If you want a doctorate in math you don’t need a recommendation from a history professor. Which is why I’m suggesting that you speak with the department chair or a Dean or an advisor ASAP so you aren’t wasting time on things that aren’t required…
4 Likes
Yes. I did. But I have one lor waiting for me to apply.
What I mean is…did you ever talk to your department people in undergrad about graduate schools, options, etc?
I think it was discussed with my Capstone and Python retake professor. She had given me some suggestions to schools I should look into in NC. NC State and Davidson were thrown out there.
But if I go the Masters route, what about that?
You need to research the requirements for the masters program you are interested in.
Also keep in mind that a masters in math might expect you to enter with a solid foundation in math from undergrad. The degree is not intended to fill in the missing gaps. I just read what is listed for my daughter’s school and it is expected that students enter with a strong math background (you mentioned there is more math that you need to understand).
I would do some research on requirements, maybe you can make up classes first, etc.
1 Like
It sounds like my odds aren’t good.
I am aware I need at least three letters, and I need to submit my transcript. Yes those I knew. Getting other math professors besides one, taking the GRE in some cases, and applying are the other requirements.
I am planning Pure Math.
I did get an invitation from Wake to apply in Business Analytics. But can you go from Math to that? My resume which they accessed still had CS as a major.
Can Handshake help with this?
Somebody else is better prepared to answer this.
@thumper1 mentioned this, but I wanted to reiterate that Career Centers at undergrad institutions will sometimes work with alums to help them find opportunities that align with their training, skills, and interests. (It’s in their interest to help alums succeed!) You might reach out to them to see if they have any sort of alumni support resource. Between grad school and industry work, though, it seems like reaching out to people at your undergrad might be your best “next step”.
2 Likes
Davidson does not have graduate programs. It is a liberal arts school for students pursuing Bachelor’s.
4 Likes
OP- you NEED to get educated on grad school! Arrange a meeting with ANY professor, dean or advisor at your college who will read your email.
If you are interested in Topology for example-- it doesn’t matter if the school is “a bit selective”. You’ll have a short list of actual professors you want to study with, who may or may not be teaching at colleges that you think are selective. But if they are working in the field you want to be in- that’s who you’ll want to work with.
Business Analytics is about as far away from Pure Math as any quant field can be. So if you want a Master’s in Business Analytics, that’s a completely different animal than pure math, and would possibly involve a different set of professors to write your recommendations.
You are casting around randomly here (and as a math person you understand random!) It’s not going to help you devise the right strategy for your future and your career.
5 Likes
If real analysis was your weakest subject, why not consider applied math or operations research as a potential major going forward? AI or machine learning might provide other options.
I think that you can apply in any area where you have the background, regardless of what your degree says. If you took the courses as an undergraduate and did well in them, and you have a bachelor’s degree, then you should be okay. My understanding is that there is a lot of math in business analytics.
Operations Research is math-heavy, but does have some overlap with computer science and having some CS background will be helpful. The same might be true for AI.
My personal experience would tend to suggest that a long string of A’s will help your application, but a single bad grade in one class will not necessarily stop you from succeeding and going forward with graduate work. It is relatively common for students to just not “click” in one class for any of a wide range of reasons. Similarly bad grades in a small number of classes unrelated to a major does not seem to be a big problem. However, graduate admissions can be quite hard to predict. If you have a 3.708 with one C+ then you must have quite a few A’s to balance out that C+.
I was a math major as an undergrad, and of course knew multiple other math majors. They went into a relatively wide range of fields for graduate work. One got a graduate degree in acoustics. He showed me his work one day and there is a lot of math involved in making your car quiet or making a concert hall have consistent sound quality in all seats. Another went to law school. More recently I had a tour of a radio-telescope and got to discuss their use of math to analyze data. Similarly aligning the beam in a cyclotron uses a lot of math. A combination of mathematics and computer science can be used in quite a few different ways.
3 Likes
Advice from a person with BS in Math… If you had a trouble with Real Alaysis, I am not sure PhD in Math is a good idea…
For PhD people usually research is first and teaching is secondary…
Also you theoretically can teach in Community College with Masters…
2 Likes
OP:
a PhD is research primarily, but yet you say that you aren’t much interested in research. B
You are 42, so applying next fall means you will be 43. A PhD is 5-7 years, so you will be 50 looking for an academic research job, competing with 30-year olds who have published research and a reasonable chance of tenure. Even liberal arts schools like Davidson require faculty to conduct research/obtain grants. The odds are really against this idea.
I agree with the above poster: a rec from history is of no value to a math program. You really need to go back to yoru undergrad Dept Chair. Offer to buy him/her a cofffee. (I know of no faculty who would blow off a recent alum for a 15-20 minute intro meeting seeking career advice, particularly if you are buying.). Or, what about your capstone reader? What about the M.A. program at your undergrad Uni? (U-South Carolina Gamecocks?)
btw: Acadmia is prestige-focused, so you want/ need to get into the highest ranked school that you can. (They also tend to have the most money to support their grad students.)
5 Likes
Real Analysis was not applied related class, it was to do with pure Math because it was all done on paper and in writing. It was a proof writing class.
I may be 42 but I’m very focused. I didn’t think there would be too much ageism with academia because there are plenty of 70 year old professors. A phD I thought takes about two years? There’s a guy who graduated in 2018 that was already a professor at the same university by 2022.
No, I went to Francis Marion. I am a USC fan, though lately I have not been following cfb.
I am planning to take RA in grad school because I really want to understand it better. There were limited resources at this university, which is a liberal arts school. I also was crushed for time taking five tedious classes which kept me from delving deep into the work. I studied very well and learned very well when there was enough time to study. I do believe I can learn it better but I need the resources to understand it better.
A PhD is longer than 2 years.
4 Likes
The 3.708 only applies to the major related classes. That is 36 credits. Almost everything else is an A. I have 154 credits.