<p>Howdy Everyone, </p>
<p>I am currently about to start my Junior year in Math at my university in the fall. I really, really want to be professor of math or applied math someday; however I am feeling doubtful of my chances to get there currently. This may be a large post....so I thank you very much if stick with the length of my post.
I have a terribly low GPA for a math major, and the grades do not just come from low level courses. So I was curious of what my chances are to get into at least decent, grad schools. Thanks in advance for anyone's comments!
Well, I guess I should elaborate further on my university history thus far:
First Semester courses/grades
--Intro to prob and stats B-
--Higher Geometry B
--Honors intro linear algebra B
--English 131 (standard freshman english) B+
Second Semester courses/grades
--Complex Variables B+
--Astronomy 2 A
--Physics 2 B+
--Mathematical Modeling D :(
Third Semester courses/grades
--Analysis 1 C- :(
--Symbolic Logic D :(
--Intro Comp Sci. Incomplete Taken
--Math Methods for Physicists A-
Fourth Semester courses/grades
--Analysis 2 C- :(
--Mathematical Modeling C >:(
--Ordinary Differential Equations A-
--Classical Mechanics B+
I then plan to take some humanities courses in the fall, and then Grad level Linear, and Modern Algebra.
I have been involved with Undergrad research on the VNLS Equation, and am waiting for a the result on a review of our paper in the 'Applied Analysis' journal. And I will continue research on this topic again in the fall. I took part in the mathematical competition in modeling both years, getting Meritorious Winner first year, and successful participant second year. I also run the supplemental instructing for the Differential Equations course at my school (since Second semester), as well as just walk in tutoring through our Math Learning Center.
That's all I have so far for courses. I understand that my applications won't contain "had an extremely difficult prof." But I would like to elaborate on some of these grades.
I admit that, ultimately, all my gradfes have been my fault, but i would like to point out that my Prof for Analysis 1 and 2 apparently likes to hold himself to being more rigorous and difficult than even MIT professors. (I did not really know this until later lol) The first modeling score, was, well me under a lot of stress. and the second modeling grade very well may be a case of over zealous grading of my final. I am trying to fight that one know, but it's hard to do with a prof. on sabattical :P
The Symbolic logic course was...well honestly another case of a terrible professor. i really should have taken that one up with the school, but as I said, ultimately my fault. :/
Oh, and I should also point out that I have a TERRIBLE habbit of not always completing my homework. That's something I've been getting better at and have been dealing with since literally second grade.</p>
<p>I REALLY love math, particularly Geometry and DiffEq's, and I really want make it into a good enough grad school that can get me to being a prof. someday. Oh also, I really like physics, particularly General Relativity stuff (Geometry and DiffEq's of course!)
So honestly, straight up, what does anyone think of my prospects for grad school? I am taking the GRE math subject in the fall, so i'm preparing. But really, I would like to know, perhaps someone has some specific schools in mind even? Be as brutaly honest as you feel you need to be please. And again, thanks to anyone who posts!</p>
<p>You need to turn your math grades around. If you can get consistent A’s (with the very occasional B+) in math courses in the third and fourth years or your degree, then I think that many grad admissions committees would be able to overlook your marks in your first two years. In particular some A’s in a couple of grad courses in your third year would really help show that you have the capacity for graduate-level mathematics. Right now your transcript is screaming that you do not have that capacity (but transcripts have been known to lie about students’ abilities!).</p>
<p>Grad school admissions are less numbers/grades-based than undergrad. If you can get strong letters of recommendation and straight A’s in your math courses from now on, then I would think that stand a chance at decent grad schools for math. However, in my limited experience, I have never witnessed that dramatic a turnaround in mathematics marks in an undergrad (I have seen it in most other disciplines, particularly in the humanities and social sciences where grades are much more effort-related; I have read that undergrad math marks correlate more highly with raw intelligence than any other undergrad discipline and my experience would support that).</p>
<p>If you want to turn your math marks around, then do more than just completing “homework” (whatever that is in third year university math courses): read your text ahead of lectures so that you are better able to understand what the prof is saying. Do more questions than just those required for submission or those suggested by the prof. </p>
<p>Do a modified version of what I (with a lack of political correctness) call the Asian approach to study for a a semester: my Korean and Chinese students tell me that from the age of about 13 or 14, students in their countries that want to attend university study at least 15 hours per day and rarely get more than 6 hours of sleep per night. Because I believe in the value of sleep and exercise, I would recommend 8 hours of sleep, one or two hours of exercise/leisure, and no more than about 12 hours of study 6 days a week. </p>
<p>Many of your future math grad peers are presently on a much more rigorous study schedule than my recommended 72 hours per week. If such a regimen for a semester does not turn around your grades, then I think that reputable grad schools for you are very unlikely.</p>
<p>Best of luck. It does sound like you have many things going for you already that demonstrate an interest and commitment to math.</p>
<p>Thank you! I really have been planning on turning my grades around. But mostly it really is a homework type thing. I didn’t point this out, and maybe I should in case someone has had a similar experience as mine, but 6 of those math courses I listed are the Senior/intro grad level courses at my university, and I was able to take them because I took the Calc series and a standard Differential Equations course in high school. I really don’t have a problem when I sit down to do my tests, usually A’s and B’s. So I know I understand the material fairly well.<br>
So i guess I should restate my question a bit more succinctly. With mediocre to bad grades in 3 mixed senior/grad level courses, and two good grades in mixed senior/grad level courses at the end of my sophomore year; how might I stay a chance with a decent grad school? Also considering all my teaching/tutor experience, as well as my research experience. (Which is funded by NSF)
And thanks for the intense studying advice, haha, I’ve been meaning to go about doing something like that, but, I guess I just haven’t figured out how yet. Thanks again for your input!</p>
<p>If you turn it around in your junior/senior years, to mostly As, gradcoms will take note of that improvement. You may consider a gap year so that gradcoms will see all of your junior/senior grades.</p>
<p>I would retake the two courses you got Ds in. That will boost your GPA and demonstrate your turnaround.</p>
<p>I agree with the advice of possibly retaking a couple of courses (especially since you took them at a young stage and probably have lots of space left in your last two years), but I would recommend the C- analysis courses (I and II) since analysis sends a stronger signal than symbolic logic or modeling would to grad adcoms about your ability to handle grad school math. If your university has grad analysis courses, then it would be better to take those rather than retaking the undergrad analysis courses.</p>
<p>I suggested the D courses because, at least in my experience, universities do not allow retake/remediation for anything higher than D or F grades. Check your school’s catalog to be sure.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the advice. @PolarScribe: I’m not really sure on what you mean by a “Gap year” could you fill me in on what you mean?
Also I will definitely see into taking the grad level Analysis course as a “retake” for my first Analysis course. I must admit I am not concerned about the grade in Symbolic logic, and do not want to deal with that professor ever again. Thanks again! 
So here’s a new question, I don’t know if you two will have specific answers, so maybe someone else will see this too.
So, with all that in mind, assuming(dangerous to do so I know) my grades are at least decent (mostly B’s and some A’s) what might be good graduate schools for a guy interested in Differential Geometry, PDE’s, complex Analysis, and mathematical physics? Something aside from the top 20. I keep seeing their programs all the time, but given my academic history, some of those may not happen. So if I wanted to study one of those above mentioned subjects, what are some good schools to look into that aren’t top 20?</p>
<p>A gap year is a year off from school.</p>
<p>If you don’t take a gap year, your senior year grades may not be considered in your application, depending on the application’s deadline. At the very least, your spring semester grades will definitely not be in the package.</p>
<p>So, you’ll have one less year or semester of (potential) improvement to show admissions committees that you’re academically prepared and competitive for graduate study.</p>