrad Institution: Canadian (known for logic)
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Physics
GPA: 3.2 (oof)
Type of Student: Domestic minority (not white) female

Grad Institution: same as UG
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 3.99 (that's more like it!)
Type of Student: Domestic non-white female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 169
V: 161
W: 5.0
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: corona...

Program Applying: All pure math PhD in logic/CS theory

Research Experience: Several talks on a variety of topics from manifolds to logic; thesis is on a well-known (and difficult) topic (will likely be a survey paper)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several departmental awards; several provincial awards for demonstrated research potential; shortlisted for some national awards but forgot to submit my proposal on time... MSRI funded me to attend a conference...
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for three years for second and third year calculus course.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Not really; I get on well with my supervisors. My department likes me and thinks I show good promise. Minority/female brownie points I guess lol... Bit of an unconventional path to math. Have only seriously been working on math since I started my Master's.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Some scary grades in UG (I did explain this but hopefully my performance since fourth year of UG and heavy graduate coursework will offset this; long story short: dad had cancer and passed away). I work in a very niche field so the schools I could apply to were limited.

Applying to Where:
Waterloo - Pure Math | admitted (02/04); guaranteed funding for 4 years + potential for provincial and federal grants
Toronto - Math | pending
UChicago - joint Math/CS | rejected (no email, just checked portal); there goes one of the dreamies... oh well, can't say I'm surprised
CMU - Logic/Math | rejected via email to check portal; at least this one was free... not much luck with the States this year oh well...
Notre Dame - Math | rejected via email to check portal (02/26); not surprised as the research interests did not align at all

I only really applied to schools where supervisors were a good fit for my interests. I'm hopeful this will work in my favor but I guess I'll see. Toronto, Waterloo, and UChicago are dreams. If anyone wants to ask about my funding, feel free to PM me.

[j95]

Undergrad Institution: An university somewhere in the US
Major(s): Math
Minor(s):
GPA: 2.51 (oof)
Type of Student: Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q:
V:
W:
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Coronavirus

Program Applying: All schools focused on mathematical physics/Functional Analysis/PDEs

Research Experience: Did research with a physics professors on different solutions of the Schrodinger's equation/ REU on "Toeplitz Operators on Bergman Spaces"/ Presentations in two STEM symposiums about Mathematical Quantum Mechanics/ SAMSI (Statistical and Applied Mathematical Science Institute) Working Group member on "Phase Transitions and Algorithms"
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored Math/Physics at a Learning center in a community college for almost 2 years/ Fall 2020: I was a TA for Calc III/ Spring 2021: TA for Undergrad. Real Analysis I
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I had a really low GPA but I had some really good letters of rec. Several of letters of my rec. writers were well known applied mathematicians or physicists. I've also taken graduate classes in: Mathematical Physics/Measure Theoretic Probability Theory/Partial Differential Equations/Advanced Topics in Combinatorial Theory/Special Topics in Fluid Mechanics/Abstract Algebra/ Complex Analysis/ Quantum Mechanics/ Particle Physics and maybe more but this is what comes to my mind. I got a B or higher in all of these grad classes except Quantum Mechanics which I got a C. I got F in Calculus I & II, F in a programming course, and F in one other course.

Applying to Where: (With my GPA, nothing is safe!)

University of Memphis - Applied 01/15/2021 - Unofficially accepted 01/25/2021 (The committee sent me an email that they are willing to accept me with Teaching Assistantship as soon as they receive my official transcript. There were some problems sending my transcript) - Admitted 02/08/2021 with $17k stipend + tuition waiver

Baylor University - Applied 12/13/2020 - Waitlisted 01/25/2021 (I emailed them and the director emailed me back letting me know that I was waitlisted.)

Princeton University - Applied 12/14/2020 - Rejected 02/01/2021

University of Texas A&M - College Station - Applied 12/13/2020 - Waitlisted 02/04/2021 (I emailed them and the director emailed me that I was not chosen for the first round of offers but told me that I might have a good chance in the second round if they had one)

Southern Methodist University - Applied 12/13/2020 - Waitlisted 01/19/2021 (Emailed by the director of graduate studies. Told me by email that he will know about my chances around late February to early March.

Brown University - Applied 12/28/2020 - Pending

Indiana University - Bloomington - Applied 01/13/2021 - Pending

Indiana University - Purdue University - Applied 02/01/2021 - Interview on 02/16/2021 with the Graduate Director

University of Tennesse - Knoxville - Applied 01/13/2021 - Pending

RPI - Applied (don't remember the date) - Pending

University of Central Florida - Applied (don't remember the date) - Pending

Question for you guys: Should I apply to more universities or do you think is safe for me to stop at this point?

Also, is not impossible for low GPA students to get into a phD program!

[Dragonfly]

Has anybody news from PACM?

[Dragonfly]

Do you think the first results will arrive before the end of the week?

[Huangy20]

Would you mind me asking when did you interview with the stony brook?

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
Stanford University (Computational and Mathematical Engineering) - 2/5: Rejected no surprise here
USC (Computational Biology and Bioinformatics) - submitted - 1/13/2021: invited to their interview day which is on Jan 29.
Stony Brook (Applied Mathematics) - 1/29/2021: Officially Admitted! 30k TA-ship + tuition + health insurance stuff! Came a couple weeks after an interview with the GPD!

Reach/Dream Schools:
CU Boulder (Applied Mathematics) - submitted
UT Austin - Oden Institute (Computational Engineering, Science and Mathematics) - 2/6/2021: Admitted!!!! 35k Fellowship + tuition + health insurance stuff! So so excited!!

University of Utah (Pure Mathematics) - submitted
UC Davis (Applied Mathematics) - Unofficially admitted 1/25 - they said funding and official offer coming in two weeks!

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 - interview on 1/30
Claremont Graduate University (Pure Mathematics) - Admitted on 12/14 over the phone - 1/25 got the official offer from admissions. Partial funding meh

Only pretty good news so far!

[crystal_math]

Undergrad Institution: Public University in Michigan, with doctorate program
Major(s): Math
GPA: 3.31/4
Type of Student: Domestic Black Guy

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 156 (59%)
V: 153 (60%)
W: 4.0 (55%)

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Presented 3 posters and given a talk recently at a teleconference on mathematical modeling. Taken two classes in independent studies on numerical analysis and random matrix theory, currently working on a graduation project in matrix theory.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I've gotten several diversity scholarships to cover my undergraduate tuition. Also a departmental award (roughly adds up to 12k). I have gotten an award for one of my poster but that's only a recognition of sorts and didn't come with any monetary awards or trophy if you get me.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutor undergraduate in our tutoring lab, mostly calculus and algebra.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I participated in over 5 in-person conferences and gotten to know many people from around the country. I think some of the professors I've talked to during conferences definitely will remember me. Two of my letter writers know my for quite a while so I should have at least two very strong and personal letters.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I grew up in the hood in a poor family and lived off government assistances (i.e. SNAP, Medicaid, free lunch). My family consistently makes less than 30k and none of my family members have had a college degree. I have gotten fee waivers from all the schools that I am applying to due to low income and being a black male. I made a pretty strong point about being someone from a poor family and being black in America on my statement of purpose, hopefully it helps. I have not yet taken advanced calculus but I have taken one semester abstract algebra, most schools say I am fine and is eligible to apply.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) listed in order of application date
Virginia - Denied on (02.01.2021)
UChicago - Pending on (11.01.2020)
Michigan - Pending on (11.01.2020)
Princeton - Denied on (02.02.2021)
TAMU - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
Minnesota - Pending on (11.10.2020)
Ohio State - Accepted on (01.12.2021)
IU Bloomington - Accepted on (01.24.2021)
UIC - Accepted on (01.30.2021)
Northwestern - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
UIUC - Pending on (11.19.2020)
Michigan State - Accepted on (12.30.2020) with fellowship
MIT - Denied (02.05.2020)
UCLA - Pending on (12.02.2020)
Iowa State - Accepted on (02.02.2021)
UC Santa Barbara - Denied on (02.08.2020)
Penn State - Accepted on (01.22.2021)

Hey, how did you hear back from UC Santa Barbara?

[blue_math]

Hey, how did you hear back from UC Santa Barbara?

They sent out emails a few days go to check the portal/sent out financial offers earlier today/this week

[crystal_math]

Hey, how did you hear back from UC Santa Barbara?

They sent out emails a few days go to check the portal/sent out financial offers earlier today/this week

They sent out rejections too?

[m_k325]

Undergrad Institution: Top 30 Liberal Arts School
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): German
GPA: 3.69
Type of Student: Domestic female

GRE Revised General Test: Did not take.

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Did not take.

Program Applying: Math and Applied Math PhD and one applied/interdisciplinary math MS

Research Experience: One REU and two summer research internships. I was accepted into a SIBS program but it was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Applying to Where: (in no particular order)
CU Boulder - Applied Math PhD / Received email on 2/15 that my application is of "significant interest" but they are uncertain about the number of slot they will have for next year, 3/30 Admitted!! (With TA ship and small first yr fellowship)
U of Utah -PhD 2/20 waitlisted, email on 4/6 asking if I am still interested
U of Washington - Applied Math PhD/ Rejected from PhD but accepted into MS (no funding)
U of Tennessee, KN - Accepted into PhD program (with TA ship)
Cornell University -Rejected on 2/12
University of Vermont -2/19 offered "interview" . Interviewed on 2/21 2/23 Accepted into PhD program (funding TBD)
University of Michigan - AIM PhD , Rejected 3/31
University of Michigan - MLB MS, email on 4/6 asking if I am still interested
Duke - Rejected
Brown - Rejected on 2/22
Penn State - Rejected
SUNY Stony Brook 3/3 Accepted into PhD program (computational applied math track) but waitlisted for TA position
UC Davis waitlisted, interviewed 3/25, was told that I should receive acceptance letter next week! 3/26, 4/6 Admitted!!
Montana State University - Rejected from PhD but 2/22 Accepted into MS (funded w/ TA ship)
U of Idaho - Accepted into PhD program (with RA ship) )

[TheBlackMathGuy]

Undergrad Institution: Big Ten university
Major(s): Mathematics (Honors Track)
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 2.62 - Honors Math was rough.
(got a 3.51 in community college, though)

Type of Student: Domestic Black Male

GRE General Test: did not take due to COVID
GRE Math Subject Test: see above
Programs applying to: Master's & PhD programs, all in Pure Math. Particularly, schools strong in combinatorics, geometry & topology.
Research Experience: At my school, I've worked with two professors for nearly two years now on projects in topological & probabilistic combinatorics. Presented at 3 poster sessions, plan to present at 2 more this year. Currently writing a senior thesis. Making progress towards 2-3 papers to publish this year. Hopefully, my research experience will help offset my trash GPA.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Receive $150 scholarship every semester from Math Dept for completing honors math courses. Won a "Most Informative Poster" award at a research forum.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Extensive research experience, as mentioned earlier (my research gig is a paid position). Participant in Math Club and Math Outreach Club on campus. Tutored high school & college students in math classes. Attend math research seminars on campus just because. Student member of AMS, MAA, SIAM, NAM, and the Math Alliance.
Any other info that might show up on your application: I documented my 9-year journey through college that has had many twists & turns. I got kicked out of college originally for having a 1.1 GPA, but managed to get back in school after a 3-year absence. Went to community college, did well, got reinstated back at my original university and tried my best to repair a 1.1 GPA. Managed to pull that 1.1 up to a 2.6, which isn't great but is much better. Also found out I had ADHD and Autism after returning to school. Let's just say, my personal statement was DETAILED.


Schools I applied to: I applied to a lot. Figured I'd cast a wide net since my odds of getting in anywhere were pretty low (due to trash GPA).

ADMITTED REJECTED WAITLISTED OTHER (To Be Determined)

REACH
Washington (PhD) - Disappointed in this one, but not upset.
Minnesota-Twin Cities (PhD) - - ATTENDING!!!
Indiana (PhD) - Could not get off the waitlist. Apparently, some faculty worried I wouldn't pass the quals.
Georgia (PhD) - They pursued me HARD.

MATCH
Alabama (PhD) - Honestly surprised by this. I declined their waitlist offer.
Kentucky (PhD) - Never got off the waitlist. Got a rejection letter.
Iowa State (PhD) - Well, they decided not to admit me after all. SMH...
Nebraska (PhD) - Apparently they sent me an acceptance letter by mistake. FML...
Kansas (PhD) - Not upset. Wasn't hugely interested in them. They aren't admitting many students this year.
Colorado State (PhD) - They refused to review my application without GRE scores. I never took the GRE due to COVID. F***ing stupid.
Wake Forest (MS) - A bit surprised by this. Top-ranked private school for math.

SAFETY
Kent State (MS)
Miami University (MS) - We're in June and I STILL have yet to hear from them. Gonna take that as a rejection.
Missouri (MA)
Minnesota-Duluth (MS) - I withdrew the application a few weeks after receiving a funded PhD offer from Twin Cities campus.

[scaredmaths]

Undergrad Institution: Private university in Pennsylvania, not well known
Major(s): French, Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.58 out of 4.00 (Math 3.52)
Type of Student: Domestic White Female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 159 (69%), 163 (79%), 163 (80%)
V: 160 (85%), 159 (82%), 157 (75%)
W: 4.0 (57%), 4.5 (80%), 4.0 (57%)

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Cannot take due to human malware

TOEFL Score: Not Applicable

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Offered an undergraduate research scholarship for this summer but turned into an independent study class. Applied to this REU really close to home but was ghosted. Completing senior thesis in knot theory.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list almost every semester (except one summer semester), received 4 math departmental scholarships. Studied abroad in the UK for one semester, it wasn't any particular math study abroad program but just a regular study abroad.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored college algebra and precalculus in my department.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Took some semi-graduate courses, 2 of which (advanced calculus and modern algebra) is on my Fall 2020 transcript. They are technically not graduate classes but there're graduate students in the class and the course is set up where both undergraduates and graduates can register. Will have 4 of these classes (adv calc 1/2, modern algebra 1/2) by graduation assuming I don't drop the ball. Some departments specifically mentions adv calculus and modern algebra is a prerequisite to applying so that take cares of that.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: One of my professor is a semi-close friend of my mom - when in high school she invites her over for events and dinners. So I am expecting at least one very strong letter. I am also diagnosed with test anxiety under ADA, which might help with my lower GPA. Being female (under-represented minority) definitely helps my application. Also this year am the president of math club.

Applying to Where:

Donations
Berkeley, submitted Nov 12 rejected Jan 29
Chicago, submitted Nov 15
MIT, submitted Nov 15 rejected Feb 5
Princeton, submitted Nov 15 rejected Feb 2
Stanford, submitted Dec 1
UCLA, submitted Nov 12

Reach/Match(?)
Indiana Bloomington, submitted Dec 10, admitted Feb 1
Michigan, submitted Nov 15
Minnesota, submitted Nov 12
Ohio State, submitted Nov 15, admitted Feb 3
Rutgers, submitted Nov 15
Southern California, submitted Dec 1, rejected Feb 5
UC Santa Barbara, submitted Nov 2

Safeties
Arizona, submitted Jan 1, admitted Jan 24 with 19k funding, unknown if fellowship will be offered
Iowa State, submitted Dec 1, passed preliminary screening Dec 2, admitted Feb 2 with mentions of increased funding after passing some oral exams, also possibility of fellowship DECLINED Feb 3
Michigan State, submitted Dec 1, admitted Dec 31 with 29k fellowship.
Oregon State, submitted Jan 1, admitted Jan 25 awaiting funding. DECLINED Feb 3

Canadiann
McGill, submitted Nov 18
Queens, submitted Nov 18, admitted Jan 21 to MSc program with 28k canadian dollars DECLINED Feb 5
Toronto, submitted Nov 18, submitted Nov 15 rejected Feb 5

Would be nice if they have common app for graduate schools

Nov 18: Applying to couple Canadian Schools in case the GOP go berserk and delete our democracy.
Dec 2: Fall grades updated, transcript re-uploaded or resent
Dec 27: Merry Christmas! Adding BC and Brandeis
Jan 17: Withdrew apps from couple schools
Jan 27: Withdrew app from U Oregon and U Iowa
Feb 5: Rejected by more schools, declined queens

Hey how did you hear from Toronto?

[kiramshorn]

.

[FrenchToastCrunch]

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 - Rejected (2/5)
Courant
U. Chicago - Accepted! (Unofficial email 12/23; Official letter in the portal 1/8)
CMU (ACO Program) - Accepted (email with the official letter 1/29)
U. Michigan--Ann Arbor
U. Texas at Austin
Duke - Accepted (email 2/11 from DGS)
U. Wisconsin-Madison - Withdrawn

Update
2/11 - I got the offer for the Ph.D. econ program from MIT last week. I guess I will most likely go there.

Congrats on your offers! As someone who still hasn't gotten a rejection from Duke yet, but really hoping to work with someone in their probability group, if you're sure you won't be accepting their offer it would be a big help if you could decline it before April. Either way, good luck with your grad school journey! And good luck to everyone else

[lingminhao31]

Undergrad Institution: Unknown university in Southeast Asia
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.93/4.00 CGPA 3.93/4.00
Type of Student: International, Asian

Graduate Institution: International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy - equivalent to one-year master program.
Major: Mathematics
Course: Graduate Algebra, Topology, Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Algebraic Topology, Differential Geometry (A bit of Riemannian geometry and differentiable manifolds), Algebraic Geometry, Representation theory, Partial Differential Equation, Functional Analysis.
Thesis: Still far away, the thesis is in May, plan to do something on complex algebraic geometry.

TOEFL - 106 (R27/L27/S23/W29)

Program Applying: Pure Math Master/Ph.D. focusing on geometry

Research Experience: One reading course on algebraic geometry (plane algebraic curves & Riemann-Roch theorem) and bachelor thesis report on differential geometry (Gauss-Bonnet Theorem for two-dimensional manifolds) and mathematical physics (Application of G-B theorem on computing the deflection angle of the gravitational lens under certain optical metric), no publication.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 4 years of Dean List, best year 2 student award, undergraduate full scholarship (national), Simon's Foundation grant to summer school in Vietnam, an invitation (full award) for a year at International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Organizer of an international Rubik's cube competition under World Cube Association, Math Camp tutor, Maths quiz question department.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Maybe experience at International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy will help (?) I got three recommendations from geometers, two from ICTP (but one of them didn't teach me a course, the help might be limited as he cannot write anything about my academic potential), one alumni of Stony Brook (her supervisor is famous in the department).

Applying to Where:
Reach:
PGSM Scholarship (Rej 2/15)
FMJH Scholarship (Rej 2/12)
Yau Mathematical Science Center

Target:
ALGANT
Stony Brook University (dream school)
Berlin Mathematical School (invited to interview 1/22)

Safe:
University of Massachusetts (Rej 1/3) (I think I am a bit in danger, I didn't expect I will be rejected by safe choice)
National University of Singapore

If possible anyone let me know how competent is Stony Brook )) It's my dream school.

[rough.manifold]

Undergrad Institution: US Private
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor: Computer Science, Physics
GPA: 4.88/5.00, Math GPA: 4.93/5.00
Type of Student: International, Male, Minority?)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 169 (94%)
V: 147 (32%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

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

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience:
Published 3 papers in graph theory and combinatorics, they are available on arXiv on my CV. Each of these papers have numerous authors not sure if that dimishes the effects on admissions. Another paper in non-math STEM field, also with numerous authors.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Two times Putnam fellow in 2018 and 2019, one time near perfect score (another student in my department actually got a perfect score omg). One time IMO Gold medalist.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Given numerous talks and seminars including one at Princeton last last fall (2019).
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Nothing of particular usefulness.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
MIT - Pure Math / Admitted
Princeton - Pure Math / Admitted
Caltech - Pure Math / Pending
Harvard - Pure Math / Admitted

[pkzrd]

Undergrad Institution: US Private
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor: Computer Science, Physics
GPA: 4.88/5.00, Math GPA: 4.93/5.00
Type of Student: International, Male, Minority?)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 169 (94%)
V: 147 (32%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

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

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience:
Published 3 papers in graph theory and combinatorics, they are available on arXiv on my CV. Each of these papers have numerous authors not sure if that dimishes the effects on admissions. Another paper in non-math STEM field, also with numerous authors.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Two times Putnam fellow in 2018 and 2019, one time near perfect score (another student in my department actually got a perfect score omg). One time IMO Gold medalist.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Given numerous talks and seminars including one at Princeton last last fall (2019).
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Nothing of particular usefulness.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
MIT - Pure Math / Admitted
Princeton - Pure Math / Admitted
Caltech - Pure Math / Pending
Harvard - Pure Math / Admitted

I know who you are!!!!
(Honestly I'm pretty sure someone can figure out who you are just be googling)

Nice to see you here bro

[Catalan]

Undergrad Institution: US Private
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor: Computer Science, Physics
GPA: 4.88/5.00, Math GPA: 4.93/5.00
Type of Student: International, Male, Minority?)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 169 (94%)
V: 147 (32%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

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

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience:
Published 3 papers in graph theory and combinatorics, they are available on arXiv on my CV. Each of these papers have numerous authors not sure if that dimishes the effects on admissions. Another paper in non-math STEM field, also with numerous authors.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Two times Putnam fellow in 2018 and 2019, one time near perfect score (another student in my department actually got a perfect score omg). One time IMO Gold medalist.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Given numerous talks and seminars including one at Princeton last last fall (2019).
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Nothing of particular usefulness.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
MIT - Pure Math / Admitted
Princeton - Pure Math / Admitted
Caltech - Pure Math / Pending
Harvard - Pure Math / Admitted

I know who you are!!!!
(Honestly I'm pretty sure someone can figure out who you are just be googling)

Nice to see you here bro

Its so funny how ya'll are like "School: Private US you don't need to know where" but also ya'll "GPA X/5.0" as if there is more than one school on a 5.0 scale.

[pkzrd]

Undergrad Institution: US Private
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor: Computer Science, Physics
GPA: 4.88/5.00, Math GPA: 4.93/5.00
Type of Student: International, Male, Minority?)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 169 (94%)
V: 147 (32%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

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

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience:
Published 3 papers in graph theory and combinatorics, they are available on arXiv on my CV. Each of these papers have numerous authors not sure if that dimishes the effects on admissions. Another paper in non-math STEM field, also with numerous authors.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Two times Putnam fellow in 2018 and 2019, one time near perfect score (another student in my department actually got a perfect score omg). One time IMO Gold medalist.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Given numerous talks and seminars including one at Princeton last last fall (2019).
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Nothing of particular usefulness.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
MIT - Pure Math / Admitted
Princeton - Pure Math / Admitted
Caltech - Pure Math / Pending
Harvard - Pure Math / Admitted

I know who you are!!!!
(Honestly I'm pretty sure someone can figure out who you are just be googling)

Nice to see you here bro

Its so funny how ya'll are like "School: Private US you don't need to know where" but also ya'll "GPA X/5.0" as if there is more than one school on a 5.0 scale.

I'm pretty sure there are some other private universities in the US with a 5.0 GPA scale, or at least I think most people are not aware which school(s) uses a 5.0 scale.

edit: needlessly spent 10 minutes trying to find a school with a 5.0 scale other than ours but couldn't. Guess I'll have to concede that was pure ignorance

[crystal_math]

I know who you are!!!!
(Honestly I'm pretty sure someone can figure out who you are just be googling)

Nice to see you here bro

Its so funny how ya'll are like "School: Private US you don't need to know where" but also ya'll "GPA X/5.0" as if there is more than one school on a 5.0 scale.

I'm pretty sure there are some other private universities in the US with a 5.0 GPA scale, or at least I think most people are not aware which school(s) uses a 5.0 scale.

edit: needlessly spent 10 minutes trying to find a school with a 5.0 scale other than ours but couldn't. Guess I'll have to concede that was pure ignorance

It took me 2 seconds to figure out your and rough.manifold's school lol

[cohomonoid]

Undergrad Institution: Top Public Research University
Major(s): Mathematics, Molecular Biology
GPA: 2.54
One semester all Fs (FML). Lots of serious classes in bio, chem, physics, CS. Most math classes taken were honors.
Graduate Institution: OK medium sized state school (Top 50-100)
Major(s): Mathematics M.A.
GPA: 4.00
~15 real classes plus some indep. study/seminar courses

Type of Student: White American Man

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 166 (87%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
I am bitter. I spent 2020 lockdown (March-September) prepping, and they cancel both mGRE dates but let me take the general in person while my state was letting people dine indoors. The mGRE was half of my master plan to offset ugrad gpa.

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD, PDE, probability, numerical analysis

Research Experience: During M.A. worked with adviser on PDE research that we're now preparing for submission (with corresponding author at another institution). We extended a reasonably well-known (in this sub-sub-discipline) prior result in a direct way (a 1 + epsilon paper). Discussed as the focal point of my SoP. Presented this work at department seminar. As undergrad I did ~3 years bio research with computational component.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Department scholarship from masters programs.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: varsity sports while undergrad
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Strong list of grad classes that used respectable books (Folland, Papa Rudin, Evans, Artin). Very strong recommendation from adviser, I'm pretty sure my other recommendations were strong but they were from algebraists.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I thought my SoP and recc's were pretty good. I am really happy with the research and adviser assures me we will get it published in a half-decent journal, but I really wish we could have submitted in Fall; when I applied I listed it as "in preparation."


Applying to Where: All pure math PhD

Reach Reach: a boy can dream...
U Wisc. Madison (2/15), email: rejected
UT Austin (4/11):rejected: no email, checked portal after seeing rejections on theGradCafe
Rutgers (4/15) haven't heard back
UMinn I realized one of my letter writers never submitted, oh well (4/6), email to check portal: rejected
Stony Brook (3/12), email: rejected
Cornell (4/14), email: rejected
UC San Diego (4/15) haven't heard back. Point of personal privilege: F these people, looking at gradcafe, no rejections sent out until (4/13). Berkeley and UCLA figure out a way to reject everyone in Jan/Feb, except a small waitlist. What a sh1tty way for UCSD to treat applicants.
UIUC (2/23), email: rejected
Northwestern (3/31), email found in spam folder: rejected

Reach Match: Roughly in order of increasing plausibility of admission
U Maryland (4/15) haven't heard back
Carnegie Mellon (3/2), email to check portal: rejected
PennState (3/5), email: rejected
Georgia Tech (4/5), email to check portal: rejected
UC Davis (1/27), email: unofficial acceptance!!! (2/17), email: funding/official offer (4/13) Attendding!
UNC (2/2) shortlist email, invited (and went) to open house. (2/12) Waitlisted (4/4) emailed to ask chances: "unlikely"
UCBoulder (3/11), email to check portal: waitlisted. (3/26), email asking interest in 2nd round (4/1), email to check portal: rejected
U Utah Salt Lake (2/18), email: waitlisted
Purdue (2/24), email to check portal: rejected
Indiana (4/15) haven't heard back
UC Irvine (2/9), email to check portal: rejected
TexasA&M (4/4) email: rejected, admitted to pay-to-play masters (cmon guys i already have a master's )
UC Santa Barbara (4/5), email to check portal: rejected
GradCenter (1/29), unofficial email: fellowship shortlist (3/28): offer with fellowship if interested,(3/30) Declined
UVA (2/11), email to check portal: rejected

Match?:
UC Santa Cruz (3/11), email to check portal: rejected

If you have a terrible undergrad record, it is still possible to get into a decent PhD program but it will be hard

Best of luck to those applying in 2022 and beyond

[Jmr324]

Undergrad Institution: Top 5 Public Research University
Major(s): Mathematics, Molecular Biology
GPA: 2.54
Weird variety of (hard) classes in bio, chem, physics, CS. Most math classes taken were honors. One semester all Fs (FML).

Graduate Institution: OK medium sized state school
Major(s): Mathematics M.A.
GPA: 4.00
Literally more A+'s than A's. ~15 real classes plus some indep. study/seminar courses

Type of Student: White American Man

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 166 (87%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
I spent half of 2020 studying and was ready to ace. They cancel both mGRE dates but let me take the general in person while my state is letting people dine indoors. The mGRE was half of my master plan to offset ugrad gpa. I am bitter.

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD, PDE, harmonic analysis, numerical analysis

Research Experience: During M.A. worked with adviser on PDE research that we're now preparing for submission (with corresponding author at another institution). We extended a reasonably well-known prior result in a direct way (a 1 + epsilon paper). Discussed as the focal point of my SoP. Really wish we could have submitted in Fall rather than now, when I applied I listed it as "in preparation." Presented this work at department seminar. As undergrad I did ~3 years bio research with computational component.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Department scholarship from masters programs.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: varsity sports while undergrad
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Strong list of grad classes that used respectable books (Folland, Papa Rudin, Evans, Artin). Very strong recommendation from adviser, I'm pretty sure my other recommendations were strong but they were from algebraists.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I thought my SoP and recc's were pretty good.


Applying to Where: All pure math PhD but on the applied side of pure. All applications were submitted in the week or so before deadlines.

Reach Reach
U Wisc. Madison
UNC (2/2) Email: "[adCom] felt that your application was excellent", invited to open house. (2/12) Waitlisted
UT Austin
Rutgers
UMinn
Stony Brook
Cornell
UC Davis (1/27), email: unofficial acceptance!!! Funding and official offer in 'next few weeks.' Feeling just peachy
UC San Diego
Carnegie Mellon

Reach Match:
UC Irvine (2/9), email to check portal: rejected
TexasA&M
UCBoulder
UIUC
Georgia Tech
PennState
U Utah Salt Lake
UC Santa Barbara
U Maryland
Purdue
Indiana
UVA (2/11), email to check portal: rejected
GradCenter (1/29), email from dept chair: shortlist for 27k fellowship I think this implies admission but tbh idk
Arizona

Match Safety?:
UC Santa Cruz

How did you decide what was a reach match versus a reach reach? This is a very weird list. Carnegie Mellon, UNC, are not more competitive than GaTech, purdue, UIUC.

[cohomonoid]

How did you decide what was a reach match versus a reach reach? This is a very weird list. Carnegie Mellon, UNC, are not more competitive than GaTech, purdue, UIUC.

Yeah, fair enough. To be honest when I posted I categorized my list (originally ordered by deadline) by gut and partly by how much I wanted to go. I rearranged the split in my post a little better, although its hard to know what schools are most selective. THE and USNWR rankings are a rough guide but doesn't correspond exactly. I wish more schools posted historical data on # of applicants, # offered admission, # attending, GPA, mGRE, etc.

[sallysellsseashells]

I interviewed on 1/20 with the GPD. Asked me multiple times how serious I was about going to Stony Brook if offered - seems they really only want to offer people who will go this year. As the only one of my top choices that had shown interest in me at the time I was definitely persistent that I was super interested in going. But I withdrew since then because I got other offers. Hopefully that helps you! Good Luck!

Would you mind me asking when did you interview with the stony brook?

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
Stanford University (Computational and Mathematical Engineering) - 2/5: Rejected no surprise here
USC (Computational Biology and Bioinformatics) - submitted - 1/13/2021: invited to their interview day which is on Jan 29.
Stony Brook (Applied Mathematics) - 1/29/2021: Officially Admitted! 30k TA-ship + tuition + health insurance stuff! Came a couple weeks after an interview with the GPD!

Reach/Dream Schools:
CU Boulder (Applied Mathematics) - submitted
UT Austin - Oden Institute (Computational Engineering, Science and Mathematics) - 2/6/2021: Admitted!!!! 35k Fellowship + tuition + health insurance stuff! So so excited!!

University of Utah (Pure Mathematics) - submitted
UC Davis (Applied Mathematics) - Unofficially admitted 1/25 - they said funding and official offer coming in two weeks!

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 - interview on 1/30
Claremont Graduate University (Pure Mathematics) - Admitted on 12/14 over the phone - 1/25 got the official offer from admissions. Partial funding meh

Only pretty good news so far!

[lingminhao31]

I interviewed on 1/20 with the GPD. Asked me multiple times how serious I was about going to Stony Brook if offered - seems they really only want to offer people who will go this year. As the only one of my top choices that had shown interest in me at the time I was definitely persistent that I was super interested in going. But I withdrew since then because I got other offers. Hopefully that helps you! Good Luck!

Would you mind me asking when did you interview with the stony brook?

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
Stanford University (Computational and Mathematical Engineering) - 2/5: Rejected no surprise here
USC (Computational Biology and Bioinformatics) - submitted - 1/13/2021: invited to their interview day which is on Jan 29.
Stony Brook (Applied Mathematics) - 1/29/2021: Officially Admitted! 30k TA-ship + tuition + health insurance stuff! Came a couple weeks after an interview with the GPD!

Reach/Dream Schools:
CU Boulder (Applied Mathematics) - submitted
UT Austin - Oden Institute (Computational Engineering, Science and Mathematics) - 2/6/2021: Admitted!!!! 35k Fellowship + tuition + health insurance stuff! So so excited!!

University of Utah (Pure Mathematics) - submitted
UC Davis (Applied Mathematics) - Unofficially admitted 1/25 - they said funding and official offer coming in two weeks!

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 - interview on 1/30
Claremont Graduate University (Pure Mathematics) - Admitted on 12/14 over the phone - 1/25 got the official offer from admissions. Partial funding meh

Only pretty good news so far!

What do you mean by they only take students when you really want that offer?

[cohomonoid]

What do you mean by they only take students when you really want that offer?

Like they want to make sure you are likely to go before they offer you admission. Rather than offering you admission and hoping that you're polite enough to tell them ASAP if you decide to go somewhere else, so they don't have to offer your spot to someone on the waitlist in April.

[ptnkt1215]

Undergrad Institution: Relatively new but competitive liberal art (if you know you know)
Major(s): Computational Sciences
GPA: 3.8 major, 3.1 overall
Type of Student: International Asian

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 158 (79%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: did not take

TOEFL Score: (113 = R29/L29/S27/W28) (if applicable)

Program Applying: Applied Math/IEOR
Research areas: Numerical methods and scientific computing, optimization, ML and data science.

Research Experience: 1 REU in the US, 1 visiting research program outside US, 1 seminar-styled reading course with a Professor from a large US state uni, AI residency program. No publication however.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: IMO medallist. No departmental award.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 years working as quant trader and AI engineer. Did some math olympiad teaching.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: 2 recommenders are associate profs from large state uni who knew me very well.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I don't have very good math coursework, also took a gap year.

Applying to Where:
Georgia Tech - ACO ISyE / Admitted (11/02)
UWisc Madison - Math / Admitted (15/02)
Caltech - Applied Math / Rejected
Cornell - CAM / Rejected
Brown - Applied Math / Rejected (22/02)
Stony Brook - Applied Math / Interviewed (29/01), Admitted (03/03) lmao took them long enough.
CMU - Math
UNC - Chapel Hill - Math
UNC - Chapel Hill - OR / Unofficial waitlisted (knew a prof in the dept)
Emory - Math / Rejected

[CategorifiedCat]

Undergrad Institution: Public University in Michigan, with doctorate program
Major(s): Math
GPA: 3.31/4
Type of Student: Domestic Black Guy

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 156 (59%)
V: 153 (60%)
W: 4.0 (55%)

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Presented 3 posters and given a talk recently at a teleconference on mathematical modeling. Taken two classes in independent studies on numerical analysis and random matrix theory, currently working on a graduation project in matrix theory.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I've gotten several diversity scholarships to cover my undergraduate tuition. Also a departmental award (roughly adds up to 12k). I have gotten an award for one of my poster but that's only a recognition of sorts and didn't come with any monetary awards or trophy if you get me.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutor undergraduate in our tutoring lab, mostly calculus and algebra.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I participated in over 5 in-person conferences and gotten to know many people from around the country. I think some of the professors I've talked to during conferences definitely will remember me. Two of my letter writers know my for quite a while so I should have at least two very strong and personal letters.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I grew up in the hood in a poor family and lived off government assistances (i.e. SNAP, Medicaid, free lunch). My family consistently makes less than 30k and none of my family members have had a college degree. I have gotten fee waivers from all the schools that I am applying to due to low income and being a black male. I made a pretty strong point about being someone from a poor family and being black in America on my statement of purpose, hopefully it helps. I have not yet taken advanced calculus but I have taken one semester abstract algebra, most schools say I am fine and is eligible to apply.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) listed in order of application date
Virginia - Denied on (02.01.2021)
UChicago - Pending on (11.01.2020)
Michigan - Accepted on (02.12.2021)
Princeton - Denied on (02.02.2021)
TAMU - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
Minnesota - Accepted on (02.10.2021)
Ohio State - Accepted on (01.12.2021)
IU Bloomington - Accepted on (01.24.2021)
UIC - Accepted on (01.30.2021)
Northwestern - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
UIUC - Accepted on (02.11.2021)
Michigan State - Accepted on (12.30.2020) with fellowship
MIT - Denied (02.05.2021)
UCLA - Pending on (12.02.2020)
Iowa State - Accepted on (02.02.2021)
UC Santa Barbara - Denied on (02.08.2021)
Penn State - Accepted on (01.22.2021)

How did you hear from Michigan already?

My hunch is that this is a troll account. Okay, just one good reason to not spend time on this site.

[j95]

Undergrad Institution: Public University in Michigan, with doctorate program
Major(s): Math
GPA: 3.31/4
Type of Student: Domestic Black Guy

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 156 (59%)
V: 153 (60%)
W: 4.0 (55%)

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Presented 3 posters and given a talk recently at a teleconference on mathematical modeling. Taken two classes in independent studies on numerical analysis and random matrix theory, currently working on a graduation project in matrix theory.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I've gotten several diversity scholarships to cover my undergraduate tuition. Also a departmental award (roughly adds up to 12k). I have gotten an award for one of my poster but that's only a recognition of sorts and didn't come with any monetary awards or trophy if you get me.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutor undergraduate in our tutoring lab, mostly calculus and algebra.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I participated in over 5 in-person conferences and gotten to know many people from around the country. I think some of the professors I've talked to during conferences definitely will remember me. Two of my letter writers know my for quite a while so I should have at least two very strong and personal letters.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I grew up in the hood in a poor family and lived off government assistances (i.e. SNAP, Medicaid, free lunch). My family consistently makes less than 30k and none of my family members have had a college degree. I have gotten fee waivers from all the schools that I am applying to due to low income and being a black male. I made a pretty strong point about being someone from a poor family and being black in America on my statement of purpose, hopefully it helps. I have not yet taken advanced calculus but I have taken one semester abstract algebra, most schools say I am fine and is eligible to apply.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) listed in order of application date
Virginia - Denied on (02.01.2021)
UChicago - Pending on (11.01.2020)
Michigan - Accepted on (02.12.2021)
Princeton - Denied on (02.02.2021)
TAMU - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
Minnesota - Accepted on (02.10.2021)
Ohio State - Accepted on (01.12.2021)
IU Bloomington - Accepted on (01.24.2021)
UIC - Accepted on (01.30.2021)
Northwestern - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
UIUC - Accepted on (02.11.2021)
Michigan State - Accepted on (12.30.2020) with fellowship
MIT - Denied (02.05.2021)
UCLA - Pending on (12.02.2020)
Iowa State - Accepted on (02.02.2021)
UC Santa Barbara - Denied on (02.08.2021)
Penn State - Accepted on (01.22.2021)

How did you hear from Michigan already?

My hunch is that this is a troll account. Okay, just one good reason to not spend time on this site.

He heard back from Minnesota as well. I agree with you, there is a chance that this is a troll account
[\quote]

[collies20]

Undergrad Institution: Private, T20 National Colleges
Major(s): Applied mathematics; computer science
GPA: 3.9/4.0
Type of Student: Domestic Female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 167 (98%)
W: 6 (98%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: not offered

TOEFL Score: not applicable

Program Applying: applied mathematics/computational engineering/mathematics (depending on department organization)

Research Experience: one summer of research at my home school; no publications
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: some departmental awards
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: ta for several department courses
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: being a woman helps maybe?

Applying to Where:
MIT - Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) / Admitted
Stanford - Computational and Mathematical Engineering (ICME) / Admitted
Duke - Mathematics / Waitlisted / Declined waitlist
UC San Diego - Mathematics / Admitted

[CraftAnon]

Undergrad and Masters Institution: Oxbridge
Major(s): Math
Minor(s):
GPA: First Class Honors
Type of Student: International (North African)

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 Mathematics

Research Experience: 2 summer projects at my school. First was basically learning a bunch of analytic number theory and sieve theory and doing a bunch of computations about prime gaps and estimates. Second was a bit of an introduction to the Langlands program and we tried to prove some new converse theorems, not much came out of it. I also wrote a Masters dissertation about elliptic curves with complex multiplication and their modularity. Interested mainly in Arithmetic Geometry, Algebraic Number Theory and Algebraic Geometry.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Just the usual small scholarships for good grades
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Currently TAing at local university back home.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Have worked a lot with my letter writers and think I have strong letters. One of the assessors of my dissertation is my POI in Warwick. Got a relatively high first class.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Applied last year to US schools and got rejected, so took a year out and reapplied.

Applying to Where:

Donations:
Stanford - Rejected
Bekeley - Rejected
Bonn ( BIGS) - Rejected

Reach:
Michigan - Interview - Waitlist No longer interested and declined
Chicago - Rejected
NYU - Rejected

Reach but less:
LSGNT - Interview
Warwick - Admitted
Oxford - Interview - Rejected
McGill - Admitted- Attending!!!
UCSD -
Münster - Rejected

Match (I hoped):
UCSB - Admitted(Declined)
Boston University - Rejected
Berlin Mathematical School BMS (phase i) - Admitted(Declined)
University of Washington - Waitlisted (No longer interested)

This forum has helped me during the 2 years to understand how competitive some of these schools are. I ranked the above universities based on what I thought were my chances of getting in. Not really the order in which I expected to make a decision.

[math3788]

Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal arts school in the US
Major(s): Philosophy
Minor(s): Literature
GPA: 3.378
Type of Student: International East Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 160(72%)
V: 155 (65%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Pure Math, all Masters
Research Experience: None
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Taught math for a year
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Strong LORs?
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: FIrst generation student, but I don't know how much this matters

Applying to Where: All MASTERS
Villanova University - Admitted on 1/10. Awaiting funding
Wake Forest University - Interview on Feb 5. waitlisted on Feb 26 Accepted on April 15 with partial scholarship.
University of Vermont - Accepted on Feb 23 without funding.
Missouri University of Science and Technology - Accepted on Feb 4, 14K scholarship, awaiting funding/GTA
Ball State University - Rejected on 1/5 (most likely because of my non-math background, rejected 2 days after applying lol)
University of Kentucky - Decision Pending, applied on 1/5
University of Florida - Waitlisted;
Miami University (OH) - Accepted 04/12 with funding. Accepted the offer. Attending!
University of Minnesota Dulutht - Accepted on 2/2: Funding on 3/26
Bowling Green State University - Rejected on 1/19 (again cuz of non-math background??)
Boise State University - Accepted on 2/2 with funding, 15.4K I declined.
University of Alaska, Fairbanks - Accepted 3/11 Declined offer 3/11

Note: I know that these are all safeties for most of you, however, I majored in philosophy, and my gpa is not that high, so I would be happy to get into some of these schools.

[dmoney33]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School ~ ranked 40-80
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Physics
GPA: 3.75
Upper Division/Graduate Course GPA: 3.82
Type of Student: Hispanic

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 159 (69%)
V: 147 (32%) ouch..
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 660 (50%) (Note I only took this once as a 2nd year prior to pandemic)

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Applied mathematics Ph.D when Allowed, Mathematics Ph.D Otherwise

Research Experience: 2 years of Computational PDE research. 1000+ line code on MATLAB, recently began analytical investigations on PDEs. Top REU last summer at one of the California Universities. This enabled me to work a famous letter writer into the mix. 2 Preprints, not quite on arxiv but almost ready for submission.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list, one department scholarship. Also had a tuition scholarship since 1st year.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 4 semesters of TA'ing Calculus recitations, 4 sections of grading either Linear algebra of Differential equations. 2 Funded research experiences at home institution. Same advisor for two years.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Leadership - President and Scholarship chair of fraternity. Great relationship with Letter Writers. Building connections, working hard, and generally being a nice person can get you far.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 5 graduate courses. 2 second graduate year courses in PDEs. About 8 upper division courses 'cross-listed' as grad courses. 8 Presentations. First generation college student, first thing I wrote on my statements. Not an analysis wiz by any means. B in undergrad analysis and B+ in first semester of graduate analysis. Will take measure theory in graduate school.

Reach:
Stanford University Plan on Withdrawing
New York University Plan on Withdrawing
University of Texas-Austin Accepted with Fellowship 02/04
University of California-Los Angeles Plan on Withdrawing
University of Maryland Plan on Withdrawing
University of California-San Diego Plan on Withdrawing
Brown University Plan on Withdrawing

Match (Or so I think, who really knows?):
University of California-Davis Accepted with fellowship 01/26
Texas A&M University Plan on Withdrawing
University of Colorado-Boulder Unofficial Acceptance 02/07
University of Southern-California Plan on Withdrawing

Safety:
University of Illinois-Chicago Plan on Withdrawing
University of Arizona Accepted with Fellowship 02/12
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Plan on Withdrawing

NSF GRFP: Submitted. Stressing through this application made graduate applications easier.

Final Remarks: First semester GPA was 3.51. Initial major was Electrical Engineering. Upward trajectory of GPA and average of 2.5 mathematics courses per semester. Never stop working. Find a good advisor and surround yourself with successful people. Oh, and don't stay on pages like for these too long. See y'all at conferences!

[hormander]

Undergrad Institution: Public State top 30, strong in PDE
Major(s):Mathematics
GPA: 3.87 out of 4.00
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q/V/W: 154 / 170 / 4

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
69% taken a year before covid

Program Applying: Pure math(PDE, geometric analysis)

Research Experience: 2-year research project for thesis. 2-reading courses
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: One thesis scholarship.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: nothing that matters
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: 7-grad courses, 2 AMS sectional contributed paper talks, know my advisor very well. Letter writers are very well known.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: nothing that matters

Applying to Where:

Top
MIT Rejected
UChicago Rejected
NYU Rejected unfunded master
Northwestern Rejected (my top choice, heart broken. I have spend a summer at Northwestern Summer School in Semiclassical Analysis. The professor here is good friend to my advisor).
John Hopkins Rejected
UC Berkley Rejected
UCLA Rejected (Feb27th. I agree that we've paid enough to receive notification by email.)
Umich Rejected

Middle Choice
UW Seattle Rejected Feb 27th
UCSD Accepted with 27.5k fund unexpected Mar 12
SUNY GHOSTED...
Rutgers Accepted with 30k fund attending

Safe
Notre Dame Accepted with 25k fund I got a call from the committee on early Feb and received the official letter Feb 19
UIC waitlisted
CUNY Accepted with 26k fund moved off from waitlist (Mar 30)

Please feel free to PM if you're admitted in the same program. I am looking forward to meet new friends.
I don't have much hope for the rest since some posted acceptance on this forum.

[Hoodra]

Undergrad Institution: Public State School
Major: Mathematics
Minor: none
GPA: 3.23
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test: N/A due to covid
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A due to covid

Program Applying: Pure Math/Combinatorics

Research Experience: No real research experience. Closest thing is my masters degree where I explored the current state of research in completing partial Latin squares.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: GTA during my masters program, math tutor after graduation
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Masters GPA is 3.0. Having a masters might help me but the low GPA might hurt more.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: A lot of my decision on what schools to apply for was based on what schools were not considering GRE scores. I took the GRE back in 2015, and my scores have expired since then.

Applying to Where: Ordered from top choice to bottom choice. All apps were submitted in the first week of December.
Waterloo - C&O / Rejected via portal (no email) on 2/23, Official email received on 2/24
Washington Seattle - Math / Rejected via email on 2/26
Carnegie Mellon - ACO / Rejected via email to check portal on 3/2
Georgia Tech - ACO / Rejected via email to check portal on 4/5
Virginia Tech - Math / Rejected via email to check portal on 4/27
Syracuse - Math / Rejected via email to check portal on 4/27
Rice - Math / Pending
Colorado Boulder - Math / Rejected via email to check portal on 2/15
Utah - Math / Rejected via email to check portal 2/13
Emory - Math / Rejected via email on 2/8

[i_like_math]

Undergrad Institution: big state school
Major(s): Pure Math
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.17
Type of Student: Asian male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 160
V: 165
W: 6
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Cancelled due to COVID

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Math/Applied Math

Research Experience: No REUs or publications. I did two research projects, with one being about Fourier analysis and the other about computational complex analysis. For those I gave some presentations/talks.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
-President of math club
-I wrote an article in my school's newspaper talking about the epidemiological modeling of COVID. I gave a relatively basic intro to what epidemiological modeling is, and interviewed some epidemiologists, biologists, and applied mathematicians who worked at my school who were working on developing a model for COVID. Apparently the article became pretty popular with the student body and faculty and they liked it a lot.
-I helped create a volunteer tutoring program in the math club for low-income students in the nearby area. I helped start it in my freshman year, and by the time I was in my senior year, almost all the members of the math club (around 40 members) were providing free tutoring to two different students on average.
-I was a grader for a topology course and for a numerical analysis course.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
-My recommenders are all very well-known in their field, and I got to know them on a personal level. For instance, I had dinner with one of my recommenders and her husband at their home almost every Sunday until the pandemic hit.
-I took 7 grad courses and got at least an A- in all of them.
-There is a very strong upwards trend in my grades. I explained why my freshman and sophomore grades were not the best and how the reason behind it doesn't affect me anymore and won't in grad school.
- I am low-income and first generation.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: All the info that would make a difference, I mentioned up above.

Applying to Where: (All are applications for PhD programs)

Accepted (by funding I mean either a TA offer or fellowship or both)
Boston University w/ funding
Case Western Reserve University w/funding
University of Memphis w/ funding
Claremont Graduate University w/ funding
University of Southern Mississippi (no decision yet on funding)
University of Montana w/ funding
Dartmouth College w/ funding
Auburn University w/o funding (so essentially a rejection lol)
Tulane University w/ funding

Rejected
University of Virginia
UC Boulder
University of Alabama
Purdue University

Waitlisted
Wesleyan University

No Decision Yet
IU Bloomington
Northern Illinois University
Syracuse University

I am living proof that you can have an application that's not insanely amazing and still get into some good grad schools. I’m not gonna sit here and try to claim that I got into grad schools just by my own work tho, of course luck plays a big part. I could’ve easily gotten rejected into every school I applied to. With that being said, I do have some words of advice for someone who may be in a similar position as me. By the beginning of your senior year, there's really not many parts of your application that you can change or improve, so here's some things that I recommend you do because they worked for me.

Reach out to grad schools. Some may disagree with me, but I believe that reaching out made a difference. Try to show that you're genuinely interested in the program. I even asked the graduate chairs of the math departments of the schools I was applying to if they could meet with me via Zoom so I can ask them some questions. Along with showing interest, I believe that this also helps add a face to the application.

Make sure your essay is solid. Your statement of purpose/personal statement essay is one of the few things you can control about your application by the time you're applying. A lot of the advice I saw online said that the essay was meaningless and that it's just a way for schools to see if you're at least somewhat normal. I personally disagree with this, and I believe that my essay definitely played a role in me being admitted to some schools. In fact, the graduate chair of the math department in one of the schools I got into complimented me on my essay after I was admitted. In my opinion, your essay should be about you trying to sell yourself to the school. Talk about your research interests and experiences, and why you believe you would excel as a graduate student at the school. Don't forget to have people read it and give feedback before submitting it.

Finally, don't be too hard on yourself. The application process is brutal and dehumanizing; you are reduced to the sum of a couple words and numbers. Remember that you are a person and that you have value. An application can't even begin to describe how valuable you are. This process is harsh and unforgiving, so take care of yourself.

[trivialgroup]

Undergrad Institution: University of Washington Seattle (Transferred from a community college)
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA: UW: 3.26, CC: 3.75, weighted average: 3.55 (Math: UW: 2.92 (ouch), CC: 3.73, weighted average: 3.38 )
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 164 (83%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Is covid a number?

Program Applying: Pure math, specifically algebraic topology and/or representation theory. All programs are Ph.D. programs.

Research Experience: None
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I graduated from my CC with honors if that even matters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I was a math tutor employed by my CC during my second year there.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Unless being a "first generation student" counts, no.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Not that I can think of.

Applying to Where: With my minimal qualifications, I feel confident in regarding pretty much any school as a reach, so I'm not going bother trying to figure out which ones are more of a reach. Hence, these are listed in terms of when I submitted my application.

Temple
-Submitted (01/01)
-Rejected (via email, 03/12)

UC Santa Cruz
-Submitted (01/06)
-Emailed the graduate advisor (03/24)
-Waitlist/soft rejection. "We have sent out our first group of offer letters. The department will not know if/when we will be sending out more offers until after April 15th. Please understand that with the budget cuts we will have next year due to COVID19, we are not adding a lot of admits to our program." (via email, 03/24)
-Rejected (via email to check the applications portal, 04/21)

University of Iowa
-Submitted (01/11)
-Emailed the DGS (03/24)
-Waitlist/soft rejection. "As of now, you were not rated high on our list by the Graduate Committee --- so it will be unfair to give you hopes for admission." I'm only listing this as a "soft rejection" rather than simply a rejection because I was told I could check back again near April 15th to see if any spots were open. (via email, 03/24)
-Rejected (via email, 04/16)

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
-Submitted (01/12)
-Waitlisted (via email, 03/01)
-Rejected (via email to check the applications portal, 04/16)

University of Missouri
-Submitted (01/12)
-Unofficially admitted to the MA ("Upon successful completion of the Qualifying Exams, you will be accepted into the PhD program.") with waived tuition and a TA position (via email, 02/22).
-Officially admitted (via email, 02/23). (Not sure how I got this lucky, but I'm not complaining!)
- Attending, and very excited about it. Both the faculty and the current/incoming grad students seem pretty awesome so far. (03/31)

University of Oregon
-Submitted (01/14)
-Rejected (via email, 02/03)

Syracuse
-Submitted (01/18)
-Emailed the DGS (03/24)
-Waitlist/soft rejection. Basically they gave me another permutation of the "highly rated but not enough spots" line a few of us have been receiving. (via email, 04/08)

Dartmouth
-Submitted (01/18)
-Rejected (via email, 02/26)

[pdenumericalanalysis]

Posting here as I found this website extremely helping with schools choices etc, so wanted to contribute back.

Undergrad Institution: UCLA
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
Minor(s): Specialization in Computing
GPA: 3.72 (Math GPA : 3.70)
Type of Student: International Indian Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 167 (90%)
V: 165 (96%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: N/A cause of COVID-19

Program Applying: Applied Math PhD where possible, Math PhD otherwise. Interested in numerical analysis/partial diff eq modeling and applications.

Research Experience: Research experience with my undergraduate professor in numerical analysis over the summer between my 3rd and 4th year concerning Zero Shot Learning. Involved reading some papers and doing some MATLAB coding.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List for several quarters, member of Phi Beta Kappa
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked as a teacher for the junior group of a math circle.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Taken 3 graduate classes (2 about numerical analysis and 1 in PDE theory)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Northwestern - Waitlisted on 4th March, if you got accepted and don't plan to go please do decline!
USC - Waitlisted on 2nd March, if you got accepted and don't plan to go please do decline!
University of Notre Dame - Emailed that first round of offers are out, depending on responses a 2nd round may be made, so waitlist I guess? Please decline if you were accepted but don't plan on going!
Dartmouth - Rejected on 26th Feb
UC Davis - Waitlisted on 4th March, email said it is unlikely I will get off so more like a soft rejection
University of Houston - Admitted on 26th Feb (emailed by Graduate Director saying I have been accepted with TA support and to expect an official letter with details in the coming week)
Arizona State University - Admitted on 28th Dec but no funding received so pretty much a soft rejection
George Washington University - Admitted on 20th Feb with fellowship and stipend coming out to around $25k

So far I'm quite happy. I really like University of Houston's program and location, so more than happy to be admitted with funding. Just waiting on 4 other schools as of now.

[ElementDeduction]

Undergrad Institution: Foreign (China)
Major(s): Financial Mathematics
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.8/4.0
Type of Student: International Asian (Chinese), Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 154 (63%)
W: 3 (14%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Didn't take due to COVID

TOEFL Score: (107 = R29/L29/S22/W27)

Program Applying: Applied Mathematics PhD (Mathematics if not applicable), especially financial mathematics

Research Experience: Summer project on commodity future volatility during master
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Have a few quantitative analyst intership experiences and MFE program

March: Waiting process is boring and suffering. Not sure what to do in the next few months.
April: Attack on Titan Ending.

Applying to Where:

Brown University - Applied Mathematics / Rejected Feb 22
Cornell University - Applied Mathematics / Rejected Feb 12
University of Florida - Mathematics / Rejected Mar 2
Boston University - Mathematical Finance /Rejected Mar 10
University of Illinois -- Urbana -- Champaign - Mathematics / Rejected Feb 22
Florida State University - Financial Mathematics /Pending on April 8
University of Maryland -- College Park - Applied Mathematics / Pending on April 8
Rutgers University - Mathematics / Rejected Mar 2
Stevens Institute of Technology - Financial Engineering / Rejected Mar 11
Stony Brook University -- SUNY - Quantitative Finance / Rejected Mar 2 / Provided no funding Master program

[castoroil]

Undergrad Institution: Small private university (US)
Major(s): Mathematics; Physics studies (not a standalone major)
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.97/4 (4.0 major GPA)
Type of Student: International male (southeast asian)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 158 (79%)
W: 3 (14%) lol
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Not taken

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Applied Math when applicable

Research Experience: Three funded research projects at my university: Mathematical modeling, heliophysics, and organic chemistry. Poster presentations for all of them. Conference talks for the math modeling and heliophysics projects. One publication (co-author) for the heliophysics project and one (first author) submitted paper for the math modeling project. One paper in preparation for the heliophysics project.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: a few departmental awards (math & physics)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: tutor in the tutoring center every semester of college. TA every sem for at least one class.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: No grad classes/connections. I'm banking on my diverse research experience.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Donations
MIT - Dept of Mathematics / Rejected on (2-5)
UCLA - Dept of Mathematics / Rejected on (2-28)
Princeton - Dept of Applied and Computational Math (PACM) / Rejected on (2-17)
University of Michigan - Dept of Mathematics / Rejected on (2-18)

Reach/Match
Georgia Tech - Dept of Mathematics / Admitted on (2-10) with TAship / Attending!
CU Boulder - Dept of Applied Mathematics (APPM) / waitlisted on (2-15) - application is of significant interest but unsure how many offers can be made this year. The email went to my spam folder so I didn't see it until (3-8). / Rejected on (4-2)

Match
UC Irvine - Dept of Mathematics / Rejected on (2-16)
UT Knoxville - Dept of Mathematics / Admitted on (3-10) with TAship / withdrawn on (3-25)
University of Arizona - Dept of Applied Mathematics (GIDP)
Notre Dame - Dept of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics / waitlisted after poking DGS on (3-23) / Rejected on (4-5)

Safety
UC Riverside - Dept of Mathematics / withdrawn on (3-23)
Colorado School of Mines - Dept of Applied Mathematics and Statistics / Admitted on (2-12) / withdrawn on (3-29)
Claremont Graduate University - Institute of Mathematical Sciences / Admitted on (2-2) / the word fellowship in this institution means scholarships (covering only tuition) / withdrawn

[IdeallyRingless]

Deleted

[mcqueen]

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 Reject
Princeton Reject
Stanford
Oxford



Reach
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Emory Waitlist
CMU
Gatech
Berlin Mathematical school Reject

Safe
University of South Carolina Admitted (unofficially and with fellowship)
University of Memphis Admitted ( message from committee)
University of Victoria
Bonn(MS) Admitted

May I ask how you found out you were admitted to South Carolina?

[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 Reject
Princeton Reject
Stanford
Oxford



Reach
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Emory Waitlist
CMU
Gatech
Berlin Mathematical school Reject

Safe
University of South Carolina Admitted (unofficially and with fellowship)
University of Memphis Admitted ( message from committee)
University of Victoria
Bonn(MS) Admitted

May I ask how you found out you were admitted to South Carolina?

I poked the admission office. They told me I have been admitted and nominated for fellowship.

[mcqueen]

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 Reject
Princeton Reject
Stanford
Oxford



Reach
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Emory Waitlist
CMU
Gatech
Berlin Mathematical school Reject

Safe
University of South Carolina Admitted (unofficially and with fellowship)
University of Memphis Admitted ( message from committee)
University of Victoria
Bonn(MS) Admitted

May I ask how you found out you were admitted to South Carolina?

I poked the admission office. They told me I have been admitted and nominated for fellowship.

How long after you applied did you poke? I just applied on the 28th of February but South Carolina is one of the few schools I have a realistic shot to get into so I'm quite anxious to know.

[AnatolyBabakov]

Decided to take the post down.

[babii]

deleted

[Emrgu0001]

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 - Rejected (02/26)
UPenn - Pending on (12/29)
Penn State - Rejected (03/5/2021)
Stony Brook - Rejected (03/12/2021)
Yale - Rejected (02/02)
Rutgers-NB - Waitlisted ("Approximately in the middle") on (2/19)
Purdue - Waitlisted ("Well-ranked") on (3/3/2021)
Rice - Pending on (1/3)
UVA - Rejected (02/11)

Match
Kentucky - Pending on (1/11)
U Mass - Amherst - Pending on (1/28)
Northeastern - Pending on (11/30)
Oregon - Rejected (02/03)
NC State - Pending on (1/16)
LSU - Officially Accepted (2/25/2021) 23K TAship
Tufts - Rejected (03/18)
Temple - Officially Accepted (2/18/2021) 30K Fellowship

Safety (Nothing actually seems safe)
U Montana - Officially Accepted (2/16/2021) 14.5K TAship Declined (03/03/2021)
Iowa - Waitlisted ("very high probability") on (3/11/2021) (two letter writers received their Ph.D. here)
U Wisconsin - Milwaukee - Unofficially Accepted via phone on (3/08/2021), Officially Accepted (3/10/2021) 15K TAship Declined (03/15/2021)
Kansas State - Unofficially Accepted via email on (2/11/2021), Officially Accepted with 17K TAship (2/15/2021)

If I may ask, how did you found out you were waitlisted to Purdue? I'm also an applicant to their graduate school, but I have not heard anything yet. This silence is driving me crazy!

[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 - Rejected (02/26)
UPenn - Pending on (12/29)
Penn State - Rejected (03/5/2021)
Stony Brook - Rejected (03/12/2021)
Yale - Rejected (02/02)
Rutgers-NB - Waitlisted ("Approximately in the middle") on (2/19)
Purdue - Waitlisted ("Well-ranked") on (3/3/2021)
Rice - Pending on (1/3)
UVA - Rejected (02/11)

Match
Kentucky - Pending on (1/11)
U Mass - Amherst - Pending on (1/28)
Northeastern - Pending on (11/30)
Oregon - Rejected (02/03)
NC State - Pending on (1/16)
LSU - Officially Accepted (2/25/2021) 23K TAship
Tufts - Rejected (03/18)
Temple - Officially Accepted (2/18/2021) 30K Fellowship

Safety (Nothing actually seems safe)
U Montana - Officially Accepted (2/16/2021) 14.5K TAship Declined (03/03/2021)
Iowa - Waitlisted ("very high probability") on (3/11/2021) (two letter writers received their Ph.D. here)
U Wisconsin - Milwaukee - Unofficially Accepted via phone on (3/08/2021), Officially Accepted (3/10/2021) 15K TAship Declined (03/15/2021)
Kansas State - Unofficially Accepted via email on (2/11/2021), Officially Accepted with 17K TAship (2/15/2021)

If I may ask, how did you found out you were waitlisted to Purdue? I'm also an applicant to their graduate school, but I have not heard anything yet. This silence is driving me crazy!

After I saw several rejections/acceptances on GradCafe I contacted the DGS to ask about my application status and he told me that I was on a waitlist. He also told me that they made a first round of offers and are waiting for responses before making any more. Hope this helps. It is likely good news that you haven’t heard yet since they have given several rejections.

[trivial_function]

Undergrad Institution:Big State (Ranks 50-70 in US News Math Ranking)
Major(s):Mathematics & Geology
Minor(s):None
GPA:3.61
Type of Student: Domestic, Not Minority

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 163 (80%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M:Not Available

TOEFL Score:Not Applicable

Program Applying:Pure Math (Algebra/Combinatorics)

Research Experience: At my school, I'm about to finish an honors senior paper in combinatorics. It's mostly computational nothing ground breaking, and it's not in particular proof intensive. Did one REU at a top program but it ended up being a summary project. I think my REU advisor thinks I'm stupid The area he's in is algebraic geometry.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some department scholarships, I'm graduating with the honors college and have taken many honors courses outside of math i.e. in biology/chemistry/physics/english composition. If there's an honors version of a course on my degree requirement, I took that.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Did undergraduate teaching for college algebra and business calculus.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Completed one graduate course in abstract algebra and currently taking the continuation of that course (abstract algebra 2). At my school we have two semesters of undergraduate algebra (intro to algebra and abstract algebra) and three semesters of undergraduate real analysis (intro to analysis, advanced calculus 1/2). I have taken most of the pure undergraduate math courses and I only have room to take 1 grad math course each semester this year in order to complete my geology major. I chose to take grad algebra over grad analysis due to my poorer performance in undergraduate analysis.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I think I have mentioned everything that's relevant. I think I did a pretty good job of estimating which schools are reach/safety/match. One thing for sure is that I applied to too many schools, I could have just applied to 5. I'm not sure being a female entitles me to any fee waivers, just I didn't apply for any fee waivers at the time of application. It was later on brought to my attention that I might be eligible for them at some schools. Too late now anyways.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Far Reach
Harvard - Pure Math / Rejected
MIT - Pure Math / Rejected
Princeton - Pure Math / Rejected
UCLA - Math / Pending

Reach
Minnesota - Math / Pending
UCSD - Math / Admitted
UT Austin - Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - Math / Admitted

Match
Colorado Boulder - Pure Math / Admitted
Indiana Bloomington - Math / Waitlisted
Ohio State - Pure Math / Admitted
Penn State - Math / Admitted
Texas A&M - Math / Admitted
UC Davis - Pure Math / Pending
UC Irvine - Pure Math / Admitted
UC Santa Barbara - Math / Admitted

Safety
Florida State - Pure Math / Admitted
Iowa State - Math / Pending
Kansas State - Math / Admitted
UC Riverside - Math / Admitted

I have yet to contact any departments where my application is pending for a status update so I could be waitlisted at some dept without notification. At this point unless I'm accepted to UCLA I'm be attending Madison (my home is less than 2 hours away from Madison so I prefer that over UCSD).

I have declined all acceptance offers except UCSD and UW Madison + withdrew all pending applications except UCLA on Mar 23. I hope someone gets good news as a result.

[Hoodra]

Virginia Tech Admitted 3/6/21 Love the people here!

May I ask how you were notified of your acceptance to Virginia Tech? And were you invited to visitor's day before being accepted?

[babii]

Virginia Tech Admitted 3/6/21 Love the people here!

May I ask how you were notified of your acceptance to Virginia Tech? And were you invited to visitor's day before being accepted?

I got an unofficial offer from a faculty member I talked to before on 3/6/21, and the official letter was posted to the portal on 3/11. I was indeed invited to the visitor's day. I don't think they are done sending out offers yet. I will decline this offer next week though. Hope that helps!