Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
nicole2
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:58 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by nicole2 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:46 am

misterB wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:43 am
To rest of the forum, this forum has been immensely helpful, I have received 3 acceptances so far and I can definitely attribute some of it to this page, especially the applicant profiles and fall sweat sections. However, being banned after being racially abused and then being called a liar is a bit much, hence I'll be limiting my activity on this forum. Wishing everyone all the best.
LOL
Fake news. You were the one that fired the first round at me.

misterB
Posts: 33
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2020 8:24 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by misterB » Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:53 am

nicole2 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:46 am
misterB wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:43 am
To rest of the forum, this forum has been immensely helpful, I have received 3 acceptances so far and I can definitely attribute some of it to this page, especially the applicant profiles and fall sweat sections. However, being banned after being racially abused and then being called a liar is a bit much, hence I'll be limiting my activity on this forum. Wishing everyone all the best.
LOL
Fake news. You were the one that fired the first round at me.
Yeah we both know the truth so spare the pretending for the rest of the forum. Anyway, if my intuition is wrong and this represents a real profile, congrats on your recent admits and wish you all the best for your future. I have nothing more to say to you.

nicole2
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:58 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by nicole2 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:56 am

misterB wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:53 am
nicole2 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:46 am
misterB wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:43 am
To rest of the forum, this forum has been immensely helpful, I have received 3 acceptances so far and I can definitely attribute some of it to this page, especially the applicant profiles and fall sweat sections. However, being banned after being racially abused and then being called a liar is a bit much, hence I'll be limiting my activity on this forum. Wishing everyone all the best.
LOL
Fake news. You were the one that fired the first round at me.
Yeah we both know the truth so leave the pretending for the rest of the forum. Anyway, if my intuition is wrong and this represents a real profile, congrats on your recent admits and wish you all the best for your future. I have nothing more to say to you.
Talking about pretending for the rest of the forum.

You haters' been saying I'm a troll since Day 1 it's getting old seriously. Seems more like your a sexist and your intuition tells you that women getting into PHD programs are just wrong and therefore we are trolls.

nicole2
Posts: 100
Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2019 6:58 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by nicole2 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:20 am

Junaid456 wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:37 am
nicole2 wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:09 am
Have anyone gotten a decision from BU for pure math?
Still waiting but I applied for probability which overlaps the math and stars concentrations. They told mr they’ll review after Jan. 15, though.
Penn and UCLA both told me they're still reviewing my application yet I see others getting offers left and right. I guess "in review" means "our math department don't care enough about your application so we didn't give it much of a look, yet."

I really wanted to go to Boston but hopefully thy give out enough stipends. Heard Boston is expensive to live in.

Mathguy1264
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:23 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Mathguy1264 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:45 am

nicole2 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:56 am
misterB wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:53 am
nicole2 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:46 am


LOL
Fake news. You were the one that fired the first round at me.
Yeah we both know the truth so leave the pretending for the rest of the forum. Anyway, if my intuition is wrong and this represents a real profile, congrats on your recent admits and wish you all the best for your future. I have nothing more to say to you.
Talking about pretending for the rest of the forum.

You haters' been saying I'm a troll since Day 1 it's getting old seriously. Seems more like your a sexist and your intuition tells you that women getting into PHD programs are just wrong and therefore we are trolls.
Dear Nicole,

Consider it from this point of view: A person with a very sub-optimal math GRE score say someone who has taken it multiple times and their best score is 15th percentile. One this is a horrible exam since HALF the exam is calculus with an emphasis on single variable. Higher schoolers who only took and mastered Calculus AB and BC can SCORE HIGHER than that. While the exam does not reflect how much mathematical talent a candidate has, scoring so poorly implies that the student has a poor understanding of even freshmen calculus. Graduate students are expected to TA calculus multiple times. But how can a committee trust someone to TA for calculus, when it appears that they do not even have a solid understanding of calculus.

In addition, it is well known many non-top tier universities have strong grade inflation, so the mGRE score is even more important for candidates from non-top tier universities since committee members do not know what an "A" means at your university. Does almost everyone in your classes get an "A"? The committee does not have time to check all of these especially from not well-known schools, so they use the mGRE instead as a way to compare applicants.

Now imagine someone who has a high GPA but a horrible mGRE (math phd don't care about the regular gre since it's just high school math) from a not well known school. This instantly puts a question about whether the candidate really deserved their grades. Now imagine the student applying to only top 20 schools. Of course, everyone would suggest them to apply to lower ranked schools since it is very unlikely they will get admitted to many if any of them due to most top 20 schools have a "cut off" score of around 800 on the mGRE. Now imagine someone boasting about how they will get into a top 20 school just for being female. I do agree that females should have an advantage in admissions for diversity reason; however, they still have to be a strong applicant to be admitted into a top tier school.

The main reason people are calling you a "troll" is because of your attitude. You adamantly believe you are a top candidate solely based on your gender and a high GPA. However, your mGRE gives the appearance that you do not understand undergrad material well. You call everyone who disagree with you a "sexist", when it seems much more likely that you are the sexist. You believe that because you're female and have a high GPA you deserve admissions to every top tier school. What about guys with high GPA and high mGRE; do they not deserve it as much as you because they were born male?

In addition, saying you will get into a top 20 just because you're a female is a disservice to every other female candidate. They all got in for many OTHER reasons other than just being female. I am in a top 10 math program and the female graduate students are all very bright and accomplished and got in for many reasons other than their sex. They all deserve their spot here.

I am happy to hear you got interviews and unofficial offers from top tier school, but you need to mature up and study hard for your qual exams, or you'll be kicked out of the school in no time.

MathParent
Posts: 83
Joined: Wed Nov 06, 2019 8:32 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by MathParent » Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:34 am

Mathguy1264 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:45 am

Dear Nicole,

Consider it from this point of view: A person with a very sub-optimal math GRE score say someone who has taken it multiple times and their best score is 15th percentile. One this is a horrible exam since HALF the exam is calculus with an emphasis on single variable. Higher schoolers who only took and mastered Calculus AB and BC can SCORE HIGHER than that. While the exam does not reflect how much mathematical talent a candidate has, scoring so poorly implies that the student has a poor understanding of even freshmen calculus. Graduate students are expected to TA calculus multiple times. But how can a committee trust someone to TA for calculus, when it appears that they do not even have a solid understanding of calculus.

In addition, it is well known many non-top tier universities have strong grade inflation, so the mGRE score is even more important for candidates from non-top tier universities since committee members do not know what an "A" means at your university. Does almost everyone in your classes get an "A"? The committee does not have time to check all of these especially from not well-known schools, so they use the mGRE instead as a way to compare applicants.

Now imagine someone who has a high GPA but a horrible mGRE (math phd don't care about the regular gre since it's just high school math) from a not well known school. This instantly puts a question about whether the candidate really deserved their grades. Now imagine the student applying to only top 20 schools. Of course, everyone would suggest them to apply to lower ranked schools since it is very unlikely they will get admitted to many if any of them due to most top 20 schools have a "cut off" score of around 800 on the mGRE. Now imagine someone boasting about how they will get into a top 20 school just for being female. I do agree that females should have an advantage in admissions for diversity reason; however, they still have to be a strong applicant to be admitted into a top tier school.

The main reason people are calling you a "troll" is because of your attitude. You adamantly believe you are a top candidate solely based on your gender and a high GPA. However, your mGRE gives the appearance that you do not understand undergrad material well. You call everyone who disagree with you a "sexist", when it seems much more likely that you are the sexist. You believe that because you're female and have a high GPA you deserve admissions to every top tier school. What about guys with high GPA and high mGRE; do they not deserve it as much as you because they were born male?

In addition, saying you will get into a top 20 just because you're a female is a disservice to every other female candidate. They all got in for many OTHER reasons other than just being female. I am in a top 10 math program and the female graduate students are all very bright and accomplished and got in for many reasons other than their sex. They all deserve their spot here.

I am happy to hear you got interviews and unofficial offers from top tier school, but you need to mature up and study hard for your qual exams, or you'll be kicked out of the school in no time.
Dear Mathguy.
I agree with the logic presented, but please observe that lately Nicole pulled back on her attitude of "I deserve it since I am a female". She seems to have realized, at least partially, that she was wrong. Observe also, that she deleted her comment, that used to be sitting there next to her (truly horrible) mGRE scores, stating that "math GRE are way too hard". She seems to have thought that mGRE involves knowledge of graduate math, while it is ALL undegraduate, and most of it seems to be elementary (just needs to move your brain fast, that's it). I think she realized, after multiple explanations from multiple posters, that mGRE that she has is very sub-par for PhD applicants at top schools, and started to ask advise about lower ranked schools and applications to those.
My point is, Nicole is evolving. I think being on this forum did indeed help her to calibrate herself "against the field."
I think one more exercise that she can do is actually to go through profiles posted, and see how many are females, and check out their credentials. And compare. That will be one humble experience.
But at any rate, let's be positive. Yes, I know YOU already are. Let's hope that some other math guys on this forum will also be that way.

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:57 am

bark_muffalo wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:49 pm
There's an acceptance from UIC up on grad cafe. Maybe they are sending out their first round of offers? If so, another one of my schools and still nothing...
Hey man, I'm right there with you. It really sucks since UIC is one of my top choices, but I guess we gotta play the waiting game now.

bark_muffalo
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Apr 06, 2019 6:56 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by bark_muffalo » Sat Feb 15, 2020 11:21 am

EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:57 am
bark_muffalo wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:49 pm
There's an acceptance from UIC up on grad cafe. Maybe they are sending out their first round of offers? If so, another one of my schools and still nothing...
Hey man, I'm right there with you. It really sucks since UIC is one of my top choices, but I guess we gotta play the waiting game now.
Yeah, I'm just worried that I'm waiting for a rejection. I don't mean to be melodramatic, but I'm starting to think that I fundamentally miscalculated how committees at the schools I applied to would view my application. I'm an unusual applicant; I was a sociology major as an undergrad and have had to do all my grad school prep--first online classes, now an MA in math--while working. I tried to play these experiences as strengths. In particular, I tried emphasizing my teaching experience, thinking that schools are often looking for students who can help with the undergraduate teaching load. Now I am concerned that these factors do not make up for my lack of research experience and mediocre mgre.

Mathguy1264
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:23 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Mathguy1264 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:29 pm

MathParent wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:34 am
Mathguy1264 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:45 am

Dear Nicole,

Consider it from this point of view: A person with a very sub-optimal math GRE score say someone who has taken it multiple times and their best score is 15th percentile. One this is a horrible exam since HALF the exam is calculus with an emphasis on single variable. Higher schoolers who only took and mastered Calculus AB and BC can SCORE HIGHER than that. While the exam does not reflect how much mathematical talent a candidate has, scoring so poorly implies that the student has a poor understanding of even freshmen calculus. Graduate students are expected to TA calculus multiple times. But how can a committee trust someone to TA for calculus, when it appears that they do not even have a solid understanding of calculus.

In addition, it is well known many non-top tier universities have strong grade inflation, so the mGRE score is even more important for candidates from non-top tier universities since committee members do not know what an "A" means at your university. Does almost everyone in your classes get an "A"? The committee does not have time to check all of these especially from not well-known schools, so they use the mGRE instead as a way to compare applicants.

Now imagine someone who has a high GPA but a horrible mGRE (math phd don't care about the regular gre since it's just high school math) from a not well known school. This instantly puts a question about whether the candidate really deserved their grades. Now imagine the student applying to only top 20 schools. Of course, everyone would suggest them to apply to lower ranked schools since it is very unlikely they will get admitted to many if any of them due to most top 20 schools have a "cut off" score of around 800 on the mGRE. Now imagine someone boasting about how they will get into a top 20 school just for being female. I do agree that females should have an advantage in admissions for diversity reason; however, they still have to be a strong applicant to be admitted into a top tier school.

The main reason people are calling you a "troll" is because of your attitude. You adamantly believe you are a top candidate solely based on your gender and a high GPA. However, your mGRE gives the appearance that you do not understand undergrad material well. You call everyone who disagree with you a "sexist", when it seems much more likely that you are the sexist. You believe that because you're female and have a high GPA you deserve admissions to every top tier school. What about guys with high GPA and high mGRE; do they not deserve it as much as you because they were born male?

In addition, saying you will get into a top 20 just because you're a female is a disservice to every other female candidate. They all got in for many OTHER reasons other than just being female. I am in a top 10 math program and the female graduate students are all very bright and accomplished and got in for many reasons other than their sex. They all deserve their spot here.

I am happy to hear you got interviews and unofficial offers from top tier school, but you need to mature up and study hard for your qual exams, or you'll be kicked out of the school in no time.
Dear Mathguy.
I agree with the logic presented, but please observe that lately Nicole pulled back on her attitude of "I deserve it since I am a female". She seems to have realized, at least partially, that she was wrong. Observe also, that she deleted her comment, that used to be sitting there next to her (truly horrible) mGRE scores, stating that "math GRE are way too hard". She seems to have thought that mGRE involves knowledge of graduate math, while it is ALL undegraduate, and most of it seems to be elementary (just needs to move your brain fast, that's it). I think she realized, after multiple explanations from multiple posters, that mGRE that she has is very sub-par for PhD applicants at top schools, and started to ask advise about lower ranked schools and applications to those.
My point is, Nicole is evolving. I think being on this forum did indeed help her to calibrate herself "against the field."
I think one more exercise that she can do is actually to go through profiles posted, and see how many are females, and check out their credentials. And compare. That will be one humble experience.
But at any rate, let's be positive. Yes, I know YOU already are. Let's hope that some other math guys on this forum will also be that way.
Yes, I see your point. She has been evolving and I commend her for that. I am hopeful that she will be able to pass her quals and do well in graduate school even in a top 20. She seems to have a lot of potential based off her GPA, general GRE, and thesis. Hopefully, her potential can be realized and she excels in graduate school.

However, my main point that I failed to articulate well and should have written in much nicer and softer way is why I believe people treat her as a troll. Her original extreme claims of she will get into every top school for being female and no other reason already put a huge red flag on many other readers mind. Then I think her attitude towards any criticisms of her applications is due to sexism is unfounded. Anyone with subpar mGRE scores would be laughed at if they said I'll get into say Princeton will be told to really reconsider applying there. The only reason people mention her gender is that she keeps making it the main topic of any of her responses. There are other female candidates in this form and no one mentions their gender or considers them troll. In addition, her quote "Seems more like your a sexist and your intuition tells you that women getting into PHD programs are just wrong and therefore we are trolls." is unfounded since (I hope) every universities have female graduate students in PhDs even in math. People are just shocked at how absurd her claims are and that she deflects any criticisms as sexism, when the only reason people even mention her gender is because she keeps making it the focus point of her responses.

User avatar
mani_fold
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2020 10:49 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by mani_fold » Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:51 pm

Image

bark_muffalo
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Apr 06, 2019 6:56 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by bark_muffalo » Sat Feb 15, 2020 2:08 pm

Image

Sobolev_Inequality
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:02 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Sobolev_Inequality » Sat Feb 15, 2020 2:47 pm

nicole2 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:20 am
Junaid456 wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:37 am
nicole2 wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:09 am
Have anyone gotten a decision from BU for pure math?
Still waiting but I applied for probability which overlaps the math and stars concentrations. They told mr they’ll review after Jan. 15, though.
Penn and UCLA both told me they're still reviewing my application yet I see others getting offers left and right. I guess "in review" means "our math department don't care enough about your application so we didn't give it much of a look, yet."

I really wanted to go to Boston but hopefully thy give out enough stipends. Heard Boston is expensive to live in.
UCLA open house RSVP has recently passed, so I think they're probably done with making most offers.

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:28 pm

mani_fold wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:51 pm
Image
lmao

username31415
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 4:52 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by username31415 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:41 pm

Question: when people here refer to tiers of schools or rankings, are you using US news?

mishania1996
Posts: 87
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2017 5:06 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by mishania1996 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:13 pm

mani_fold wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 1:51 pm
Image
lmao_2

asterac
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:48 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by asterac » Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:36 pm

username31415 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:41 pm
Question: when people here refer to tiers of schools or rankings, are you using US news?
Personally, no. USNews is not so reliable. I formed my ideas of tiers based on the AMS groups, the national research council rankings (tho those are pretty buggy too), and impressions I’ve gathered from profs, grad students, postdocs, etc.

It can be weird talking to profs about it tho because many of them have good mid-tier schools they won’t know much about or will, say, have an inflated overall opinion of some schools because they’re good for their specific field. Reputation is a bit of a clusterfuck

ponchan
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:30 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by ponchan » Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:06 pm

asterac wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:36 pm
username31415 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:41 pm
Question: when people here refer to tiers of schools or rankings, are you using US news?
Personally, no. USNews is not so reliable. I formed my ideas of tiers based on the AMS groups, the national research council rankings (tho those are pretty buggy too), and impressions I’ve gathered from profs, grad students, postdocs, etc.

It can be weird talking to profs about it tho because many of them have good mid-tier schools they won’t know much about or will, say, have an inflated overall opinion of some schools because they’re good for their specific field. Reputation is a bit of a clusterfuck
The AMS rankings aren't good either. Smaller programs, for example, won't do as well in the rankings due to how they're structured. It makes much more sense to simply look up the people in your specific field of interest at a school. Specifically, look them up on mathscinet, and see if they have papers in the best journals: Inventiones, Annals, Publ Math, Duke, etc. ("best" here makes some sense as peer review is more scientific).

yaskhn3
Posts: 149
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2018 1:23 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by yaskhn3 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 7:04 pm

When should we expect UCLA, UCSD, UPenn rejections?

asterac
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:48 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by asterac » Sat Feb 15, 2020 8:06 pm

ponchan wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 5:06 pm
asterac wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:36 pm
username31415 wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 3:41 pm
Question: when people here refer to tiers of schools or rankings, are you using US news?
Personally, no. USNews is not so reliable. I formed my ideas of tiers based on the AMS groups, the national research council rankings (tho those are pretty buggy too), and impressions I’ve gathered from profs, grad students, postdocs, etc.

It can be weird talking to profs about it tho because many of them have good mid-tier schools they won’t know much about or will, say, have an inflated overall opinion of some schools because they’re good for their specific field. Reputation is a bit of a clusterfuck
The AMS rankings aren't good either. Smaller programs, for example, won't do as well in the rankings due to how they're structured. It makes much more sense to simply look up the people in your specific field of interest at a school. Specifically, look them up on mathscinet, and see if they have papers in the best journals: Inventiones, Annals, Publ Math, Duke, etc. ("best" here makes some sense as peer review is more scientific).
Yeah, every ranking has its bugs. For example, Davis is Group II but comparable or better than some of the public schools in Group I, as I’m given to understand.

One prof told me that going to a Group I school might still be valuable for other reasons, like trying to get a job outside the US, where a search committee may have less familiarity with schools outside the very top, in which case it’s more important to have some obvious marker of school quality.

Also, what you said is totally a good method, but it’s not actually that common for people to have a serious and informed idea of what they want to do at this stage.

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:13 pm

Anyone else feel like a second class citizen when they are waitlisted? Like even if we do get accepted, we weren't the first round pick and we most likely weren't even able to make it to visitor week.

chrisps1992
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:17 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by chrisps1992 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:22 pm

EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:13 pm
Anyone else feel like a second class citizen when they are waitlisted? Like even if we do get accepted, we weren't the first round pick and we most likely weren't even able to make it to visitor week.
Not at all, but I come from a very unknown school so a waitlist actually makes me feel good because I think undergrad institution is much more important than people think.

bark_muffalo
Posts: 58
Joined: Sat Apr 06, 2019 6:56 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by bark_muffalo » Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:50 pm

EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:13 pm
Anyone else feel like a second class citizen when they are waitlisted? Like even if we do get accepted, we weren't the first round pick and we most likely weren't even able to make it to visitor week.
I understand the feeling, but I also think it's the wrong way to view the situation. A school is not going to waitlist you unless they would truly be happy to have you as a student (schools mean it when they say that they get way more qualified applications than they have room for). The idea that because you weren't their first choice means you are somehow "less than" is wrong. The decision-making calculus of admission committees is complicated and variable; I imagine that the decision between acceptance and rejection often comes to a preference for a particular trait in an applicant that is not a function of their mathematical ability. And even if you were waitlisted because they were other candidates "better than you", so what? You're doing this because you love math.

Out of curiosity, where are you waitlisted?

fluffball
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 4:06 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by fluffball » Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:14 pm

chrisps1992 wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:31 am
fluffball wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:10 am
Did anyone get fellowship funding from LSU? If so, what kind of fellowship?
I got an assistantship for 24k per year.
Thanks, chrisps, congratulations. Do they have a visiting day? If so, when is it?

fluffball
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 4:06 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by fluffball » Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:18 pm

EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:13 pm
Anyone else feel like a second class citizen when they are waitlisted? Like even if we do get accepted, we weren't the first round pick and we most likely weren't even able to make it to visitor week.
Programs generally try to make offers to people who will actually enroll, so a big part of the admissions calculus is the likelihood that you'll take the offer. And that includes considerations like how good a fit you are for the department and where else you're applying. So you shouldn't take being waitlisted personally.

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:25 pm

fluffball wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:18 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:13 pm
Anyone else feel like a second class citizen when they are waitlisted? Like even if we do get accepted, we weren't the first round pick and we most likely weren't even able to make it to visitor week.
Programs generally try to make offers to people who will actually enroll, so a big part of the admissions calculus is the likelihood that you'll take the offer. And that includes considerations like how good a fit you are for the department and where else you're applying. So you shouldn't take being waitlisted personally.
I disagree, most schools want the strongest applicant whilst fulfilling any diversity quotas. Fit does not seem to matter much because its all irrelevant if you don't pass your quals./
Last edited by EricAndre on Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

chrisps1992
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:17 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by chrisps1992 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:27 pm

fluffball wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:14 pm
chrisps1992 wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:31 am
fluffball wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:10 am
Did anyone get fellowship funding from LSU? If so, what kind of fellowship?
I got an assistantship for 24k per year.
Thanks, chrisps, congratulations. Do they have a visiting day? If so, when is it?
It’s March 13

fluffball
Posts: 28
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 4:06 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by fluffball » Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:38 pm

EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:25 pm
fluffball wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 10:18 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:13 pm
Anyone else feel like a second class citizen when they are waitlisted? Like even if we do get accepted, we weren't the first round pick and we most likely weren't even able to make it to visitor week.
Programs generally try to make offers to people who will actually enroll, so a big part of the admissions calculus is the likelihood that you'll take the offer. And that includes considerations like how good a fit you are for the department and where else you're applying. So you shouldn't take being waitlisted personally.
I disagree, most schools want the strongest applicant whilst fulfilling any diversity quotas. Fit does not seem to matter much because its all irrelevant if you don't pass your quals.
First of all, there are no diversity quotas. There might be informal preference given to applicants from underrepresented groups, but that's all.

And of course they want people who will pass quals. But if admissions were as simple as just taking the "strongest" applicants, this entire forum wouldn't exist.

ahhhhmeh
Posts: 54
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2018 10:13 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by ahhhhmeh » Sun Feb 16, 2020 4:05 am

EricAndre wrote:
Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:13 pm
Anyone else feel like a second class citizen when they are waitlisted? Like even if we do get accepted, we weren't the first round pick and we most likely weren't even able to make it to visitor week.
Well that’s something at least. Apparently I’m not good enough to even elicit a rejection! All the schools tell me the application is under review which just can’t be. Honestly I feel so embarrassed that if I decide to apply for the following year I will not apply to any of the programs I applied to this year: I’ll go to Europe or something.

Alkaline
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2020 6:19 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Alkaline » Sun Feb 16, 2020 5:17 am

ahhhhmeh wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 4:05 am
Well that’s something at least. Apparently I’m not good enough to even elicit a rejection! All the schools tell me the application is under review which just can’t be. Honestly I feel so embarrassed that if I decide to apply for the following year I will not apply to any of the programs I applied to this year.
Ha.. haha.. same. Just sitting here freaking out more and more as the days go by, wondering when (or if) I'll hear back from my schools. Although, to be fair, there is nothing particularly impressive about my profile. So maybe they're treating me like the mediocre applicant that I am :lol:

NotMyRealName
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:42 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by NotMyRealName » Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:40 am

For anyone curious how the waitlists might work, I emailed to inquire about Utah and the prof said there are several lists based on area of interest that get pulled in a ranked fashion.

JK10
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:12 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by JK10 » Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:16 pm

Anyone goes to Vanderbilt for the school visit?

JK10
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:12 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by JK10 » Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:17 pm

By the way, will programs revoke their offers if I get a terrible grade in the last semester? I am literally exploring myself by taking some gender studies courses and can't expect a decent grade lol

asterac
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:48 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by asterac » Sun Feb 16, 2020 8:56 pm

JK10 wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:17 pm
By the way, will programs revoke their offers if I get a terrible grade in the last semester? I am literally exploring myself by taking some gender studies courses and can't expect a decent grade lol
Personally, I'm taking everything pass/no pass at this point, but I can afford to cause I have enough graded classes to graduate. And yeah I doubt they would care about a shitty grade in a non-math class, but I have no actual information to confirm that.

One of my offer letters said, "On the recommendation of the Department of Mathematics (and if applicable, contingent upon receipt of your official test scores at a satisfactory level and of your official transcripts showing conferral of your degree), we are pleased to admit [...]" which makes it sound like they wouldn't look at my final transcript for much besides the fact that I actually did get the bachelor's.

JK10
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:12 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by JK10 » Sun Feb 16, 2020 11:33 pm

asterac wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 8:56 pm
JK10 wrote:
Sun Feb 16, 2020 7:17 pm
By the way, will programs revoke their offers if I get a terrible grade in the last semester? I am literally exploring myself by taking some gender studies courses and can't expect a decent grade lol
Personally, I'm taking everything pass/no pass at this point, but I can afford to cause I have enough graded classes to graduate. And yeah I doubt they would care about a shitty grade in a non-math class, but I have no actual information to confirm that.

One of my offer letters said, "On the recommendation of the Department of Mathematics (and if applicable, contingent upon receipt of your official test scores at a satisfactory level and of your official transcripts showing conferral of your degree), we are pleased to admit [...]" which makes it sound like they wouldn't look at my final transcript for much besides the fact that I actually did get the bachelor's.
my current school forces us to finish a bunch of non-math classes to graduate, that's so tough for me lol
And I actually just went through a final-year fall down. I got several B+ in some math classes last semester but previously my math GPA was 3.98. Will any programs care about that?

Devilbob
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 1:27 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Devilbob » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:36 am

Anyone heard if UCSB has finished their admissions this cycle?

analysister
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Nov 07, 2019 2:36 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by analysister » Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:33 pm

Devilbob wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:36 am
Anyone heard if UCSB has finished their admissions this cycle?
I do not know what their total process is but I know they have 2 visit days, one in a few weeks, and one at the end of March, so I can imagine them sending out some additional decisions between those.

mmmyaknow
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:08 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by mmmyaknow » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:43 pm

Hi guys,
I've been lurking here for a while but I decided to make an account and make a comment.
I'm a graduating senior math major at what one might call a public Ivy in the US. My math GPA is a 3.75. I've been involved in three separate research experiences, including one at my home institution that will become my honors thesis as well as a first author publication, and one at the top ranked school in my field, which I presented at a large math conference. I'm currently a grader for real analysis, and have previously graded for differential geometry (ie., I do a lot of calc). I've received offers from several schools this cycle, including an Ivy and two top-15 public schools in my field, and I'm waiting on a few more decisions post-interview.
I also did very, very poorly on the mGRE. In fact, I did exactly as poorly as some of the more-critiqued users on this forum.
I say all this not to toot my own horn or to criticize or support anyone's profile, but because I think statements I've seen such as "If you do that poorly on the mGRE, it means you don't even have a grasp of HS calculus", "the mGRE is SUPPOSED to be easy", "I got into top schools and had an xyz percentile mGRE, this shows that schools only care about the mGRE" and "if you do poorly, you'll just fail your quals and master out, like xyz person I stalked on linkedin" are incredibly harmful and not supported by evidence. First of all, the mGRE is objectively not a good assessment, and there are several studies pointing out that achievement on the mGRE is not associated with success in a graduate program. Secondly, I provide a counterexample to this idea if you don't do well, you don't even know HS calc/can't get into top programs/won't succeed. Granted, I didn't submit my mGRE most places because I know it's bad, and of course I recognize that some schools/fields place more weight on it than others, but clearly my application was strong enough to do well without it, and my success in mathematics isn't going to be ruled by whether or not I did well on this one test.
There's plenty of reasons people might be accepted or rejected from a program other than doing well/poorly on the mGRE, and there's plenty of reasons people might do poorly on the mGRE that has little to do with their intelligence or their preparation for grad school. I care about the math community being a supportive and reasonable place. We're all aspiring scientists, after all. I think we can do better than making such harmful and ill-informed statements.
(This is kind of my one hit wonder on this forum, so I'm not interested in fighting people on this, I just wanted to throw out my 2 cents. I wish I had seen something like this when I was freaking out about my own score so maybe this will help someone in the future.)

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm

mmmyaknow wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:43 pm
Hi guys,
I've been lurking here for a while but I decided to make an account and make a comment.
I'm a graduating senior math major at what one might call a public Ivy in the US. My math GPA is a 3.75. I've been involved in three separate research experiences, including one at my home institution that will become my honors thesis as well as a first author publication, and one at the top ranked school in my field, which I presented at a large math conference. I'm currently a grader for real analysis, and have previously graded for differential geometry (ie., I do a lot of calc). I've received offers from several schools this cycle, including an Ivy and two top-15 public schools in my field, and I'm waiting on a few more decisions post-interview.
I also did very, very poorly on the mGRE. In fact, I did exactly as poorly as some of the more-critiqued users on this forum.
I say all this not to toot my own horn or to criticize or support anyone's profile, but because I think statements I've seen such as "If you do that poorly on the mGRE, it means you don't even have a grasp of HS calculus", "the mGRE is SUPPOSED to be easy", "I got into top schools and had an xyz percentile mGRE, this shows that schools only care about the mGRE" and "if you do poorly, you'll just fail your quals and master out, like xyz person I stalked on linkedin" are incredibly harmful and not supported by evidence. First of all, the mGRE is objectively not a good assessment, and there are several studies pointing out that achievement on the mGRE is not associated with success in a graduate program. Secondly, I provide a counterexample to this idea if you don't do well, you don't even know HS calc/can't get into top programs/won't succeed. Granted, I didn't submit my mGRE most places because I know it's bad, and of course I recognize that some schools/fields place more weight on it than others, but clearly my application was strong enough to do well without it, and my success in mathematics isn't going to be ruled by whether or not I did well on this one test.
There's plenty of reasons people might be accepted or rejected from a program other than doing well/poorly on the mGRE, and there's plenty of reasons people might do poorly on the mGRE that has little to do with their intelligence or their preparation for grad school. I care about the math community being a supportive and reasonable place. We're all aspiring scientists, after all. I think we can do better than making such harmful and ill-informed statements.
(This is kind of my one hit wonder on this forum, so I'm not interested in fighting people on this, I just wanted to throw out my 2 cents. I wish I had seen something like this when I was freaking out about my own score so maybe this will help someone in the future.)
Don't want to start a debate but the MGRE is more heavily overlooked if you are a female, at least from reading the application history. If you are a male, then I'm impressed.

yaskhn3
Posts: 149
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2018 1:23 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by yaskhn3 » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:57 pm

Just got unofficially rejected from UPenn after making an inquiry:

"We have put together a shortlist for our first round of offers and you are not on that list. We might consider applicants not on the shortlist at a later time but it looks unlikely. Note that the uniform reply date is April 15. "

CoronalRain
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2019 1:02 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by CoronalRain » Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 pm

EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm
Don't want to start a debate but the MGRE is more heavily overlooked if you are a female, at least from reading the application history. If you are a male, then I'm impressed.
It’s also more readily overlooked when the applicant is from a prestigious school and has letters of recommendation from well-known researchers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make the post completely irrelevant for applicants from lesser-known schools. If you bomb the mGRE, are from a lower-tier school, and don’t have letters from famous mathematicians, then the odds are VERY heavily stacked against you. Pretending otherwise just gives people false hope.

They were right about one thing, though: bombing the mGRE does not necessarily imply that you’re bad at calculus and linear algebra. It just means you’re bad at the mGRE.

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:01 pm

CoronalRain wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm
Don't want to start a debate but the MGRE is more heavily overlooked if you are a female, at least from reading the application history. If you are a male, then I'm impressed.
It’s also more readily overlooked when the applicant is from a prestigious school and has letters of recommendation from well-known researchers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make the post completely irrelevant for applicants from lesser-known schools. If you bomb the mGRE, are from a lower-tier school, and don’t have letters from famous mathematicians, then the odds are VERY heavily stacked against you. Pretending otherwise just gives people false hope.

Yes, that is also an important factor.

ponchan
Posts: 126
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:30 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by ponchan » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:03 pm

CoronalRain wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm
Don't want to start a debate but the MGRE is more heavily overlooked if you are a female, at least from reading the application history. If you are a male, then I'm impressed.
It’s also more readily overlooked when the applicant is from a prestigious school and has letters of recommendation from well-known researchers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make the post completely irrelevant for applicants from lesser-known schools. If you bomb the mGRE, are from a lower-tier school, and don’t have letters from famous mathematicians, then the odds are VERY heavily stacked against you. Pretending otherwise just gives people false hope.

They were right about one thing, though: bombing the mGRE does not necessarily imply that you’re bad at calculus and linear algebra. It just means you’re bad at the mGRE.
This also doesn’t apply to Asian males. No Asian male (domestic or international) can bomb the mGRE and expect acceptance to a competitive program.

yaskhn3
Posts: 149
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2018 1:23 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by yaskhn3 » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:10 pm

ponchan wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:03 pm
CoronalRain wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm
Don't want to start a debate but the MGRE is more heavily overlooked if you are a female, at least from reading the application history. If you are a male, then I'm impressed.
It’s also more readily overlooked when the applicant is from a prestigious school and has letters of recommendation from well-known researchers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make the post completely irrelevant for applicants from lesser-known schools. If you bomb the mGRE, are from a lower-tier school, and don’t have letters from famous mathematicians, then the odds are VERY heavily stacked against you. Pretending otherwise just gives people false hope.

They were right about one thing, though: bombing the mGRE does not necessarily imply that you’re bad at calculus and linear algebra. It just means you’re bad at the mGRE.
This also doesn’t apply to Asian males. No Asian male (domestic or international) can bomb the mGRE and expect acceptance to a competitive program.
Completely agreed.

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:13 pm

ponchan wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:03 pm
CoronalRain wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm
Don't want to start a debate but the MGRE is more heavily overlooked if you are a female, at least from reading the application history. If you are a male, then I'm impressed.
It’s also more readily overlooked when the applicant is from a prestigious school and has letters of recommendation from well-known researchers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make the post completely irrelevant for applicants from lesser-known schools. If you bomb the mGRE, are from a lower-tier school, and don’t have letters from famous mathematicians, then the odds are VERY heavily stacked against you. Pretending otherwise just gives people false hope.

They were right about one thing, though: bombing the mGRE does not necessarily imply that you’re bad at calculus and linear algebra. It just means you’re bad at the mGRE.
This also doesn’t apply to Asian males. No Asian male (domestic or international) can bomb the mGRE and expect acceptance to a competitive program.
I don't think its true for Asian domestic males, but yes Intl Asians better bring their A-game to the mGRE.

Sobolev_Inequality
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:02 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Sobolev_Inequality » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:24 pm

EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:13 pm
ponchan wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:03 pm
CoronalRain wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 pm


It’s also more readily overlooked when the applicant is from a prestigious school and has letters of recommendation from well-known researchers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make the post completely irrelevant for applicants from lesser-known schools. If you bomb the mGRE, are from a lower-tier school, and don’t have letters from famous mathematicians, then the odds are VERY heavily stacked against you. Pretending otherwise just gives people false hope.

They were right about one thing, though: bombing the mGRE does not necessarily imply that you’re bad at calculus and linear algebra. It just means you’re bad at the mGRE.
This also doesn’t apply to Asian males. No Asian male (domestic or international) can bomb the mGRE and expect acceptance to a competitive program.
I don't think its true for Asian domestic males, but yes Intl Asians better bring their A-game to the mGRE.
I am a domestic asian male that got into an Ivy and top tier publics with a mediocre GRE score. I think the only reason my mGRE scores were overlooked were because I came from a very prestigious school and my letter writers are famous + I did uniformly well in all of my grad courses.

EricAndre
Posts: 95
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 7:40 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by EricAndre » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:25 pm

Sobolev_Inequality wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:24 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:13 pm
ponchan wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:03 pm


This also doesn’t apply to Asian males. No Asian male (domestic or international) can bomb the mGRE and expect acceptance to a competitive program.
I don't think its true for Asian domestic males, but yes Intl Asians better bring their A-game to the mGRE.
I am a domestic asian male that got into an Ivy and top tier publics with a mediocre GRE score. I think the only reason my mGRE scores were overlooked were because I came from a very prestigious school and my letter writers are famous + I did uniformly well in all of my grad courses.
If I recall correctly, you applied to applied math programs which means the MGRE is not that important in your case.

Sobolev_Inequality
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:02 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Sobolev_Inequality » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:36 pm

EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:25 pm
Sobolev_Inequality wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:24 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:13 pm


I don't think its true for Asian domestic males, but yes Intl Asians better bring their A-game to the mGRE.
I am a domestic asian male that got into an Ivy and top tier publics with a mediocre GRE score. I think the only reason my mGRE scores were overlooked were because I came from a very prestigious school and my letter writers are famous + I did uniformly well in all of my grad courses.
If I recall correctly, you applied to applied math programs which means the MGRE is not that important in your case.
The ivy I got into was applied while the publics were pure.

chrisps1992
Posts: 137
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 6:17 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by chrisps1992 » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:36 pm

Undergrad institution prestige is way more important than mgre. You can look at all the historical data on this site. People who come from top schools and bomb the mgre still get in very good places, but if you come from unknown school you will probably not get in a top 20 regardless of your mgre.

Sobolev_Inequality
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:02 am

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by Sobolev_Inequality » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:38 pm

Sobolev_Inequality wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:36 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:25 pm
Sobolev_Inequality wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:24 pm


I am a domestic asian male that got into an Ivy and top tier publics with a mediocre GRE score. I think the only reason my mGRE scores were overlooked were because I came from a very prestigious school and my letter writers are famous + I did uniformly well in all of my grad courses.
If I recall correctly, you applied to applied math programs which means the MGRE is not that important in your case.
The ivy I got into was applied while the publics were pure.

One of the safety schools I got into told me how their admission process works and where a student went for undergrad was supposedly equally weighted with factors like GPA, Letters, GRE scores, and personal statement.

asterac
Posts: 60
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:48 pm

Re: Fall 2020 Sweat Thread

Post by asterac » Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:49 pm

CoronalRain wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:58 pm
EricAndre wrote:
Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm
Don't want to start a debate but the MGRE is more heavily overlooked if you are a female, at least from reading the application history. If you are a male, then I'm impressed.
It’s also more readily overlooked when the applicant is from a prestigious school and has letters of recommendation from well-known researchers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make the post completely irrelevant for applicants from lesser-known schools. If you bomb the mGRE, are from a lower-tier school, and don’t have letters from famous mathematicians, then the odds are VERY heavily stacked against you. Pretending otherwise just gives people false hope.

They were right about one thing, though: bombing the mGRE does not necessarily imply that you’re bad at calculus and linear algebra. It just means you’re bad at the mGRE.
Well, yeah. You’ve gotta have *something* that evidences your ability beyond what you say about yourself.

Just FYI tho to EricAndre, it’s not just that mGRE appears to be weighted less heavily for women (at some schools). I’m not trying to start a debate either—you’re probably right—but I think some people can take this out of context. I’ve been wanting to say something about this for a while.

It’s not just that women/URMs score worse. The general GRE is *known to underpredict success* in grad school for women/URMs relative to other demographics. ETS’s own research confirms this. I don’t know if there are such studies for the subject GREs, but it stands to reason that the same would hold true given that there are many known phenomena regarding gendered performance differences that don’t appear in the classroom but do on standardized tests. People have proposed many explanations for this other than ability. Some, like stereotype threat, are highly supported in scientific literature. It might not sound fair to people who know little about this, but it makes sense that adcoms would account for it if they wanted to avoid bias.

Alternatively/additionally, many good schools have some very low thresholds for acceptable mGRE scores, above which they really care more about other factors. (Source: conversations with the DGS at UNC and adcom members at different schools.) If you know that and also know that women tend to score worse on the exam, it might give the illusion that standards were lower for women at such schools when in fact, the standard was low for everyone, but you see higher scores for admitted men due to those known differences in the distribution. This is conceivable, yes?

(Also also, this should be the least convincing thing because it’s purely anecdotal, but I know a guy who got into Notre Dame with the same low-ass score as me, but he didn’t post on the forum. Make of that what you will.)



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