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Taking summer courses at target institution?

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 5:17 am
by MMDE
Two parts to this question:

1. Are you allowed to take graduate courses over the summer at a institution you are not a part of? More specifically, at a top 10 school?

2. If Q1 is deemed possible, will doing well in said course drastically increase your chances for a PhD admission?

Re: Taking summer courses at target institution?

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:24 am
by jjk23
You should see if they even offer summer graduate courses, my institution doesn't and I assumed that was pretty normal.

Re: Taking summer courses at target institution?

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:35 am
by ximonk
Most schools don't offer graduate courses in the summer. For top 10 schools I haven't heard of this before, but there may be exceptions. There are NSF summer schools over the summer for graduate students though. These are usually on very specific topics and aren't introductory per se.

Re: Taking summer courses at target institution?

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2018 12:39 am
by ximonk
To your second question, depends on what bracket of schools your applying to honestly. For top 10 schools this won't be significant in and of itself. Many students who apply to top 10 schools have taken graduate courses as an undergrad and have done well in them. You might be better off doing research and getting results that are publishable or can be presented at a conference. This would look better than an extra course to be honest. There is an undergraduate conference at Ohio state(Young Mathematicians Conference...) I believe. This is something you can look into. I would frankly start doing research this semester if its at all possible to get a head start.

Also doing research with a professor if all goes well could lead to a strong letter depending on your performance. Strong letters of recommendation speaking highly of your research potential are more important than anything else. If your letters are generic and only speak about your ability to do coursework they won't distinguish you from any other applicant. Now if you have A+ grades in a significant number of your math courses then this is less of an issue because it would indicate your the top math student in your cohort at your school. As long as the rigor of the coursework is up to part with tier 1 institution you have a good shot at any school to be honest. But again very speculative since I don't know much about you or your background. Just some general information.