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My goal is to study and research differential geometry (or a closely related field), and as of now I think I'd like to do this as a career. I am worried that I may have ruined my chances at getting into a good graduate school however (and thus the whole career aspect). I am wondering how true this is given my situation:

I'm currently an undergraduate student at a top 5 school per usnews (I only say this to keep anonymity) with a 3.3 overall gpa and I'll end with a 3.7 math upper division gpa with good grades in graduate courses. I received a C- in my undergraduate algebraic topology course and an A in the graduate version of this course. Additionally I have a letter of recommendation from the professor of the graduate course.

In essence I am wondering what caliber of school I am looking at. Ideally I'd like to get into a school good enough to ensure I have a chance at a career in the subject (what schools does this refer to?). I'd love to hear what anyone has to say about my situation and the more information the better.

Questionable Student
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  • @Anyon I'm wondering how it will affect my graduate admissions possibility, but I believe I can get into graduate school somewhere. I am really wondering: could I feasibly get into a good enough school so as to be able to get a post doc assuming all else goes well. For this reason I feel like my question different, or more specific. – Questionable Student Dec 18 '23 at 00:28
  • @QuestionableStudent You'll get a post doc by having a productive time as a graduate student; the school you go to hardly matters unless it impacts your ability to do research. – Bryan Krause Dec 18 '23 at 02:25

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In the US, probably there will be only a minor effect if any. Admissions is broad based with letters of recommendation being very important.

However, judgements are made by individuals so there is no guarantee. You seem to have covered the C- well, also.

But "good grad school" is in the eye of the beholder. I suggest, as I often do here, that you make a broad search for a suitable program. There are good advisors most everywhere in math. And if you apply to only very similar schools, you can expect their judgments to be similar also.

And, your career depends more on what you can accomplish (and publish) than on the school you attend, with only a few exceptions. But even at, for example, Yale, you need to do well to succeed.

Buffy
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