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Typical Grad School Concerns

By primetime
from the pure math department
Posted Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 07:06:37 AM PDT

Hey... it's grad school applications season and I was hoping to get a feel of how good my application is. I'm currently in a strong math program at a Canadian university and I want to go to the US for grad studies in pure math. Here's some info about me: General GRE scores: 800Q(94%)/460V(50%)/5AW(77%), GRE Math Subject test: expecting 80-85%ile

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I'm applying to a handful of US schools, Brown and Columbia being the most prestigious. My only problem is my GPA is pretty weak with respect to the schools I'm applying to. My marks are all over the place, with a major average of about 84%. My profs agree that my GPA doesn't reflect my ability and this is why I'm applying to such "strong" programs. They are writing me letters good enough for my dream schools, but how much do you think letters can overweigh weak grades? I'm looking for hope that I can get into a top 15 math school in the US. Maybe someone knows about the admission criteria of various math programs? (The schools themselves don't exactly give out info of previously admitted applicants, so it's hard to gauge what's required...) Thanks everyone!

< What Kind of Job do I REALLY Want? | applying to grad schools >

Typical Grad School Concerns | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)

[new] Don't risk not getting in anywhere (none / 0) (#1)
by JHamblin on Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 08:11:38 AM PDT

I'd make sure to apply to a few "safety" schools as well. You never know what criteria the schools will use to judge you, and it's possible that they will look at your GPA and reject you out of hand.

[new] Good point... (none / 0) (#2)
by primetime on Sat Nov 08, 2008 at 03:15:37 PM PDT

Thanks! I was told I shouldn't have a problem getting into any Canadian schools so I'm applying to a few of those (including my own for safety).

[new] good questions (none / 0) (#3)
by Cotati on Sun Nov 09, 2008 at 02:28:21 AM PDT

I really don't know how most schools decide. You can guess that all factors could be important when the competition is fierce (many more applicants than openings), the more so at the top schools. I do know that 85th percentile on the subject GRE is not good enough for UC Berkeley (you can look it up on their website), but I don't think most schools are as anal about this one criterion.

I think it's a bit of a numbers game. If you really want to get into one of the top 15 US schools (according to whatever rankings you are using), then you should apply to all 15 of them, except perhaps for any that you know you don't have a chance at (like maybe Berkeley). Yeah, the application fees can really add up, so maybe you have to make some trade-offs. But you really do need to apply to a goodly number of schools, since there's no predicting which ones you can get into.

Yeah... by primetime, 11/10/2008 01:44:34 PDT (none / 0)

Typical Grad School Concerns | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)

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