2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[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?

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!

Thank you for the quick response! Sorry for all the questions but I do just have to ask one more. Did you initiate contact with the faculty member or did they reach out to you? I'm wondering it would be a good idea for me to reach out to professors that I would like as advisors (I did list a few in my SoP). I've also already emailed the graduate coordinator who told me my application is still under consideration.

[babii]

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!

Thank you for the quick response! Sorry for all the questions but I do just have to ask one more. Did you initiate contact with the faculty member or did they reach out to you? I'm wondering it would be a good idea for me to reach out to professors that I would like as advisors (I did list a few in my SoP). I've also already emailed the graduate coordinator who told me my application is still under consideration.

You should definitely reach out to the people that you wanna work with! I reached out to a faculty member back in December and we had a very nice talk. She was the one who informed me about my offer. I think for Virginia Tech if a faculty likes you you will likely be accepted. So yeah email the people you like, tell them you like their work and would wanna be a part of it someday and ask for a zoom call if possible. Good luck!

[contingent]

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.

3.6 at state, no subject GRE, one grad course, no thesis to show/not yet graduated, one non-publishing REU, some light teaching... and 11/20 acceptances????? The majority of which are top 50? Is alg/comb really this carried?

Either you're not telling us your recommenders are fields medalists or your essay deserves a Pulitzer. This lineup would be incredibly baffling even if this year weren't the most competitive year in graduate admissions history. Congrats, and if you are a troll, shoo.

[eulersburneraccount]

I'm late to the party, but I've finally heard back from all my schools and I found this thread helpful in picking schools to apply to, so hopefully it will help a future forum-goer.

Undergrad Institution: Northeast Medium-sized, not particularly known for math rip
Major(s): Math and MechE
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.95
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: None this year

TOEFL Score: N/a

Program Applying: PhD. Applied Math if available, otherwise just Math. Interested in ML and mathematical data science.

Research Experience: Summer research project that continued into the fall/winter, with one paper submitted this winter.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Applied for and got funding to do research this past summer from my school, otherwise nothing beyond Deans List, I'm getting a couple senior awards but those were not announced in time to be on my app.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA'd one class, I'm also on a varsity athletics team.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of my rec letters is very well-known in pure math circles, however I'm interested in applied math so idk if that helped much. My 2nd rec letter writer knows me very well and I imagine was my strongest letter, he also works in applied math but is younger and probably less well known. My 3rd rec was from an engineering professor who knows me well but I'm not sure if that helped much since she is not a mathematician.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My personal statement was pretty good (I think) but who knows how much that actually helps. I didn't decide to pursue a Math PhD until Fall of my senior year (for most of college I thought I wanted to get an engineering job), so I tried to emphasize that I was a bit of a newcomer/late bloomer and had a lot of upward potential and unique skills from my MechE background.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
MIT - Math / REJECTED
Harvard SEAS - Applied Math / REJECTED
UCLA - Math / ADMITTED AND ATTENDING
UC Berkeley - Math / REJECTED
Caltech - CMS (Applied and Computational Math track) / REJECTED
NYU - Math / REJECTED from PhD, offered unfunded MS - will decline
UCSD - Math, Computational Science Track / ADMITTED - Declining
Washington - Math / REJECTED from PhD, offered unfunded MS - DECLINED
Home institution - 5th year MS / ADMITTED and offered a partial scholarship - Declining
Cambridge Part III - Applied Math MASt / ADMITTED / Declining

Closing thoughts: Only ended up getting 2 PhD offers which was a bit of an ego check, but in the end that's 1 more than you need! If you're waitlisted at UCSD, I will decline in the coming days - hope I can help someone get in. Also, if you're interested in UW, it seems like you really need to apply by the priority deadline to get in to PhD lol.

[contingent]

NC State - Accepted (02.02) 19.5K TAship with health insurance, but have to pay for student fees: 1300 per semester.withdrew

Hi, when did you withdraw this offer? I'm waitlisted and wondering if this might mean I will receive an offer later this week.

[elene201]

NC State - Accepted (02.02) 19.5K TAship with health insurance, but have to pay for student fees: 1300 per semester.withdrew

Hi, when did you withdraw this offer? I'm waitlisted and wondering if this might mean I will receive an offer later this week.

Hi, I withdrew on March 22.

[mari123]

Undergrad Institution: Started at small private tech school, transferred to large high-ranked public school known for math
Major(s): Pure Math (Engineering before I transferred)
Minor(s): None
GPA: After transfer - 3.584/4.00 (Math 3.145 )
GPA: Before transfer - 3.87 (Math 4.00)
Type of Student: Domestic White Female

GRE: Didn't take either of them

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (geometry/topology)

Research Experience: Four NSF REUs (two were virtual), plus one university research position that's been going for a year now. Submitted two papers, revisions in progress (none published). Gave talks at JMM, NCUWM, YMC, and a couple other smaller conferences. Also several engineering research projects with professors before I transferred.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list every semester but one. Outstanding poster at JMM one year, honorable mention another. Research grant for engineering before transferring and two engineering honor societies (current president of the most active chapter in the nation for one of them)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Used to tutor math, TA for algebra/calculus labs and grade for several math courses (all before transfer)

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Recommendation from the organizer of a very well-regarded and competitive REU, and was the project leader of my research team in it. Did research with all of my references (all but the REU organizer were my profs), and all of them knew me pretty well so I probably got good detailed letters. Took one grad course, and my university research position started out as a course which was competitive to get accepted into. Held leadership positions in almost every extracurricular, did several math competitions and did really well in one of them (0 on the Putnam twice tho, ngl).

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I got a C+ in Linear Algebra and in a PDEs class the first semester after transferring, but had a steady improvement after (I wrote my personal statements about it). Varied background in engineering might add something, but since I'm going for Pure math, the fact that I've had more experience in Applied might hurt. I also only applied to places that didn't require the GRE (got a waiver from UCSD).

Applying to Where:

Northwestern - Reach - Rejected 3/31
UW Madison - Reach - Rejected 2/15
Georgia Tech - Reach - Rejected 4/16
UC San Diego - Probably a reach? Not sure - Rejected 4/13
Tufts - Match - Rejected 3/18
UC Santa Barbara - Match - Rejected 4/8
Boston College - Match - Never heard back

Feels bad man

[blue_math]

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

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

Program Applying: Pure Math (Differential Geometry/PDE)

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

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Dream
Berkeley - Rejected (01.29)
MIT - Rejected (02.05)
NYU - Rejected
Duke - Invited for an interview (01.28) Unofficial acceptance: an email from DSG saying the department is recommending me. No word about funding yet. (02.11) Plan to withdraw
Brown - Got an email saying that they are recommending my admissions to the graduate deans. They said after that there is almost no chance not to be accepted. One year of fellowship and four years of TAship/RAship, but nothing about the exact amount. (02.09) Plan to Attend
UT Austin - Accepted (02.05) $34K fellowshipPlan to withdraw

Reach
Johns Hopkins - Accepted (02.02) $36K fellowshipPlan to withdraw
Rutgers - Accepted (02.05) No word about funding yet / was offered $30K TAship. I think it's standard for everyone (02.07)Plan to withdraw
Stony Brook - AcceptedPlan to withdraw

Match
University of Washington - AcceptedPlan to withdraw
UNC - Their email of inquiry of interest went to my span and I saw it once the acceptances were sent out. I was already admitted to schools I preferred so I withdrew withdrew
UC Irvine - [AcceptedPlan to withdraw

Safety
Vanderbilt - Rejected
NC State - Accepted (02.02) 19.5K TAship with health insurance, but have to pay for student fees: 1300 per semester.withdrew
Temple - Unofficially Accepted (01.23)withdrew

Have you gotten the chance to withdraw from the schools you were planning to? I am waitlisted to one of them and would sincerely appreciate if you could do so

[jrc]

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
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
University of Michigan - MLB MS
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
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) )

Have you heard from Michigan AIM yet?

[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
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
University of Michigan - MLB MS
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
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) )

Have you heard from Michigan AIM yet?

I was rejected from the AIM PhD program on the 31st but was emailed today regarding the MLB AIM masters.

[Chem_Whale2021]

Undergrad Institution: SUNY Albany
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Economics
GPA: Four Year: 2.910 | CC: 2.73
Type of Student: Domestic | Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: N/A
V: N/A
W: N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: N/A

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: As of Pure Math and Applied Math


Research Experience: Complex Analysis Independent study
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Outstanding achievements as a student with a disability award 2x
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math tutor
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Never took a math grad course.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Took Atmospheric Chemistry and got B+

Applying to Where:
University of Maine - MA Math / Unofficial acceptance 3/8/2021 / 2nd unofficial acceptance with TA 3/18/2021 / Official via the graduate school 3/29/21 / Accepted offer on March 31, 2021
SUNY Potsdam - MA Math / Admitted 3/1/2021 / Declined

[blue_math]

Undergrad Institution: Med Size State School
Major(s): Switched to math from bio between my second and third year
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: (math gpa:) 3.86
Type of Student: DWF

Program Applying: Pure Math (with possible intention of doing pure biomath)

Research Experience: Currently writing senior thesis (started after 2 years into switching); did Georgia Tech mini course workshop; DRP program
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some quarters on Dean's Honors; Department Fellowship; Honorary Scholarship (Dept.); Edison STEM Scholarship
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Campus tutor in math for 1.5 years; private tutor; teacher's assistant at local mathematics circle; founded all girls math circle; club president; hosted annual STEM event for young women; created mentorship program
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: not sure what counts, but my parents didn't want me doing math because I'm a DWF
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

** If anyone has questions about funding, please PM me; happy to share in a non-public forum**

All to pure math phd

ACCEPTED = green
REJECTED = red
WAITLISTED = yellow

Applying to Where: In order of those who replied to me:
1. UC Davis - Accepted on: 01/27 Declined on: 04/13
2. UNC Chapel Hill - Accepted on: 01/29 Declined on: 04/09
3. Berkeley - Rejected on: 01/29
4. Duke - Rejected on: 02/04
5. UCSB - Accepted on: 02/05 Declined on: 04/12
6. Johns Hopkins - Rejected on: 02/09
7. Boston University- Rejected on: 02/11
8. Georgia Tech - Accepted on: 02/16 Declined on: 04/12
9. University of Washington - Waitlisted on: Withdrew on: 04/02
10. Stanford - Rejected on:
11. Brown - Rejected on:
12. UCI - Accepted on: Declined on: 04/12
13. UCLA - Rejected on:
14. UChicago- Rejected on:
15. Brandies - Rejected on:
16. UIC - Withdrew on: Declined on: 04/12
17. Stony Brook - Rejected on:
18. Univ. of Michigan - Rejected on:
19. Tufts - Rejected on:
20. Northwestern -- Rejected on:
21. USC - Accepted on: Declined on: 04/12
22. UPenn - Rejected on:
23. UT Austin - Accepted on: 04/12 ATTENDING !!!
24. Rice - ghosted
25. UCSD - Rejected 04/15 lol

[yaskhn3]

Taken down

[Xianch]

Undergrad Institution: international top 100
Major(s): math
GPA: 4.0/4.3
Type of Student: international female

TOEFL Score: 100+

Program Applying: pure math

Research Experience: no publication
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA in our department
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: many grad classes, famous recommender, female

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
School
Stanford rejected 2/24
UCLA
UBC
Columbia waitlisted 3/5 rejected 4/15
Michigan waitlisted 4/11 interview 4/13 rejected 4/15
Minnesota
Duke rejected 2/4
Brown rejected 4/2
Purdue
Utah waitlisted 2/18 accepted 4/10
UW Seattle rejected 2/26

[quixotic_r4]

Undergrad Institution: Medium public
Major(s): Mathematics (combined bachelors / masters)
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.81
Type of Student: Domestic non-white female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 166 (87%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 4.5 (80%)

Program Applying: Pure math (geometry, analysis, & PDEs)

Research Experience: REU in an applied area at a top school. Master's thesis + a paper in progress
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Math department graduate scholarship
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: CS TA for 2 years. Gave a couple of departmental seminar talks and a conference poster.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I've taken 3 first year grad courses in addition to >10 master's level courses.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My REU PI, who was one of my letter writers, is not a mathematician.

Applying to Where:

!!
UT Austin - Waitlisted 3/5 // Rejected 4/10
Northwestern - Rejected 3/31
Stony Brook - Waitlisted 3/12 // Accepted 4/13

Reach / Match
UCSD - Accepted 3/18
University of Washington - Accepted 2/17
Notre Dame - Accepted 2/18
UC Irvine - Rejected 2/8
Georgia Tech - Rejected 4/5
Penn State - Accepted 1/22
Indiana University Bloomington - Accepted 1/22
University of Connecticut - Waitlisted 2/27 // Declined

Safety
CUNY Graduate Center - Accepted 2/3 with fellowship
Tulane - Accepted 2/19

The past week has been a rollercoaster. In hindsight, I think I could've applied to more reach / !! schools, but at the time I was picking where to apply, I wasn't sure where I stood as an applicant (went to an unknown undergrad, had a non-math letter writer, not Gauss-reincarnate, etc. etc.). Nonetheless, I'm very happy to have had the options that I did.