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What are my chances of PhD admission? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
[new] admissions (none / 0) (#2)
by Cotati on Mon Oct 06, 2008 at 12:42:54 PM PDT

I'm just a grad student, but I would affirm dkung's comment. Some schools can afford to exclude those with a spotty undergrad record. But most schools will care far more about your GPA within the math courses than about the overall GPA. High scores on the general GRE will mitigate a low general GPA. Schools usually care much more about the math subject GRE score. A high score on the math subject GRE, together with strong recommendations and scoring more than zero on the Putnam, will trump the poor grades. These things will show that you are qualified to enter a PhD program. The situation where a spotty record might hurt is when the school has many more qualified applicants than openings and so you are being compared to others. But there are many schools out there with PhD programs, and there's bound to be a place for you. You might have to adopt the strategy of applying to many schools. Way back when, my mentor advised me to apply to at least a dozen schools (I ended up applying to fifteen). This can cost a chunk of dollars for all of the filing fees, but consider it the ante for playing the game.


  • Thanks, guys by jdbowen, 10/09/2008 11:14:05 PDT (none / 0)

What are my chances of PhD admission? | 3 comments (3 topical, 0 hidden)
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