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Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 7:34 am
by Transcendent
Undergrad Institution: Foreign (Iran)
Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Minor(s): Telecommunications
GPA: 3.08/4.00
Type of Student: International male

GRE Revised General Test:
Q: 164 (87%)
V: 152 (55%)
W: 4.0 (59%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: 830 (86%)

TOEFL Score: (99 = R28/L28/S22/W21)

Program Applying: Pure Math/Applied Math PhD/Master

Research Experience: None
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutoring mathematics and physics to high school students for 2 years

Applying to:

Reach
Georgia Tech
Toronto

Realistic
Michigan state

Safety
Kansas University
???

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 7:37 am
by Transcendent
Can you please tell me how are my chances, considering my conditions? Additionally, can you suggest me a safety university from Canada? Generally any advice is appreciated!

P.S. Does University of Toronto grant TA fund?

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 12:52 am
by verysweetjuices
You are definitely overqualified for any Canadian school you apply for. Canada's best schools are the University of Toronto, McGill, and UBC in that order. Waterloo is another good bet. I recommend you apply to all of them. Your GPA is a bit low but your GRE score is high... explain that in your statement. They all have fully (or almost fully, sometimes, for international students) Master's programs. Note: A PhD requires a Master's degree in Canada. Also, there are two options at most universities: a 1 year master's project or a 2 year thesis. U of T has phased out the 2 year thesis and only offers the 1 year MSc now.

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 5:41 am
by MathCat
Waterloo is also a 1 year program now too. Being an international student with a fairly low (I would say it's more than "a bit" low) GPA, I actually don't think you have a great chance of getting into Toronto - spots for international students are pretty limited (I believe when I visited, they told me they only were taking 10 international students that year), and 3.0GPA is the minimum. If you have great letters or research experience it is possible, but your GPA and lack of math bachelors will hurt you. It would definitely be worth mentioning your subject test score to show you do know some math, but in general Canadian schools do not care about GRE scores (with a few exceptions, such as SFU). There's not even a place to enter them in most applications. I don't know why the previous poster thinks you are overqualified for any Canadian university. Perhaps they can explain their view.

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 3:59 pm
by MathCat
Transcendent wrote:P.S. Does University of Toronto grant TA fund?
Yes. I believe their standard funding package is $17.5k/academic year TAship, tuition waived. It's pretty low for living in Toronto, especially given the housing market currently.

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 10:52 pm
by verysweetjuices
MathCat wrote:Waterloo is also a 1 year program now too. Being an international student with a fairly low (I would say it's more than "a bit" low) GPA, I actually don't think you have a great chance of getting into Toronto - spots for international students are pretty limited (I believe when I visited, they told me they only were taking 10 international students that year), and 3.0GPA is the minimum. If you have great letters or research experience it is possible, but your GPA and lack of math bachelors will hurt you. It would definitely be worth mentioning your subject test score to show you do know some math, but in general Canadian schools do not care about GRE scores (with a few exceptions, such as SFU). There's not even a place to enter them in most applications. I don't know why the previous poster thinks you are overqualified for any Canadian university. Perhaps they can explain their view.
As a Canadian, I can tell you that Canadian schools aren't hard to get into. The minimum requirement is a B+ in your last year of courses.
We don't care about the GRE for domestic applicants, but a lot of schools recommend them for international applicants. Based on those, and considering the stock they draw on, I'd say he was overqualified on that math subject test alone.

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:18 am
by MathCat
verysweetjuices wrote:
MathCat wrote:Waterloo is also a 1 year program now too. Being an international student with a fairly low (I would say it's more than "a bit" low) GPA, I actually don't think you have a great chance of getting into Toronto - spots for international students are pretty limited (I believe when I visited, they told me they only were taking 10 international students that year), and 3.0GPA is the minimum. If you have great letters or research experience it is possible, but your GPA and lack of math bachelors will hurt you. It would definitely be worth mentioning your subject test score to show you do know some math, but in general Canadian schools do not care about GRE scores (with a few exceptions, such as SFU). There's not even a place to enter them in most applications. I don't know why the previous poster thinks you are overqualified for any Canadian university. Perhaps they can explain their view.
As a Canadian, I can tell you that Canadian schools aren't hard to get into. The minimum requirement is a B+ in your last year of courses.
We don't care about the GRE for domestic applicants, but a lot of schools recommend them for international applicants. Based on those, and considering the stock they draw on, I'd say he was overqualified on that math subject test alone.
I am also a Canadian. Minimum requirements are different from what will actually get you in, and having a low GPA and no math degree are definitely going to hurt him. There are definitely schools that will accept almost anybody in Canada, but then you have to wonder if it's worth going.

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 11:16 pm
by verysweetjuices
MathCat wrote:
verysweetjuices wrote:
MathCat wrote:Waterloo is also a 1 year program now too. Being an international student with a fairly low (I would say it's more than "a bit" low) GPA, I actually don't think you have a great chance of getting into Toronto - spots for international students are pretty limited (I believe when I visited, they told me they only were taking 10 international students that year), and 3.0GPA is the minimum. If you have great letters or research experience it is possible, but your GPA and lack of math bachelors will hurt you. It would definitely be worth mentioning your subject test score to show you do know some math, but in general Canadian schools do not care about GRE scores (with a few exceptions, such as SFU). There's not even a place to enter them in most applications. I don't know why the previous poster thinks you are overqualified for any Canadian university. Perhaps they can explain their view.
As a Canadian, I can tell you that Canadian schools aren't hard to get into. The minimum requirement is a B+ in your last year of courses.
We don't care about the GRE for domestic applicants, but a lot of schools recommend them for international applicants. Based on those, and considering the stock they draw on, I'd say he was overqualified on that math subject test alone.
I am also a Canadian. Minimum requirements are different from what will actually get you in, and having a low GPA and no math degree are definitely going to hurt him. There are definitely schools that will accept almost anybody in Canada, but then you have to wonder if it's worth going.
I'd say even U of T accepts almost anybody. It seems we disagree about this guy but to each a zone.

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:41 am
by Transcendent
Thanks for the replies. I decided to apply to SFU. But it's application fee is 125$! And they say: SFU has a very limited number of Major Entrance Scholarships for exceptional students, valued at $18,000 for a one-year period. https://www.sfu.ca/math/graduate/admiss ... ninfo.html

What does it mean? I have low chances of getting funded?

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 3:31 pm
by verysweetjuices
Transcendent wrote:Thanks for the replies. I decided to apply to SFU. But it's application fee is 125$! And they say: SFU has a very limited number of Major Entrance Scholarships for exceptional students, valued at $18,000 for a one-year period. https://www.sfu.ca/math/graduate/admiss ... ninfo.html

What does it mean? I have low chances of getting funded?
Not a bad choice. That's our best primarily undergraduate university I think.

Re: Any feedback on my choices?

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:04 pm
by MathCat
$125 is the high side of normal for application fees, but not that outrageous. Toronto's is (or was) $100.

I would consider SFU to be a good school, but not among the top 3-5 schools in Canada (I would roughly estimate the top 3-5 schools to be comparable to ~top 20-40 schools in the US) for math in general. However, for graduate school, what area of math you are interested in obviously matters: perhaps it is a great choice for your interests. We can't know since you haven't said what your interests are.

As for the SFU funding, see this page: https://www.sfu.ca/math/graduate/financial-support.html. They guarantee $18,000 for all masters students. I believe the awards mentioned are likely fellowship style, so you don't have to TA/RA for your funding, while most students do.

I think verysweetjuices is overestimating the weight your mGRE score will have on applications. I think GPA and letters of recommendation matter far more. We seem to disagree on many aspects of what Canadian schools are looking for in applicants, so take this as you will. It will probably help to show that you have some familiarity with whatever your field of interest is (not expected to be known in great deal for a MSc, but you should have some exposure at least), especially since you are coming from a non-math background.