Am i being realistic with admissions prospects
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2022 8:45 pm
I've been out of undergrad for ~2 years and am thinking about going for an applied math PhD. This is a new plan though, so while I was in undergrad I basically did little to no preparation for the grad school track. Now I'm wondering what's realistic here...I've surfed the admissions results already but it seems like everyones resume is light years better than mine, so does that mean I won't get in anywhere LOL
Here's my stats:
Undergrad: top 25 U.S. private school
Major: applied math
Overall GPA: 3.98
Major GPA: 3.84
Masters: top 50 U.S. public school
Program: computer science (online version)
Estimated GPA by graduation: ~3.8
Programs Interested In: probably applied math, but maybe pure / stats depending on the program, am mainly interested in operations research or some application of math in biology / medicine
Research Experience: worked a summer job as a research assistant, but it basically amounted to data cleaning, planning on doing a master's thesis though, but worried that it'll be limited b/c the program is online
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: nothing relevant to math
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: currently a software engineer
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: none that I can think of
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: my tour in industry...it'll take me another year to finish the master's at minimum, so by that point I'll be 3-4 years out of school
Does anyone have any thoughts on if this is even remotely competitive? I feel confident that I can score decently well on the GRE and the GRE math subject test when the time comes to go take it and if it's necessary. I just really want to know if this is all a pipe dream considering I have 0 research experience and will be out of school for so long when applying. I've done some investigating into top schools like Cornell and Duke, but I feel like I ought to get a good sense of where I stand before I hype myself up for no reason. Thanks everyone!!
Here's my stats:
Undergrad: top 25 U.S. private school
Major: applied math
Overall GPA: 3.98
Major GPA: 3.84
Masters: top 50 U.S. public school
Program: computer science (online version)
Estimated GPA by graduation: ~3.8
Programs Interested In: probably applied math, but maybe pure / stats depending on the program, am mainly interested in operations research or some application of math in biology / medicine
Research Experience: worked a summer job as a research assistant, but it basically amounted to data cleaning, planning on doing a master's thesis though, but worried that it'll be limited b/c the program is online
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: nothing relevant to math
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: currently a software engineer
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: none that I can think of
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: my tour in industry...it'll take me another year to finish the master's at minimum, so by that point I'll be 3-4 years out of school
Does anyone have any thoughts on if this is even remotely competitive? I feel confident that I can score decently well on the GRE and the GRE math subject test when the time comes to go take it and if it's necessary. I just really want to know if this is all a pipe dream considering I have 0 research experience and will be out of school for so long when applying. I've done some investigating into top schools like Cornell and Duke, but I feel like I ought to get a good sense of where I stand before I hype myself up for no reason. Thanks everyone!!