Math Questions

<p>Hey everyone... i have a few questions:</p>

<p>I am going to attend Rice University in the fall and I plan on majoring in mathematics. I know what I had to do during my high school years to distinguish myself, but I'm not sure what exactly I need to do to get into a good graduate school ( I realllllly want to go to Princeton) GPA/GRE/Research? What's the most important?? Also, how do I go about doing research?/ do I try talking to professors when I'm a freshman or wait until soph/junior years? Well.. those are my basic questions for now, but I'll probably have more later... Thanks in advance for the response = )</p>

<p>First... and I mean this sincerely...
chill-out and at least enjoy your freshman year before you start worrying about graduate school!!! Allow yourself to explore a little and be OPEN to the possibility that you may find new interests...</p>

<p>Second... the 3 most important factors are GPA, letters of rec, research. GREs come in fourth. In terms of securing research opportunities, you have to do well in your math classes to prove to professors that you are worth taking on as a research assistant...
Do well in your math classes, read the web-sites of your professors to see if any study topics that interest you, and try to make some friends with upperclassmen who can give you better, specific advice on the Rice math department.</p>

<p>Third, see point number 1.</p>

<p>Yes. Don't worry about grad school yet. Concentrate on your studies (but not too much) and take the time to try a few things to see what really interests you. You have at least 2 years to do so, leaving the last 2 to start doing some research, and even then, nothing is really set in stone for grad school, any research experience is good.</p>

<p>I do agree that its time to worry about your ugrad degree and not grad for the moment. I find myself spending more time looking in to grad school stuff than studying....</p>

<p>But Princeton mathematics is no joke. The graduate admissions process for the math phd program is probably amoung the most competitive in mathematics.</p>

<p>Aside from a perfect GPA esp in math classes, take graduate math classes if possible, and make sure to get an A. Research is a must have.</p>

<p>For now, do well (high As) in your first year math classes and make friends with professors so you can get research/recomendations.</p>

<p>Take as many math classes as you can, including graduate courses if at all possible. Be aware that the math major attracts a lot of people who are NOT necessarily planning to do research in math, so the courses taken by a typical math major may not be anywhere near enough for you to get a good enough background in math to survive in one of the more competitive graduate math departments.</p>

<p>Until you have taken upper-division undergraduate courses, you probably won't have enough background in the various branches of math to really know what you want to pursue. Many people, when they choose a graduate school, know what branch of math they want to work in, and they choose their department accordingly. Don't fix all your hopes on Princeton just because you think the undergraduate experience there is good; the graduate experience will be nothing like the undergraduate experience. Also, don't choose Princeton just because its department is "good" or "the best"; people pretty much go to Princeton's graduate math department for number theory, and that may not even turn out to be your main interest (and it's not the only department that is good in number theory). There are also many other good math departments in schools that are not especially renowned for their undergraduate programs or for most of their other graduate programs. Don't worry about getting into what the man on the street thinks is a big-name school; if you are going into a career doing math research (and that IS what you will be preparing for if you enter a program like Princeton's), the people who matter will know what the good departments are.</p>

<p>The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program is one of the best ways to get experience approximating that of mathematical research. They have programs at various colleges and universities around the country during the summer, focusing on different problems and topics in math. It is very likely that you will see signs and notices for REUs around your math department. Otherwise, you can look them up online to see what is offered each year, or ask a professor to help you. You will need to apply some time during the school year, and you'll need recommendations from professors. These programs will allow you to work with other serious math students, as well as professors, and learn about special topics. I definitely recommend this. I don't recommend doing "research" doing the school year so much because that will mean cutting down on the time you have available for taking classes and acquiring the more general background that you will need for graduate school.</p>

<p>I also have a similar question...</p>

<p>I'll be at Penn in the Fall, probably to do a Math/Econ double-major (or possibly try to dual-degree at Wharton for a Math/Finance double-major). Firstly, without entering in a very advanced status, do you think it would be possible to double-major and still gain the necessary math background to get an MA or PhD? Also, I'd like to work in finance at first, and later turn my attention to academics (after I've gained a solid financial footing). Would this be possible, or would a 10-15 year layoff be way too long to return to studying math?</p>

<p>I know it's a real long look forward, but I'm still curious what would be possible if I continued on my current path.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice guys! And august-- I don't want to go to Princeton to impress people.. My grandfather went there for graduate school (mathematics) and used to tell me about his wonderful experiences there. I'm sure there are plenty of wonderful graduate schools, it's just that I, too, would like to graduate from Princeton.</p>

<p>gt06 - are you sure that you need a perfect GPA, like you said? I've heard in the past that grad schools don't distinguish too much between, say, a 3.9 or a 3.95 or a 4.0.</p>

<p>They don't, depending on the recommendations of course. My supervisor was explaining to me the kind of info one puts on the recommendation letters. If your GPA is 3.85 but you creatively tackle problems, you have probably a better research potential than someone who has 4.0 but does everything conventionally.</p>

<p>Regarding GPA, also note that it will be GPA within the math major that matters, not overall GPA.</p>

<p>jpps1, I think you can do a double major and get an adequate background, but you may not have a whole lot of room in your schedule to take classes outside of your majors. As for your idea of working in finance for 10 or 15 years and then returning to studying math, well, it's not impossible, but it will be quite a different experience going to graduate school at that point from what it would have been if you had gone soon after college. You will have to work very hard to get your math background built up again. And it is so difficult and competitive when you are trying to get a job in academia that you may not want to lose so many years, IF academia is really what you want to do ultimately. Still, if you want to work in finance first, you should at least try it out, because I think it can be beneficial to take a shorter break between college and graduate school. Graduate school will be a lot of work, and you should want to be there with all your heart, or you're likely to burn out.</p>

<p>August, doesn't overall GPA matter somewhat, even if math GPA matters much more?</p>

<p>Overall GPA would matter, in my opinion simply in comparing you to other students. It also depends on what other courses you are taking, if the non-math courses are math related say, physics or ece, it would have more weight than say if you double majored in history.</p>

<p>are there any rankings of graduate schools for mathematics that show the avg GPA/GRE etc ?</p>