/gsg/: Grad school general

mention that you are a girl

It can never hurt to shoot an email, the worst they can do is not reply. Luckily all professors are autistic when it comes to their field/research, so it's basically guaranteed that they'll want to talk to you about it.

Bring up relevant research experience and how that experience and others have lead you to become a better researcher/scientist. You don't have to say cringe shit like you mentioned, but it is a good idea to reveal how you found your passion and how you came to understand the field; this should be a self-examanation of your intellectual progression to demonstrate self-awareness, there's room for emotion but it should be primarily rational.
Writing in such a manner that you have your own voice (that isnt retarded) is difficult without experience, but doable. If you don't have much intensive/critical writing experience, I'd suggest speaking to your professors for critique.

I'm on my third year out of four at a UK uni, so I'm doing an integrated master in pure maths. I need to start looking into applying for a PhD soon, so what can I realistically do to improve my chances for getting a position?

Undergraduate research in pure math is pretty much out of the question, and it's not like I can go back and participate in the Olympiads or anything.

Also, is it impossibly hard to get into top institutions?

>Undergraduate research in pure math is pretty much out of the question
Why? Ask for a study thesis for some credit points, not money

I'm pretty sure I have or will be able to acquire remotely enough knowledge to do even any research

Tailor it to the university. research a few of the professors who do stuff you are interested in and mention that work and why you find it iteresting.

Good advice too.

Bump

The Putnam may give you some brownie points.

This forum has profiles of math PhD applicants dating back to 2010 to give you a sense of who you're competing against.

mathematicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3518&sid=a04b0a8b294956892b82c729e598dbf9

I have a shitty overall GPA, an alright last two years GPA (around 3.5), haven't taken the GRE yet, but have 5 years of field research under my belt and an authorship on a paper. Will the GRE help make up for my shitty grades, in addition to all my experience?

brainlet here, but isn't it borderline fraud to use the grant money for another purpose?

Research experience and letters of Rec are everything.

Gpa > 3.5 is ideal, but it pales in comparison to other factors.

Second this. Research experience, publication record (if applicable), and letters of recommendation are the most important factors, followed by statement of purpose and/or personal statement, followed by GPA and GRE.

Page 10 bump

GPA is basically a filter to keep out the riff raff. If your other qualifications are golden, all you really need is a 3.0 to beat the filters, although the higher the better of course.

>I'm pretty sure
Who have you asked about it? Other than Veeky Forums that is.

depends on field and grad school. some programs will value it more or less than others.

Idk, I feel like im not capable of doing research as someone with barely introductory knowledge

everyone starts somewhere

>Getting your pH.d at a boom boom college

How do I get into MIT Stanford Berkeley for a PhD in EE? Should I take a minimum courseload and just spend most of my time on research every semester?

Also, does anyone have relevant anecdotes or data on which fields or areas are more competitive in general? I know software side and buzzwords like ML and AI are by far the most saturated and competitive.

How much knowledge do you need in your chosen area before you make a PhD application? Are you supposed to have the thesis planned out beforehand, or just a list of areas you find interesting?

how poor are people who go into academia really? I can live frugally but I don't want to be destitute

How do i put in my personal statement that i have a paper/authorship coming even if i dont have the paper,published yet? Like its been submitted but not published yet

I want to go into Biomechanics. I started off doing 3 years undergrad in a Physics track, got super discouraged when I got to solid state and QM stuff and changed majors. By the end of my Physics stuff I was barely at a 3.0.
I've since transferred and changed to Kinesiology and have been doing some math/engineering/cs stuff with it, and have a 4.0 in the major and 3.97gpa for the school; but a 3.2 overall due to my previous work.
I've managed to get a research position though, so I'm hopeful. Any suggestions on how to make yourself more desireable on an application?

Definitely the latter. Preferable to have research experience in your area of interest before applying.

A graduate stipend is enough for an individual to live comfortably, but not enough to sustain large purchases (car, house) or to start a family.

Any computer science undergrads that got their graduate degree in something else?

I am Freshman Undergrad and am in a lab doing. What should be some of my goals in research if I want to get into top grad school? Like how many papers published or when I should I have a first-author paper published by?

A first author paper is a lofty goal for undergrad. If you're dead set on it, it's still early enough to start an undergraduate thesis. Best thing you can do for yourself now is to find a mentor/PI that will both challenge you and support your goals. Also learn to read peer reviewed articles in your field and identify the ones that interest and stick out to you. Keeping on top of the newest developments in your chosen field is really important, I'd do more reading in undergrad if I could go back and do it again.

I've been able to grow my savings decently since I started 1.25 years ago. However I know people who went into grad school in the northeast and had to take out loans to survive. I go to grad school in the south and know plenty of (Mormon) students who have started families on their stipend and seem ok.

I'm feeling philanthropic and am pretty good at editing, if you want my throwaway email I could check it out for ya, I just finished my statement for the NSF GFRP.

Thanks user, really appreciate it. Any others with advice/opinions to share?

Yeah of course. It's an exciting and interesting time to be in science. What branch are you in/thinking of continuing on in? I started grad school in biology last year and just put in an NSF fellowship application in. Both not only wanted a research statement, which it seems like you're well on your way to having a strong one, but the personal statement is also important. Being female/black/poor growing up gets you way far (if you're any of those), but you should still do community and science outreach stuff to be well rounded regardless. See if there's any ways you can tutor, do after school science programs, host science fairs, etc., for underprivileged kids, and also find leadership stuff to take part in, like start or hold a position in a club at your university.

The research I am working on is more computational physics with modeling some processes in medicine, so like biophysics. Pretty interesting stuff and I enjoy it too.

I'm not one of those groups, but thanks for pointing out the personal statement part. I should begin thinking what theme I want mine to have, so I don't end up bullshitting and regretting that I didn't do anything noteworthy when applying to grad school.

my bad, sorry

>NSF Fellowship
Also, good luck with that! Hope you get it user!

Thanks! :D

Is academia a meme? My professors make less money than plumbers.

>Definitely the latter.
That's a relief. Most advice I read online says you need a clear explanation about how exactly you will contribute to the field. I guess that advice is better suited to non-stem degrees where it's easier to be vague(?)

>Preferable to have research experience in your area of interest before applying.
Would an undergraduate dissertation count as good experience, or do you mean something more substantial?

I'm trying to throw together a mock research proposal by next Wednesday to show some potential supervisors. Any advice is welcome

>Most advice I read online says you need a clear explanation about how exactly you will contribute to the field.
Understand that as a graduate student, you work on what your prof wants you to work on, which is what the lab has funding for. Thus identifying a lab or a professor doing work in an area you're interested in is sufficient.

>Would an undergraduate dissertation count as good experience, or do you mean something more substantial?
A dissertation is fine, however assuming it's done in your senior year and most applications are due Dec. 15, will you have done enough by then to write about in your SOP? A publication would definitely be more substantial but isn't a deal breaker unless you're trying to get into a competitive field and/or a competitive school (machine learning at MIT for example)

>I'm trying to throw together a mock research proposal by next Wednesday to show some potential supervisors. Any advice is welcome
Potential supervisors for your dissertation or for grad school? Sorry, I'm not clear on what you mean.

Thanks for the responses man, you're helpful as fuck.

>will you have done enough by then to write about in your SOP?
I'm a graduate student (MSc), so I finished my undergraduate dissertation last academic year. I will begin a graduate dissertation this year, but it's too early for me to put much weight on it in the application.

>Potential supervisors for your dissertation or for grad school?
A supervisor for grad school. Most universities suggest you contact and have (unofficial) confirmation that some prof is interested in supervising you.

What kind of job? PhD or postdoc?

For PhD, at least in europe, it is done by contact. No idea how it works in USA.

For Postdoc, just write you already did, but with a general introduction that can be read by anyone at the physics department, then go hard. Finish by writing "proposed research", i.e., what you are doing right now. Finally, it won't matter any of it, because your contacts will be all that matters.

That's how theoretical physics works. At least high energy physics, where the money is not enough for everyone.

my bad, it looks like the question was for a PhD research statement.

what I did was to target two big groups, CM and HEP/gravity. Talk about my previous experience and publication record, pointing out why I want to change (or keep, if that's your case) your research field. What's in common between what I did and what I expect to do. Finally, why that institution is so great and why I think that their research/people will suit mine/my interests.