2025 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results

[KovenFan]

You should consider applying to some safety schools. Competition is very high these days.

Yay safety schools! I'm sure anyone would love to spend 5-6 years of their life in the middle of nowhere with a terrible stipend only to graduate with no prospects in either industry or academia and probably some debt. Very exciting!

You don't have to speak this aggressively and be sarcastic to other people. It was merely a suggestion of considering applying to more safety schools. There are lots of good mathematicians who graduated from those so-called "safety schools." If you only want to go to the top schools and otherwise you'll stop doing math, then it only means that you like the prestige/fame/money more than you like math. In that case I would suggest that you quit math immediately.

Very logical. There are absolutely no other life considerations beyond math.

[wihjenfc]

Yay safety schools! I'm sure anyone would love to spend 5-6 years of their life in the middle of nowhere with a terrible stipend only to graduate with no prospects in either industry or academia and probably some debt. Very exciting!

You don't have to speak this aggressively and be sarcastic to other people. It was merely a suggestion of considering applying to more safety schools. There are lots of good mathematicians who graduated from those so-called "safety schools." If you only want to go to the top schools and otherwise you'll stop doing math, then it only means that you like the prestige/fame/money more than you like math. In that case I would suggest that you quit math immediately.

Very logical. There are absolutely no other life considerations beyond math.

Of course there are a ton of other life considerations. But being sarcastic to others and looking down on those "safety schools" are not an option.

[fredholm.alternative]

Of course there are a ton of other life considerations. But being sarcastic to others and looking down on those "safety schools" are not an option.

Judging from his post history, KovenFan has a warped viewpoint on the importance of prestige in math academia, when in reality most of us just want to do cool math and not play the game of politics.

[lukrau]

You should consider applying to some safety schools. Competition is very high these days.

Yay safety schools! I'm sure anyone would love to spend 5-6 years of their life in the middle of nowhere with a terrible stipend only to graduate with no prospects in either industry or academia and probably some debt. Very exciting!

You don't have to speak this aggressively and be sarcastic to other people. It was merely a suggestion of considering applying to more safety schools. There are lots of good mathematicians who graduated from those so-called "safety schools." If you only want to go to the top schools and otherwise you'll stop doing math, then it only means that you like the prestige/fame/money more than you like math. In that case I would suggest that you quit math immediately.

To be honest, I think it's also a little rude of going on here and giving unsolicited advice to someone who applied to 18 programs which basically amounts to "it's unlikely you'll get in to these schools." I know the schools I applied to are competitive, but I also know my own app better than random people on the internet, and I didn't ask for advice!

[wihjenfc]

Yay safety schools! I'm sure anyone would love to spend 5-6 years of their life in the middle of nowhere with a terrible stipend only to graduate with no prospects in either industry or academia and probably some debt. Very exciting!

You don't have to speak this aggressively and be sarcastic to other people. It was merely a suggestion of considering applying to more safety schools. There are lots of good mathematicians who graduated from those so-called "safety schools." If you only want to go to the top schools and otherwise you'll stop doing math, then it only means that you like the prestige/fame/money more than you like math. In that case I would suggest that you quit math immediately.

To be honest, I think it's also a little rude of going on here and giving unsolicited advice to someone who applied to 18 programs which basically amounts to "it's unlikely you'll get in to these schools." I know the schools I applied to are competitive, but I also know my own app better than random people on the internet, and I didn't ask for advice!

If someone suggests that you apply to some safety schools, it doesn't mean that they think you won't get into the schools you listed. The point is that for top 10 or 20 schools, no one is guaranteed admission. So people just want you to have more back up choices in case you have bad luck. Posting on this site implicitly means that you welcome other people's comments and suggestions. Of course, you are not obligated to accept other people's advice! But saying something like "I didn't ask for advice!" is not good for the healthiness of this community.

Anyway, I hope whoever sees this later will know that suggestions, comments, and discussions are still very much welcomed on this forum!

[lukrau]

You don't have to speak this aggressively and be sarcastic to other people. It was merely a suggestion of considering applying to more safety schools. There are lots of good mathematicians who graduated from those so-called "safety schools." If you only want to go to the top schools and otherwise you'll stop doing math, then it only means that you like the prestige/fame/money more than you like math. In that case I would suggest that you quit math immediately.

To be honest, I think it's also a little rude of going on here and giving unsolicited advice to someone who applied to 18 programs which basically amounts to "it's unlikely you'll get in to these schools." I know the schools I applied to are competitive, but I also know my own app better than random people on the internet, and I didn't ask for advice!

If someone suggests that you apply to some safety schools, it doesn't mean that they think you won't get into the schools you listed. The point is that for top 10 or 20 schools, no one is guaranteed admission. So people just want you to have more back up choices in case you have bad luck. Posting on this site implicitly means that you welcome other people's comments and suggestions. Of course, you are not obligated to accept other people's advice! But saying something like "I didn't ask for advice!" is not good for the healthiness of this community.

Anyway, I hope whoever sees this later will know that suggestions, comments, and discussions are still very much welcomed on this forum!

I didn't ask for advice though and I'm still not asking for advice. This isn't an advice thread. Maybe the people giving unsolicited advice are insecure about their own apps? My point is that if you think the other guy is being toxic for saying "you don't have to apply to schools you don't want to go to", I think you guys are being more toxic with the concern trolling masked as "just giving advice." Maybe I'll change my mind if I get rejected from literally all of my schools, but honestly I don't think that's gonna happen to me and if it does I guess I'll be back here eating my words. (Though I'm happy with even a 1/18 score because I like all of the schools I applied to, all have faculty I would love to work with, and I would be happy to go to any of them)

[wihjenfc]

To be honest, I think it's also a little rude of going on here and giving unsolicited advice to someone who applied to 18 programs which basically amounts to "it's unlikely you'll get in to these schools." I know the schools I applied to are competitive, but I also know my own app better than random people on the internet, and I didn't ask for advice!

If someone suggests that you apply to some safety schools, it doesn't mean that they think you won't get into the schools you listed. The point is that for top 10 or 20 schools, no one is guaranteed admission. So people just want you to have more back up choices in case you have bad luck. Posting on this site implicitly means that you welcome other people's comments and suggestions. Of course, you are not obligated to accept other people's advice! But saying something like "I didn't ask for advice!" is not good for the healthiness of this community.

Anyway, I hope whoever sees this later will know that suggestions, comments, and discussions are still very much welcomed on this forum!

I didn't ask for advice though and I'm still not asking for advice. This isn't an advice thread. Maybe the people giving unsolicited advice are insecure about their own apps? My point is that if you think the other guy is being toxic for saying "you don't have to apply to schools you don't want to go to", I think you guys are being more toxic with the concern trolling masked as "just giving advice." Maybe I'll change my mind if I get rejected from literally all of my schools, but honestly I don't think that's gonna happen to me and if it does I guess I'll be back here eating my words. (Though I'm happy with even a 1/18 score because I like all of the schools I applied to, all have faculty I would love to work with, and I would be happy to go to any of them)

Don't massage what the other guy said. If KovenFan had literally said "you don't have to apply to schools you don't want to go to", I would never say it's toxic. But obviously KovenFan was being deliberately sarcastic to other people, and that's not good! Just like somebody else mentioned, KovenFan obviously has a very warped viewpoint on the importance of prestige in math academia. As for you, no one is going to force you to apply for any safety school. No one will force you to accept other people's advice. Good luck with your application.

[VladislavSokolov]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School (Top 50 US)
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Anthropology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.4
Type of Student: DWM


GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 680 (won't submit to places that don't require)


Program Applying: Applied Math

Research Experience: Two published papers in undergraduate journals as second and third authors in biomedical engineering. Currently writing an expository paper in combinatorics as a senior thesis to be put on arxiv and hopefully published in a journal. Directed reading programs in combinatorics and representation theory. Unrelated but also nth author on an anthropology research paper.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Multiple school scholarships
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Calculus 1&II 1 semester each
Math Courses Taken: Graduate courses: algebra (2 semesters), analysis (2 semesters), algebraic topology, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, functional analysis, representation theory, probability
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: (recommenders are famous in their fields)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had a tough time choosing but decided to ask for letters from more well-known professors I took courses with instead of my research professors because the research professors were in a completely different field. They told me since they don't know me well they can't write the strongest letters but would still write me something and I think the name does matter. I also had multiple bad semesters because I am a very bad test taker but I was clearly able to accel in my studies by taking 10 graduate level courses. The schools I'm applying to are pretty prestigious but I think I have a good chance given I'm applying to a lot and I have a bunch of safety schools. I'm hoping the minor in anthropology and research in biomedical engineering helps me stand out with a multidisciplinary background to differentiate me from the people who just do math all day. Even I don't make it anywhere it's okay because I have a pretty-well paying job offer lined up from an internship. good luck to everybody!

Applying to Where:

Reaches:
Harvard
UChicago
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Berkeley
Caltech
Yale
CMU
Duke
Columbia
UCLA
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

Safety Schools:
NYU
Brown
UMich
UCSD
UW
Northwestern
Oregon State
UIUC
Johns Hopkins

[KovenFan]

Yay safety schools! I'm sure anyone would love to spend 5-6 years of their life in the middle of nowhere with a terrible stipend only to graduate with no prospects in either industry or academia and probably some debt. Very exciting!

You don't have to speak this aggressively and be sarcastic to other people. It was merely a suggestion of considering applying to more safety schools. There are lots of good mathematicians who graduated from those so-called "safety schools." If you only want to go to the top schools and otherwise you'll stop doing math, then it only means that you like the prestige/fame/money more than you like math. In that case I would suggest that you quit math immediately.

To be honest, I think it's also a little rude of going on here and giving unsolicited advice to someone who applied to 18 programs which basically amounts to "it's unlikely you'll get in to these schools." I know the schools I applied to are competitive, but I also know my own app better than random people on the internet, and I didn't ask for advice!

I agree. You're not the only one who posted a top-heavy application list so it's kinda weird they chose to focus on you with this "advice".

I'll try to clear up this warped reality which I have been claimed to have. It's basically just two points:
1. Your undergrad school matters either through directly influencing the committee's view of your application or indirectly giving you more opportunities during your undergrad(better chances at REUs, well known LOR writers, etc). Someone from a random T10 who picked their nose and scratched their bum for 4 years will probably have better outcomes than someone from a random T150 school who performed better but ultimately did nothing exceptional. Admissions are not fair and they don't have to be. They are competitive and random and there is DEFINITELY politics at play a lot of the time.

2. True safety schools, meaning schools that you have a 95% to 100% chance of getting into and would accept most people with a pulse are generally not worth applying or going to if you feel you have better options(for many good reasons). If the school you're applying to does not meet this criteria, then it is not a safety school. This also says nothing about whether good mathematicians can come from these schools or not.

Note that everything I've said mainly applies to the US.

[HyperCar2022]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School (Top 50 US)
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Anthropology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.4
Type of Student: DWM


GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 680 (won't submit to places that don't require)


Program Applying: Applied Math

Research Experience: Two published papers in undergraduate journals as second and third authors in biomedical engineering. Currently writing an expository paper in combinatorics as a senior thesis to be put on arxiv and hopefully published in a journal. Directed reading programs in combinatorics and representation theory. Unrelated but also nth author on an anthropology research paper.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Multiple school scholarships
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Calculus 1&II 1 semester each
Math Courses Taken: Graduate courses: algebra (2 semesters), analysis (2 semesters), algebraic topology, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, functional analysis, representation theory, probability
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: (recommenders are famous in their fields)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had a tough time choosing but decided to ask for letters from more well-known professors I took courses with instead of my research professors because the research professors were in a completely different field. They told me since they don't know me well they can't write the strongest letters but would still write me something and I think the name does matter. I also had multiple bad semesters because I am a very bad test taker but I was clearly able to accel in my studies by taking 10 graduate level courses. The schools I'm applying to are pretty prestigious but I think I have a good chance given I'm applying to a lot and I have a bunch of safety schools. I'm hoping the minor in anthropology and research in biomedical engineering helps me stand out with a multidisciplinary background to differentiate me from the people who just do math all day. Even I don't make it anywhere it's okay because I have a pretty-well paying job offer lined up from an internship. good luck to everybody!

Applying to Where:

Reaches:
Harvard
UChicago
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Berkeley
Caltech
Yale
CMU
Duke
Columbia
UCLA
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

Safety Schools:
NYU
Brown
UMich
UCSD
UW
Northwestern
Oregon State
UIUC
Johns Hopkins

I do believe NYU PHD admission is as hard as MIT and others...

[greenface1998]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School (Top 50 US)
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Anthropology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.4
Type of Student: DWM


GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 680 (won't submit to places that don't require)


Program Applying: Applied Math

Research Experience: Two published papers in undergraduate journals as second and third authors in biomedical engineering. Currently writing an expository paper in combinatorics as a senior thesis to be put on arxiv and hopefully published in a journal. Directed reading programs in combinatorics and representation theory. Unrelated but also nth author on an anthropology research paper.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Multiple school scholarships
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Calculus 1&II 1 semester each
Math Courses Taken: Graduate courses: algebra (2 semesters), analysis (2 semesters), algebraic topology, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, functional analysis, representation theory, probability
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: (recommenders are famous in their fields)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had a tough time choosing but decided to ask for letters from more well-known professors I took courses with instead of my research professors because the research professors were in a completely different field. They told me since they don't know me well they can't write the strongest letters but would still write me something and I think the name does matter. I also had multiple bad semesters because I am a very bad test taker but I was clearly able to accel in my studies by taking 10 graduate level courses. The schools I'm applying to are pretty prestigious but I think I have a good chance given I'm applying to a lot and I have a bunch of safety schools. I'm hoping the minor in anthropology and research in biomedical engineering helps me stand out with a multidisciplinary background to differentiate me from the people who just do math all day. Even I don't make it anywhere it's okay because I have a pretty-well paying job offer lined up from an internship. good luck to everybody!

Applying to Where:

Reaches:
Harvard
UChicago
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Berkeley
Caltech
Yale
CMU
Duke
Columbia
UCLA
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

Safety Schools:
NYU
Brown
UMich
UCSD
UW
Northwestern
Oregon State
UIUC
Johns Hopkins

Putting NYU and brown as safety’s for applied math has gotta be one of the most absurd takes I’ve seen.

[AbelianCat]

Undergrad Institution: Big State School (Top 50 US)
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Anthropology
GPA: 3.6
Math GPA: 3.4
Type of Student: DWM


GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 680 (won't submit to places that don't require)


Program Applying: Applied Math

Research Experience: Two published papers in undergraduate journals as second and third authors in biomedical engineering. Currently writing an expository paper in combinatorics as a senior thesis to be put on arxiv and hopefully published in a journal. Directed reading programs in combinatorics and representation theory. Unrelated but also nth author on an anthropology research paper.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Multiple school scholarships
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for Calculus 1&II 1 semester each
Math Courses Taken: Graduate courses: algebra (2 semesters), analysis (2 semesters), algebraic topology, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, functional analysis, representation theory, probability
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: (recommenders are famous in their fields)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I had a tough time choosing but decided to ask for letters from more well-known professors I took courses with instead of my research professors because the research professors were in a completely different field. They told me since they don't know me well they can't write the strongest letters but would still write me something and I think the name does matter. I also had multiple bad semesters because I am a very bad test taker but I was clearly able to accel in my studies by taking 10 graduate level courses. The schools I'm applying to are pretty prestigious but I think I have a good chance given I'm applying to a lot and I have a bunch of safety schools. I'm hoping the minor in anthropology and research in biomedical engineering helps me stand out with a multidisciplinary background to differentiate me from the people who just do math all day. Even I don't make it anywhere it's okay because I have a pretty-well paying job offer lined up from an internship. good luck to everybody!

Applying to Where:

Reaches:
Harvard
UChicago
MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Berkeley
Caltech
Yale
CMU
Duke
Columbia
UCLA
University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

Safety Schools:
NYU
Brown
UMich
UCSD
UW
Northwestern
Oregon State
UIUC
Johns Hopkins

Putting NYU and brown as safety’s for applied math has gotta be one of the most absurd takes I’ve seen.

Yeaaaaaa. It’s not nice to be mean about it, but NYU in particular is the best applied math school on planet earth. You have to be a top 20-30 student in the world to have a realistic shot of getting admitted. It being a safety school for anyone is kind of a stretch.

[Mathman_769]

[Undergrad Institution: Indiana University
Major(s): Mathematics with Honors
GPA: 3.91/4.00
Math GPA: not calculated, slightly lower
Type of Student: Straight white male

Did not take any GRE

Program Applying: Pure math

Research Experience:
Yes, at my school. A paper with new result in graded overrings (algebra)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Highest Honors
Governors citation
2x Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
8 years naval submarines as reactor operator. Tutor, supplemental instructor, calculus mentor, 2 years teaching reactors
Math Courses Taken:
Topology, logic, 2x algebra, 2x analysis, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, number theory, probability theory, and complex analysis
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
3 letters of rec's. 1 from a Dean of stem at a community College i helped veterans at and 1 from an O6 who was captain also a PhD in history, the third from my research professor. Very new, PhD for maybe 2 years.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:
WPI
UConn
UMass Amhert (masters)
Brandeis
Tufts University

[trex6174]

placeholder for my original post, parts of my app and school list have been changing so i'd rather post once everything is settled and have my decisions to pay it forward

[greenface1998]

Masters Institution: Small state school
Major(s): Mathematics & Statistics
GPA: 3.9
Type of Student: Domestic white male

Undergrad Institution: Small state school
Major(s): Mathematics; Data Science
Minor(s): Computer Science; Statistics
GPA: 3.8


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

Program Applying: Half logic; Half applied math

Research Experience: Masters thesis done in application of deep learning. Working on manuscript which is extension of this research. Hope to work on a couple more papers in the Spring, one in applied math, one in combinatorics.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Magna Cum Laude
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Research assistant for 5 semesters, teaching assistant for 1.
Math Courses Taken: Standard undergraduate coursework. Graduate coursework in Advanced Calculus, Measure Theory, Linear Algebra, Differential Geometry, Combinatorics, Statistical Inference, and some other statistics coursework.
Miscellaneous info: I should have very good letters of recommendation from two of my writers, whom I worked closely with on my thesis, and am still working with on my current project.


Applying to Where:

Tier 1:
Princeton - PACM
Harvard - SEAS
UT Austin - Mathematic

Tier 2:
Wisconsin - Mathematics
Chicago - Mathematics
Cornell - Mathematics
Carnegie Mellon - Pure and Applied Logic
Penn - Mathematics
Maryland - Mathematics


Tier 3:
Minnesota - Mathematics
Washington, Seattle - Statistics
Illinois, Chicago - Mathematics, Statistics, & Computer Science
Rice - CMOR
Notre Dame - Mathematics
Colorado, Boulder - Applied Math
Utah - Mathematics

Why not Oden institute at UT Austin? If you are interested in applied math and UT it seems like a natural choice to consider.

[freddywitten]

Masters Institution: Small state school
Major(s): Mathematics & Statistics
GPA: 3.9
Type of Student: Domestic white male

Undergrad Institution: Small state school
Major(s): Mathematics; Data Science
Minor(s): Computer Science; Statistics
GPA: 3.8


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

Program Applying: Half logic; Half applied math

Research Experience: Masters thesis done in application of deep learning. Working on manuscript which is extension of this research. Hope to work on a couple more papers in the Spring, one in applied math, one in combinatorics.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Magna Cum Laude
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Research assistant for 5 semesters, teaching assistant for 1.
Math Courses Taken: Standard undergraduate coursework. Graduate coursework in Advanced Calculus, Measure Theory, Linear Algebra, Differential Geometry, Combinatorics, Statistical Inference, and some other statistics coursework.
Miscellaneous info: I should have very good letters of recommendation from two of my writers, whom I worked closely with on my thesis, and am still working with on my current project.


Applying to Where:

Tier 1:
Princeton - PACM
Harvard - SEAS
UT Austin - Mathematic

Tier 2:
Wisconsin - Mathematics
Chicago - Mathematics
Cornell - Mathematics
Carnegie Mellon - Pure and Applied Logic
Penn - Mathematics
Maryland - Mathematics


Tier 3:
Minnesota - Mathematics
Washington, Seattle - Statistics
Illinois, Chicago - Mathematics, Statistics, & Computer Science
Rice - CMOR
Notre Dame - Mathematics
Colorado, Boulder - Applied Math
Utah - Mathematics

Why not Oden institute at UT Austin? If you are interested in applied math and UT it seems like a natural choice to consider.

Oden Institute required General GRE. No other school I applied to required this, and the faculty I most wanted to work with in the Oden Institute were Professors in the Math department. Had there not been the GRE requirement I would have applied to the Oden Institute.

[phanpu]

Undergrad Institution: Top 2 in my country.
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: Very low, a deadly defect in my application form.

Master Institution: I don't know how to evaluate it, not famous.
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.91/4.
Math GPA: 4/4.

Type of Student: Asian male.

GRE Revised General Test: Not taken.
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 970(97%)

TOEFL Score: 96(S:21 W:25)

Program Applying: Pure math, focusing on p-adic Arithmetic Geometry.

Research Experience: Read some very famous papers.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some scholarships in my master institution.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for undergraduate Algebra.
Math Courses Taken: I don't think it is helpful, just list some grad courses here: Algebraic Geometry, Representation Theory, Algebraic Number Theory, p-adic Geometry, Modular Forms and Galois Representations.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Maybe two of my letters of recommendation are strong, I'm not sure.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have a very explicit interest of area, this limits my choices of programs.

Applying to Where: List without any particular order

Northwestern - Pending on (1/9)
Rice - Pending on (1/9)
Purdue - Pending on (1/9)
Utah - Pending on (1/9)
WUSTL - Pending on (1/9)
UMN - Pending on (1/9)
UConn - Pending on (1/9)
Ohio State - Pending on (1/9) I'm not on the first list?
Wisc - Pending on (1/9)
Temple - Pending on (1/9)
UMass - Pending on (1/9)
Georgia - Pending on (1/9)
PSU - Pending on (1/9)

European programs
Münster PHD - Rejected on 1/8
BMS Phase II - I'm still contacting the potential professor.

[119010036]

Undergrad Institution: Asian school
Master Institution: Ivy
Major: Applied Math (First Honors in undergrad)

GPA: Undergrad: 3.45/4.00, grad: 4.25/4.00 (multiple A+'s in high level courses)
Math GPA: Undergrad: 3.57/4.00 (first 2 years GPAs suck) Grad: 4.25/4.00
Type of Student: International Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q:170
V:154
W:4
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 910 (94%), took it in Sep 2024 (quite hard)


TOEFL Score: 101 (R25, L29, S23, W24)

Program Applying: Applied math track PhD

Research Experience: Grad School: 2 experience, one has no publication and the other is undergoing till now. A publication is expected around May. No preprint.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Only Tuition Fee waiver and Dean's list from undergrad.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 2 TA experience.

Math Courses Taken: Basic algebra courses, and nearly all analysis courses. I'm focusing on analysis, PDE and numerical analysis, so except from basic courses, I took real analysis (PhD level on Lebesgue theory with tough exam); topology; numerical analysis of PDE; functional analysis; elliptic PDE; numerical methods; stochastic calculus; complex variables; three research courses.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Four of my recommenders are all from my grad school, 2 in pure math and 2 in applied/computational math, all of them are well-known, and the one I did research with gives me strong recommendation. The other three might be recommendations from courses/readings. I took three courses with one recommender with lots of communications plus some outcomes in course projects, maybe recommendation from that one is stronger.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: My last two years' academic performance in my undergrad institute were quite well, hope those core courses in math would make up for my previous low GPA.

Applying to Where: All US PhD in applied mathematics. My research interests are PDE, both theoretical and numerical. Also computational math especially inverse problems.

Dream:
MIT
NYU Courant
Brown
Princeton (AMCS)
Stanford ICME
UChicago (CAM)
Columbia (APAM)

Reach:
UPenn (AMCS)
Duke
UT-Austin (Oden, had connection)
UMichigan (AIM)
Rice (CMOR)
Cornell (CAM, not sure if this is reachable)
Georgia Tech
UW Seattle
Maryland
UCSD
Northwestern
UW-Madison
CMU

Safety:
UCI
OSU
PSU
Purdue (is it safe?)
Stony Brook

[Cholart]

Master Institution: Top 5
Major(s): Maths
Minor(s):
GPA:85%
Type of Student:International

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



Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Master Dissertation
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Undergrad Dissertation award
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA 3rd year classes


Applying to Where:
Oxford - DPhil Mathematics-Pending
Cambridge - PhD Mathematics-Pending
UC Berkeley - PhD Mathematics-Pending
Waterloo - Phd Mathematics-Pending
UCL - PhD Mathematics-Pending
LSE - PhD Mathematics-Pending
EPFL - PhD Mathematics-Pending
Warwick - PhD Mathematics-Pending
ETH - PhD Mathematics-Rejected (makes sense, not a good fit with proposed supervisor)
Hamburg - PhD Mathematics-Offer given

[Umbrade]

[*]Undergrad Institution: Asian school, not so well-known
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): No
GPA: 3.92/4
Math GPA: 3.96/4
Type of Student: Asian Male

Master Institution: well-known European school
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): No
GPA: 4/4 (after conversion to 4-scale)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170
V: 157
W: 3.5
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: forgot to take
TOEFL Score: 110 = R30/L30/S23/W27

Program Applying: Pure math (You may recognise my specific area from the school list if you are also interested in the area)

Research Experience: Two small projects (not REU) with some (small and useless) original results, one preprint for one of the projects.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A governmental scholarship for Master
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: No teaching experience
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: My advisor is quite well-known in the area.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Donation:
MIT - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Harvard - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Chicago - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined

Reach:
Northwestern - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
UIUC - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Minnesota - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
UPenn - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Washington - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
JHU - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Notre Dame - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Virginia - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Copenhagen - Interview on Jan 16th/ Accepted/Declined

Save(?):
OSU - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
UCSC - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined
UIC - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted on (date) / Accepted/Declined

[lhxu]

wait, you got shortlisted from USC?

Undergrad Institution: Large State School
Major(s): Math (Honors), Physics
GPA: 3.99/4.00
Math GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: (Not taken yet)

Program Applying: Pure Math - Mathematical Physics (TQFT, higher category theory, applications to condensed matter/high energy physics)

Research Experience:
Summer after sophomore year:
- IAS PCMI: Summer school in quantum information + 3 week research project in dynamical systems
- Polymath Jr. Remote research program: researched combinatorial representation theory

Summer after junior year:
- REU at large state school: Researched topological phases of matter, tensor categories, and TQFTs. Achieved large result, but no publication yet.

Senior year:
- Writing thesis in TQFT and higher representation theory with professor at my school

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Presented summer research at Young Mathematicians Conference
- Multiple large scholarships from physics/math departments and honors societies.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Private math, physics, and SAT tutor for a couple years

Graduate Courses Taken (so far):
Math: Algebraic Topology, Differentiable Manifolds, TQFT & Higher Representation Theory, Algebraic Geometry II
Physics: QFT I, GR I, QFT II, Quantum Gravity

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
2 of my letter writers are well known in the field that I am applying for and regard me very highly.

Dream
Harvard (Math) -
UC Berkeley (Math)
Harvard (Physics) -
MIT (Physics)

Target/Reach
UCSB (Math) -
USC (Math) - Unofficial Acceptance (1/06)
Boston University (Math) -
UChicago (Physics) -
Stony Brook (Physics) -
UCSD (Physics) - Interviewed (1/02)
UCLA (Physics) -

Safety
Ohio State (Math) -

[allthesepollitos]

Undergrad Institution: Small state school
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.438
Math GPA: 3.8
Type of Student: Domestic, Male, Minority

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Embarrassing score

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD and CS Masters

Research Experience: Completed two research projects through REUs outside of my institution. Both have nice results than can help the next set of mathematicians in researching the problems.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Numerous presentations awards, plenty of scholarships awarded, awarded a prestigious national scholarship
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Been working as a math tutor since I was a freshman in community college (so about 6 years). I am fairly passionate about teaching.
Math Courses Taken: Two semesters of algebra, two semesters of real analysis, number theory, advanced linear algebra, statistical theory I, and I petitioned to take topology at a neighboring school (which was successful and I passed the class w/ a good grade)
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Some professors have told me that because I have worked my way up from community college to where I am now, I could have a strong application. First-gen, minority, low-income (idk how much these would affect my applications. I feel like I am applying to jobs.)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Donation
Stanford - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)
University of Washington - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)
University of California, Berkley - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)
University of California, San Diego - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)

Reach
University of Colorado--Boulder - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)
University of California, Davis - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)

Reasonable
Oregon State University - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)
University of Oregon - Math PhD / Pending on (01/07)

PhD apps didn't go well
University of California, San Diego - CS Masters / Pending on (01/07)
California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo - CS Masters / Pending on (01/07)
University of California, Irvine - CS Masters / Pending on (01/07)

[alexandredumas]

Undergrad Institution: T50 in US
Major(s): Math
GPA: ~3.8
Type of Student: DM
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: ~80%

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: One REU, no publications.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: N/A.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor for one year.
Math Courses Taken: Only graduate coursework in algebra, topology, and analysis.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One famous letter-writer in their subfield.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A.

Applying to Where:
MIT - Pending on (1/7)
UPenn - Pending on (1/7)
Duke - Pending on (1/7)
Cornell - Pending on (1/7)
UMich - Pending on (1/7)
My Safety - Pending on (1/7)

Wishing the best of luck to everyone here, both present and future! I know this can be a stressful and anxious time, but remember: you’re not in this alone, and your worth is so much more than the school you end up attending. That’s something I try to remind myself too . Sending love to all you amazing mathematicians—take care of yourselves!

[Wasobby]

wait, you got shortlisted from USC?
Yeah, I got an email basically saying that they were extremely interested in my application and they hope to send me an offer in a few weeks.

Undergrad Institution: Large State School
Major(s): Math (Honors), Physics
GPA: 3.99/4.00
Math GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: (Not taken yet)

Program Applying: Pure Math - Mathematical Physics (TQFT, higher category theory, applications to condensed matter/high energy physics)

Research Experience:
Summer after sophomore year:
- IAS PCMI: Summer school in quantum information + 3 week research project in dynamical systems
- Polymath Jr. Remote research program: researched combinatorial representation theory

Summer after junior year:
- REU at large state school: Researched topological phases of matter, tensor categories, and TQFTs. Achieved large result, but no publication yet.

Senior year:
- Writing thesis in TQFT and higher representation theory with professor at my school

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
- Presented summer research at Young Mathematicians Conference
- Multiple large scholarships from physics/math departments and honors societies.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Private math, physics, and SAT tutor for a couple years

Graduate Courses Taken (so far):
Math: Algebraic Topology, Differentiable Manifolds, TQFT & Higher Representation Theory, Algebraic Geometry II
Physics: QFT I, GR I, QFT II, Quantum Gravity

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
2 of my letter writers are well known in the field that I am applying for and regard me very highly.

Dream
Harvard (Math) -
UC Berkeley (Math)
Harvard (Physics) -
MIT (Physics)

Target/Reach
UCSB (Math) -
USC (Math) - Unofficial Acceptance (1/06)
Boston University (Math) -
UChicago (Physics) -
Stony Brook (Physics) -
UCSD (Physics) - Interviewed (1/02)
UCLA (Physics) -

Safety
Ohio State (Math) -

[saltystat]

Undergrad Institution:Big state
Major(s): Mathematics and Computer Science
Minor(s): Statistics
GPA: 3.339, I had a rough time early in my college career
Math GPA:3.81
Type of Student: Female domestic(USA)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 168 (83%)
V: 163 (91%)
W: 4.0 (59%) (yeesh)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Didn't take it

Program Applying: Statistics

Research Experience: Years of experience working with a lab on campus doing machine learning research, REU over the summer directly related to stats. No publications.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Was a software dev intern at a fortune 500 before I decided it wasn't for me. TA'd for probability theory and cloud computing.
Math Courses Taken: Nearly everything due to math major, strong basis in prob and stats obviously.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Grades kinda struggled, but solid upward trajectory. Had my recommenders really emphasize growth. Also took multiple graduate level courses.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

I'm aware most if not all of these are reaches.
Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
University of Washington - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
Carnegie Mellon University - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
UMich - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
NCState - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
Minnesota - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
UCSB - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
UArizona - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
UGA - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
Boston University - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
Northwestern - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
Mizzou - Statistics PhD / Pending on (date)
Simon Fraser University - MS in Statistics / Pending on (date)
Michigan State University - MS in Statistics / Pending on (date)

[qkekd]

Undergrad Institution: UK (well-known for maths)
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): -
GPA: ~90/100
Type of Student: International male

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: 970 (97%)


Program Applying: Pure Math (geometry/topology/dynamics)

Research Experience: Two summer projects at my undergraduate institution, each on number theory/dynamical systems and geometric group theory. Preprint from the first project. Also did a small engineering project during high school which led to a conference paper
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Nothing special
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Interned at a semiconductor company
Math Courses Taken: Algebraic Geometry, Algebraic Topology, Differential Geometry, Galois theory, Riemann Surfaces, Probability and Measure, Linear analysis, ... I've taken a bunch but all of these are undergraduate level
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Two of my recommenders are well-known in their respective fields and (I think) they're writing good letters. One of them has strong connections in the US
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:

Applying to Where:

Donations
Princeton -
Harvard -
Stanford -
UC Berkeley -
UChicago -

Reach
Brown -
Michigan -
UCLA -
Yale -

Match?
UIUC -
UToronto -

[Involutive]

Undergrad Institution: Top university in my home country
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Environmental Science
GPA: 6.9/7.0
Math GPA: 6.9/7.0

Masters Institution: Top 20 US
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 4.0/4.0
Math GPA: 4.0/4.0

Type of Student: International

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Not taken :~(

Program Applying: Pure math / applied math

Research Experience: First class honours thesis in operator theory. Current research project in signal processing.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Awards for perfect GPA during undergrad. Scholarship to study numerical methods for PDEs during undergrad. Fellowship at master's institution for academic merit.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor at undergraduate institution for real analysis and proof-based linear algebra. TA for advanced first-year calculus at master's institution.

Math Courses Taken: Real analysis, metric spaces, measure theory, Fourier analysis, functional analysis, ideals of compact operators, von Neumann algebras associated to ergodic group actions, harmonic analysis, stochastic analysis, complex analysis, algebraic topology, abstract algebra (group theory, ring theory, Galois theory), differential geometry, algebraic geometry, foundations of mathematics, probability theory, Lie algebras, computational optimal transport, quantum computing and associated mathematics. All taken at grad level.

High Distinction / A, in every course above.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: First generation student, low socio-economic status.

Below, "Pure/Applied" means the program didn't have separate pure or applied streams (not that I applied to both pure and applied).

Applying to Where:
University of Cambridge Applied; Pending Jan 8 (informally told I was highly likely to get an interview)
Princeton University Applied; Pending Jan 8
Harvard University Applied; Pending Jan 8
Cornell University Applied; Pending Jan 8
Columbia University Applied; Pending Jan 8
Yale University Applied; Pending Jan 8

University of Warwick Pure/Applied; Academic offer on December 13, waiting to hear about funding/scholarship
MIT Pure/Applied; Pending Jan 8
NYU Pure/Applied; Pending Jan 8
University of Oxford Pure/Applied; Pending Jan 8

University of Pennsylvania Pure; Pending Jan 8