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Getting into grad school with an online B.A

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 2:26 pm
by MCBerube
Hey everyone,

I found this forum a few days ago, and browsing it has been very informative. I would like to ask the community here for some advice regarding my situation. I am currently getting my B.A in Mathematics 100% online, from a regionally accredited institution. I will graduate around May 2016, and will be discharged from the military the following year. I hope to apply to a PhD program in Mathematics when I am out of the military. I won't really have any research experience and my LoR's will probably be weak due to not having any face to face interaction with my instructors. Do you guys think that I should apply to an on campus master's program before applying to PhD programs? I would prefer not to go that route, but I want to get into a decent school. Decent in my opinion, would be like top 60-ish. I was looking at Virginia Tech and Dartmouth as my top choices.

Re: Getting into grad school with an online B.A

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 5:34 pm
by Kilgore_Trout
With your unusual background, I would say either you have to do amazing on the Math GRE(>80%) or do a masters.

Re: Getting into grad school with an online B.A

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:37 pm
by MCBerube
Thanks for the reply, I fear that is probably the case.......

Re: Getting into grad school with an online B.A

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:22 pm
by MathCat
I think you should aim for a Masters first - you will probably not be able to get into a good PhD program with shaky LORs and an online degree even if you do great on the GRE. A Masters from an okay school would probably help a lot if you get good LORs.

Re: Getting into grad school with an online B.A

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:56 am
by MCBerube
Hey MathCat. What I like about v.tech is that all accepted applicants are initially placed into their masters program and are later granted permission to enter the PhD program based on their performance in the masters. I think this sounds like an ideal program for me but I'm not sure I'd get accepted into their masters. My GPA is high but that's not really my issue haha.