grad schools— the final list!
Only a few people will care, but it’s an important fact that I’m one of them :). Here is my final list of graduate schools to apply to:
- Caltech
- Stanford
- University of California at Berkeley
- University of Maryland
- University of Washington at St. Louis
- University of Houston
The first three on based on considerations of where I want to be– architectural and climactic considerations–, as well as my academic interests— mostly functional analysis– while the last three are purely based on my academic interests.
Also, I just applied for the CalTech GradPreview program, and I’m feeling good about getting it, so maybe in November I’ll be spending 4 days on their campus, seeing what it’s like.
Tomorrow, I’ll start applying in earnest, and I’ll sign up for the general and math subject GREs. I’ve decided to go down the list, in order. I also need to make a similar list of fellowships, so I can get cracking on that front.
Possibly relevant posts:
- Life Plans (5/29/2004)
- NRC Rankings (12/25/2004)
- Travel reading (7/21/2007)
I see you like California.
Oh, and here’s my final list (if you care), in order of preference
University of Chicago
Princeton
UC Berkeley (yay, we share one!)
Rice
UT
Why not A&M— don’t Aggies burst into flames if they attend UT? And why Rice? I was going to apply to U Chicago, because I heard good things about it from other students, but then Papadakis (the prof I’m working with) told me their program is getting old and possibly stagnant.
Yes, I like California. Have you ever been? It’s like a world unto itself. I love the weather, at least the places I was (Bay Area, and Lawrence Livermore), and the ambience. It’s laid-back, exceedingly liberal, sunny, and has some of the best schools in the nation. What’s not to like?
I’ve been told it’s generally not good to remain at one school because insularity is a natural consequence, no matter how sedulous one is in preventing it. UT and Rice are the two logical choices in Texas other than A&M. Rice has a nice condensed matter/plasma physics program which I don’t care much for, but it’s in Houston which I like. UT is decent at almost everything in Physics (Weinberg is the wildcard; if I were guaranteed to be his graduate student somehow, I would choose UT over everything).
The University of Chicago is THE place right now for astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental physics. I considered Caltech and I’ve been told it’s rather stagnant with regard to fundamental physics (it’s great for applied physics, though).
I’ve been to California plenty of times, but it’s nothing compared to the beauty of Oregon or Washington (apply to Reed!). California is a great state and I didn’t mean to give you the impression that I dislike it–I was just observing that 50% of your choices are in California.
If I were you and wanted a PhD in Math, I would apply to:
Princeton
Waterloo
Stanford
UC Berkeley
Rice
A&M
UT
Princeton is probably the best place for Math or Physics. The smartest people I’ve met are from Princeton (probably a biased sample since A&M has a disproportionately high number of faculty from Princeton for some reason). You like functional analysis — try and be Debauchies’ graduate student at Princeton.
Daubechies is at Princeton? Maybe I will apply there, even though it’s off in the cold and architecturally depressing northeast. Incidentally, why do you know who Daubechies is? If you know of her, you might also know Benedetto– the fact that he’s at UMD, along with the new Norbert Weiner center– is why I’m applying there.
I have thought about applying to Waterloo, because not only do they have a good functional analysis program, they also have a great computer algebra program, which I’m also interested in. But I don’t want to deal with the hassles of funding an out of the country education, much more deal with the climate in Canada.
Why Rice?
A&M does have a pretty good analysis program, and the summer I spent there I worked with Dr. Larson, who does a lot of things I’m interested in, but I’m not sure I want to live out in cow country for the next 4 years of my life. I’ve had enough of Texas for now. I should probably add it to my list though.
UT is great in topology, apparently, but that’s hardly one of my main focuses— I haven’t heard much else about it, and why pursue it? I’ve already got so many schools to apply to.
Good luck!
Well you seem to have done your homework. As you surely know, the most important factor is having 1 or more people you would like to have as an advisor. Personality is as important as matching research interests. Talk to their current students. You will be putting your academic life in this person’s hands.
In CS, they care a great deal about your previous research experiences, and your statement of interests. If you seem to have a clear idea of what you want, that helps quite a bit. Also if you have previous publications, that counts for a lot.
Recommendations also count for a great deal. If the people are (1)Famous (2)Have worked with you on research projects and (3)Have nice things to say, well thats just peachy. But its better to have a less famous person who worked with you on research and will say nice things than a more famous person who will just say “Alex took a class with me. He was OK.”
Grades and GRE matter, but not as much as the other factors.
I can’t comment on your specific choices, since I am not sure what you are interested in, and I don’t know that much about math departments, but they seem pretty good.
Better start asking for recommendations now, they usually take the most time to get.
Erm…once again good luck. I recall going through the same process 4 years ago. Can’t believe it was so long ago.