Arizona State or Kansas State

[Junaid456]

Hi everyone,

I'm deciding between 2 schools, Arizona State and Kansas, as I think I am not going to get a better offers. What would be the better choice? Some general comments:

1. Arizona State seems to have a higher reputation than Kansas State. Kansas State is ranked in the 70-100 range by US News. Does this matter?

2. My interests aren't well defined as of yet, but I'd like to work in analysis (probably PDE's?). Arizona State has a small analysis group, but they also have a separate applied math program with the differential equations concentration.

3. I'd definitely like to keep my options open. For one, if I do well in the early months at the program, I could perhaps try and re-apply again and graduate with a MS degree from one of these schools. I'm also looking for a place where I can learn some applied stuff to keep my options open in the industry. All in all, I'm looking for a place where I'll have enough room to grow as a student.

4. Kansas State has offered me $17k for 9 months + $3k (potentially) for the summer. Is this reasonable to live in Manhattan, Kansas?

I'd welcome your suggestions.

[blahquaker]

the difference in reputation is negligible (3.0 vs 2.5 on the USNews scale). neither school is prestigious, but you can do good work at either school.

Kansas is really cheap. it would be easier to live on $17k in Kansas than most other places.

[djysyed]

You may also want to consider the area around the school as well. There isn't really much going on in the state of Kansas in general.

[Rise]

I would say Arizona. It's a gorgeous state and Phoenix is one of the largest cities in America, which gives you great industry options after graduation. It's also reasonably close to Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego, so all of your tourism needs are met if you or a friend have a car. Kansas is safer, and more of a small-town feel, but I doubt there's as much opportunity there as in urban Arizona.

Are you from somewhere with a hot climate? Phoenix is known for blistering temperatures. I'm from Southern California and the weather in Phoenix still makes me sweat.

[Junaid456]

You may also want to consider the area around the school as well. There isn't really much going on in the state of Kansas in general.

What do you mean by there's isn't really much going on in Kansas, in general?

[Junaid456]

I would say Arizona. It's a gorgeous state and Phoenix is one of the largest cities in America, which gives you great industry options after graduation. It's also reasonably close to Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego, so all of your tourism needs are met if you or a friend have a car. Kansas is safer, and more of a small-town feel, but I doubt there's as much opportunity there as in urban Arizona.

Are you from somewhere with a hot climate? Phoenix is known for blistering temperatures. I'm from Southern California and the weather in Phoenix still makes me sweat.

Would you have any idea about the industry options available in Kansas?

I'm an international student from South Asia. The climate here is definitely hot. The temperature soars into the 40's (Celsius!) during the summers, lol.

[Junaid456]

In addition:

1. I may get funding for Arizona State as well. The DGS said that they may have additional TAships to offer later, and I am, supposedly, 'quite competitive' for those. They generally offer $20k for 9 months, and $3-4k for a summer RAship. Good enough to live in Tempe, Arizona?

2. Arizona's biggest problem seems to be that they don't have a lot of people working in analysis and even geometry etc. See: https://math.asu.edu/research. One the other hand, Kansas State seems to be storng in these areas. See: https://www.math.ksu.edu/group/. They even do a bit of Mirror Symmetry, and send off a vibe that schools like Stony Brook send.

3. I have been admitted to the PhD programs at both these schools. Does anyone know if it's generally allowed for students to drop out only with a MS degree to, perhaps, move to a better ranked school? Would any of these schools (or all schools in general) frown it?

[blahquaker]

You may also want to consider the area around the school as well. There isn't really much going on in the state of Kansas in general.

What do you mean by there's isn't really much going on in Kansas, in general?

Manhattan is a nice little college town and would probably be a good place to live, but the rest of the state is known for being pretty boring. The area around Manhattan is mostly farmland. If you're interested in music, art, professional sports, etc. you'll probably have to drive to Lawrence or Kansas City (100 miles away).

As for industry, the Kansas City area is good, but the rest of the state is either stagnant or dying.

[Tianma799]

In addition:

1. I may get funding for Arizona State as well. The DGS said that they may have additional TAships to offer later, and I am, supposedly, 'quite competitive' for those. They generally offer $20k for 9 months, and $3-4k for a summer RAship. Good enough to live in Tempe, Arizona?

2. Arizona's biggest problem seems to be that they don't have a lot of people working in analysis and even geometry etc. See: https://math.asu.edu/research. One the other hand, Kansas State seems to be storng in these areas. See: https://www.math.ksu.edu/group/. They even do a bit of Mirror Symmetry, and send off a vibe that schools like Stony Brook send.

3. I have been admitted to the PhD programs at both these schools. Does anyone know if it's generally allowed for students to drop out only with a MS degree to, perhaps, move to a better ranked school? Would any of these schools (or all schools in general) frown it?

Um....I think asu has quite a few of people doing analysis, did I miss something? You might want to look at what courses they offer, this might help too. Also the research group being large doesn't necessary indicate that the research group is strong.

[Junaid456]

In addition:

1. I may get funding for Arizona State as well. The DGS said that they may have additional TAships to offer later, and I am, supposedly, 'quite competitive' for those. They generally offer $20k for 9 months, and $3-4k for a summer RAship. Good enough to live in Tempe, Arizona?

2. Arizona's biggest problem seems to be that they don't have a lot of people working in analysis and even geometry etc. See: https://math.asu.edu/research. One the other hand, Kansas State seems to be storng in these areas. See: https://www.math.ksu.edu/group/. They even do a bit of Mirror Symmetry, and send off a vibe that schools like Stony Brook send.

3. I have been admitted to the PhD programs at both these schools. Does anyone know if it's generally allowed for students to drop out only with a MS degree to, perhaps, move to a better ranked school? Would any of these schools (or all schools in general) frown it?

Um....I think asu has quite a few of people doing analysis, did I miss something? You might want to look at what courses they offer, this might help too. Also the research group being large doesn't necessary indicate that the research group is strong.

Arizona State makes the students take 2 courses in Discrete Mathematics: Combinatorics and Graph Theory. I'm not really looking forward to that. Anyway, I'll look into their course offerings in more detail. I guess I'm not in a position to intelligently and accurately assess the strengths of the research programs at these schools, so if anyone has else some feedback, please do share.