frankdux

[frankdux]

Thanks for your help, but one question: How do I get involved in research without being a student?

[frankdux]

Hello Mr or Mrs admissions expert,

I have a question for you.

my stats:

BS in math with a minor in astronomy from Indiana University
GPA 3.67 (graduated in may of ’02)

MST in math education from University of Illinois at Chicago
GPA 3.64 (graduated in dec of ’06)

after my masters i also taught EFL in japan on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program for one year.

i have no research experience.

GRE General
800 Q
480 V
4.5 AW

GRE Math Subject
i took it a week ago and felt i did rather poorly. I only had time to do about 40 or 42 of 66 questions. I am a rather slow test taker and honestly wonder if i might have some sort of disorder. (thankfully only 4 of 10 programs i’m looking at require it)

anyways, towards the end of my masters in math education i realized i wanted to continue on with my study of math with the goal of being a professor so that i may do research in overlapping areas of math and astronomy/physics and to continue teaching, but at the college level. i’m wondering if this list of schools is a reasonable list of schools to apply to given my stats:

4 schools requiring GRE subject test:

Notre Dame – math
North Carolina State – math
UC Davis – applied math
UC San Diego – math

no GRE subject test required for the rest:

Univ of Arizona – applied math
Univ of Colorado – applied math
Univ of Iowa – applied math
Univ of Florida – math

definite ‘reach’ schools:

Univ of Western Ontario – applied math
UT Austin – applied math

i’m concerned i dont really have any ‘safety’ schools though. I don’t know. is this a reasonable list of schools? do you think i have decent odds at getting accepted to at least one of these schools?

[frankdux]

on a related note: Shaquille O’neal ‘earned’ an MBA from the university of phoenix []

[frankdux]

To Hmacneill

I was wondering if I could get some advice.

my qualifications:

B.S. Indiana University
Major: Math, Minor: Astronomy/Astrophyics
GPA: 3.67

M.S.T. University of Illinois at Chicago
(masters in math education for teaching high school math which includes some graduate level mathematics and a teaching certification)
this was a 74 credit program and i graduated with 102 credits including a few extra independent study math courses and some extra non-degree related courses for my own interest.
GPA: 3.64

GRE
Quant: 800 []
Verbal: 480 []
Analytical: 4.5

I just finished my masters in december but towards the end of that degree while I was taking a couple of independent study graduate level math courses I realized that I really wanted to become a professor instead of a high school teacher. I love the idea of being able to do research AND teach as a job. This is why I wish to return to school in the fall of 2008 for a Ph.D. I also know what I am interested in studying: Applied mathematics with applications towards astronomy and the planetary sciences and/or Mathematical Physics.

The school that is at the top of my list is the University of Arizona and their Applied Mathematics program. Others schools i’m interested in include: University of Washington (applied math), UC Davis (applied), UC San Diego (math).

questions:

1. do you think i have a reasonable shot at these schools?

2. does already having a masters degree in an only somewhat related field help or hurt me?

3. inbetween this summer and the fall of 2008 (when i would hope to begin) I will be teaching english in a japanese high school in japan for a year through the JET program (www.jetprogramme.org). Would mentioning this on an application and/or incorporating it in my letter of intent be a positive? (teaching in japan has been something i’ve wanted to do for years and I even took 2 years of japanese in grad school even though it was not necessary at all)

4. when a school says the GRE math subject test is optional, under
what circumstances would it be in my best interest to take it? (the assistant to the director of the applied math program at Arizona said most grad students had not taken the math subject test – how do i interpret this?)

5. If i do take the gre math subject test would you happen to have a good idea what would be the minimum “good” score to get to be worth reporting to the schools I apply to?

6. For my letters of recommendation, I can get 2 letters from the 2 professors that I did independent studies with. But for the 3rd letter I was thinking of asking my program advisor who is also a lecturer. I’ve had her for two classes and I know her and she knows me better than anyone at my school. my only concern is that 1. she’s not a ph.d. and 2. she has been my teacher for math EDUCATION classes and not pure math classes. but still, she knows me and my academic work ethic greater than any other math teacher i’ve had. should i go ahead and get a letter from her or find a math professor i’ve had who hopefully remembers me? (the two professors already writing for me have ph.d’s from harvard and princeton)

Thanks for all your help!

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