What schools should I aim for? (Pure math grad)

Graduate School
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I am currently a student at UCLA with two more years to go. I am thinking into going to math graduate school, however, I dont really know where I should apply to (I've seen super smart/good students who got rejected from top schools). Here are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.87
Experience: REU and one publication came out of it.
Course work:</p>

<p>Analysis I,II, III honors.
Probability I,II and stochastic processes.
Linear Algebra I, II honors.
Complex analysis.
Combinatorics.
Problem Solving. </p>

<p>Along with all the lower division courses. I am going to start taking grad courses this year, I plan to take the algebra honors sequence, grad combinatorics, number theory, and perhaps grad logic. My last year will be completely grad work (algebra, analysis, and something else). I also plan to do another REU next summer. I will be looking to graduate with a 3.9 GPA (roughly), 13 grad courses or so, 2 REU, and most likely some good letters of REC. </p>

<p>I was thinking to apply to the schools in the 10-25 ranking range (I dont know if that is too ambitious or if Im cutting myself short). </p>

<p>I can also write a really good personal statement since I was homeless while going to college for a bit. :P</p>

2

<p>It will <em>all</em> come down to your letters of recommendation. I have a few friends with formal qualifications roughly like yours (your predicted ones, I mean). They are now graduate students at MIT, Berkeley, Yale, UCLA, the University of Maryland, Duke and Washington University in St Louis. </p>

<p>Your professors will be able to give you more concrete advice towards the end of your junior or early senior year. It’s generally a good idea to apply to a wide range of schools because surprises do happen - both positive and negative ones.</p>

<p>

Glad to hear that you are doing well now! Just be careful to keep your personal statement on topic. Grad admission committees don’t really want to hear your life story unless it’s relevant to your graduate career.</p>

3

<p>Oh, and do take the Math Subject GRE seriously. Some of the top programs won’t even read your application with a score below the 80th percentile.</p>