<p>Regarding entry for maths phd at MIT, I was wondering:
- I heard from someone (I'm not sure if this is true), that the majority of applicants for phd in US have done Masters before doing phD. I'm from Australia, where after a 3 year undergrad courses, we have 1 year of honours which involves a thesis; in Australia most people do phD after honours without doing Masters. If I haven't done Masters, would that place me at a disadvantage?
- What entry exam is required for entry? I heard it was something similar to SAT but I don't remember what it's called. Does this exam necessarily involve comprehension or any English components (like, say, SAT1 does)? Am I allowed to choose all of the subjects I'd like to take in this exam? Is there anything else apart from the entrance exam that's required for entry?</p>
<p>I believe the exam is called GRE, General Requirements Entry or something. It does involve English comprehension and math. </p>
<p>Letters of recommendation, you should really go on the department website and see what they require.</p>
<p>The graduate entrance exam is called the GRE. Like the SAT, it has a verbal section and a quantitative section -- the quantitative section is somewhat easier than SAT math, but the verbal section is slightly more difficult. There are also GRE subject tests, so you can choose to take a subject test in math.</p>
<p>The math PhD admissions requirements at MIT are [url=<a href="http://www-math.mit.edu/academics/grad/admission/%5Dhere%5B/url">http://www-math.mit.edu/academics/grad/admission/]here[/url</a>]. They're pretty standard -- you're required to submit a written statement of purpose, official transcripts from your previous educational institution(s), and three letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. </p>
<p>Regarding GRE, seeing as it wasn't listed on the page, that means I don't need to do any non-maths subjects for the subject test, right? Also, of what relative importance is the GRE general test, and specifically the english component? I'm quite weak at English comprehension (I found SAT1 quite hard), and I don't think I'll do well in the GRE general test. Would MIT discard applications which have too low general GREs?</p>
<p>You'll also submit the TOEFL or IELTS if you're international, which will presumably provide a more fair representation of your English skills.</p>
<p>But in general, top PhD programs use the GRE only as a cutoff, and international students tend to get a break in the way the department considers the verbal score. Your GRE score won't be of great consequence if the rest of your application is very strong.</p>
<p>Thanks. What is the GRE cutoff, approx?</p>
<p>This isn't information that's available to anyone outside the admissions committee. Different programs have different approximate cutoffs.</p>