Graduate Admission into MIT

anonamous
Fri, 30 May 2008 02:54:16 +0000

Science/Commerce is 3 years in Sydney? In melbourne its 5 years (6 if you wanna get science honours)…

I would say that the problems in the SUMS are actually “harder” than those of Putnam or IMC. However, there is no time constraint, which means that you can take a few months to complete a few problems then submit it. That said, I found it to be of a differently style to the Olympiad problems; I found the SUMS problems more “fun” because the problem varies alot, whereas the Olympiads problems can simply be catagorised and there are specific techniques to solve each type (although a small degree of creativity is still required). I don’t think that you should worry if the SUMS is recognised in the US. The main reason to pursue this should be to impress the faculty at USyd, so you would be recognised as one of the stars of the department, hence getting excellent recommendations. However, if you really are interested in Putnam just for the fun of it then I suppose you could go on an exchange/study abroad program to the US and I assume that you would then be eligible to compete in Putnam.

Btw, I have noticed that in the past, successful applicants into top maths phd programs (MIT, harvard, cambridge, etc…) from australia usually have average marks in the 90-95 range (of course once every few years theres a crazy person getting 96+ average). This mark should place you in the top 3 students in the department. If you can’t get 90+ average marks then I would say that MIT is out of your league. Sorry, but MIT is harsh, it wants only the best of the best.

I myself have referred to the MIT OCW many times, and I would argue that the lectures go at roughly the same pace as in USyd & UMelb. However, the difference is that there are alot more assignments/projects, of which also have harder questions. Basically, I gather that MIT wants their students to think beyond what is required for the subject. So if you take you time to study beyond the subject (maybe via doing the assignments from OCW) you would effectively be getting an MIT education, but of course without the prestigious degree and without the benefits of having very smart classmates.

Basically I would say that you should just aim to get the highest mark possible and probably submit solutions to a few questions in the SUMS. The Vacation Scholarship will probably help you to get good recommendations, but since you are in your first year there is no rush; a good time to start would probably be in your 3rd year, although you can start earlier if you get genuinely interested.