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What should I do after BS Maths before applying to a well reputed institute for masters and PHD in maths, given that my BS was done from a less developed country where quality of math education is very low?

ff524
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Saqib Jawed
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  • I think one can not answer this. The only thing for sure is: Check that you meet all requirements for the programs for which you apply. In other words: Find out if your degrees are accepted by these programs. If you ask what math you would need to learn then it really depends on too many things. – Dirk Apr 15 '16 at 13:27
  • Related: http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/45513/19607 – Kimball Apr 15 '16 at 21:58

2 Answers2

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You seem to be asking how to get admitted to a much better graduate program than your undergraduate program and record merits. I'm sorry to say that unless you did something during your undergraduate program to make you stand out on a worldwide scale beyond what virtually any undergraduate ever does (in other words, a very low probability event), this is not going to be possible.

Why don't you set more reasonable goals? If your education has suffered from coming through a systemically poor institution, I would suggest trying to get into a not-top-but-reputable program in a country with high academic standards (which gives you a lot of choices: US, Canada, Australia, the majority of Europe, Japan, some other parts of Asia...). E.g. in the US even the 200th best university has a curriculum which is largely modelled on that of much better universities, some very serious faculty members, quite solid library / computer resources, and so on. A student can "launder herself" by doing a master's degree at such a place. By doing excellently on the coursework and exams, she would show that she has the same skills, knowledge and potential of a strong undergraduate major, and could probably get into a top 50 PhD program.

Pete L. Clark
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EDIT: This answer was initially based on the field of Computer Science.

This type of question relies somewhat on your personal opinion and what you mean by a low quality institution. In my attempt to refrain from any vague answers, my number one suggestion is to publish/present in internationally renowned journals/conferences. This is not only because publications can make you stand out above other applicants, but it proves that despite the lower reputation of your current institution, you are capable of doing research acceptable by international academic standards.

Based on the discussions in the comment section, I will attempt to further specify my initial suggestion. First of all, starting on this path after your undergraduate studies requires serious commitment both in effort and time (it will take alot of introductory reading before you can even start any actual research) but it is definitely possible. Furthermore, the best approach to follow this path would be to join a research lab/team at your current institution. Try to find a faculty member who has a relatively positive perception of your capabilities (maybe you did exceptionally well in his/her class?). If you face problems in convincing someone to advise you due to lack of a positive perception, you can try taking an extra course with that faculty member (and excelling at that course). It will further improve your chances if you can enroll in a graduate course at your institution.

Abbas Javan Jafari
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    From what I have heard about undergraduate research in mathematics, this is incredibly impractical advice for most undergraduate mathematics students, let alone one with a weak background. – ff524 Apr 15 '16 at 17:46
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    In most subdisciplines of pure mathematics, there are zero internationally renowned conferences one can publish in. (As a data point, I will be a full professor of mathematics next year, and I have zero conference publications.) Most students who are admitted to top PhD programs have zero publications. I have, in my life, met less than ten undergraduate students who were [at the time of being an undergraduate], capable of doing significant research by international standards. By the way, PhD programs wouldn't exist if undergraduate students could do this. This is not a useful answer. – Pete L. Clark Apr 15 '16 at 18:10
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    Continuing the theme of @Pete L. Clark this would be similar to telling a high school tennis player who wants a college tennis scholarship, but who is concerned because he/she played for a high school that was not very good in tennis, that if he/she could manage to play in some international tennis tournaments, then this would show that he/she was capable of playing tennis at the college level. – Dave L Renfro Apr 15 '16 at 18:19
  • @ff524 It seems I didn't read the question as precisely as I should have and ended up giving an answer which applies to Computer Science (my own field) instead of Mathematics (OP's field). I will remove this answer shortly (hopefully after the OP and others read this comment) – Abbas Javan Jafari Apr 15 '16 at 18:42
  • I don't think this is practical for CS, either. A student from a weak background will have trouble even identifying high-quality research and distinguishing it from all the junk out there, let alone doing it themselves with no support or guidance. – ff524 Apr 15 '16 at 18:55
  • I've known several cases who have published after completing a rather unsuccessful undergrad to improve their chances for graduate school. Accomplishing such a task is of course not easy and requires strong motivation and maybe a bit of luck (because successful research often requires supervision and a weak student will have a hard time convincing a faculty member to advise him). – Abbas Javan Jafari Apr 15 '16 at 19:01
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    You do not need supervision, grants, etc... to learn and do science. For example from here "Raychaudhuri was born in a Baidya family, originally hailing from Barisal. Raychaudhuri had his early education in Tirthapati Institution and completed matriculation from Hindu School, Kolkata. [3] After earning his master's degree, Raychaudhuri spent four years doing experimental work. During this time, working in complete isolation, he taught himself differential geometry and the theory of general relativity." – Nikey Mike Apr 15 '16 at 19:03
  • I will repeat, it isn't going to be easy but people have done it. More importantly, given the circumstances, there is no way for a weak student to randomly be accepted at a top school without demonstrating a substantial shift in academic performance and publishing research seems like the most viable option (other than taking Pete's advice which is the path I would choose myself) – Abbas Javan Jafari Apr 15 '16 at 19:05
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    Yes, Pete's advice is good. This answer - even for CS - gives no inkling of how incredibly difficult it would be to follow your suggestion, nor does it give any advice on how someone from a weak background can start "to publish/present in internationally renowned journals/conferences". It's not impossible to go from "weak undergrad" to "publish in respected venue" to "admitted to grad school", but if that's what you're proposing as an answer, you have to also give the steps in between. – ff524 Apr 15 '16 at 19:08
  • @MikeyMike And yet "study for four years independently" is incredibly impractical advice to give someone who wants to learn science, because for most people that is by far not the most efficient way. – ff524 Apr 15 '16 at 19:09
  • Indeed, the most practical advice would be to apply also to "not top" universities for an MSc, and then to advance at PhD. The OP should trust herself, I know 2 people who were first in their background not so top universities, and when moving to another university( french ) they also were top students on class. – Nikey Mike Apr 15 '16 at 19:14
  • @ff524 I disagree with the implication that it should not be incredibly difficult. The OP is obviously in a rather tight spot and it will require extended effort to overcome shortcomings in the past. However, I do agree with what you said about further specifying my answer. If I decide not to remove my answer (because it relates to a field different than the OP), I will give more specific details. – Abbas Javan Jafari Apr 15 '16 at 19:15
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    I didn't say that it shouldn't be difficult. I said that this post doesn't warn the reader how difficult it will be to follow the advice in it. – ff524 Apr 15 '16 at 19:18