Chances to get in a US graduate program in Math.

Hi,

I’m a Vietnamese senior majoring in Mathematics. I study in Vietnam, and my school is an accreditted one. I am now applying to graduate programs in the US, so I would really appreciate if you guys can help me evaluate my profile.

  • My GPA: 3.8/4.0 (Top 5% of my class).
  • GRE General: 152 Verbal; 168 Quant; 3.5 Analytical Writing.
  • TOEFL: 108 (Reading: 27; Listening: 29; Speaking: 23; Writing: 29).
  • Publications and Research (which is also my most concerned problem because I do not have much):
  • One paper on elementary Math - submitted and waiting for acceptance.
  • One independent research on stochastic differential equations, supervised a professor of my university.
  • Honors and Awards:
  • Dean's list (Top 10/200 students).
  • Scholarship for Outstanding Math-major Students from Ministry of Education (Top 185 countrywide).
  • Some teaching experiences (I have worked mostly with secondary school students).
  • My research interests: Applied Math (PDEs, Probability) and Statistics (Stochastic Process, Survival Analysis).
  • I'm planning to take GRE Math this October, aiming at getting 75 - 80 percentile (getting more of this is quite difficult to me as my schedule is so tight now).

I also need a financial support of at least 70% of all the fees to be able to attend the program.

So my questions are:

  • Is it possible for me to get in a PhD program right away? Or I may need to finish a MSc first? In case I should finish Master’s first, san you suggest me some schools that can offer financial support for international students like me? (I have read quite a lot of schools and they normally don’t aid Master’s students).
  • How many schools should I apply for?

Thank you so much!

You should be able to get into a Ph.D. program with full support as a Teaching Assistant. Your grades and GRE are string and you have some research experience which is solid enough for admission. If you ultimately want a Ph.D. then there is no need to start with an M.Sc.