2024 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

[z2xz2]

🥸

[aerh]

deleted

[MadMenDoMath]

Congratulations on Berkeley! One of the best for number theory! Do you plan to wait for Chicago or join Berkeley?

Thought I'd put one here as this forum has been helpful!!

Undergrad Institution: Good school in Australia for undergrad, masters in the UK
Major(s): Mathematics, Computer Science
GPA: 93/100 (no GPA, just weighted average mark)
Type of Student: White Australian Male

Did not do the GRE

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Some research projects in number theory and algebra, nothing published yet, only some pre-prints. Also did a research project in theoretical computer science, but again wasn't published.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple awards for math, Dean's lists each year, some prizes for the Asia Pacific version of the Putnam
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: A lot of tutoring across math and computer science, about 15 courses altogether. TA'd one course.
Math Courses Taken: Calculus, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, Analysis, Discrete Mathematics, Complex Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Vector Calculus, Measure Theory, Fourier Analysis, Metric Spaces, Differential Geometry, Algebraic Topology, Commutative Algebra, Representation Theory, Functional Analysis, Lie algebras, Local Fields, Modular Forms, Algebraic Number Theory, Elliptic Curves
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I'm very close with 2 of my recommenders.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I mark the Asia Pacific version of the Putnam, not sure how much that helps. Also do some mentoring for high school students aiming to develop their competition math abilities.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
UC Berkeley Admitted
Princeton - Rejected
MIT - Rejected
UChicago - Waitlisted
UToronto - Pending
Oxford - Pending
LSGNT - Pending
Edinburgh - Pending

Also thinking about applying to Bonn and maybe some other European universities? Not sure.

[am4407]

Code: Select all

Undergrad Institution: Columbia University
Major(s):[Economics-Mathematics]
Minor(s):[None]
GPA:[3.514]
Math GPA:[3.54]
Type of Student: (Domestic African American, Non-binary)

GRE Revised General Test:[N/A]
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:[Not great and didn't submit to most schools]

Program Applying: (Applied Math)

Research Experience: (Worked on two separate research projects in Economics/Statistical Analysis. One analyzing the affect of student input variables on performance in flipped economics courses. The second (accepted for publishing) was on competitive balance in the NBA and the affect of superteams)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Deans List in 4 of 8 semesters)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Mathematics Teaching-Middle School Math)
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-IV, Linear Algebra, Combinatorics, Complex Variables, Analysis and Optimization, Ordinary Differential Equations, )

Applying to Where:
Stony Brook - Program Applied Math / Accepted! 1/26
Maryland-Applied Math Rejected 1/26
UCLA - Applied Math / Rejected 2/7
Harvard - Applied Math / Rejected 2/9
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign -Math/ Rejected 2/9
University of Chicago - Applied Math / Rejected 2/9
UCLA -Applied Math / Rejected 2/7
Brown - Applied Math / Rejected 1/22
UIC - Math/Pending
Michigan-Applied Math / Pending
Columbia-Applied Math / Pending
NYU Applied Math / Pending
CUNY - Math / Pending

Did UMD send you an actual rejection email? Bc I haven’t gotten anything from them and I’m not sure if I’m rejected or waitlisted.

I got an email from them saying a decision was rendered and received the rejection via the portal

[batrachotoxic]

Undergrad Institution: Foreign University, masters in UK
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.89/4.00
Math GPA: 3.83
Type of Student: International Female

GRE Revised General Test: Not taken
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Not taken

TOEFL Score: NA

Program Applying: Pure Mathematics

Research Experience: One REU, undergraduate thesis in probability theory
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing special really
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for an undergrad course
Math Courses Taken: Bunch of graduate level number theory courses
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One publication
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Not really

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
University of Toronto - Pending
Berlin Mathematical School (BMS) (Phase I) - Accepted with funding (26.02)
Cambridge - Rejected (22.02)
Oxford - Rejected (14.03)
LSGNT - Interview
Glasgow - Rejected (07.02)
Bristol - Interview
Nottingham - Rejected (21.03)
UCL - Pending
King's - Pending
Manchester - Accepted without funding for now(13.02)

[username486]

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts state school (USA)
Major(s): Math (Concentration in Applied/Computational Math)
Minor(s): Physics
GPA: 3.98
Math GPA: 3.91
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Revised General Test: Did not take
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Did not take

Program Applying: Applied Math (plus one Mechanical engineering)

Research Experience: Two papers published both on machine learning. Two ongoing projects with the intent of papers, one on machine learning and the other on fluid modeling. Two REU programs. I will have been to ~4 conferences by the time I graduate, given a couple of talks.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A few scholarships and deans list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 semesters of TA/Tutoring, ~5 semesters plus a couple of winters of research, two summers of REU research

Math Courses Taken: Calc 1 (AP), Calc 2-3, Diff eqs, Discrete math 1-2, Linea algebra, probability, statistics, numerical analysis 1-2, numerical optimization, numerical linear algebra, numerical PDEs, complex analysis, high-performance computing, scientific computing

Physics Courses Taken: Intro physics 1-3, applied modern physics, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, computational physics

Engineering Courses Taken: Heat transfer, finite element methods

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I am doing research in a hot area right now and my advisor has fairly good connections

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Dd not apply to fellowship such as NSF GRFP, not in the honors college, did not do a senior thesis (my research replaced it)

Applying to Where: My application process is finished

University of Pennsylvania - Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics - Accepted
UT Austin - Computational Science Engineering and Mathematics - Accepted
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Mathematics - Accepted
North Carolina State University - Applied Mathematics - Accepted
University of Colorado Boulder - Applied Mathematics - Accepted
Southern Methodist University - Computational and Applied Mathematics - Accepted

University of Washington - Applied Mathematics - Masters offer and rejected it

Stony Brook University - Mathematics - Withdrew application
University of Minnesota - Mathematics - Waitlisted and withdrew application
University of Wisconsin-Madison - Mathematics - Waitlisted and withdrew application

Brown - Applied Mathematics - Rejected
University of Michigan -Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics - Rejected

[sotinai]

It will be very easy to figure out who I am from the information I gave below, but I've yet to be convinced that I should be concerned about that.

Undergrad Institution: UC San Diego
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.87
Math GPA: slightly higher, like 3.9 I think
Type of Student: DWM

GRE: Didn't take

Program Applying: Pure math: homotopy theory & AG. Also stated interest in analysis & category theory.

Research Experience: 2022 UVA Topology REU, 2023 UChicago REU. My work at the former was in category theory & homotopy theory, and it resulted in a preprint, which is submitted. I have a preliminary draft for my UChicago paper, which is in stable/motivic homotopy theory and category theory (it is partially expository, partially original). I included the initial draft in my application, but I haven't written the final draft yet (sorry Peter).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Provost honors for high grades, math honors student (writing an undergrad thesis), nothing else.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Graded algebra & analysis courses this year at UCSD, nothing before my senior year.
Math Courses Taken: Undergrad: honors linalg/vector calc sequence, logic sequence, real analysis sequence, abstract algebra sequence, topology sequence, a combinatorics class, a (rigorous) ODEs course, commutative algebra. Graduate: Algtop sequence, real analysis sequence, algebraic geometry sequence, a single diff geo course, complex analysis sequence (in progress), functional analysis sequence (in progress), probability sequence (in progress).
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Both my REU mentors wrote me letters, as well as my honors thesis advisor here at UCSD. One of the REU mentors is a postdoc, which I have heard is potentially suboptimal from some people. The other two were professors, one in particular is a very well known name, the other is fairly well-regarded as well, I believe. I have a good relationship with all of my advisors, and each of them told me they wrote me a strong letter.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Currently working on honors thesis in algebraic geometry (expository paper proving Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch). Done some directed reading in (stable) homotopy theory, model categories, and ∞-categories. Been involved with several undergraduate & graduate seminars at UCSD.

I applied for pure math to all schools. Schools are ranked roughly by how competitive I think they are (my ranking is almost certainly incorrect).
Applied to Where:
Harvard University - Rejected 01/30
MIT - Rejected 02/09
Stanford University - Rejected 02/07
University of Chicago - Rejected 01/08 on portal (no email)
UCLA - Rejected 03/11
University of Michigan - Rejected 03/04
Northwestern University - Rejected 02/09
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) - Rejected 02/19
University of Minnesota - Rejected 02/20 (this one really hurt)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) - Accepted 02/04, ATTENDING
University of Washington - Waitlisted 02/05, Withdrew 04/04
University of Virginia - Waitlisted 02/09, Withdrew 02/09
University of Kentucky - Waitlisted 02/06, Withdrew 02/09

I will probably go with UIUC; I would potentially consider Washington if I got off the waitlist due to its better location + possibly higher stipend, but I'm leaning against it right now. Will withdraw from the waitlist as soon as I make up my mind (which should be pretty soon). Overall, I did worse than I or my advisors expected me to, but I can't complain — UIUC is a very solid school.

Update 04/04: I’ve accepted the offer at UIUC, and withdrew from the UW waitlist. Excited!

[greenface1998]

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Pending
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math /Pending
Duke - Phd Math / Pending
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Pending
Stanford - Phd ICME / Pending
Emory - Phd Math / Accepted

Essentially every program that is pending has already admitted students so best case scenario I'm waitlisted, thought I've not gotten any official notice of being waitlist anywhere. My advisor thought I'd get substantially more offers than this. I was considering Emory as a safety school so its rather disheartening that it was the only place to give me a chance. I know I do as well as the Phd students at UW in all my graduate coursework, so given that and the success of my research projects over the last year I was sortoff expecting at least 1 admit to a school comparable to UW. The rejection from UW was particularly painful bc my advisor told me he'd ask the admissions committee to let me in and that he'd be my advisor.
Do these results check out to you? Or would you expect someone with my background to have gotten a better result. Is it worth reapplying next year( I would likely have two publications by then and could take the math GRE to boost my profile).

[AbelianCat]

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Pending
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math /Pending
Duke - Phd Math / Pending
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Pending
Stanford - Phd ICME / Pending
Emory - Phd Math / Accepted

Essentially every program that is pending has already admitted students so best case scenario I'm waitlisted, thought I've not gotten any official notice of being waitlist anywhere. My advisor thought I'd get substantially more offers than this. I was considering Emory as a safety school so its rather disheartening that it was the only place to give me a chance. I know I do as well as the Phd students at UW in all my graduate coursework, so given that and the success of my research projects over the last year I was sortoff expecting at least 1 admit to a school comparable to UW. The rejection from UW was particularly painful bc my advisor told me he'd ask the admissions committee to let me in and that he'd be my advisor.
Do these results check out to you? Or would you expect someone with my background to have gotten a better result. Is it worth reapplying next year( I would likely have two publications by then and could take the math GRE to boost my profile).

I would have expected much stronger results, especially based off of what your advisor said. With that being said, you applied to very very competitive programs. In hindsight it may have been worth it to apply to some programs between Emory and the rest of your list. However, Emory is a solid program. If the placements of their last few graduating classes lines up with what you want to do after graduation, I would highly consider not reapplying and just go there (from personal experience, turning down PhD offers and waiting for something better is a risky thing and does not always work out).

[greenface1998]

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Pending
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math /Pending
Duke - Phd Math / Pending
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Pending
Stanford - Phd ICME / Pending
Emory - Phd Math / Accepted

Essentially every program that is pending has already admitted students so best case scenario I'm waitlisted, thought I've not gotten any official notice of being waitlist anywhere. My advisor thought I'd get substantially more offers than this. I was considering Emory as a safety school so its rather disheartening that it was the only place to give me a chance. I know I do as well as the Phd students at UW in all my graduate coursework, so given that and the success of my research projects over the last year I was sortoff expecting at least 1 admit to a school comparable to UW. The rejection from UW was particularly painful bc my advisor told me he'd ask the admissions committee to let me in and that he'd be my advisor.
Do these results check out to you? Or would you expect someone with my background to have gotten a better result. Is it worth reapplying next year( I would likely have two publications by then and could take the math GRE to boost my profile).

I would have expected much stronger results, especially based off of what your advisor said. With that being said, you applied to very very competitive programs. In hindsight it may have been worth it to apply to some programs between Emory and the rest of your list. However, Emory is a solid program. If the placements of their last few graduating classes lines up with what you want to do after graduation, I would highly consider not reapplying and just go there (from personal experience, turning down PhD offers and waiting for something better is a risky thing and does not always work out).

Yeah I’m agonizing over this decision myself. Especially as I didn’t particularly love Emory on my student visit there. One thing I’ve considered in a to contact the professor at UW who read my app and ask him if he had any insight of why I may have not gotten the result I was expecting. And then from there if it’s something I’m capable of fixing over the next year( say something wrong with my SOP or a weak recommendation ), fix it and try again.

I’ve contacted admissions people at various places I didn’t get into and asked for such feedback but they generally either give me the generic copy and paste response or tell me ‘there was no issue with the strength of your application, there were just to many strong candidates ). But hopefully since I’m still involved with the UW department I can squeeze out a bit more info.

[z2xz2]

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Pending
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math /Pending
Duke - Phd Math / Pending
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Pending
Stanford - Phd ICME / Pending
Emory - Phd Math / Accepted

Essentially every program that is pending has already admitted students so best case scenario I'm waitlisted, thought I've not gotten any official notice of being waitlist anywhere. My advisor thought I'd get substantially more offers than this. I was considering Emory as a safety school so its rather disheartening that it was the only place to give me a chance. I know I do as well as the Phd students at UW in all my graduate coursework, so given that and the success of my research projects over the last year I was sortoff expecting at least 1 admit to a school comparable to UW. The rejection from UW was particularly painful bc my advisor told me he'd ask the admissions committee to let me in and that he'd be my advisor.
Do these results check out to you? Or would you expect someone with my background to have gotten a better result. Is it worth reapplying next year( I would likely have two publications by then and could take the math GRE to boost my profile).

I would have expected much stronger results, especially based off of what your advisor said. With that being said, you applied to very very competitive programs. In hindsight it may have been worth it to apply to some programs between Emory and the rest of your list. However, Emory is a solid program. If the placements of their last few graduating classes lines up with what you want to do after graduation, I would highly consider not reapplying and just go there (from personal experience, turning down PhD offers and waiting for something better is a risky thing and does not always work out).

Yeah I’m agonizing over this decision myself. Especially as I didn’t particularly love Emory on my student visit there. One thing I’ve considered in a to contact the professor at UW who read my app and ask him if he had any insight of why I may have not gotten the result I was expecting. And then from there if it’s something I’m capable of fixing over the next year( say something wrong with my SOP or a weak recommendation ), fix it and try again.

I’ve contacted admissions people at various places I didn’t get into and asked for such feedback but they generally either give me the generic copy and paste response or tell me ‘there was no issue with the strength of your application, there were just to many strong candidates ). But hopefully since I’m still involved with the UW department I can squeeze out a bit more info.

I always thought Emory was a pretty prestigious school, but maybe I was misinformed.

Have you considered the option of accepting the offer from Emory and then still reapplying this December?

I’m not sure of your situation, but I know most students in an MS program are paying out of pocket, so wouldn’t it be better to be funded for the year while you improve your application?

[greenface1998]

I would have expected much stronger results, especially based off of what your advisor said. With that being said, you applied to very very competitive programs. In hindsight it may have been worth it to apply to some programs between Emory and the rest of your list. However, Emory is a solid program. If the placements of their last few graduating classes lines up with what you want to do after graduation, I would highly consider not reapplying and just go there (from personal experience, turning down PhD offers and waiting for something better is a risky thing and does not always work out).

Yeah I’m agonizing over this decision myself. Especially as I didn’t particularly love Emory on my student visit there. One thing I’ve considered in a to contact the professor at UW who read my app and ask him if he had any insight of why I may have not gotten the result I was expecting. And then from there if it’s something I’m capable of fixing over the next year( say something wrong with my SOP or a weak recommendation ), fix it and try again.

I’ve contacted admissions people at various places I didn’t get into and asked for such feedback but they generally either give me the generic copy and paste response or tell me ‘there was no issue with the strength of your application, there were just to many strong candidates ). But hopefully since I’m still involved with the UW department I can squeeze out a bit more info.

I always thought Emory was a pretty prestigious school, but maybe I was misinformed.

Have you considered the option of accepting the offer from Emory and then still reapplying this December?

I’m not sure of your situation, but I know most students in an MS program are paying out of pocket, so wouldn’t it be better to be funded for the year while you improve your application?

My understanding is that it’s exceedingly difficult to transfer PhD programs and it doesn’t really happen outside of extreme circumstances. So I only want to accept Emory’s offer if it’s something I really want to commit to.

As an undergraduate institution Emory prestigious but it’s not as well ranked for the math PhD. It wouldn’t be career destroying to go but it would be less than ideal. And when I visited it just didn’t feel like a place I’d particularly enjoy living/going. That’s a bigger motivator than lack of prestige for me.

[3rdSplashBrother]

Undergrad Institution: BS + MS Pure Science Research Institute (Asia), pretty well known in the country
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science
Current Position: 1st Year Math PhD student at one of the best institutes in the country
GPA: 8.71 / 10
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Revised General Test: (not sure why I took the test, didn't even submit my general scores anywhere)
Q:165 (76%)
V: 159 (81%)
W: 4 (56%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 830 (80%)

TOEFL Score: (111 = R 30/L 29/S 24/W 28) (if applicable)

Program Applying: Pure Math
Research Experience: None really. Master's Thesis studying Topological K-Theory. Some work with one of my recommenders on a problem in Geometric Analysis
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Awarded prestigious PhD fellowship at my current institute, Best Master's Thesis, decent performance in nationwide mathematics competitive exams for doctoral scholarships
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Nothing until last semester (so nothing on most applications), currently conducting weekly tutorials for a Fourier Analysis course
Math Courses Taken: A lot, but here are the more advanced ones (from my current and undergrad institutes) Operator Algebras, Algebraic Topology, Differential Topology, Measure Theory, Harmonic Analysis, PDE, Nonlinear Analysis, Functional Analysis, Complex Analysis, Algebraic Number Theory, Commutative Algebra, Representation Theory of Finite Groups
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Not really, but recommenders know me very well. Tried to get in touch with professors at target universities, and prof at WashU encouraged me to apply to their program.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Second time applying, who knows how this affects things

Applying to Where:
CU Boulder - Waitlisted (5 Feb)
Washington University in St. Louis - Admitted! (12 March)
Maryland College-Park - Rejected (not officially but upon inquiry was notified that it is unlikely I would get an offer)
Dartmouth - Rejected
Penn State - Rejected
OSU - Rejected
Texas A and M -
Vanderbilt -

Wash U is my first acceptance in two years, and I most likely will attend. Good Luck to everyone!

[math_matic_tw24]

Undergrad Institution: Small liberal arts state school (USA)
Major(s): Math (Concentration in Applied/Computational Math)
Minor(s): Physics
GPA: 3.98
Math GPA: 3.91
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Revised General Test: Did not take
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Did not take

Program Applying: Applied Math (plus one Mechanical engineering)

Research Experience: Two papers published both on machine learning. Two ongoing projects with the intent of papers, one on machine learning and the other on fluid modeling. Two REU programs. I will have been to ~4 conferences by the time I graduate, given a couple of talks.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A few scholarships and deans list

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 3 semesters of TA/Tutoring, ~5 semesters plus a couple of winters of research, two summers of REU research

Math Courses Taken: Calc 1 (AP), Calc 2-3, Diff eqs, Discrete math 1-2, Linea algebra, probability, statistics, numerical analysis 1-2, numerical optimization, numerical linear algebra, numerical PDEs, complex analysis, high-performance computing, scientific computing

Physics Courses Taken: Intro physics 1-3, applied modern physics, classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, computational physics

Engineering Courses Taken: Heat transfer, finite element methods

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I am doing research in a hot area right now and my advisor has fairly good connections

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Dd not apply to fellowship such as NSF GRFP, not in the honors college, did not do a senior thesis (my research replaced it)

Applying to Where: My application process is finished

University of Pennsylvania - Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics - Accepted
UT Austin - Computational Science Engineering and Mathematics - Accepted
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Mathematics - Accepted
North Carolina State University - Applied Mathematics - Accepted
University of Colorado Boulder - Applied Mathematics - Accepted
Southern Methodist University - Computational and Applied Mathematics - Accepted

University of Washington - Applied Mathematics - Masters offer and rejected it

Stony Brook University - Mathematics - Withdrew application
University of Minnesota - Mathematics - Waitlisted and withdrew application
University of Wisconsin-Madison - Mathematics - Waitlisted and withdrew application

Brown - Applied Mathematics - Rejected
University of Michigan -Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics - Rejected

Where do you plan to attend? I am waitlisted at one of the places you have been accepted to hah

[EulerEnthusiast]

Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts College
Major(s): Mathematics, Physics
Minor(s): Classics
GPA: 3.81
Math GPA: 3.82
Type of Student: Domestic Male

Program Applying: Applied Math

Research Experience: REU in Cybersecurity at Montana State, summer research in Combinatorics/Number Theory at home institution and in Numerical Analysis/PDEs at Portland State, year-long project on fluid dynamics at home institution, various independent studies in mathematical modeling
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Most Outstanding Junior Physics Award (institutional-level)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Mathematics Tutor, Supplemental Instructor in Calculus I
Math Courses Taken: Complex Analysis, Dynamical Systems, Real Functions and Measures, Multivariable Calculus, Abstract Algebra I, Functional Real Variable I, Elementary Differential Equations, Elementary Linear Algebra, Applied Mathematical Modeling, Intro to Proofs]
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Didn't do too hot on real analysis coursework during Budapest Semesters in Mathematics semester

Applying to Where:
University of Washington - Applied Math PhD / Rejected, declined offer of unfunded masters (Feb. 1, 2024)
University of Colorado Boulder - Applied Math PhD / Admitted with TA funding (Feb. 2, 2024) - 26k/academic year + 6k/summer / Attending!!
Brown University - Applied Math PhD / Rejected (Jan. 19, 2024)
MIT-WHOI - Physical Oceanography PhD / Rejected (Feb. 29, 2024)
University of Michigan - Applied & Interdisciplinary Math PhD / Rejected (March 27, 2024)
Montana State - Computer Science MA / Accepted (April 8, 2024) / Declined Offer

[greenface1998]

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. Several research projects in internships. One publication in biology from undergrad No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Rejected
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math / Rejected
Duke - Phd Math / Pending
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Waitlist
Stanford - Phd ICME / Rejected
Emory - Phd Math / Accepted

Essentially every program that is pending has already admitted students so best case scenario I'm waitlisted, thought I've not gotten any official notice of being waitlist anywhere. My advisor thought I'd get substantially more offers than this. I was considering Emory as a safety school so its rather disheartening that it was the only place to give me a chance. I know I do as well as the Phd students at UW in all my graduate coursework, so given that and the success of my research projects over the last year I was sortoff expecting at least 1 admit to a school comparable to UW. The rejection from UW was particularly painful bc my advisor told me he'd ask the admissions committee to let me in and that he'd be my advisor.
Do these results check out to you? Or would you expect someone with my background to have gotten a better result.

Is it worth reapplying next year( I would likely have two publications by then and could take the math GRE to boost my profile). I didn’t much care for Emory when I visited but there is at least one advisor there in my field of interest who is good.

My advisors contact at Caltech told me I was fairly close there. And being waitlisted from UT Austin tells me there could be a chance if I just got a little bit better I could go to that caliber of school. What would you do in my position?

[Sunshine]

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. Several research projects in internships. One publication in biology from undergrad No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Rejected
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math / Rejected
Duke - Phd Math / Pending
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Waitlist
Stanford - Phd ICME / Rejected
Emory - Phd Math / Accepted

Essentially every program that is pending has already admitted students so best case scenario I'm waitlisted, thought I've not gotten any official notice of being waitlist anywhere. My advisor thought I'd get substantially more offers than this. I was considering Emory as a safety school so its rather disheartening that it was the only place to give me a chance. I know I do as well as the Phd students at UW in all my graduate coursework, so given that and the success of my research projects over the last year I was sortoff expecting at least 1 admit to a school comparable to UW. The rejection from UW was particularly painful bc my advisor told me he'd ask the admissions committee to let me in and that he'd be my advisor.
Do these results check out to you? Or would you expect someone with my background to have gotten a better result.

Is it worth reapplying next year( I would likely have two publications by then and could take the math GRE to boost my profile). I didn’t much care for Emory when I visited but there is at least one advisor there in my field of interest who is good.

My advisors contact at Caltech told me I was fairly close there. And being waitlisted from UT Austin tells me there could be a chance if I just got a little bit better I could go to that caliber of school. What would you do in my position?

Please contact the advisor who told you that they would contact admissions and be your advisor. I had a friend who was told the same thing from an advisor but he didn’t get accepted to the school. He told the advisor about it and was then admitted!!

[greenface1998]

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. Several research projects in internships. One publication in biology from undergrad No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Rejected
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Pending
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math / Rejected
Duke - Phd Math / Pending
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Waitlist
Stanford - Phd ICME / Rejected
Emory - Phd Math / Accepted

Essentially every program that is pending has already admitted students so best case scenario I'm waitlisted, thought I've not gotten any official notice of being waitlist anywhere. My advisor thought I'd get substantially more offers than this. I was considering Emory as a safety school so its rather disheartening that it was the only place to give me a chance. I know I do as well as the Phd students at UW in all my graduate coursework, so given that and the success of my research projects over the last year I was sortoff expecting at least 1 admit to a school comparable to UW. The rejection from UW was particularly painful bc my advisor told me he'd ask the admissions committee to let me in and that he'd be my advisor.
Do these results check out to you? Or would you expect someone with my background to have gotten a better result.

Is it worth reapplying next year( I would likely have two publications by then and could take the math GRE to boost my profile). I didn’t much care for Emory when I visited but there is at least one advisor there in my field of interest who is good.

My advisors contact at Caltech told me I was fairly close there. And being waitlisted from UT Austin tells me there could be a chance if I just got a little bit better I could go to that caliber of school. What would you do in my position?

Please contact the advisor who told you that they would contact admissions and be your advisor. I had a friend who was told the same thing from an advisor but he didn’t get accepted to the school. He told the advisor about it and was then admitted!!

You mean the guy I have a research meeting with every week to continue our ongoing projects together? Yeah I’m pretty sure he knows already haha.

[Radon-Nikocado]

Undergrad Institution: State flagship
Major: Mathematics
Minor: Something niche in STEM
GPA: 3.9X
Math GPA: N/A
Type of Student: Underrepresented domestic

GRE Revised General Test: Not taken
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Not submitted

Program Applying: Pure math PhD, focus on analysis

Research Experience: Two projects at my school, one in analysis (1.5 years), one in algebra (for a summer). No publications, no conferences, only an upcoming poster presentation at my school and a senior thesis.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some departmental awards for best student, internal research grants from my school, ΦΒΚ, and a GRFP applicant.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TAship/tutoring within my department, and a fancy research-based internship lined up for this upcoming summer. Also did a stupid amount of service for my department, was involved in leadership positions and spearheaded DEI initiatives.
Math Courses Taken: A little under a dozen doctoral-level graduate courses, skipped most of the undergraduate math curriculum. Some reading courses and seminars.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Knew my recommenders well, and had worked with them on things. Also put effort into making my resume/statements look nice.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I'll admit I was feeling pretty burned out around the time of submitting my applications. Didn't apply to many places, and even for some of the places I did, I couldn't say anything I liked about the program. (Things ended up working out, feeling happy about the place I'll be attending, and maybe even more glad to leave my undergrad program.)

Applying to Where: (Listed alphabetically, excluding the place I have committed to.)
Brown University - Waitlisted (1/28), Rejected (3/11) Informed out of 492 applications, 22 were admitted and 11 were waitlisted. Yield rate (especially in analysis) was too good to offer me admission, I was told later.
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) - Rejected (2/28) Not sure if my recommenders were aware the (generic) letters I requested on mathprograms.org were for CMU, as they did work for REUs I later applied to.
Columbia University - Rejected (3/15) Big surprise, but they haven't been taking many analysts lately.
CUNY Graduate Center - Unofficially admitted (3/26) Received email informing me I was waitlisted, but that there was a "good chance" of offering a position and wanted to know if I were interested, so I assume this is an unofficial offer. The statements I submitted here were also generic.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Rejected (2/9)
Princeton University - Rejected (2/8)
Rutgers University - Unofficially admitted (4/11) Thought I was getting ghosted, but received an (urgent) unofficial offer with full funding over email. Did not submit my resume here, the portal is janky.
Stony Brook University - Admitted (3/1)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) - Waitlisted (2/15) The statements I submitted here were generic, and did not mention anything about the program/faculty/aligned interests at all.
University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) - Admitted (1/22) Was told they had ~300 applicants, and made ~30 first round offers.

If it's not clear, I have already committed to a program and withdrew from everywhere else listed above.

[gnayd]

Now that decisions are all but over, I feel like it's important for posterity and for future applicants to get a sense of how difficult admissions can be.

I have a feeling it may not be hard to uncover my identity with some digging, but I am not as concerned about this as I maybe should be. If you know who I am, feel free to reach out would love to discuss. I'm also hoping that posting my profile is helpful for other LAC students in particular -- feel free to reach out with questions/advice; I should be able to get notifications for DMs.

Undergrad Institution: Top LAC
Major(s): Math, CS
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 3.98
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Revised General Test: N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 820 (78%)

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math: interests in algebra/NT

Research Experience: 2 years of research at home institution, 1 REU in CS field. One preprint submitted to a journal at during application: "accepted with revision" (later officially accepted).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: N/A
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Quite involved in Math Department in terms of supporting peers & grading
Math Courses Taken: LinAlg, Multi, Analysis (Intro to Real and Complex), Intro Differential Geometry, Combinatorics, Algebra (2 semesters), Topology, 3 applied, 4 stats courses
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: N/A
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A
Post-Application Comments: I felt like I had pretty diverse coursework -- with relatively advanced courses -- for my school. I'm not sure if the former is what these programs are looking for, but rather more for well-performing students with more clear research directions. Given my decisions, I would also highly recommend top LAC students to take grad courses/study-abroad/more advanced reading courses.

Applying to Where: (In Chronological Order of Decisions)

UChicago - Rejected 1.08
Ohio State University - Admitted 1.09
Duke - Offered Interview ~1.16, Interviewed 1.19. Waitlisted (unofficial) 2.28 & (official) 3.29 (was told unlikely upon inquiry near end of February and not in first round of offers, later waitlisted).
Northwestern - Rejected 1.26
Brown - Rejected 1.29
Harvard - Rejected 1.30
Yale - Rejected 2.01
Washington - Rejected 2.05
MIT - Rejected 2.09
Wisconsin - Rejected 2.09
Caltech - Rejected 2.13
Columbia - Rejected 2.22
Boston University - Rejected 2.25
UCSD - Admitted 2.29
Berkeley - Rejected 3.1
Michigan - Rejected 3.04

Schools who have "Ghosted" Me
Penn - ~Rejected 2.15 (not invited to open house 2.15/2.16)
Rutgers - ~Rejected/Waitlisted

[jasongao119]

Undergrad Institution: Private, top 20
Major(s): Applied Math, (Pure) Math (double-major)
Minor(s): -
GPA: 3.91/4.00
Math GPA: -
Type of Student: International Asian male

GRE Revised General Test: did not take
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: did terribly, so not submitting

TOEFL Score: 116/120 (26 in writing, 30 all else - only submitting where required, like CMU)

Program Applying: Mostly pure math (probability focus)

Research Experience: 1 online summer REU, resulting in 1 (submitted) publication in probability (~10 students). Some semester-long reading projects, in category theory, abstract harmonic analysis/alg. num theory, optimal transport, MCMC. Currently writing senior thesis in OT. 1 expository paper on OT, submitted to undergraduate journal.

Worked for ~ 6 months (2 full time) in bioinformatics lab.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not much - just deans list every semester.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for master's level intro. prob (1 semester); TA for Multivariable Calculus (2 semesters).
Math Courses Taken: (Undergraduate) (pure math) Honors Analysis (2 sems), Honors Algebra (1 sem), Topology, Calc. on Manifolds
(applied math) probability, stats, optimization, graph theory, cryptology
(graduate) probability theory (2 sems), theoretical machine learning (1 sem), algebra (1 sem), measure theory (1 sem). Will have taken additional graduate algebra 2, complex analysis by graduation

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I was a bit "late" to the math major: due to the nature of my high school math courses, I didn't know how to read or write proofs until my sophomore year of college (or that this was even possible to learn!). I switched into math from another STEM major at that point. Prior to that, I scored poorly on Calc. 3 and Lin Alg in my freshman year.


Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
NYU Rejected
CMU Rejected
MIT Rejected
GTech Rejected
UWash Rejected
Berkeley Rejected
Brown (applied math) Rejected
UW Madison Rejected
Columbia Rejected
Duke
UCSD Accepted
UMD Waitlisted upon inquiry
Purdue 550 applications for 25 spots, unsure about my position on the (wait?)list
Utah Waitlisted upon inquiry
UVA Waitlisted via portal update
U of Ohio Waitlisted upon inquiry
U of Connecticut Interview upon inquiry (03/27), Accepted off of waitlist (04/01)
Cambridge (part III) Rejected

Edit: So many waitlists

Did you receive an email of waitlist from Purdue or it is by inquiry?

[probabelitist]

Undergrad Institution: Private, top 20
Major(s): Applied Math, (Pure) Math (double-major)
Minor(s): -
GPA: 3.91/4.00
Math GPA: -
Type of Student: International Asian male

GRE Revised General Test: did not take
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: did terribly, so not submitting

TOEFL Score: 116/120 (26 in writing, 30 all else - only submitting where required, like CMU)

Program Applying: Mostly pure math (probability focus)

Research Experience: 1 online summer REU, resulting in 1 (submitted) publication in probability (~10 students). Some semester-long reading projects, in category theory, abstract harmonic analysis/alg. num theory, optimal transport, MCMC. Currently writing senior thesis in OT. 1 expository paper on OT, submitted to undergraduate journal.

Worked for ~ 6 months (2 full time) in bioinformatics lab.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Not much - just deans list every semester.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for master's level intro. prob (1 semester); TA for Multivariable Calculus (2 semesters).
Math Courses Taken: (Undergraduate) (pure math) Honors Analysis (2 sems), Honors Algebra (1 sem), Topology, Calc. on Manifolds
(applied math) probability, stats, optimization, graph theory, cryptology
(graduate) probability theory (2 sems), theoretical machine learning (1 sem), algebra (1 sem), measure theory (1 sem). Will have taken additional graduate algebra 2, complex analysis by graduation

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I was a bit "late" to the math major: due to the nature of my high school math courses, I didn't know how to read or write proofs until my sophomore year of college (or that this was even possible to learn!). I switched into math from another STEM major at that point. Prior to that, I scored poorly on Calc. 3 and Lin Alg in my freshman year.


Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
NYU Rejected
CMU Rejected
MIT Rejected
GTech Rejected
UWash Rejected
Berkeley Rejected
Brown (applied math) Rejected
UW Madison Rejected
Columbia Rejected
Duke
UCSD Accepted
UMD Waitlisted upon inquiry
Purdue 550 applications for 25 spots, unsure about my position on the (wait?)list
Utah Waitlisted upon inquiry
UVA Waitlisted via portal update
U of Ohio Waitlisted upon inquiry
U of Connecticut Interview upon inquiry (03/27), Accepted off of waitlist (04/01)
Cambridge (part III) Rejected

Edit: So many waitlists

Did you receive an email of waitlist from Purdue or it is by inquiry?

By inquiry, and I'm honestly not sure if it's a waitlist or not.

[prudence]

By inquiry, and I'm honestly not sure if it's a waitlist or not.

Are you accepting Purdue offer or have already declined? I saw you have UCSD offer.

[ipso_cheeto]

Does anybody feel like... it's getting kind of ridiculous that Columbia Applied Math hasn't sent out rejections yet?

[dolbeault]

Does anybody feel like... it's getting kind of ridiculous that Columbia Applied Math hasn't sent out rejections yet?

A little bit ridiculous of any school to have not sent out their sure rejections by the last week of the cycle. Obviously there are some real waitlist decisions still happening and they don't want to reject everyone they haven't accepted yet but it really seems like some schools are just sitting on their entire rejection lists until the last day for no reason. Feels disrespectful, I just don't see a good reason for it.

[ipso_cheeto]

Does anybody feel like... it's getting kind of ridiculous that Columbia Applied Math hasn't sent out rejections yet?

A little bit ridiculous of any school to have not sent out their sure rejections by the last week of the cycle. Obviously there are some real waitlist decisions still happening and they don't want to reject everyone they haven't accepted yet but it really seems like some schools are just sitting on their entire rejection lists until the last day for no reason. Feels disrespectful, I just don't see a good reason for it.

I really agree. It's like sure, you technically *can* wait until April 15th to reject people. or, you could, ya know... have a basic level of respect for all the applicants and just give them an update. It's really unnecessary for them to hold on to all the applicants they already know are rejected.

[greenface1998]

My final update for this year:

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. Several research projects in internships. One publication in biology from undergrad No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Rejected
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Rejected
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math / Rejected
Duke - Phd Math /Rejected
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Waitlist
Stanford - Phd ICME / Rejected
Emory - Phd Math / WithDrawn

I made the difficult decision to withdraw my one admission to Emory as I didn't think the program would help me accomplish my goals/didnt care for the area. I have 3 projects underway, 2 close to publication. I am hoping with some publications and more networking I can get a better result next year. After all the work I put in this has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Congrats to everyone who got an admissions outcome they were happy with. I'll see you guys next year.

[AbelianCat]

My final update for this year:

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. Several research projects in internships. One publication in biology from undergrad No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Rejected
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Rejected
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math / Rejected
Duke - Phd Math /Rejected
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Waitlist
Stanford - Phd ICME / Rejected
Emory - Phd Math / WithDrawn

I made the difficult decision to withdraw my one admission to Emory as I didn't think the program would help me accomplish my goals/didnt care for the area. I have 3 projects underway, 2 close to publication. I am hoping with some publications and more networking I can get a better result next year. After all the work I put in this has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Congrats to everyone who got an admissions outcome they were happy with. I'll see you guys next year.

I hope everything works out for you. I’m still very shocked by your results. It appears you just got rather unlucky with everything.

[MadMenDoMath]

My final update for this year:

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. Several research projects in internships. One publication in biology from undergrad No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Rejected
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Rejected
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math / Rejected
Duke - Phd Math /Rejected
UT Austin - Phd Applied Math / Waitlist
Stanford - Phd ICME / Rejected
Emory - Phd Math / WithDrawn

I made the difficult decision to withdraw my one admission to Emory as I didn't think the program would help me accomplish my goals/didnt care for the area. I have 3 projects underway, 2 close to publication. I am hoping with some publications and more networking I can get a better result next year. After all the work I put in this has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Congrats to everyone who got an admissions outcome they were happy with. I'll see you guys next year.

It's unfortunate. I'm sure you'll get into a place of your choice next year! Enjoy your strategic break! You made a wise/brave decision and I'm sure you won't regret it!

[roseterrur]

Undergrad Institution: Big state school
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): n/a
GPA: 4.0
Math GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 830 (80%)

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Multiple research experiences within my own school and an international REU with a famous professor.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutoring in my 4th year, led calculus discussion sections in my second year, and an internship at a company applying my field of interest in pure math.
Math Courses Taken: Graduate courses: modern algebra, algebraic topology, differentiable manifolds, algebraic geometry, geometric topology, complex geometry, lie groups/lie algebras, real and complex analysis, commutative algebra, representation theory, algebraic number theory
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Good letters from some famous professors.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Stony Brook - Rejected
UT Austin - Accepted and attending !! / Accepted
University of Washington - Accepted / Declined
UToronto - Direct admit to PhD / Declined
University of Illinois Chicago - Accepted / Declined
Columbia University - Interviewed but rejected
MIT - Rejected
Harvard - Rejected
Stanford - Rejected
Princeton - Rejected
Brown - Rejected
NYU - Rejected
Michigan - Rejected
Cambridge Part III - I got ghosted, and I withdrew

[smoothstructure]

Undergrad Institution: State school not particularly known for math, but people have applied on this forum
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Physics
GPA: 3.95
Math GPA: 4.00
Type of Student: DWM

GRE Revised General Test: didn't take
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: lol not good enough to submit

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: One REU resulting in published paper, ongoing research with a faculty member at my school.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: lots of departmental awards, some 1st/2nd place awards for math competitions at my university/state
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: grader for upper division math courses. teaching is unfortunately not available for undergrads at my school.
Math Courses Taken: Undergrad: 2x analysis, abstract algebra, linear algebra. Graduate: 2x algebra, 3x topology, measure theory, geometric measure theory, Fourier analysis, 2x complex analysis, 2x differential geometry, Riemann surfaces, functional analysis/operator algebras
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: has a lot of recommenders so was able to cater to each school a bit better I think
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: lots of outreach efforts

Applying to Where:
Columbia - Rejected
Berkeley - Rejected
Penn - Pending, Seems interested after GRFP, unlikely to accept
Michigan - Rejected
Northwestern - Rejected
Chicago - Rejected
Rutgers - Rejected, Accepted after GRFP, withdrew application
Texas - seems interested after GRFP
Wisconsin - Rejected, Waitlist after GRFP, withdrew application
Stony Brook - Waitlist, Accepted after GRFP, withdrew application
Washington - Rejected, Accepted after GRFP, ATTENDING!!!
Minnesota - Waitlist, Accepted after GRFP, withdrew application
Brown - Rejected
Boston University - Accepted, withdrew application
Northeastern - Pending, withdrew application
NYU - Deferred to masters, withdrew application
Notre Dame - Accepted, withdrew application
CU Boulder - Accepted, withdrew application
Dartmouth - Rejected
UMass - Waitlist, withdrew application

GRFP - AWARDED?!?!?!?

[unknownMath]

Undergrad Institution: Foreign, good uni
Major(s):Mathematics
GPA: 3.9
Math GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: International

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: One research experience w/o result
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing significant
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: A few teaching experiences
Math Courses Taken:
Undergraduate level: A year of real analysis and abstract algebra, topology, other regular courses
Graduate level: A few courses
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Strong letters and a close match of interests with some places
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Sent an updated transcript that includes my fall grade to programs labelled with '*', along with a brief explanation for a bad grade of one course.

Applying to Where: (In no particular order)
Yale* - Submitted 12/15 Rejected 02/01
USC* - Submitted 12/15 Unofficial very positive email 02/03 Accepted! ($40k stipend + one year fellowship) 02/09 Declined
Northeastern - (PhD and MS) - Submitted 12/12 Withdrawn
UNC Chapel Hill - Submitted 12/12 Rejected 04/02
UT Austin* - Submitted 12/15 Unofficially rejected upon inquiry 03/26
Rutgers* - Submitted 12/15 Waitlisted upon inquiry 03/18
MIT - Submitted 12/15 Rejected 02/09
UPenn - Submitted 12/21 Invited to interview 02/23 Invited to another round of interview 02/25 Rejected 04/12
Stony Brook - Submitted 12/21 Waitlisted upon inquiry 03/15
UMass Amherst* - Submitted 12/30 Waitlisted 03/22 Withdrawn
UOregon - Submitted 12/30 Withdrawn
Boston University -Submitted 12/30 Unofficially accepted! 02/06 Accepted! ($41k first year) 02/21

Update 02/25: Just interviewed by upenn. I was not expecting an interview invitation at all and didn't prepare that much. I hope I get in regardless.
Update 03/01: Just interviewed again by upenn.
Update 04/12: Will likely commit to BU for a closer match of interests. I am interested in a niche field; my SOP makes it sound as though I am solely interested in that field, which might have both positive and negative impacts on my application season this year. It's very fortunate for me to have been admitted by BU.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the specialized field you were interested in?

[letepsilonbenegative]

Undergrad Institution: Huge state school
Major(s): Computational math
Minor(s): Bioinformatics, data science
GPA: 4.0
Math GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: International Asian male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (94%)
V: 165 (95%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 850 (84%)

TOEFL Score: 118

Program Applying: Almost entirely Applied Math (or such track under Math)

Research Experience: REU at my school on fluid dynamics last summer, resulting in a conference attendance with 2 posters, and one paper that we hope to submit soon. Also neuroscience research using virtual reality with a physics professor and biology research based on deep learning in the electrical engineering department; these are much less consequential.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's honors list every term
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Assistant at computer lab, tutor for math circle, and course grader. Math department doesn’t really allow undergrad TAs even if I want to.
Math Courses Taken: Multivariable calculus, discrete math, linear algebra, real analysis, complex analysis, dynamical systems, ODE, PDE, numerical analysis, image processing, several grad classes and research classes
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One recommender is famous. I also took a bunch of engineering courses, like machine learning, data science, etc.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
MIT - Math / Rejected
NYU - Math / Deferred to masters
Brown - Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - ACM / Rejected
Duke - Math / Rejected
UCLA - Math / Admitted and attending
Wisconsin - Math / Admitted
Northwestern - ESAM / Admitted
OSU - Math / Admitted
UNC - Math / Admitted
ASU - Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Machine Learning / Rejected

[greenface1998]

Unexpected by happy update

Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Biology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.93
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Masters Institution: University of Washington
Major(s): Applied Mathematics
GPA: 3.97

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (92%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 3.5 (50%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Did not take


Program Applying: Applied Math
Research Experience: Two year long research projects during masters, no papers yet but two close to publication now. Several research projects in internships. One publication in biology from undergrad No REU, No posters.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Worked in Data science, Operations research and Scientific Computing for two years in between undergrad and grad school. Did research in that capacity but none was published.
Math Courses Taken: Calc I-III, Analysis I-III, Linear Algebra I-II, Measure Theoretic Probability, Optimization, Stochastic Processes, Numerical Analysis I-II, Deep Learning Theory, Mathematics of Data science, Kernel Methods, ODE I-II, Graduate PDE, Complex Analysis I-II, Abstract Algebra, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Gradient Flows. 13 undergrad level classes and 11 graduate level.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of advisors is quite famous, other advisor is young so not as well known but has connections at number of schools I applied to and sent emails to them advocating on my behalf.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My first two years of Undergrad were a mess, but I had 3.9+ GPA for my last two years. I also took an extra quarter to graduate from my masters since I wanted to stay over the summer to do research. I finished last quarter and am now on a partial gap year but continuing my research projects.

Applying to Where:
UW - PhD applied Math / Rejected
NYU Courant - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
CMU - Phd Math / Rejected
UMD - PhD Applied Math/ Pending
MIT - Phd Math / Rejected
Johns Hopkins - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Georgia Tech - Phd Math / Rejected
Wisconsin Madison - PhD Applied Math / Rejected
Caltech - Phd Applied Math / Rejected
Duke - Phd Math /Rejected
UT Austin - Phd CSEM / ACCEPTED & ATTENDING on 4/25
Stanford - Phd ICME / Rejected
Emory - Phd Math / WithDrawn


All it takes is one . No trying again next year after all.

[NotTooComfort18]

Undergrad Institution: Asian Top 50
Major(s): Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA: 4.18/4.3
Type of Student: international male

GRE Revised General Test: Null and I didn't think it will help.
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 880 (90%)

Program Applying: Probability/Applied Math

Research Experience: One ArXiv publication on communication code for undergraduate project. The following experience did not produce articles. Two summer REU/summer school. Undergraduate research intern at Duke Mathematics working on medical signal analysis.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Scholarship fully funds my exchange at Duke from my country’s ministry of education.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for undergraduate probability theory.
Math Courses Taken: Advanced Calculus 1-2, ODE, Linear Algebra, PDE, Discrete Math, Abstract Algebra 1-2, Differential Geometry, Complex Variables, graduate Probability 1-2, Stochastic Calculus, Convex Optimization.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Three letter of reccommentations (LoR) are from professors either mentoring/supervising my study and research project for more than a year and are quite famous people working in applied math/probability at least in my country. I think strong LoR is basically the reason I got admitted. Also, from the application results, I kinda believe not having a math major while also not having any publication in math is a major lose for me. All except JHU's AMS, which is in the school of engineering, sent rejection.


Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
(Reach?)
University of Toronto (M.Sc in Mathematics) - Rejected (Apr. 29)
UIUC - Rejected (Feb. 9)
UW - Rejected (Feb. 6)

(Match??)
UCI - At this point, I'll take no result as rejection.
GaTech - Rejected (Apr 17)
JHU (Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics) - Admitted (Feb. 13). Accepted. Thanks for picking me up lol.

(Safeties???)
UNC Chapel Hill - Rejected (Mar. 11)
UConn - Rejected (May 15)

[meysam]

Undergrad Institution: Private
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Chem, Physics
GPA: 3.22
Math GPA:
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (93%)
V: 166 (96%)
W: 5.0 (91%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 920 (95%)

*I took the GRE general over 12 months ago and either the percentile changes over time, or that my brain's memory storage is failing

Program Applying: Pure Math - Harmonic Analysis

Research Experience:

• Did research in high school with a professor at a local university, published 1 paper in combinatorics/graph theory together and another in algebraic combinatorics after high school during summer before college.
• Completed 2 REUs. First one's online, ended up being a 'learning project' i.e. the final paper was a summary for algebraic topology. The second one did the 'learning project' again but in harmonic analysis.
• Did research with 2 faculty members at my home institution in functional analysis. Submitted 1 paper each with them separately, 1 in functional analysis the other in fourier analysis.
• Did research with faculty member with my REU advisor in harmonic analysis. Published 1 paper as a secondary author in harmonic analysis. Published 3 more papers later as coauthors with the professor and other experts in the field, 2 in harmonic analysis, the other in geometric measure theory.
• Currently working on a paper with a professor at another university whom I connected with during a conference and introduced by another faculty member. Paper is being typed up almost ready for submission.
• Also currently working on graduation thesis requirement in abstract harmonic analysis.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

• Got into USAMO 3 times but were never selected for the 'preIMO summer camp' nor the IMO.
• Putnam honorable mention.
• Won a national scholarship for college. Technically won 2 but can only accept 1. Also bunch of high school scholarships but the national scholarship effectively refunded these smaller high school scholarships.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
None. Never tutored nor TA'ed for any classes, unless you count siblings and friends.

Math Courses Taken:

• Undergraduate
  Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Fourier Analysis, Probability Theory, Linear Algebra, Algebra 1-2, Number Fields, Algebraic combinatorics, Differential Geometry, Functional Analysis
• Graduate
  Advanced Real Analysis, Advanced Complex Analysis, Harmonic Analysis, Several Complex Variables, Differential Analysis, Analytic Number Theory, Lie Groups and Lie Algebras, Riemann Surfaces, Geometric PDEs, Modular Forms, Class Field Theory, Algebraic Topology

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
All 3 letter writers are very well-known in their fields - algebraic combinatorics, number theory and harmonic analysis. They all have their wikipedia pages and won bunch of prizes, so hope that helps. Some of the courses I've taken are at another university, which I'm applying to so that might also help.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I got some pretty bad grades in freshman year which partially contributed to my low GPA. I underestimated the difficulty of higher level undergraduate and graduate level math courses. Fortunately my professors (and some grad students) were really patient and helped me out. They spent quite a lot of time explaining things to me. I also did comparatively worse on 'algebra courses' - categories didn't make much sense to me and still doesn't. I barely passed graduate algebraic topology and for some reasons I just couldn't figure out Lie groups (and a bunch of other stuff) for a long time and did poorly in some classes.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

1. Princeton - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
2. UCLA - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
3. Caltech - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
4. MIT - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
5. Yale - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
6. UW Madison - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined

sorry can you tell us how could you get such good GRE score?