<p>Hello I'm a student from the UK who will start a Mathematics major at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.</p>
<p>The University of Glasgow offers exchanges to the USA and I've been looking at a few of your universities to study at during my third year. Some of these include the University of California, Berkeley and the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. From these exchanges I aim to get a taste of the American dream.</p>
<p>I'll then come back to the University of Glasgow after my exchange in the USA and will finish with a Masters in Mathematics.</p>
<p>After that I plan to take my final step to the American dream. I really want to do a PhD in the USA possibly at somewhere like Berkeley.</p>
<p>That is my American Dream.</p>
<p>Now that I've described my ambition to you, do you think that I have a good chance of achieving it and do you have any suggestions? I mean, I've heard the acceptance rate at the top US university graduate schools are really low and the process of getting in seems really difficult.</p>
<p>Your help would really be appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>There are plenty of foreign students in the U.S. It would depend on your grades and other achievements, but people do it all the time. If you have a dream, you have something to work for. I don’t see why you shouldn’t try!</p>
<p>^ Can’t really say anything more than this. As long as you have the grades and test scores, then you should be good. Of course, other things like recommendations and your essay will matter. For a PhD, I assume that it is in a lab science. If this is the case (or not) you should have research experience. </p>
<p>Universities, especially state universities, like to attract international students. Just do well, and you shouldn’t have a problem.</p>
<p>I heard that when it comes to applying for postgraduate I’ll have a better chance of getting money out of private universities, such as the Ivy’s.</p>
<p>I was told that Yale are pretty generous in this respect- I’d have to sit a standardized test though.</p>
<p>One thing worries me about Yale and it also confuses me, it says this on here (<a href=“http://www.yale.edu/bulletin/html/grad/math.html):%5B/url%5D”>http://www.yale.edu/bulletin/html/grad/math.html):</a></p>
<p>“(2) demonstrate a reading knowledge of two of the following languages: French, German, or Russian;”</p>
<p>Surely that shouldn’t be required of me, especially seeing as I want to study Mathematics, not a language.</p>
<p>I’ve just found out that Berkeley asks for almost the same thing,</p>
<p>“Pass one language examination in French, German, or Russian.”</p>
<p>I am bilingual, so I am fluent in English and Turkish, but when it comes to French, German or Russian I barely know a thing which is no fault of mine.</p>
<p>Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>RamocitoMorales, Yale fully funds all PhD candidates. Basically, your tuition is covered and your stipend ranges from ~24k to 29k/year depending on your field (natural and medical sciences on the higher end). Health insurance is also covered. I have not come across more generous fellowships yet (with no obligated teaching or research duties).</p>
<p>Unfortunately the top math programs require you to know these other languages because of the cutting edge and renowed theories produced by mathematicians from those countries.</p>
<p>Aside from whether you should be required to, or who’s fault it is, it’s a fairly universal requirement. As I understand it though, these tests usually require a low level of proficiency. On the low end, you might be asked to translate a page from a French journal of mathematics with the aid of a dictionary. It typically takes 5+ years to complete a PhD program in America, so you’ve got plenty of time to pick it up.</p>
<p>You’re probably aware of this, but getting into a Top 10 math PhD program is ridiculously hard to do unless you’re quite exceptional. Math is one of those fields where sometimes hard work isn’t enough to be among the best. I’m making no assumptions about your abilities, mind. Having an MSc will probably help. Taking lots of graduate-level classes and doing really well in those, along with a great score on the Math GRE subject test, and possibly some research, will put you in a good position to be competitive–but maybe not Top 5-10 competitive.</p>
<p>Yes, I’ll come out with an Msc. Unfortunately, I don’t consider myself to be exceptional. I haven’t started university level mathematics yet so I don’t really know how good I am yet. I’m not a straight A student but I’ve had a look at university mathematics and it suits my ability compared with high school maths.</p>
<p>I think I have a chance and I have great personal qualities and I’m a good public speaker so I think that will help in the interviews. I’m also more than willing to teach, which I know is required by American PhD programs. Despite not having started university yet I have already developed interests in cryptography and number theory as I read many books about mathematics.</p>
<p>I think it’s a shame that the PhD program last 5 years because by the time I graduate I’ll be fairly old.</p>
<p>I start university at 18 and will spend 4 years doing undergraduate level mathematics and then a fully funded masters for 1 year. If I were (hopefully will) do a PhD in the USA that will add another 5 years.</p>
<p>So by the time I graduate I’ll be 18 + 4 + 1 + 5 = 28 years old. I’m not sure whether you consider that old, but I do.</p>
<p>Thanks for being honest though.</p>
<p>There’s no sense saying that any requirement (language, etc.) should not apply to you in particular. People have to do many disagreeable things to achieve their dreams. It’s also another way of ascertaining who is serious about wanting the degree or not. Since you have at least three years at university to meet this low hurdle, you might as well take advantage of your time there and do it, if that is your goal. If you aren’t serious about making the simple efforts that thousands upon thousands of your competitors are willing to make (taking the classes; filling out the essays; taking standardized tests), then you might as well give out now. Because a lot of people want those few slots that are available, and they will not let such easy things stand in their way.</p>
<p>Sorry Endicott, I guess I was a bit rash in my judgment. It’s just being from the UK such a requirement came across as being very ‘alien’ to me. But I’ve come to accept it now and I will have plenty of time to learn another language, probably German. I’ll make sure this won’t stand in my way.</p>
<p>I’ve actually checked out the rankings of mathematics graduate schools in the USA and it seems that Berkeley is joint second, and Yale is joint seventh. To be honest I think Berkeley might be beyond me as it seems to be one of the very top universities in the world for mathematics. While Yale is also a great university for graduate mathematics I think I’ll stand a better chance of getting in there and as someone pointed out, their finances are very generous.</p>
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<p>That’s a fairly typical age for grad students to finish. Most Americans head off to college at 18 and graduate in 4-5 years. A number of your fellow students will probably have worked for 1-4 years and will actually be older than you.</p>
<p>Ramocito, I’m just curious–how many years does a doctorate take in Britain? It’s three years for undergrad work, right? How many years would it take total? I don’t know that Berkeley is harder than Yale for math. There are a lot of other great universities to consider, too, if these seem too impossible.</p>
<p>Getting a PhD in the UK usually takes three years, which is much shorter than in the USA. And I think that teaching is not compulsory as it is in the USA, nor are you required to learn another language.</p>
<p>3 years for undergraduate.</p>
<p>Usually 1, sometimes 2 years for a Masters (Msci, MA, etc)</p>
<p>3 years for PhD.</p>
<p>Yes, if the top 10 do seem too impossible there are other choices I guess. I don’t really know much about them though.</p>
<p>American Dream also includes this: If you super intelligent, they will give you a free ticket to their top universities, labs, and companies. Eventually, they will steal you from your motherland 
Welcome to America</p>
<p>Ramocito, if you hang out on College Confidential, you will definitely get a sense of the right kind of university for you. Also, if you want to know more about any particular university that you hear about here, you can check Collegeboard.com. There are other sites as well. That is, if you don’t want to save the time and get your PhD more quickly in Britain!</p>
<p>OP- perhaps it would be helpful to complete your year abroad at the school you hope to attend for your PhD? If you can get to know profs in that dept and obtain a letter of recommendation from them for their school that could be helpful. The trick about getting a PhD acceptance is not just being basically qualified in terms of coursework, grades and GRE, but also on being that one or two people chosen by that professor to supervise. If you can meet and know the people that will help you to be considered. I also think some letters from US profs could be helpful in general, it would assure other US profs that you can do the work the way it is done here; it would take away an excuse to screen you out.</p>
<p>It is very toug to get into a Ph.D. program in Math in a top 10 school BUT the good news is, you are starting out SO early and will have a chance to make yourself a competitive and viable candidate and set yourself up for that 10-year plan.</p>
<p>Learn a language–I don’t know anyone who hasn’t taken 2 years of some language in undergrad–it varies by major and college–but even those who don’t think they will need or use it must do it for their basic degree requirements.</p>
<p>Do very well on the GRE. It’s another American thing that can sometimes throw a wrench in international students’ plans. It’s very important.</p>
<p>Also, DEFINITELY spend as much time (a year? if possible!) studying abroad at the school you want to go to! </p>
<p>While you are there, make connections, talk to professors, make yourself known and heard and get your foot in the door. </p>
<p>If you make a great impression at that time–a year or so later, those professors will still remember you. And if your stats are great (GPA, GRE, LORs)–all that hard work with the networking abroad, taking the German, taking the GRE, will all pay off. </p>
<p>And you will have your dream.</p>
<p>Also, this might sound simplistic, but don’t put so much pressure on yourself right now. </p>
<p>I was once an 18-year-old with a ten-year plan who was going to finish my dissertation before 30 and get tenure before 35. </p>
<p>Now i’m an (old) 28-year-old about to <em>start</em> a phd program this fall, who took a detour to get a Masters and work and do other things. </p>
<p>it might seem like a long time right now, but you will be amazed how fast the time will fly, and just remember it’s more about the process than the finish line. </p>
<p>Most people don’t get their doctorate ‘just’ for the prestige of the Ph.D.–they do it because they love learning and are happy to be life-long students, and being in school for 8-10 years is fun for them.</p>