2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Forum for the GRE subject test in mathematics.
confused.graduate
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 5:26 am

2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by confused.graduate » Mon Sep 07, 2020 5:31 am

Allow me to start the party! This is certainly an unusual year, stay safe everyone. :D

For questions, comments, and discussions about results, please use the Sweat Thread >>> viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5467.

To check the latest updates on posts, please see: search.php?search_id=latesteditedposts

Previous threads:

2010 - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=357
2011 - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=495
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2013 - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1003
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2017 - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3695
2018 - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3867
2019 - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4555
2020 - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4950

Code: Select all

[b]Undergrad Institution:[/b] (School or type of school (such as Big state/Lib Arts/Ivy/Technical/Foreign (Country?))
[b]Major(s):[/b]
[b]Minor(s):[/b]
[b]GPA:[/b]
[b]Type of Student:[/b] (Domestic/International (Country?), Male/Female?, Minority?)

[b]GRE Revised General Test:[/b]
[b]Q:[/b] xxx (xx%)
[b]V:[/b] xxx (xx%)
[b]W:[/b] x.x (xx%)
[b]GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:[/b]
[b]M:[/b] xxx (xx%)

[b]TOEFL Score:[/b] (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)

[b]Program Applying:[/b] (Pure Math/Applied Math/Statistics/Operation Research/Biostatistics)

[b]Research Experience:[/b] (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications or conference talks etc...)
[b]Awards/Honors/Recognitions:[/b] (Within your school or outside?)
[b]Pertinent Activities or Jobs:[/b] (Such as tutor, TA, etc...)
[b]Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:[/b] (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
[b]Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:[/b]

[b]Applying to Where:[/b] (Color use here is welcome)
[u]School[/u] - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
[u]School[/u] - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
[u]School[/u] - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
Last edited by confused.graduate on Tue Nov 03, 2020 7:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

confused.graduate
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 5:26 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by confused.graduate » Mon Sep 07, 2020 5:59 am

Undergrad Institution: Private university in Pennsylvania, not well known, only with masters program
Major(s): French, Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.58 out of 4.00 (Math 3.52)
Type of Student: Domestic White Female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q/V/W: 163 (79%) / 159 (82%) / 4.5 (80%)

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Cannot take due to human malware

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Offered an undergraduate research scholarship for this summer but turned into an independent study class. Applied to this REU really close to home but was ghosted. :evil: Completing senior thesis in knot theory.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list almost every semester (except one summer semester), received 4 math departmental scholarships. Studied abroad in the UK for one semester, it wasn't any particular math study abroad program but just a regular study abroad.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored college algebra and precalculus in my department.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Took some semi-graduate courses, 2 of which (advanced calculus and modern algebra) is on my Fall 2020 transcript. They are technically not graduate classes but there're graduate students in the class and the course is set up where both undergraduates and graduates can register. Will have 4 of these classes (adv calc 1/2, modern algebra 1/2) by graduation assuming I don't drop the ball. :D Some departments specifically mentions adv calculus and modern algebra is a prerequisite to applying so that take cares of that. :D
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: One of my professor is a semi-close friend of my mom - when in high school she invites her over for events and dinners. So I am expecting at least one very strong letter. I am also diagnosed with test anxiety under ADA, which might help with my lower GPA. Being female (under-represented minority) definitely helps my application. Also this year am the president of math club.

Applying to Where:

Donations
Berkeley, submitted Nov 12 rejected Jan 29
Chicago, submitted Nov 15 probably rejected
MIT, submitted Nov 15 rejected Feb 5
Princeton, submitted Nov 15 rejected Feb 2
Stanford, submitted Dec 1 rejected Feb 12
UCLA, submitted Nov 12 probably rejected

Reach/Match(?)
Indiana Bloomington, submitted Dec 10, admitted Feb 1
Michigan, submitted Nov 15
Minnesota, submitted Nov 12
Ohio State, submitted Nov 15, admitted Feb 3
Rutgers, submitted Nov 15, rejected Feb 10
Southern California, submitted Dec 1, rejected Feb 5
UC Santa Barbara, submitted Nov 2, admitted Feb 23 no funding info only portal update

Safeties
Arizona, submitted Jan 1, admitted Jan 24 with 19k funding, unknown if fellowship will be offered
Iowa State, submitted Dec 1, passed preliminary screening Dec 2, admitted Feb 2 with mentions of increased funding after passing some oral exams, also possibility of fellowship DECLINED Feb 3
Michigan State, submitted Dec 1, admitted Dec 31 with 29k fellowship.
Oregon State, submitted Jan 1, admitted Jan 25 awaiting funding. DECLINED Feb 3

Canadiann
McGill, submitted Nov 18
Queens, submitted Nov 18, admitted Jan 21 to MSc program with 28k canadian dollars DECLINED Feb 5
Toronto, submitted Nov 18, submitted Nov 15 rejected Feb 5

Would be nice if they have common app for graduate schools :P

Dec 27: Merry Christmas! :D Adding BC and Brandeis
Jan 17: Withdrew apps from couple schools
Jan 27: Withdrew app from U Oregon and U Iowa
Feb 5: Rejected by more schools, declined queens
Feb 11: Emailed Rutgers after you guys did and got rejected ...
Last edited by confused.graduate on Tue Feb 23, 2021 7:43 pm, edited 50 times in total.

lebesgueboy98
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2020 6:12 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by lebesgueboy98 » Tue Sep 08, 2020 7:26 pm

Undergrad Institution: Medium Public with Liberal Arts vibe
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 4.00/4.00 major and 3.95/4.00 overall
Type of Student: Domestic Male

GRE Revised General Test: Didn't take... but will take if schools need it before I matriculate.
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Couldn't take (COVID)

Program Applying: Both pure and applied math PhD programs.

Research Experience: 4 years of undergrad research. 3 REUs and a super prestigious internship at a top school. Senior Thesis. Research in Physics too. Two current publications and 3/4 more in the works.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater scholarship, tons of university specific scholarships, McNair scholar.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for analysis, topology, abstract algebra I and II, and linear algebra. Volunteer service.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Some graduate level classes (measure theory, functional analysis, computational methods, commutative algebra, differential equations), I should have strong letters, I also spoke with some faculty at schools I've applied to. Seemed to have great conversations.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: NSF GRFP applicant.

*If anyone wants to know details about my offers (funding, fellowships, etc.) PM me, that information doesn't need to be public.

Applying to Where:
Cornell - CAM / Admitted on 1.29.2021
Yale - Applied Math / Admitted on 2.17.2021
Rice - CAAM / Admitted on 2.14.2021
Texas A&M - Math / Admitted on 2.1.2021 / Declined on 2.17.2021
Washington State University - Math / Admitted on 1.28.2021 / Declined on 2.17.2021
Kansas State University - Math / Admitted on 1.29.2021 / Declined on 2.17.2021
Harvard SEAS - Applied Math / Withdrawn on 2.17.2021
U of Minnesota - Math / Withdrawn on 2.17.2021
Rice - Math / Withdrawn on 2.17.2021
MIT - Math / Rejected on 2.9.2021
Princeton - PACM / Rejected on 2.17.2021
Last edited by lebesgueboy98 on Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:05 pm, edited 80 times in total.

pkzrd
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2020 8:43 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by pkzrd » Tue Sep 15, 2020 8:33 am

Undergrad Institution: Large private university
Major(s): Mathematics with computer science, Physics
Minor(s): None
GPA: 4.14 / 5.00
Type of Student: International Male (Middle Eastern)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 163 (80%)
V: 148 (27%)
W: 3.5 (36%)
I had another score with higher quant but disastrous verbal and writing so didn't submit

TOEFL Score:
Waived.

Program Applying:
Pure Math

Research Experience:
Completed a summer research session in algebraic geometry ended with a poster and a project. Two papers in algebraic geometry submitted as authors and published. One paper currently pending. Senior thesis in topology being completed. One paper published as coauthor in physics.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Nothing whatsoever, my department is too competitive...

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
I interned for a equity firm in the summer immediately after my freshman year, I am going to leave it out in the application since it has nothing to do with math. I graded for linear algebra and real analysis.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
I have 11 graduate courses: commutative algebra, geometric combinatorics, measure theory, algebraic topology 1/2, geometry of manifolds, topics in algebraic number theory, topics in lie theory, topics in algebraic geometry, random matrix theory, algebraic number theory and elliptic curves. My letters of recommendations should be strong. Besides graduate courses I have taken the Putnam exam twice and got an honorable mention in the last one. The upcoming Putnam will probably not help even if it was to be held in December instead of February.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I got a D in real analysis which was pretty embarrassing. My advisor told me to not worry about it so I didn't bother to retake the course. I got an A in higher level analysis courses like functional so I'm pretty sure that will more than make up for the D grade. Still, it's probably something that I will have to bring up on my application.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Accepted
UC Berkeley - Application completed 12/07 accepted 1/29 Accepted offer - 3/10
UCLA - Application completed 11/10 accepted 1/22 with funding
Ohio State - Application completed 12/07 first acceptance 12/17!!! funding arrived declined 1/29
UC San Diego - Application completed 11/10 I likely screwed up the sop, hopefully they don't read them otherwise, expecting a rejection fml accepted 2/3 either they didn't read sop or they overlook my error, further info to comedeclined 2/10
Wisconsin Madison - application completed 12/24 accepted 1/28 declined 2/13

Reject Pile
Brown - application completed 12/24 woke up 1/23 and greeted by email "blah blah ... unfortunately we are unable to offer youvv .......... first strike
Harvard - Application completed 11/10 third strike 2/3
Princeton - Application completed 11/10 second strike 2/2 too bad these donations aren't tax deductible

Withdrawn
UPenn - application completed 12/20 application withdrawn
Indiana Bloomington - application submitted 1/07 application withdrawn 1/22
Maryland - Application completed 11/10 application withdrawn 1/29
Michigan - Application completed 11/10 application withdrawn 2/5
Minnesota - Application completed 11/16 application withdrawn 1/29
NC State - application submitted 1/10 application withdrawn 1/22
Rochester - Application completed 11/10 application withdrawn 12/17, apparently they didn't get my email and ask me to complete my application so withdrew again 1/19. Withdrew the third time. :(
UChicago - - Application completed 11/10 had a short phone interview on 12/8, think he was trying to gauge my interest and expectations, no hints of accept/reject given whatsoever inquired about status and was told they are not certain if they can make me an offer, probably either waitlisted or they are still working on it oh well guess I can only wait not going to overthink about it received "formal unofficial" waitlist email 2/1withdrawn 3/10

Glad this is over.
Last edited by pkzrd on Thu Mar 11, 2021 9:02 pm, edited 35 times in total.

jeffreygreenschtein
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:05 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by jeffreygreenschtein » Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:49 pm

toots mcgoots
Last edited by jeffreygreenschtein on Thu Oct 15, 2020 9:56 am, edited 2 times in total.

sqwylfthsk
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2020 1:13 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by sqwylfthsk » Mon Sep 21, 2020 9:27 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small Public University
Major(s): Mathematics, Biomedical Engineering (Dual Degrees)
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.1 / 4.0
Flavor of Student: Vanilla (DWM)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 163 (80%)
V: 167 (98%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Cancelled. Don't know what to think here,
Program Applying: Applied, Ideally interdisciplinary Applied w/ Engineering. Enjoy Topology, Probability, Differential Geometry. Hopefully PhD, though even unfunded masters would be alright in the short-term - especially since I'm a less-than-ideal candidate.

Research Experience: Semester at a lab, some academic project work, some industry-relevant work.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A few deans lists, A few course awards, some Putnam points, a bunch of irrelevant ECs
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Graded for a semester, 2 Engineering Internships, 4 years working as an engineering consultant in industry
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I have some solid work experience, hopefully can wrap that into a decent story. It's ultimately my industry experiences that've pushed me to get the degree. No idea how that'll play out in admissions.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: GPA will continue to be concern #1. In my defense, I ran a gauntlet of technical courses for two degrees while dealing with ECs, girlfriend, family issues, etc. But this is obviously the hurdle to overcome in trying to convince an admissions committee I'm not a goober. Have some solid recs from industry folk, but reaching out to professors from ~4-6 years ago has been a grab bag. Mixture of optimism & apprehensive horror.

Applying to Where:
Tweaked my list quite a bit since I've started this; in many ways, spending a lot less time and effort on the longshots & making sure my applications are (to the naïve me) high quality. Luckily, work from home has helped a bit.

*Updated 2022 after remembering I hadn't heard back on some of these, in case it helps anyone.*
Final disposition: Attending an MS part time, funded by my day job.
Desired
Michigan, Ann Arbor - PhD, AIM Rejected
Northwestern PhD, EASM Rejected - considered for masters (assuming Rejected ? Never heard.)
Purdue PhD, Applied Mathematics; M.S. Eng - Rejected A triple reject no less!
University of Illinois, Chicago M.S., Applied Mathematics - Rejected
Redacted

Safe?
Wayne State - M.S., Mathematics - Admitted
Redacted
Last edited by sqwylfthsk on Sat Nov 05, 2022 5:15 pm, edited 13 times in total.

lovisharora
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2020 11:57 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by lovisharora » Wed Sep 30, 2020 2:27 am

Undergrad Institution: Top Tier College in India
Major(s): Computer Science, Economics (Dual Degree)
Minor(s):
GPA: 4.0/4.0
Type of Student: International (India), Male
GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 156 (72%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 680/990 (54%) :(

TOEFL Score: Yet to give

Program Applying: Masters in Pure Math/Applied Math

Research Experience:
I did my undergraduate thesis on applications of number theory in Blockchain Technology under supervision of instructors from Economics and Mathematics department of my university.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Was awarded 80% scholarship on Tuition fee every semester in my undergraduate studies for exceptional performance.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
I was a part of Mathematics Special Interest Group(MSIG) involving 15 students across all undergraduate students of university.
I was a part of Mathematics lecture series on Combinatorics.
I was an online tutor of Mathematics for close to one and a half year.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
I took a course on Number Theory with Maths students and ended up second out of 160 students taking that course.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
I got a positive feedback from my peers during my stay at Hostel for my teaching abilities. Tutored a large number of students for quant section of General GRE.
Got A's in all Mathematics related courses.

Applying to Where:

Desired
Georgia Tech
UPenn
Wisconsin Madison
Brown
Purdue

Safe?
Oregon State

saucy_marmalade
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 03, 2020 12:18 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by saucy_marmalade » Sat Oct 03, 2020 12:39 am

Undergrad Institution: Medium State
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): CS
GPA: 4.0/4.0 (3.97 now oof, rough semester)
Type of Student: Domestic

GRE Revised General Test: covid yikes
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: covid


Program Applying: Applied Math PhD

Research Experience: REU in graph and number theory, resulted in three published papers. REU like thing at top university in applied math/machine learning, paper in progress.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list and honor societies.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Hired as contractor at well known lab due to success in summer research. Some volunteering at local science museum.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Strong recommendations probably.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Studied at BSM and applied to NSF GRFP.

Applying to Where:
Cornell submitted Rejected 2/12
Harvard SEAS submitted Rejected 2/26
U Chicago submitted Rejected
Princeton submitted Rejected 2/17
MIT submitted Rejected 2/5
UCLA submitted (One of my rec letters was pretty late) Rejected 2/26
Brown submitted Rejected 2/22
Stanford submitted Rejected 2/23
Caltech submitted
Berkeley submitted Rejected 1/29 (800 applicants for 30 spots :shock:)
Duke submitted Rejected 2/04
University of Washington - Seattle submitted, Rejected 1/27- got admitted to unfunded masters...yikes
Carnegie Melon submitted Rejected 3/02
Brandeis submitted

NSF GRFP IM: Excellent, Good, Excellent ; BI: Fair, Good, Good. Rejected
Last edited by saucy_marmalade on Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:34 pm, edited 19 times in total.

lazy.student
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2020 6:21 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by lazy.student » Mon Oct 12, 2020 7:24 pm

Undergrad Institution: University of California != LA or Berkeley
Major(s): Mathematics + Computer Science
Minor(s): Linguistics
Cumulative GPA=3.83, Math GPA=3.94, CS GPA=4.00
Type of Student: White boy

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 163 (80%)
V: 149 (31%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: N/A

Program Applying: Ph.D in Mathematics

Research Experience: One REU and 3 quarters of independent studies in combinatorics and algebraic topology. By the time of graduation I should have a senior thesis in algebraic combinatorics. No publications.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University (local UC only) scholarship, dean's list every quarter. I also got a scholarship from my high school for the duration of college for having the highest weighted GPA in mathematics.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Graded for college algebra, calculus, linear algebra and real analysis.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: My thesis supervisor and independent studies professor seems to have connections at other University of Californias (so do other faculty members I believe). They both strongly recommended me applying to UCSD and Washington so I assume they both have connections there (yes that gives away I'm also not at UCSD lol). Not sure if this helps but I'm local from California (elementary/middle/high school as well as college). Both my parents are graduates of USC. My parents house is actually in Pasadena and I've lived here since childhood but I doubt that would increase my chances at Caltech or UCLA.

I completed the first year graduate analysis and algebra sequence, as well as three quarters (our school uses a quarter system) of higher graduate algebra, analysis, algebraic topology and differential geometry. Also taken two seminars in representation theory and differential topology. I should have 6 more quarters of graduate courses upon graduation.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I prefer to stay in the west coast so I am only applying to schools here. Not sure if that's a good idea, but my professors did say I definitely will get into at least 1 if not half of them. There are couple schools on my list my advisor literally told me 'oh you will get in'. Maybe I am just not confident enough. :lol: but I am certain at least 2 of my letters will be very strong.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Caltech - Pure Math / their application is still not open .... :shock:
Oregon - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.08
UC Berkeley - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.08
UC Davis - Pure Math / probably will apply
UC Irvine - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.12
UCLA - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.10
UCSB - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.07
UCSD - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.10
USC - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.12
Washington - Pure Math / Submitted 2020.10.10

nguyen99
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:08 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by nguyen99 » Thu Oct 15, 2020 6:53 pm

The data found in this forum is incredibly helpful, and assisted me ichoosing my school list in terms of which school is match, safety or reach. Hopefully my data will help others next year just like the ones before us helped us this year.

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 Private in the US
Major(s): Mathematics, Physics
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.896/4.000 (math gpa: 3.942, lowest grade is C in a upper level physics course)
Type of Student: Domestic/International Asian Male (US and Canadian dual citizenship)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 169 (xx%)
V: 166 (xx%)
W: 5.0 (xx%) I'll add the percentiles later have to check, this isn't important anyways
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Cannot take.

TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)
Not Applicable

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Did an arguable competitive REU, and we ended up with two papers - one of them has already been published; the other one was rejected by the first journal we submitted to, and is currently being reviewed in the second journal. Also, did independent work with a professor at my university in the area of homological algebra and resulted in a paper published, in which I was a primary author. Tried doing some research in physics but did not end up with any publications or results, guess physics is just not my cup of tea. Senior thesis is a requirement at my school, and I'll be doing it in differential topology. To sum it up, 2 papers published as authors and 1 paper submitted in review (it's been over a year don't know what to expect at this point).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I did receive a major scholarship for my undergraduate studies in the US, otherwise my family can never afford the tuition charged by American universities. I participated in some high school math contests but never finishes in the top. I took the Putnam but never got any honorable mentions or fellow, I did score double digit twice on it. My advisor told me to put it down as an 'accomplishment' when I am applying to doctorate programs but I have my doubts.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Did some tutoring in my department and at the library, graded for calculus for two semesters and analysis for another two semesters (the four semesters are disjoint)
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Took 9 graduate courses in mathematics and 1 in physics. Currently taking 2 graduate courses in math and probably 3 more before I get my degree.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I finished secondary school in Canada but I am a US citizen (from one side of my parents) so that probably helps. I am getting my letters from my REU supervisor, my current thesis advisor and the professor I did independent research with in commutative algebra. So I should have 3 strong if not very strong letters, hopefully. Ironically, all 3 of the professors are from MIT from a certain point of view (technically, one of them was an MIT undergraduate not PhD graduate, so 2).

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Reach!! 8)
Harvard - submitted Oct 14, rejected Feb 3
MIT - submitted Oct 14, accepted Jan 29 with funding, accepting offer and attending
Princeton - submitted Nov 16, rejected Feb 2
UCLA - submitted Nov 16, accepted Jan 15 with only guaranteed for 4 years
Cornell - submitted Nov 19 cancelled
Berkeley - submitted Nov 19, accepted Jan 29

Match
Alberta - submitted Oct 20, accepted Nov 15 with funding but no tuition remission, extended reply deadline from end of year to end of March upgraded cad 9k funding with no teaching first year declined
Minnesota - submitted Nov 12 cancelled
Ohio State - submitted Nov 16, accepted Feb 2 declined
Toronto - submitted Nov 16 received email asking skype interview Dec 10 at 2am interviewed, poked and expect to hear back mid February cancelled
UIC - submitted Nov 24 cancelled
Indiana U at Bloomington - submitted Nov 25 cancelled accepted Feb 1 guess they didn't process cancellation in time declined

Safety
Calgary - submitted Oct 15, first unofficial acceptance Nov 12 + supervisor of choice + over the top scholarship (no tuition remission) declined

I definitely applied to too many programs, if I knew Canadian programs' decisions come out quicker I would not have applied to so many safety schools. Oh well, donations made what can I do.

remark - update - After being pm'ed by a forumite inquiring about the discrepancies on our funding and then comparing our acceptance letter/application, I think it's best to remove the amount of funding to prevent bitterness and hostility especially if we might end up being colleagues at the same dept. Hence funding amounts removed. Sorry for being insensitive.
Last edited by nguyen99 on Thu Feb 11, 2021 3:54 pm, edited 19 times in total.

gromov.fan
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Oct 24, 2020 4:05 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by gromov.fan » Sat Oct 24, 2020 5:10 pm

Undergrad Institution: Low Ranked Big State School
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science
GPA: 3.486 (math GPA: 3.880)
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Revised General Test: (unofficial, will edit in official scores when I receive them)
Q: 166 (xx%)
V: 163 (xx%)
W: x.x (xx%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
A victim of 2020 (cancelled)

TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)
N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD. Really interested in geometric group theory.

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications or conference talks etc...)
No real research experience. Doing Master's Project in Algebra this year.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Awarded small departmental scholarship last year. Made the Dean's List a couple times.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, etc...)
Vice President of my school's Pi Mu Epsilon chapter.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: (Such as connections, grad classes, famous recommenders, female or minority status etc...)
Taken 8 graduate classes at time of application, will have taken 11 at time of graduation. Finished 3 of my university's Qualifying Exam sequences. Was a part of my university's Accelerated Masters Program. Was on the Men's Rowing Team for all four years (not sure how helpful this is, I've heard it's impressive to law school admissions, don't know how much that carries over to grad school)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Nothing that I can really think of.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Reach
Cornell Rejected
Wisconsin - Rejected
UC San Diego - Ended up not applying
Michigan -
Purdue -Waitlisted
Notre Dame -Rejected

Match?
Michigan State -Waitlisted
Virginia -Rejected
Boston College -
Oklahoma -Admitted!
Oregon -Ended up not applying

Safety? (loose use of the term)
Nebraska -Admitted
Kansas State -Admitted
Colorado State -Rejected

Top
Last edited by gromov.fan on Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:57 pm, edited 4 times in total.

pietropic
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2020 10:28 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by pietropic » Sat Oct 31, 2020 2:06 pm

Undergrad Institution: Brazilian most prestigious university
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): nope
GPA: 9,6/10 (9,7/10 in math) pondered average
Type of Student: International white male (maybe latino)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: xxx (xx%)
V: xxx (xx%)
W: x.x (xx%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

TOEFL Score: 105 = R29/L29/S25/W22

Program Applying: Pure Math phd for American universities, master for Europe/Brazil

Research Experience: Senior thesis in Morse theory, funded by the most prestigious agency in Brazil. No papers, or got any close to real research.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Ranked first in my class.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for: Calculus 2, Differentiable functions and series, real analysis and algebraic topology
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Fluent in 4 languages, 5th (french) on the way. Might go next year (depends on the covid 19 situation) to an exchange semester in Europe, planning to take only master courses, in analysis and geometry
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Taken 5 grad classes in home university and, funded, grad summer courses in a, prestigious, institute for research in mathematics in Brazil.

PS: The rank below reflected my impressions when I applied. I know I applied to only 8 places, even though applying is expensive, I would suggest to future applicants to apply to a few more places.

Applying to Where:
Donations:
PhD- MIT - rejected


Reach:
PhD- Berkeley - rejected
PhD- Stony Brook - rejected
Master- Toronto - rejected
Scholarship for Master in Paris- PGSM - accepted
Master- ENS Lyon - rejected (messed up the SOP)


Match:
PhD- Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - accepted
Master- McGill - accepted
Last edited by pietropic on Thu Apr 29, 2021 4:17 pm, edited 7 times in total.

MolecularCaterpillar
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2020 7:54 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by MolecularCaterpillar » Fri Nov 13, 2020 4:48 am

Undergrad Institution: Foreign Asian (unknown?)
Major(s): Physics
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.9x/4 major, 4/4 math (5 upper division by application, 11 by graduation)
Type of Student: International asian male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 165 (96%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
None due to COVID

TOEFL Score: 108 = R30/L30/S23/W25

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (geometry / topology)

Research Experience: all physics cuz the decision to switch came very late (may not help much?), one in black hole physics, one in supersymmetry, no formal publication yet
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list and some merit-based scholarships in my home school
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None that's relevant
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: 2 grad courses this year (none completed yet :( ); thesis on mathematics of quantization, just review though; a recommender seems to be fairly famous in his field and has quite a bit of connections in the US, not sure how true that is
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: First-generation college student?

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) (In no particular order)
All PhD if not mentioned
Toronto
Columbia Rejected
LSGNT Rejected
UT Austin Rejected
Michigan Rejected
Maryland Rejected
Stony Brook Rejected
Utah
Washington Rejected
IU Bloomington Waitlisted Rejected
UIUC Accepted w/ full TA funding ATTENDING!
Ohio State Accepted w/ TA + summer funding Declined
UVA Waitlisted Withdrawn
UGA Withdrawn
Home school (MPhil) Withdrawn

3 year fellowship from my home country Accepted!? :shock:

Expecting rejections from everywhere else unless there are miracles, but now's good enough. Given the lack of background in pure math on my profile, I'm happy to have even one of these accept me, let alone having a choice. :oops:
Last edited by MolecularCaterpillar on Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:18 am, edited 9 times in total.

jjmb11
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 12:09 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by jjmb11 » Fri Nov 13, 2020 6:14 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small Lib Arts
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Education
GPA: 3.79
Type of Student: DWF

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 162
V: 161
W: 5.0
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
None bc Covid

Program Applying: Mix of Pure and Applied

Research Experience: I've done 2 REUs, one of which I am currently working on a paper for. Both have led to a few posters and presentations at various conferences. Both were in more applied areas.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Scholars program at my school, dean's list all semesters, and math honors society.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutored briefly earlier on in college, but not much.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Not much! I've taken the Putnam a few times, but no crazy scores, and I lead the math club.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I didn't do great in Real Analysis, so I'm not too thrilled with how that looks on my transcript. I'm hoping how I did in algebra will balance that out, but we'll see. I think I have fairly middle of the road stats, so I tried to be a little judicious in where I was applying because of how weird this year has been.

Applying to Where: (In no particular order)
Boston University - Rejected 2/16
Ohio State - Waitlisted 2/25
Penn State - Rejected 1/27
UIC - Waitlisted 3/10
Lehigh
UMass Amherst
UConn - Accepted 2/16
RPI - Accepted 3/9
Virginia Tech - Invited to Visitor's Day 2/8
Carnegie Mellon - Rejected 3/2
U Delaware - Accepted 2/15
Brandeis - Waitlisted 3/2 - Rejected 3/9, offered Masters but declined it

Posting because this forum was helpful as I chose where to apply! Good luck everyone!!
Last edited by jjmb11 on Wed Mar 10, 2021 3:29 pm, edited 10 times in total.

EulersIdentities
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2020 6:01 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by EulersIdentities » Sat Nov 14, 2020 6:11 pm

Undergrad Institution: University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Japanese
GPA: 3.64
Type of Student: Domestic, Male, First Generation, Caucasian

GRE Revised General Test:
Corona LOL
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Corona LOL

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD

Research Experience: None
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Stipend for best researched presentation during an early-start program out of a few hundred students which funded my stay at the U of A. Graduated in two years.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA / Tutor 3 semesters out of 4
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: First Gen. Graduated in 2 years.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Fluent in Japanese
Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Boston University - Math PhD - Submitted 11/14/20 Rejected 2/17/20
Brandeis University - Math PhD- Submitted 11/14/20
New York University - Math PhD- Submitted 11/15/20
Ohio State - Math PhD- Submitted 11/14/20
Pennsylvania State - Math PhD- Submitted 11/15/20
UC (Berkeley) - Math PhD- Cancelling Application
UC(Davis) - Math PhD- Submitted 11/15/20
U Chicago - Math PhD- Submitted 11/14/20
U Michigan (Ann Arbor) - Math PhD- Submitted 11/15/20
University of Oregon - Math PhD- Cancelling Application
University of Washington - Math PhD - Submitted 11/14/20
Northeastern - Math PhD - Submitted 11/15/20
Michigan State University - Math PhD -Cancelling Application
Last edited by EulersIdentities on Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:13 pm, edited 3 times in total.

yyysun
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2020 10:41 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by yyysun » Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:17 am

.
Last edited by yyysun on Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:42 am, edited 18 times in total.

anonymousanalyst
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:35 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by anonymousanalyst » Sun Nov 15, 2020 4:17 pm

Undergrad Institution: University of California
Major(s): Pure Math
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 3.8 (Math 3.9)
Type of Student: Domestic (US Citizen) Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: RIP

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (Geometry)

Research Experience: Two summer projects at home institution (individually with professors). No publications.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Received a highly selective department award (one of three recipients). Math departmental honors. Dean's List every term. Top 500 in Putnam a few times. UC Regents Scholar.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math teaching experience through local math circle.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Passed the department's graduate qualifying exam after freshman year. Took more grad than undergrad math classes. Graduating with Master's degree.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A

Applying to Where: (Ordered by deadline since I was too lazy to reorganize)
UChicago (rejected by portal 3/1/21)
USC (admitted by email 2/4/21 - $30k fellowship)
Duke (invited to brief interview 1/18/21, rejected by portal 2/16/21)
Stanford (rejected by email 2/23/21)
Harvard (rejected by portal 2/3/21)
MIT (rejected by email 2/5/21)
Princeton (rejected by email 2/2/21)
Berkeley (rejected by email 1/29/21)
UCLA (admitted by email 1/21/21 - $26k TAship)
Caltech (rejected by email 2/19/21)
Michigan (rejected by email 3/16/21)
Northwestern (rejected by portal 3/31/21)
Yale (waitlisted by portal 2/2/21)
UT Austin (rejected by portal 4/11/21)
WashU (rejected by email 4/12/21)
Georgia Tech (pending)
Stony Brook (rejected by email 3/12/21)
Cornell (rejected by email 4/14/21)
NYU (rejected by portal 3/1/21)
Boston University (admitted by email 2/5/21 - $36k fellowship)
Rice (pending)
Notre Dame (waitlisted by portal 2/24/21)
UCSD (admitted by email 2/25/21 - $27k TAship)
Last edited by anonymousanalyst on Wed Apr 14, 2021 10:42 pm, edited 18 times in total.

Jenkins8
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2020 3:39 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by Jenkins8 » Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:02 pm

Undergrad Institution: Public University in Michigan, with doctorate program
Major(s): Math
GPA: 3.31/4
Type of Student: Domestic Black Guy


GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 156 (59%)
V: 153 (60%)
W: 4.0 (55%)


Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Presented 3 posters and given a talk recently at a teleconference on mathematical modeling. Taken two classes in independent studies on numerical analysis and random matrix theory, currently working on a graduation project in matrix theory.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I've gotten several diversity scholarships to cover my undergraduate tuition. Also a departmental award (roughly adds up to 12k). I have gotten an award for one of my poster but that's only a recognition of sorts and didn't come with any monetary awards or trophy if you get me.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I tutor undergraduate in our tutoring lab, mostly calculus and algebra.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I participated in over 5 in-person conferences and gotten to know many people from around the country. I think some of the professors I've talked to during conferences definitely will remember me. Two of my letter writers know my for quite a while so I should have at least two very strong and personal letters.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I grew up in the hood in a poor family and lived off government assistances (i.e. SNAP, Medicaid, free lunch). My family consistently makes less than 30k and none of my family members have had a college degree. I have gotten fee waivers from all the schools that I am applying to due to low income and being a black male. I made a pretty strong point about being someone from a poor family and being black in America on my statement of purpose, hopefully it helps. I have not yet taken advanced calculus but I have taken one semester abstract algebra, most schools say I am fine and is eligible to apply.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome) listed in order of application date
Virginia - Denied on (02.01.2021)
UChicago - Denied on (03.02.2021)
Michigan - Accepted on (02.12.2021) signed offer and ATTENDING!
Princeton - Denied on (02.02.2021)
TAMU - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
Minnesota - Accepted on (02.10.2021)
Ohio State - Accepted on (01.12.2021)
IU Bloomington - Accepted on (01.24.2021)
UIC - Accepted on (01.30.2021)
Northwestern - Accepted on (02.01.2021)
UIUC - Accepted on (02.11.2021)
Michigan State - Accepted on (12.30.2020) with fellowship
MIT - Denied (02.05.2021)
UCLA - Denied (02.26.2021)
Iowa State - Accepted on (02.02.2021)
UC Santa Barbara - Denied on (02.08.2021)
Penn State - Accepted on (01.22.2021)
Last edited by Jenkins8 on Fri Mar 12, 2021 4:52 pm, edited 15 times in total.

reluctantforumuser
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2020 12:35 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by reluctantforumuser » Tue Nov 17, 2020 7:04 pm

Undergrad Institution: Private research; top 50
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.9x / 4.0, Math GPA: 3.9x / 4.0
Type of Student: Domestic white male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 164 (83%)
V: 163 (92%)
W: 5.0 (92%)


TOEFL Score:
N/A

Program Applying:
Pure Math (Geometry/topology)

Research Experience:
One summer research internship in quantitative finance, nothing to show for it. Junior summer at well-known REU, a few papers still in preparation, but no publications at this point.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Full merit scholarship to university, nominated for Goldwater, junior inductee to Phi Beta Kappa, and some departmental awards.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Graded, tutored (paid and volunteer), and TA’d throughout undergrad. I'm on the executive board of my school's math society.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
Took all the first-year core graduate courses and several graduate topics courses and reading courses specifically in geometry/topology. My university isn’t ranked, and the PhD program is relatively new, but it does have a reputation for the strength of its faculty in geometry/topology; I’m hoping this overcomes the general lack of prestige. Expecting strong letters (isn’t that the standard?): the first writer was my REU supervisor; the second I took an undergrad elective with, is advising my senior thesis, and I currently TA and grade for; and the third I took a first-year graduate class and a reading course with. All of them are full professors and pretty well-known in the field.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Applied for the NSF GRFP and a Fulbright, and listed this information when applications asked about fellowships I applied to. Yale’s the only school I’m applying to that requires the general GRE, and I'm not sending the scores elsewhere.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
Brown withdrawn 2/14
Caltech rejected 2/19
Cambridge Part III withdrawn 2/14
Columbia waitlisted 3/4 rejected 4/15 [/color]
Cornell withdrawn 2/14
Duke invited to interview 1/18 admitted 2/11
Georgia Tech withdrawn 2/14
Harvard rejected 2/3
MIT rejected 2/5
Princeton rejected 2/2
Rice withdrawn 2/14
Stanford rejected 2/23
U Chicago rejected 3/1
U Michigan rejected 3/15
U Penn admitted 4/12
UC Berkeley rejected 1/29
UC Los Angeles rejected 2/26
UC Santa Barbara withdrawn 2/14
UT Austin admitted 3/30
Yale rejected 2/2

NSF GRFP awarded 3/23 E/VG, E/E, E/E
Fulbright alternate

Summary: I decided to apply to many schools for which I thought I had a low shot of admittance, and ended up with a few offers. I'm glad I applied for the NSF, even though at the time I wasn't really motivated or excited to do so; it can make a difference not only which graduate schools offer admittance, but also what the graduate school experience is like (less teaching, additional funding opportunities, etc.). I think some of my withdrawing was a bit pre-mature. I wish I had reached out to professors at some of these schools beforehand, even if the institution seemed like a reach. I wish I had spent less time on this forum: eventually, the dust settles, and no matter where you end up, you have the potential to lead a productive career within or outside of academia. The school I chose was not my first choice out of the schools listed, but feelings of rejection fade surprisingly quickly in a program that is a good fit.
Last edited by reluctantforumuser on Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:01 am, edited 27 times in total.

M2000
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2020 7:57 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by M2000 » Wed Nov 18, 2020 8:25 pm

Undergrad Institution: Ivy
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Computer Science, Japanese
GPA: 3.89 (undergraduate and graduate courses)
Type of Student: Domestic, Female, Asian

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 167 (97%)
W: 5.5 (97%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 900 (94%) - from last autumn, I signed up for the April exam but it got cancelled.
TOEFL Score: (not applicable)

Program Applying: Pure Math (Algebra/Combinatorics)

Research Experience: Completed one REU with some decent results and was later invited by my REU supervisor to publish a paper in algebraic combinatorics as an author. Approximately half the results in this paper is my work during REU and I helped proofread the other half, which was his work. At my home institution, I was able to get some decent original results after asking for research opportunities from my number theory professor, and we were able to get one paper published in automorphic forms, and are currently working on revising a second paper. I was told by him that this will likely be accepted for publication. (update: this has been accepted for publication) I am also working on a graduation thesis (or senior project) in combinatorics, it is going `according to schedule.'

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: I was nominated for 2 national scholarships and won one of them. I also put down a major national scholarship that I won during my high school senior year.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Graded for pre-calculus (2 semesters) and multivariable calculus (1 semester).

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: My high school is nationally ranked, and I was fortunate to have completed introductory analysis by graduation (theory of limits, differentiation and integration). I jumped right into real analysis and abstract algebra in my freshman year. Right now I have 11 graduate courses (counting this semester) under my belt, planning to take 2 more. I have exhausted all pure math undergraduate courses I can take and most of graduate ones too.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I should have two decent letters from professors I have done research with and written a paper together. The third letter is from someone fairly famous (popular text used by most math programs) whom taught 5 of my courses (4 graduate courses). With the exception of Minnesota, I know the professors that I've put down on my applications. I am finishing my degree in 3 years (I will be 21 after graduation), but all programs I’m applying to told me it won’t be used against my application and I'll be fine.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

(Top choice) Princeton
Submitted on 2020-11-02, application completed as of 2020-12-09, waitlisted, position 3/16
(#2) MIT
Submitted on 2020-11-02, application completed as of 2020-12-09, unofficially accepted on 2021-01-06, decide to attend

(#3) UC Berkeley
Submitted on 2020-11-07, application completed as of 2020-12-09 waitlisted
(#4) UCLA
Submitted on 2020-11-07, application completed as of 2020-12-09, accepted on 2021-01-15

(#5) Minnesota
Submitted on 2020-11-18, application completed as of 2020-12-09, cancelled application 2021-01-21
(#6) UC Davis
Submitted on 2020-11-25, application completed as of 2020-12-09 cancelled 01-22
(#7) U Oregon
Submitted on 2021-01-03, application completed as of 2021-01-04 cancelled 01-


Updates
01-25 cancelled app for minnesota, will cancel oregon and davis, hopefully will help someone get in
2021-01-04 Fingers crossed. Good luck! Stay safe and cheers! :wink:
02-03 looks like I'll be sticking around the Northeast
march update
decided to attend MIT due to fiance attending school and already have friends in the boston area. plus I won't have to move at all
Last edited by M2000 on Fri Mar 05, 2021 11:08 pm, edited 12 times in total.

LogiKid
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2020 1:15 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by LogiKid » Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:34 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small international (ranked ~#200 in world)
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 4.33
Type of Student: International white male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 168 (98%)
W: 6.0 (99%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Cancelled twice :evil:

Program Applying: Mathematical logic (pure math / philosophy / CS)

Research Experience:
  • Two REUs, resulting in one co-authored paper (accepted to mid-tier journal) and one sole-author paper (submitted).
  • Two co-authored papers from individual research with a colleague.
  • Original research as part of senior project (paper forthcoming).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Many top-of-class awards (small class, not hard).
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TAing for several undergrad courses for the last two years. Organiser of two seminar series in my department. Reviewer for zbMATH.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Two of my recommenders are very eminent in their fields - one has a Wikipedia page. They were both supervisors for my senior project, and I think they both think highly of me, so I hope for a good recommendation. Have given 8 seminar talks this year, but primarily at small intra-university seminars.


Applying to Where:

USA
CMU Math, Logic PhD: rejected 2021/03/02
CMU Philosophy, Logic PhD: rejected 2021/02/27
UConn, Math PhD: admitted 2021/02/15, $25k funding p.a. ($26k with masters), declined 2021/02/27
UC Berkeley, Logic PhD: admitted 2021/02/02, $34k funding p.a., declined 2021/03/07
UW Madison, Math PhD: admitted 2021/02/15, $24k funding p.a. (+$3k over summer), declined 2021/02/27

Canada
Ottawa, Math PhD: admitted 2021/02/23, $30k funding p.a. (minus ~$9k fees), declined 2021/04/01
Western, Math PhD: admitted 2021/02/26, $17k funding p.a. (incl. fees), declined 2021/03/03

UK
Leeds, Math PhD: admitted 2021/01/18, declined 2021/03/01
Cambridge, CS PhD: admitted 2021/03/09, no funding, declined 2021/04/19
Manchester, CS PhD: admitted 2021/02/04, £16.6k funding p.a., declined 2021/03/30
Nottingham, CS PhD: admitted 2021/04/17, £15.6k funding p.a., declined 2021/04/19

Europe
Gothenburg, CS PhD: offered position 2021/03/08, 30700 SEK/mo salary (taxed), accepted 2021/04/19, ATTENDING!


P.S. Y'all should really consider UK / Europe, they pay you a hell of a lot better.
Last edited by LogiKid on Mon Apr 19, 2021 5:02 pm, edited 25 times in total.

liuluck22
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 9:48 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by liuluck22 » Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:22 am

Undergrad Institution: Top Big State
Major(s):Mathematics, Electrical engineering
GPA: 3.84
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test: N/A

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A, take one in my sophomore year and get around 70%

TOEFL Score:[N/A]

Program Applying: Pure Math, graph theory, combinatorics, ACO programs, all PhD, except master in canada

Research Experience: 5 research experience :shock: , one in material science, four in math, one is about partial differential equation, the rest three are all extremal, structural graph theory, all results in posters and reports, one paper in preprint, one of the math research is an REU like program.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several Deans lists, one scholarship in material science, higher honor at Budapest Semester in mathematics, department scholars, etc, nothing special...


Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Budapest Semester in Mathematics with higher honor, took 5 math classes there; 3 grad class in graph theory and combinatorics in my home school; took around 7 classes in graph theory and combinatorics in all, including extremal, structural, random graph theory, probabilistic methods, etc; 2 recommendation letters are from famous professors. I think they are committees of the most famous journals and conferences in these areas. Honor undergrad analysis

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Dual degree in electrical engineering with around 170 credits when I graduate

Applying to Where:USA, Canada, UK, Germany. All pure math except CMU and Gatech (ACO there)

Dream
MIT Reject
Princeton Reject
Stanford
Oxford



Reach
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Emory Waitlist
CMU
Gatech
Berlin Mathematical school Reject

Safe
University of South Carolina Admitted (unofficially and with fellowship)
University of Memphis Admitted ( message from committee)
University of Victoria
Bonn(MS) Admitted
Last edited by liuluck22 on Mon Feb 15, 2021 5:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

bannanagamma
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 11:54 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by bannanagamma » Sun Nov 22, 2020 12:14 am

Undergrad Institution: High Ranked Private University
Major(s): Mathematics and Economics
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.87/4.0
Type of Student: DWF

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 165 (96%)
V: 168 (92%)
W: 5.5 (98%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Didn't take it 8)

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Graph theory + combi

Research Experience: Attended 1 REU and won a fellowship to work on research with a professor from my university this summer. I didn't publish but I think both of my research advisors liked working with me.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Won a small scholarship for being a top senior at my university. I'm also in an honors society, but it's for economics haha. And dean's list, etc.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I have TAed for 4 semesters, 3 of them for the introductory proofs class. I have taught over 100 students and the work is pretty substantial (content creation, teaching 4 hrs/week, grading, etc usually sums to over 20 hours of work per week... ). Also TA'ed for a senior level graph theory course.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I have taken 3 grad classes, 2 of them being in discrete math/combi. I think that all 3 of my letters are going to be very strong. I've known the professor whose classes I TA since my first semester of college, and they told me their letter was very strong. My REU advisor also told me they were writing me a strong letter. My research advisor from this past summer is pretty famous in graph theory. :mrgreen: so i'm pretty happy with that. Other than that, I think I've worked really hard on my personal statements, especially since I applied to GRFP and so I've worked on my application writings since August.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
UChicago Rejected 3/1
CalTech Rejected 2/19
UT Austin Rejected 4/11
UCSD Accepted 4/15
UIUC Waitlisted 2/18 Accepted 4/14
Rutgers Unofficially accepted 1/20, Accepted 1/30
Northwestern Rejected 3/31
GaTech Rejected 4/9
UW Rejected 2/26
OSU Accepted 1/12, Nominated for fellowship, Fellowship on 4/1
UIC Unofficially accepted 1/29, Accepted 2/09, Nominated for fellowship
UCI Unofficially accepted 1/20, Accepted 1/25, Fellowship on 2/11
USC Ghosted

I would have applied to safeties but I heard back from OSU before the deadline for my safeties. My planned safeties were Iowa State and University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Good luck to everyone :D :) :o :lol: :wink: :mrgreen:

Update 3/23: Rejected from NSF GRFP with VG/E, VG/VG, VG/VG.

Update 4/15: As this cycle has come to an end (finally) I have some thoughts.
  • First of all, if you are reading this thread because you'll be applying to graduate school, keep in mind that this year was very strange for graduate admissions. A lot of people didn't get into places/many places even though they definitely would have in a normal year. Also, not having the math GRE definitely influenced things. There were many more applications to the top 20 programs, because they waived the mgre requirement.
  • Your letters of recommendation definitely matter a lot. I think that my letters really helped my application. Yes, I did a lot in my time as an undergrad and I wrote a good SOP. But letter writers will transform your application. Make sure to get to know your professors throughout undergrad and let them know if there is anything specific you want them to mention in their letters for you.
  • Spend a lot of time figuring out where you will apply. I started making my list in late June, and my list changed multiple times from then until September. I wanted to make sure that I knew that there were professors I wanted to work with and that the school has opportunities that I find attractive. Don't just look at the US news rankings. Also, while I realize this is ironic because I didn't apply to safeties, but I highly recommend applying to safeties. But also, don't forget to apply to schools that you think are 'out of your league.' You might be surprised.
  • On a similar note, email professors at universities you are going to apply to! I was super nervous about it but it definitely helped me get into a couple of the programs that I was accepted to. All of the professors I emailed except one emailed me back. Don't be worried about being annoying.
  • I said don't just look at the US news rankings above when talking about determining where you will apply, but this also fits for figuring out where you want to go if you are fortunate enough to get multiple offers. Go to the open houses. Even if you don't think that you will go to the school, go. I found out some really important information that I couldn't find online at the open houses. Also, getting to meet grad students helps figuring out the department vibe, which is really important for determining if you are going to feel at home in the department or not.
  • Make sure to check out if the offers you get offer health insurance or not. If they don't, that can be a huge cost that cuts into your stipend.
  • If you are interested in graph theory/combinatorics and are looking at the list of schools that I applied to, note that I applied to some schools like UT Austin and Northwestern that don't really have faculty in those fields, but I was interested in topology and dynamical systems as well.
  • The grad admissions process was probably the worst part of my undergraduate experience. I was so stressed, even though I got my applications in by November. I took on a double teaching load, took too many classes, plus stress of grad apps. Don't do what I did. I thought I could handle it and I was miserable. Make sure to take care of yourself the semester that you are applying to grad schools. Also, the spring semester waiting for grad applications was also very stressful, but in a different way. It was hard to think about anything else except checking my email. I'm not going to say to stay away from this forum and grad cafe at this time, because I didn't do that. But, make sure to keep up the self care during that part of the process too.
  • Good luck with everything, I believe in you and wish you the best. :mrgreen:
Last edited by bannanagamma on Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:26 pm, edited 27 times in total.

lunaslicetheorem
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:16 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by lunaslicetheorem » Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:34 pm

Undergrad Institution: Waterloo
Major(s): Pure Mathematics
Minor(s): East Asian Studies
GPA: ~96.5% cumulative, ~98.5% mathematics
Type of Student: DWM (Canada)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 164 (94%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Nope!

Program Applying: Pure Math - (Algebraic) geometry / (geometric) invariant theory

Research Experience: Eight months of research on two NSERC grants. One published paper and two forthcoming (one single author), to be submitted and (hopefully!) accepted to a top journal. Two conference talks (one at an undergraduate conference).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Pure mathematics departmental award and a faculty term report award. Also a national CS olympiad medal, although it's ancient now so I doubt it matters. I can't bring myself to take it off my resume though...
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Combined roughly 20 months experience in TAing in full/part time capacity for math/computer science courses. 1 year of software engineering internship work in fintech. Top evaluations in all work placements.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: A good number of graduate classes (6 crosslisted undergraduate/masters, 5 Ph.D. topics courses with 2 more selected for next term) and three strong letter writers who were somewhat confident in my picks (we shall see...!)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: 2 time intramural dodgeball finalists. You never know.

Applying to Where: (Ph.D. / DPhil in (Pure) Mathematics except where specified)
Oxford - Submitted 11/13. Interviewed 11/26. Rejected from first deadline, deferred for reconsideration at second deadline.
MIT - Submitted 12/14. Rejected 2/5 via email
Harvard - Submitted 12/14. Rejected 2/3 via portal
Tokyo (MMath) - Submitted around 10/20. Interviewed 11/25. Unofficially accepted 2/4
Waterloo (MMath) - Submitted 9/22.
Last edited by lunaslicetheorem on Fri Feb 05, 2021 6:42 pm, edited 3 times in total.

sumthin
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:32 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by sumthin » Thu Dec 03, 2020 1:06 pm

Undergrad Institution: very small liberal arts college
Major(s): Applied Math
Minor(s): ITEC concentration
GPA: 4.0
Type of Student: DWF

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 155 (67%)
V: 157 (62%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: NA

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Applied Math and Statistics

Research Experience: Attended 1 REU in chemistry
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: dean's list
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I have a paper accepted for publication, but it is in an ecology journal. I have 2 strong rec letters

Applying to Where:
Ga Tech - Math PhD
UGA - MAMS (computer science) accepted no funding 2/4
UGA STAT PhD Rejected 3/3
GSU - Math PhD
UTK - Math PhD - Waitlist 3/5 Accepted 3/26
NC STATE - math Waitlist 3/23
NC State stat -Rejected 1/22
Colorado Mines -Rejected 2/15
Montana State University accepted into master's with funding 2/10 Declined
University of Colorado Denver Accepted 2/9
University of British Columbia - Math PhD
Last edited by sumthin on Fri Mar 26, 2021 10:00 am, edited 7 times in total.

pizzakun
Posts: 19
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 1:27 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by pizzakun » Fri Dec 04, 2020 4:50 pm

Undergrad Institution: Ivy, transferred from another Ivy after two semesters
Major(s): Mathematics, Computer Science
GPA: 3.91
Type of Student: International, Male, Minority (Asia)

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 5.5 (98%)

TOEFL Score: Waived (I did NOT put down English as native language, the waiver is from having 4 years of US undergraduate education)

Program Applying: Pure Math: Algebra, number theory, representation theory

Research Experience:
  1. My first publication was during my last year of secondary school (that would be equivalent to being a high school senior in the US), in an okay journal as a coauthor on semi-computational number theory.
  2. Did two summer research sessions and was able to get three papers submitted in algebra/number theory. (two already accepted, one being reviewed, all as author).
  3. Did independent research with a faculty at my department and got a paper published in a relatively prestigious journal as an author. Submitted another paper recently on the same topic but with new results. I was told that these results are probably not significantly enough to warrant publication on the same journal before so we submitted to another journal instead.
  4. This might not count but I thought it was a good idea to include it. I was 'invited' (not really, he just didn't have time and I wasn't given an option to say no) by my professor to review a paper for him. He got the green light from the editor so I did it. I cannot overstate the amount of time it took to review a paper on a topic I'm familiar with.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
  1. Putnam honorable mention (3 times, and best performance is top 25)
  2. IMO silvers, IMO Bronze
  3. Government scholarship/sponsorship from my country for studies in the US. It is a pretty prestigious award, at least in my country.
  4. Received a fellowship from a national lab for one summer
  5. Awarded a scholar award that comes with monetary reward at my department
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
  1. Graded intro calculus, analysis, measure theory, linear algebra and algebra for my research supervisor and faculty members
  2. Interned at a competitive software company over the summer before college (same summer as the IMO)
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
  1. Have connections at all departments that I'm applying to, either I met them myself or thru my professors. I am applying to my undergraduate school as well but it's definitely a long shot
  2. 15 graduate courses in pure math, 1 computational math, 2 graduate courses in computer science
  3. Given a talk in a colloquium, and 2 presentations on the same topic
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter:
Nothing really worth mentioning. I am not a citizen of the United States and my first language is not English.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Listed roughly in order of preference
  1. Harvard University - ACCEPTED AND ATTENDING
  2. Princeton University - REJECTED
  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - ACCEPTED!! Emailed by professor I know.
  4. University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) - ACCEPTED
  5. University of California at Berkeley - ACCEPTED
  6. Brown University - Pending on December 15, 2020, withdrawn February 4, 2021.
  7. University of Chicago - SHORTLISTED, I declined and withdrew this application, good luck.
Last edited by pizzakun on Fri Feb 12, 2021 3:46 am, edited 15 times in total.

zzzzz9898
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:39 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by zzzzz9898 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:40 pm

Undergrad Institution: Public University in the U.S.
Major(s):Mathematics, Statistics
GPA:3.87
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test:326
Q:170
V:156
W:4
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Cannot take

TOEFL Score:[Waive]

Research Experience:
In Math (probability) field:
1. I conducted a research project about probability theory and game theory in my sophomore year under my mentor's supervision. I made a presentation at the MAA conference and published in SIAM Undergraduate Research Journal.
2. I completed a summer REU program in the summer after my junior year (online version). The topic is about functional analysis. We will make a presentation at the JMM conference next year.
3. I am conducting a research project about random walk in random environment from my junior year with my research mentor. We are aiming at proving an open question in this field, and currently we have just proved some lemmas.
4. I am conducting a research project about last passage percolation this semester with a professor at my university. I have just finished background reading (mainly a textbook about large deviation).

In Operations Research field:
1. I conducted a research project about revenue management and submitted to Management Science Journal. We created several algorithms and did the probabilistic analysis to find the revenue loss.
2. I took part in a summer REU program in the summer after my sophomore year. The research project was in the applied math and operations research field. My team made a presentation on JMM and published in SIAM Undergraduate Research Journal.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Putnam Honorable Mention; Best student in analysis at my university; Most outstanding junior student in the department at my university.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math Tutor 2017-2021.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Rank1 in grad classes such as measure theory, probability theory I and II, stochastic process. Have one recommendation letter from a professor who is very famous in the Operations Research field.

Applying to Where:
MIT - Operations Research Ph.D. Submitted
Columbia - Operations Research Ph.D. Submitted
UCBerkeley - Operations Research Ph.D. Submitted
GIT - Operations Research Ph.D. Submitted
UMichigan - Operations Research Ph.D. Submitted
Last edited by zzzzz9898 on Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.

impostersyndrome
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 9:04 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by impostersyndrome » Sat Dec 12, 2020 12:37 am

Undergrad Institution:Big state school, decent math department
Major(s):Mathematics
Minor(s):none
GPA:3.6
Type of Student:DWM

GRE Revised General Test:n/a
Q:n/a
V:n/a
W:n/a
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:n/a
[b]M:n/a



[b]Program Applying:Pure Math/Applied Math PhDs

[b]Research Experience: Fairly advanced REU over the past summer, which resulted in a publication. Senior thesis where I found some new results
[b]Awards/Honors/Recognitions:In the Honors college
[b]Pertinent Activities or Jobs:Worked as a tutor for more than 3 years at a company, additional work as a private tutor. One semester as a calc grader at my university
[b]Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Pretty strong letter from my thesis advisor, another letter from a famous mathematician, another letter from the graduate admissions director at my school
[b]Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I completed all undergrad math courses in two years. However, I did have a W in math on my transcript (thanks COVID)

[b]Applying to Where:

Match/Reach in no particular order -
SUNY Binghamton (Accepted 12/10/2020... WHY SO EARLY?!)
SUNY Albany (Applied)
Rensselaer Polytechnic (Applied)
Syracuse University (Applied)
Washington State University (Applied)
University of New Mexico (Applied)
University of New Hampshire (Applied)
CU Denver - Applied math (Applied)

Safety -
University of Maine (MA) (Applied)
Home Institution (Applied)

UniformlyDivergent
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:32 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by UniformlyDivergent » Sat Dec 12, 2020 3:20 pm

Undergrad Institution: Smaller Public University in Georgia (US) (No graduate mathematics department)
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Spanish
GPA: 3.83 overall, 3.95 math
Type of Student: Domestic Mexican-American/Chicano Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 166 (97%)
V: 156 (59%) <-- :roll: Not great.
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Cancelled for 'Rona

TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math (Topology/Geometry)

Research Experience: Did research for 3 years with the mathematics department at my school. Mostly applied math (Fracture Mechanics and Math-Phys/Num-Chem stuff), but I also worked on a project in Algebraic Geometry. Co-authored 2 publications, accepted in some upper-mid tier journals, and I have one pre-print under review. Went to an REU for mathematical biology, somewhat well-known. Got some serious training and we finished a project on modeling missing person movement patterns with decsion theory, which we published with the University as a technical report. So 3 publications total, 1 preprint. 6 conferences nationwide, but mostly specialized or undergraduate-orientented. No JMM or YMC.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: McNair Scholar, "Oustanding Math Student" for all campuses, "Student Worker Appreciation" award in the amount of $200, a couple of travel grants for presenting research, Magna Cum Laude on graduation, gpa-related stuff
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I was a university math tutor for 2.5 years. Eventually became one of the joint-lead tutors, and basically tutor all common subjects. Worked for a Mathnasium in my senior year as a team-lead and instructor. Prior to college, I was in IT, and I have 5-ish years of experience in TCP/IP networks-related skills.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: First-generation College Student. Hispanic. Self-funded and self-supporting as an undergraduate. I worked between 20-30 hours a week on top of a full class load throughout. My minor was in Spanish, and I have some experience as a volunteer translator for a health clinic. I'm also currently working an engineering position while I'm applying, which lets me play with AWS and python/SQL pretty frequently.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Some delicate family history. I was homeschooled through highschool, so I talked about that a bit. Homeless for a couple of months some years back. I also wrote all of my documents in LaTeX, for style points.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

The "Hail Mary" Tier:

UC Berkeley - Mathematics PhD (Submitted 2/Dec) (Rejected by email 29/Jan. Not surprised, nor disappointed.)
UIUC - Mathematics PhD (Submitted 3/Dec) (Rejected by email 04/Mar.)

The "Maybe Maybe Maybe" Tier:

UC Santa Barbara - Mathematics PhD (Submitted 22/Dec) (No Response as of 26/Mar.) (Withdrawn 1/Apr.)
UC San Diego - Mathematics PhD (Submitted 06/Jan) (No Response as of 26/Mar.) (Withdrawn 1/Apr.)

The "PhD or Bust" Tier:

UC Riverside - Mathematics PhD (Submitted 10/Dec) (Admitted /w Distinguished Chancellor's Fellowship Award for the first 2 years, and TA for the final 3! 2/Feb ) (Declined 26/Mar.)
Arizona State - Mathematics PhD (Submitted 4/Dec) (Admitted! 30/Dec, Fully Funded /w TA Offer! :shock: 26/Jan) ATTENDING! 30/Mar.
U Tennessee Knoxville - Withdrawn

Closing Remarks:
I feel like I have a strong research background, even though most of my work is applied. I also feel like my background is unique enough to stand out from the crowd. I did research with all of my letter-writers, so I'm expecting so strong LoR's, including one from my REU advisor. My GRE scores didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I'm only sending them where required, namely ASU and UCSD. We'll see where things go from here.

First Update (15/Jan):
Received word after admission to ASU that TA/RA offers will be made beginning somewhere between mid and late January, so eargerly awaiting word back regarding those. UCSD application was submitted, but one of my LORs was out of the country, and did not submit until the day after the deadline. I'm not sure if this will disqualify my app or not. No word back from the other schools, but the year is still young. Also, decided to drop my application to UT Tennessee, as it was a geographic outlier to my other schools, and I had narrowed my area of interest more since that initial decision. I am also in the process of submitting for grant funding. I will include some of that information when I have more to offer.

Second Update (26/Jan):
Just received a formal offer for a Teaching Associate position at ASU! Full tuition wavier + $20K per year + Block Grant for summer 2022. Couldn't be more excited. When I originally started submitting applications, I put ASU in my safety tier because it was ranked lower for math, but the more I investigate the department, combined with Tempe as a place to live, I could really see myself at ASU. At this point, I'm expecting to accept this offer contingent only on UCSB falling through, and even then it's going to be a hard choice.

Third Update (04/Mar):
Both of my "Hail Mary" tier choices are out. I only applied to two, and this was one of the most competitive seasons in recent history, so I'm not terribly shocked. On the bright side, UCR came back to me with a strong offer, so I'm weighing my options there. There's been nothing but complete radio silence from UCSB and UCSD, which is driving me nuts. I emailed Santa Barbara too, about two weeks ago, and got nothing back. I think ASU is the best choice for me at this point (which doesn't really feel like a compromise; I honest love the school) but am holding out for UCSB just in case.

Final Update & Review (01/Apr):
I feel like this has been a very exceptional year for graduate applications. I know on paper it seems like I barely got in to any PhD program, and maybe that was the case, but I don't feel that way. I'm really excited about starting with ASU. I've had an opportunity to meet my (likely) advisors, talk to some of their students, etc. and it seems like a great environment. It's close to my SO, and the living expenses are way lower than many of the other schools on my list. I also really like the area. That said, here are some take-aways I would like to impart on anyone else who is trying to get into a highly-ranked university:
  • Take the subject GRE and score well. I didn't have this option this cycle, and it would have really helped me (1) make up for a sub-par general GRE score, and (2) separate my application from the masses. If you're able to, take the time and study hard for it. Do well, and it'll make your application stand out more.
  • Connections are key. I think one of the main reasons I landed at ASU is because one of my LoRs was an alumni and participated at an REU there every year. There are so many applications coming in every year, especially for high-tier schools, you almost need a connection to make the short list. However impressive you think your application is, there's likely many others as impressive. The best way to make connections is working with professors, doing research, etc. If you come from a small school like I did, you have to work a little harder to make these connections. Go to confrences as much as you can, especially at the schools you want to attend. Talk to people. Shake hands (after covid is over). If they know you when you apply, your chances will go up a lot.
  • On the topic of conferences, go to JMM/YMC if at all possible.
  • Try to be doing something every summer. Either an REU, an internship, or similar. Get out of your university as much as you can to do research.
  • TA/Tutoring experience will be a big factor in being awarded a TA offer, so make sure you are doing something like that if at all possible.
  • If your school has a graduate department for math, try as hard as you can to get some graduate-level coursework in before you apply.
  • Whatever time you're planning on spending to write your SoP, double it. This is probably the most important part of your application. Make it as close to perfect as you can. Get it reviewed by as many people as you can. Have some professors look over it too.
  • Go for culture fit over prestige. You'll be in a better position to do your best work.
I hope this information helps someone. Good luck.
Last edited by UniformlyDivergent on Thu Apr 01, 2021 9:51 am, edited 8 times in total.

ivl
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2020 2:15 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by ivl » Sun Dec 13, 2020 2:26 pm

bachelor Institution + master: best russian uni
Major(s): Mathematics and CS
Minor(s): na
GPA: 4.1 undergrad, 4.9 master (scale 5.0)
Type of Student: international female


Ielts: 7.0 (L-7.5, R-8.0, W-6.0, S-6.0)

Program Applying: Math

Research Experience: thesis in spectral theory + one publication (only accepted).

Applying to Where:

Princeton - submitted - rejected 17/02
Uni of Michigan - submitted - rejected 12/03
Uni of Washington - submitted - rejected 26/02
IST Austria - submitted - rejected 15/02
MAC-MIGS programme (UK) - interview 18/02 - rejected 14/04

Purdue - submitted - email from head that I'll be included in second round offers 08/03 - accepted 08/03
Uni of Kansas - submitted - accepted without funding, should pass internal speak test or funding 22/03


Carnegie Mellon - submitted
my best Russian uni of course

Closing Remarks:
I hope I have good recommendations. But think my statement is not so good :(
Last edited by ivl on Wed Apr 14, 2021 11:13 am, edited 13 times in total.

Catalan
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:44 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by Catalan » Sun Dec 13, 2020 8:50 pm

Had to delete for safety and privacy reasons. It’s sad that we live in a world where some insecure math boys feel the need to harass women online. :cry:

I posted because my advisor initially told me UIUC would be a reach and that schools like Berkeley would be out of my range. I wanted to encourage other people with non-traditional backgrounds to be ambitious and apply to good reach schools because you never know. I got into Berkeley, maybe you can too.

To other women in math: Try not to let a holes get you down. You are just worthy as if you were male. Don’t let anyone on this site or elsewhere tell you otherwise.

Good luck everyone (or at least most of you).
Last edited by Catalan on Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:59 am, edited 8 times in total.

the___fly
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:43 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by the___fly » Mon Dec 14, 2020 5:51 pm

Undergrad Institution: High ranking private
Major(s): Math and fine art
Minor(s):
Undergrad GPA: 3.1
Grad GPA: 3.97
Type of Student: White male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: xxx (xx%)
V: xxx (xx%)
W: x.x (xx%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 670 (xx%) - It's from 2018 so it's pre-pandemic

TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)

Program Applying: Pure math

Research Experience: I did an REU that ended in a publication for Algebra Universalis
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: A couple awards for teaching
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Grader, tutor, teaching assistant, adjunct professor, did it all
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: One of my recommenders is famous but I didn't do great in one of two classes I took with her so it's a meh recommendation but from a big name
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I have degrees in math (BA and i'm hopefully about to finish my MA), art (BA), and architecure (MA). I'm the oldest student to ever apply for a PhD

Applying to Where:
Saint louis university
Univesity of missouri st louis

KAIRA
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:07 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by KAIRA » Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:18 am

Undergrad Institution: Foreign(Japanese Top 40)
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 3.57
Type of Student: International Asian(Japanese) Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 167 (89%)
V: 153 (59%)
W: 3.5 (38%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Didn't take due to COVID

TOEFL Score: (104 = R30/L29/S21/W24)

Program Applying: Applied Mathematics PhD(Mathematics if not applicable), especially financial/biological mathematics

Research Experience: None but a reading course on financial mathematics
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean Encouragement Award 2 quarters
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: More than 3000 answers on mathematical questions at a Japanese Q&A website
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Took 2 grad courses on Markov chain theory
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Not really?

Applying to Where:
(Dates in MM/DD)

Financial Mathematics
Johns Hopkins Univerisity - Rejected(04/06)
Stevens Institute of Technology - Accepted(12/30), No info on funding yet - Declined(02/18)
Lehigh University - Rejected(04/30)
Illinois Institute of Technology - Invited to an interview(02/13)(Interview Questions) - Accepted(02/26) with funding(22.5k) - Declined(03/14)
Stony Brook University - Accepted to unfunded master(02/23) - Declined(02/23)

Biological Mathematics
Ohio State University - Waitlisted(02/26) - Rejected(04/13)
Florida State Univeristy - Accepted(02/16) with funding(20.9k) - ATTENDING
University of Notre Dame - Rejected(04/06)

Reflection
Honestly, I am surprised that I am going anywhere. Before applying, I thought that I would be rejected from everywhere. I wasn't the best student, no research experience, nearly no communication with recommenders, etc. Everything seemed to be a red flag, and I still managed to get funding from some reputable universities.

gregmat helped me through GRE and TOEFL, and Structure is magic helped me through SOP. Special thanks to these resources.

Things I would do if I can go back in time:
  1. You should research everything about universities. Not just about academics, living costs, safety, and others. You are going to live there for quite a long time.
  2. Consider getting an M.S. as it may place you in a better place.
  3. Have a plan B for everything. like, for when you get rejected everywhere, for when you start to think academia is not for you after some time(esp. if you have never done research like me), or for when you cannot get any academic position after graduation.
  4. Remember that it isn't a big deal. You can quit anytime if you don't like it. Don't stress yourself too much, as happiness is the ultimate goal in our life.
Last edited by KAIRA on Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:19 pm, edited 18 times in total.

hctep
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:57 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by hctep » Tue Dec 15, 2020 5:40 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top 50 Private US
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): -
GPA: 3.89
Type of Student: International, Asian, Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 149 (40%)
W: 3.0 (14%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Canceled

TOEFL Score: Waived

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (Number Theory)

Research Experience: REU in Discrete Mathematics, resulted in one paper submitted in review. Presented at several conferences including YMC, SUMS, JMM.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Putnam Honorable Mention, IMO Bronze, Government Scholarship, Departmental Award
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA twice, Grader x5
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Took many grad classes, two of my recommenders are pretty famous in their fields, no personal connections
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: N/A

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Reach
Princeton - Rejected (2/2)
Harvard - Rejected (2/3)
Stanford - Rejected (2/23)
UC Berkeley - Rejected (1/29)
MIT - Rejected (2/5)
U Michigan - Rejected (3/15)
U Chicago - Rejected (3/1)
UPenn - Rejected (4/12)
Cornell - Accepted (2/18)

Match
UC San Diego - Rejected (4/15)
UVA - Accepted (2/11)
U Wisconsin-Madison - Accepted (2/15)
UIUC - Accepted (2/11)
Penn State - Accepted (2/3)
UC Irvine - Waitlisted (2/26) | Rejected (4/19)
Purdue - Rejected (4/21)
Last edited by hctep on Wed Apr 21, 2021 5:35 pm, edited 17 times in total.

applepi
Posts: 28
Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2020 6:37 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by applepi » Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:11 pm

(quitting due to toxic forum and entitled people)
Last edited by applepi on Wed Jan 20, 2021 12:32 am, edited 7 times in total.

skepticBanana
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 8:50 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by skepticBanana » Tue Dec 15, 2020 9:21 pm

These forums were making me (and probably others as well) too anxious so I decided to delete my post for now. I may repost after all decisions are out. Best of luck to everyone!
Last edited by skepticBanana on Fri Feb 26, 2021 5:33 pm, edited 10 times in total.

5IsTheLargestInteger
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 7:36 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by 5IsTheLargestInteger » Thu Dec 17, 2020 12:16 pm

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, department ranked in the top 40
Major(s): Math + CS
GPA: 3.855 CGPA 4.0 MGPA
Type of Student: DWM

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 169 (94%)
V: 162 (90%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 850 (86%)


Program Applying: Pure Math PhD focusing on analysis

Research Experience: From January to October I worked with a prof. Planning to add to the short paper we got and submit it in the spring.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Department recognition for being "the most promising in number theory or algebra."
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math club assistant 1 year, president 2 years, gave talks once a semester in a seminar, low scores on Putnam/VT, and one year I volunteered with a math circle.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I took 8 grad level classes and was able to get the highest marks in introductory analysis and second year measure and integration. I also think I have two strong rec letters and one wild card.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I applied last cycle and went 0/9 (after getting waitlisted at Duke.) Six of the ten places I am applying to this year I already applied to last year. I'm curious if I'll be recognized by the committee and what reaction reapplying gets.

Applying to Where:
Reach:
Michigan - Rejected (3/12)
Wisconsin - Waitlisted (2/17) Declined
UT Austin - Shortlist notification (2/9). Thrilled I might have a chance here. Accepted with 12 months funding (2/12) Attending :-)
Target:
Duke - Rejected (2/15)
Illinois - Rejected (2/23)
Northwestern - Rejected (2/13)
UCSD - Accepted (2/25) Declined
Safe (or so I hope):
Washington - Rejected (2/26)
UNC Chapel Hill - Accepted (1/29) unofficial email from faculty. Official offer came (2/10) with funding. Declined
Penn State - Accepted (1/22) full funding. Declined

Edit: Receiving an acceptance after so many rejections last year is an amazing feeling. Best of luck to everyone else :-)

Edit: Rejected from the NSF GRFP. Reviewers gave me VG/G, VG/G, and VG/E.
Last edited by 5IsTheLargestInteger on Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:13 pm, edited 23 times in total.

Mugsy
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2020 3:30 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by Mugsy » Sat Dec 19, 2020 3:57 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small state university
Major(s): Applied Math (M.S.), Secondary Mathematics Education (B.S.)
Minor(s): N/A
GPA: 3.88 for M.S., 3.65 for B.S.
Type of Student: Domestic white female

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 162 (78%) :(
V: 158 (79%)
W: 4.5 (80%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Cancelled due to Covid-19

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math

Research Experience: Only research experience was during my capstone research semester at the end of my M.S. program.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Had the Dean's List several times. During my research seminar, I won "Best Graduate Presentation" during the university-wide research expo.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I have worked for three years full-time as an Instructional Assistant for the math department of a community college (think tutor/TA for lower level math classes).
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I have a M.S. in applied math, and with it 12 grad classes under my belt. I'm female too, should that help in applications.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: None that I can think of at the moment.

Applying to Where: Just posting these in order of application deadline
Arizona State University - Submitted 11/24/20, Admitted 12/18/20 no word on funding yet
University of Colorado Boulder - Submitted 11/19/20
Virginia Tech - Submitted 11/29/20
University of Florida - Submitted 11/30/20
Notre Dame - Submitted 11/28/20
Syracuse - Submitted 11/28/20
Iowa State - Submitted 11/30/20
University of Massachusetts Amherst - Submitted 11/28/20
Last edited by Mugsy on Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by yaskhn3 » Sun Dec 20, 2020 7:01 am

Will update after all this is over
Last edited by yaskhn3 on Fri Feb 12, 2021 7:31 pm, edited 22 times in total.

rekker
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Dec 21, 2020 7:54 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by rekker » Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:12 am

Undergrad Institution: Large Public U in Illinois
Majors: Chemistry, Math w/ distinction
Minor: Ancient Greek
GPA: 3.7 out of 4.00 (Math 3.68). Graduated 2019
Type of Student: International

GRE General Test: taken in 2017
Q: 169 (94%)
V: 170 (99%)
W: 4.0 (55%) can't write good stuff in half an hour

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
all cancelled due to Rona

TOEFL Score: waived

Program Applying: Pure/Applied Math, PhD/MS.

Research Experience: Meh. Did a summer research in materials and a semester in quantum chem. Nothing math related
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: a few Dean's list.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored precalc, algebra II, high school chem, gen chem, and orgo. Currently on sort of a programming job for about a year.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Took several graduate courses in inorganic and pchem. Maybe they'll help? Also a bunch of honor math courses where they do about a month of graduate level stuff at the end.


Applying to:

Duke, submitted, PhD Rejected
McGill, submitted, MS Status has changed to IN REVIEW but highly likely ghosted
Michigan, submitted, MS Rejected, I don't think they got my third rec letter
UPenn, submitted, MS Ghosted
Minnesota, submitted, MS Ghosted
Rutgers, submitted, MS Admitted 2/25, PhD waitlisted
Gatech, submitted, MS
Wisconsin, submitted, MS Admitted 3/31
UCSD, submitted, MS
NYU, submitted, MS Admitted 3/17
UNC, submitted, MS
UC Davis, submitted, MS

Safety?:
Gatech, submitted, MS
Utah, submitted, PhD OOF 2/13
Texas A&M, submitted, PhD Rejected 3/31
Last edited by rekker on Sat May 08, 2021 12:03 am, edited 11 times in total.

doronfan123
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2020 11:57 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by doronfan123 » Thu Dec 24, 2020 12:16 am

Undergrad Institution: Large State
Major(s): Math
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.92
Type of Student: DWM

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170
V: 163
W: 4.5
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: Cancelled by goverment diktat

TOEFL Score: N/A

Program Applying: Math Ph.D (combinatorics)

Research Experience: DIMACS REU
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Standard honor roll stuff
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Grader for intro algebra
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: None
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I refused to take graduate math courses as an undergrad because mainstream mathematics is all BS. We need to bow down to the god of experimental mathematics. http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/Opinion113.html

Applying to Where:
Best
Rutgers - Home of the God of experimental mathematics, Doron Zeilberger. The only acceptable math department in the world.

Vastly Inferior
UMass Amherst
CMU
UCSD
Waterloo C/O
Georgia Tech

sollux
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2020 5:33 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by sollux » Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:52 pm

Undergrad Institution: Top Public
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): None.
GPA: 3.7 overall/3.8 math
Type of Student: DAM

GRE Revised General Test:
N/A
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
N/A

Program Applying: Pure Math, applying for mainly algebraic topology

Research Experience: Writing a senior thesis. A couple of reading courses, and a research internship from high school. No formal reserach.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduating with honors.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA'd for intro linear algebra. Tutored various CS classes.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: 6 grad classes at time of application, 8 by graduation.
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Lots of volunteer experience. Probably not important, but I did write about it at length on my diversity statements.

Applying to Where:
Waitlists (notified on inquiry around 3/15)

Virginia
Pennsylvania
Minnesota


Rejections

Chicago
OSU
Washington
Harvard
MIT
UIUC
Michigan
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Brown
Stony Brook


No news
UCLA
Cornell
Last edited by sollux on Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:58 pm, edited 4 times in total.

davidgao
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:15 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by davidgao » Sat Dec 26, 2020 10:42 pm

Undergrad Institution: Large public university in Illinois
Major(s): Mathematics, Physics
GPA: 4.00/4.00
Type of Student: International Male Asian

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 170 (96%)
V: 169 (99%)
W: 5.0 (92%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Unable to take

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD

Research Experience: Work under the supervision of a professor (who's quite famous in the field) on a research project in operator algebras. Published a preprint as the sole author on arXiv.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Standard dean's list and honors student and so on.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: The professor I worked under wrote a very strong recommendation letter (should be very, very strong, I hope). He also sent a letter to a colleague of his at UCLA. Four other strong recommendation letters, one from a quite famous mathematician. Took five (or six, depending on how to count) graduate courses and got straight A's. (Also this is my junior year, which might matter.)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Some awards and a publication from high school days, though I don't know if that counts.

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Since this is my junior year, essentially I'm only applying to dream schools (to some extent one can say they are all donations):
Princeton - Rejected on Feb. 2
Harvard - Rejected on Feb. 3
Stanford - Rejected on Feb. 23
MIT - Rejected on Feb. 5
UCLA - Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending / Accepted/Declined
Caltech - Rejected on Feb. 19
Last edited by davidgao on Wed Feb 24, 2021 12:06 pm, edited 5 times in total.

ss_duan
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2020 3:20 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by ss_duan » Sun Dec 27, 2020 4:13 am

Undergrad Institution: Unknown Chinese university
Major(s): Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
Minor(s): No
GPA: 3.8/5
Type of Student: kinda International, Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: xxx (xx%)
V: xxx (xx%)
W: x.x (xx%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)
IELTS Score: 6.5
Program Applying: Pure Math(Number theory)
Research Experience: No
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Scholarship of first class
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math club organizer(gave one semester "class" on Galois theory and also one semester on Abstract algebra
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Summer schools(Algebraic geometry, Algebraic number theory, Representation theory, Commutative algebra, Algebraic curves, Hyperbolic geometry, Modular forms, Digraph theory)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Double degree program, Algebraic topology(self-taught), Unofficial graduate class(Ring theory)

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
University of Bonn - Mathematics -- Pending
ALGANT -- Pending
HSE(Moscow) - Mathematics -- Pending
KTH & SU - Mathematics -- Pending
UU - Mathematics -- Pending

PajamaSam
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2020 8:51 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by PajamaSam » Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:53 am

Undergrad Institution: Reputable public research university, but not particularly well known for mathematics
Major(s): Mathematics, Physics
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.82/4.3
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE General Test:
Q: 167 (89%)
V: 156 (72%)
W: 5.0 (92%)

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: Not taken due to COVID

Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (Algebra, Representation Theory)

Research Experience: One funded REU at home institution in representation theory, project turned into a senior thesis. No publications. Participated in two other organized and mentored reading projects at my university (but weren't funded, and with a grad student mentor), one of which resulted in a talk as part of the program.

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Funded award from my university math department for that ^ summer project, dean's list, graduating with honors in both math and physics, have a small scholarship at my university for my undergrad. Simple stuff here really, no special outstanding awards worth noting.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutored for two terms in math at my university tutoring center, tutored calc, precalc, business calc, and sometimes linear algebra and multivariable calculus. I was also an RA for a year in the dorms and sometimes tutored residents in math/physics there as well.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: At the time of graduation I will have taken 14 mixed graduate/undergraduate courses, and 3 true graduate level courses. Also, I believe all three of my recommenders are rather well known in their fields, one of them is definitely highly respected.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I think my letters are very strong; all three know me extremely well, one is my advisor, and one taught my graduate course (which I did very well in). All three taught me at least mixed UG/GR courses. So I think they are especially strong, but we will see.

Applying to:

University of Michigan--Ann Arbor - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/12/20 - Rejected 3/15/21
Cornell University - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/18/20
University of Texas--Austin - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/9/20 - Waitlisted 3/8/21
University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/10/20 - Rejected 2/22/21

Ohio State University - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 11/27/20 - Rejected 3/4/21
Purdue University--West Lafayette - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/17/20
Stony Brook University--SUNY - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/26/20 - Rejected 3/12/21
University of Washington - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/5/20 - Rejected 2/26/21
Pennsylvania State University--University Park - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 11/23/20 - Accepted 2/25/21
Indiana University--Bloomington - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/26/20

Texas A&M University--College Station - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/10/20 - Rejected 4/3/21
University of California--Irvine - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/15/20 - Rejected 2/8/21
Brandeis University - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/23/20 - Rejected 3/9/21
University of Pittsburgh - Pure Math PhD - Submitted 12/27/20 - Unofficially Accepted 3/10/21 - Declined

NOTES:

2/25/21: First acceptance, hyped out of my mind!
Last edited by PajamaSam on Sun Apr 04, 2021 12:13 am, edited 18 times in total.

kahdk
Posts: 40
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:22 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by kahdk » Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:32 pm

Undergrad Institution: U.S. private
Major(s): Math
Minor(s): Nah
GPA: 3.86
Type of Student: International asian male

GRE Revised General Test:
Nope
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
Nope
TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)
Nope

Program Applying: Pure Math (undecided)

Research Experience: research on number theory, reading on PDE, one presentation, no publication.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: nothing special
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: was vice president of math society in my school for one sem.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: my letter writers know me well, straight As in 26 math courses taken (8 grad courses in analysis, algebra, topology, geometry, 10 upon graduation.)
Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: senior thesis pending, not uploaded on the application tho.

Applying to Where: All pure math Ph.D.
Princeton (2/2 rejected)
MIT (2/5 rejected)
Berkeley (1/29 rejected)
UChicago (3/2 rejected)
UCLA (2/4 admitted)
NYU (2/4 admitted)
Cornell
Brown (2/9 admitted)
UMich (2/6 withdrawn)
UPenn (2/16 admitted)(3/19 declined)
UIUC (2/23 rejected)
Texas-Austin (3/15 rejected)
Wisconsin-Madison (2/18 rejected)
UCSD (2/20 admitted)(3/19 declined)
Northwestern
Illinois at Chicago (3/10 admitted)(3/10 declined)
Wish everyone get in their dream schools
Last edited by kahdk on Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:49 am, edited 49 times in total.

Albert_Eisenstein
Posts: 66
Joined: Thu Dec 17, 2020 2:17 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by Albert_Eisenstein » Wed Dec 30, 2020 7:13 am

liuluck22 wrote:
Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:22 am
Undergrad Institution: Top Big State
Major(s):Mathematics, Electrical engineering
GPA: 3.84
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test: N/A

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A, take one in my sophomore year and get around 70%

TOEFL Score:[N/A]

Program Applying: Pure Math, graph theory, combinatorics, ACO programs, all PhD, except master in canada

Research Experience: 5 research experience :shock: , one in material science, four in math, one is about partial differential equation, the rest three are all extremal, structural graph theory, all results in posters and reports, one paper in preprint, one of the math research is an REU like program.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several Deans lists, one scholarship in material science, higher honor at Budapest Semester in mathematics, department scholars, etc, nothing special...


Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Budapest Semester in Mathematics with higher honor, took 5 math classes there; 3 grad class in graph theory and combinatorics in my home school; took around 7 classes in graph theory and combinatorics in all, including extremal, structural, random graph theory, probabilistic methods, etc; 2 recommendation letters are from famous professors. I think they are committees of the most famous journals and conferences in these areas. Honor undergrad analysis

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Dual degree in electrical engineering with around 170 credits when I graduate

Applying to Where:USA, Canada, UK, Germany. All pure math except CMU and Gatech (ACO there)

Dream
MIT
Princeton
Stanford
Oxford
Cambridge


Reach
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Emory]
CMU
Gatech
Berlin Mathematical school
Rutgers

Safe
University of South Carolina
University of Memphis Admitted ( message from committee)
University of Victoria
University of Illinois, Chicago




How are you applying to Oxford and Cambridge PhD programs with just a Bachelor's degree?

SpicyNeutrino
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2020 11:32 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by SpicyNeutrino » Wed Dec 30, 2020 11:44 pm

Undergrad Institution: University of California
Major(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.75 (Math: 3.83)
Type of Student: Domestic, White Male.

GRE Revised General Test:
nope :(
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
nope


Program Applying: Pure Math PhD (Algebra/Algebraic Geometry)

Research Experience: Some reading courses and a summer fellowship on Hodge Theory which resulted in a poster but no publications or actual research.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None that I know of.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA/Grader for a small upper division class.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Graduating in three years, will have about 15 grad math classes by graduation (5 right now).

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)

Paying for Rejection

UCLA - Rejected on 2/26
UC Berkeley -Rejected on 1/29
UPenn - Rejected
Cornell - Rejected
Brown - Rejected on 2/26

Reach
University of Michigan - Rejected
University of Wisconsin, Madison - Rejected on 2/15
Johns Hopkins -Rejected on 2/09
University of Washington - Rejected on 2/26 :(

Reach/Match
Ohio State - Rejected
Last edited by SpicyNeutrino on Tue Aug 31, 2021 3:29 pm, edited 5 times in total.

liuluck22
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2020 9:48 am

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by liuluck22 » Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:09 am

Albert_Eisenstein wrote:
Wed Dec 30, 2020 7:13 am
liuluck22 wrote:
Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:22 am
Undergrad Institution: Top Big State
Major(s):Mathematics, Electrical engineering
GPA: 3.84
Type of Student: International Asian Male

GRE Revised General Test: N/A

GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A, take one in my sophomore year and get around 70%

TOEFL Score:[N/A]

Program Applying: Pure Math, graph theory, combinatorics, ACO programs, all PhD, except master in canada

Research Experience: 5 research experience :shock: , one in material science, four in math, one is about partial differential equation, the rest three are all extremal, structural graph theory, all results in posters and reports, one paper in preprint, one of the math research is an REU like program.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Several Deans lists, one scholarship in material science, higher honor at Budapest Semester in mathematics, department scholars, etc, nothing special...


Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Budapest Semester in Mathematics with higher honor, took 5 math classes there; 3 grad class in graph theory and combinatorics in my home school; took around 7 classes in graph theory and combinatorics in all, including extremal, structural, random graph theory, probabilistic methods, etc; 2 recommendation letters are from famous professors. I think they are committees of the most famous journals and conferences in these areas. Honor undergrad analysis

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Dual degree in electrical engineering with around 170 credits when I graduate

Applying to Where:USA, Canada, UK, Germany. All pure math except CMU and Gatech (ACO there)

Dream
MIT
Princeton
Stanford
Oxford
Cambridge


Reach
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Emory]
CMU
Gatech
Berlin Mathematical school
Rutgers

Safe
University of South Carolina
University of Memphis Admitted ( message from committee)
University of Victoria
University of Illinois, Chicago




How are you applying to Oxford and Cambridge PhD programs with just a Bachelor's degree?



They don't need master degree. If you check their websites carefully, they just said a first honor class undergrad, i.e. GPA>3.7

WithinEpsilon
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:24 pm

Re: 2021 Applicant Profiles and Admissions Results

Post by WithinEpsilon » Sat Jan 02, 2021 9:11 pm

Undergrad Institution: Small State University
Major(s): Mathematics
Minor(s): Physics
GPA: 4.0/4.0
Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 163 (80%)
V: 160 (85%)
W: 4.0 (55%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
(Canceled due to COVID) Unfortunate, since I was kind of relying on the mGRE to counteract the fact that I went to a small school.

Program Applying: Pure Math - something algebraic related to mathematical physics

Research Experience: Two years of research experience in experimental condensed matter physics on two separate projects. The first was regarding a patented technology developed by my advisor. The second resulted in a publication in Phys Rev B. One year of research in algebra (semiring theory) where I looked at non-unique factorization (semi)domains and subtractive ideals. A publication is in preparation now and I have given numerous talks regionally and at my university for this work. The research on subtractive ideals in semirings was part of a summer research experience at my home institution. No REUs because of COVID and a late switch to mathematics (end of junior year).

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Goldwater Scholar. 2x Peggy Dixon 2-Year Scholar from Society of Physics Students. AT&T Stem State Scholarship. Several institutional scholarships. Also, I have a 4.0 so... Dean's list every semester (I suspect nobody cares).

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Informally tutored for every course I have taken through the creation of a study group that meets twice per week. President of our physics club and secretary of our math club. I had an internship at an environmental engineering company writing proposals for government contracts in my sophomore year.

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I have taken 8 graduate courses in mathematics and 2 in physics. Unfortunately, since I come from a small university I have absolutely no connections to any Group 1 schools. I probably should have cultivated that a bit more... :(
However, I am a non-traditional student with an even more non-traditional background. I am not sure if being a convicted felon and former heroin addict makes me a minority but I certainly spun it that way pretty hard in my personal statements. That could either help or hurt depending on if I did a good job of focusing on the positive experience that I have gained from it. I think that I did.

Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: I do outreach to other felons and recovering addicts by visiting drug rehabilitation centers and sharing my story and some fun accessible maths (usually inspired by demonstrations that I have seen in class or online). I also coordinate a regional physics competition for high school students. I have a really good relationship with each of my letter writers and have taken grad classes with each of them. My two research projects in algebra were under one of my letter writers as well.


Applying to Where: (I am applying to so many schools because I am extremely worried that I won't get accepted and I am hoping that it will alleviate the anxiety induced by the inevitable rejections.)
Accepted, Pending, Rejected/Declined
Reach
USC - Pending on (11/30)
UWash - Rejected (02/26)
UPenn - Waitlisted (4/02/2021)
Penn State - Rejected (03/5/2021)
Stony Brook - Rejected (03/12/2021)
Yale - Rejected (02/02)
Rutgers-NB - Unofficially Accepted (3/23/2021), Officially Accepted (3/25/2021) 30K TAship Declined (4/6/2021)
Purdue - Officially Accepted (3/23/2021) 6 yr TAship Declined (4/1/2021)
Rice - Officially Accepted via email (4/1/2021) 5 Yr TAship 26K ATTENDING!!!!!
UVA - Rejected (02/11)

Match
Kentucky - Withdrawn (3/30/2021)
U Mass - Amherst - Withdrawn (3/30/2021)
Northeastern - Withdrawn (3/30/2021)
Oregon - Rejected (02/03)
NC State - Withdrawn (3/30/2021)
LSU - Officially Accepted (2/25/2021) 23K TAship Declined (03/30/2021)
Tufts - Rejected (03/18)
Temple - Officially Accepted (2/18/2021) 30K Fellowship Declined (03/26/2021)

Safety (Nothing actually seems safe)
U Montana - Officially Accepted (2/16/2021) 14.5K TAship Declined (03/03/2021)
Iowa - Officially Accepted (3/23/2021) 20K TAship Declined (03/26/2021) (two letter writers received their Ph.D. here)
U Wisconsin - Milwaukee - Unofficially Accepted via phone on (3/08/2021), Officially Accepted (3/10/2021) 15K TAship Declined (03/15/2021)
Kansas State - Unofficially Accepted via email on (2/11/2021), Officially Accepted with 17K TAship (2/15/2021) Declined (03/25/2021)

NSF-GRF AWARDED!!!! (BI/IM: VG/E,E/E, G/E) (3/23/2021)
Last edited by WithinEpsilon on Tue Apr 06, 2021 8:34 pm, edited 43 times in total.



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