Statement of Purpose

[runnnincircles]

I am applying to Mathematics Graduate programs for next fall and I need to come up with a statment of purpose but I'm not sure what a statment of purpose is supposed to look like. The instructions are fairly vague. Does anyone know where I might be able to read an example of one? It would be especially helpful if it were for a Math PHD program, but

Comments

[tisiphone]

I'd suggest starting reading back in this community, we get dozens of them every application season posted for comment. (There's probably a "mathematics" tag that will show you math-specific ones). Be sure to read the comments, too, since that will give you an idea of what to do and not to do.

blunt advice

[brittdreams]

Wait a year to apply. Your April scores won't reach programs until May, long after decisions have already been made. If you don't have a clue what a SOP should look like one month before deadlines, you're probably wasting your money by applying.

Re: blunt advice

[tisiphone]

Or drastically expand where you're willing to travel to to get an earlier spot. I agree - they might hold the application to January 10 from a January 1 deadline, but they're not going to hold it for months.

Re: blunt advice

[brittdreams]

Even that is probably not enough. It's December 6 and the OP doesn't have a SOP to give to recommenders to help them as they write their letters. Without that, ze stands little chance of being admitted to any program with a deadline in the next month.

[lifeofbai]

I agree with the brittdreams. Wait a year to apply.

Considering that most acceptances are determined by February or early March, there is no way that the April subject test score would be considered. Almost all math PhD programs also require the subject test (and the score on this is given very heavy weight at the top-tier schools, just as an fyi), so you'd pretty much be rejected just because your application would be incomplete without the subject test score.

As for what content to put in your SoP... if you did an REU or research with a professor, that would be a good thing to mention. If not, it's not a big deal. You mostly just need to pick a topic within a subfield and expand on what you'd like to research about it. Are you an algebraist? Analyst? Number theorist? etc. Whatever type of mathematician you are, pick a topic within that subfield and write about the research you'd like to do in it.

- Ray

[royalewcheeze]

Agreement with the other posters: if the programs you are applying to require the Math subject GRE, you pretty much have no choice but to wait. Your application will be incomplete without it, and it takes 4-6 weeks from the test date for your scores to show up at said institution. So if the next test date isn't until April 15, it could potentially be June before your scores got there. Decisions on which applicants to admit are usually made in February and March and MUST be made by April 15

[runnnincircles]

I know that I am doing all this at the last minute, but waiting a year isn't really an option for me. Also, I think I may have come across more naive than I am. I know what a SOP is supposed to contain and I know essentially what my research interests are (Differential Topology and Symplectic Geometry, specifically investigating methods of dealing with exotic smooth structures on 4-spheres--e.g. Gluck Twists-- ultimately in an attempt to chip away at the Generalized Poincare Conjecture in Diff and PL for dimension 4) I just had never actually read a statment of purpose and wasn't sure about such things as style and structure. I have three professors from my department who have agreed to write letters of recommendation, although I still need to meet with them again once I have my SOP completed (which should be in the next few days). Thank you tisiphone for directing me to the tags. I did find a mathematics SOP and it was helpful

[tisiphone]

Whether GREs are required depends on the program and the major, so your friend's acceptance in an astrophysics program isn't relevant in this case. As for applying for the master's program, that may be a good option, but I would not assume that just because the GREs are going to be a minor factor (and they probably are) that you can be successful in your application if you don't submit them at all.

[lifeofbai]

You would be totally wasting your money then. If you do not have GRE subject test scores to submit with your application, it will be rejected before the adcom even considers your statement of purpose simply because it is not complete.

I'll tell you straight up that well over 90% of math PhD programs require the subject test. I only know one off-hand that doesn't require it (Nebraska) for PhD applicants.

- Ray

[coaldustcanary]

Unless Math is different from almost every field with which I am familiar, you can't just "transfer" to a PhD program after the first year. If you mean move on to a PhD program at the same school as the Master's program, you will be required to apply similarly to all other applicants. If you mean change to a different program entirely, it is unlikely that they will accept any of your credits in the new program. Most graduate programs don't "do" transfers. I have heard of a few rare exceptions, but they tend to be unusual situations.