NYC masters in applied math en route to phd

frstwrldprblm · Post by **frstwrldprblm** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:16 am

I would like to begin the process of moving towards a phd in applied math.

I did not do terrifically well as an undergrad (B average due to poor pure maths performance).

I scored well on gre and have a masters in qf.

going right into qf from bachelors is a tough thing but has also been extremely motivating.

my work will thankfully pay for classes under a certain $ amount per year.

this being said my question is as follows:

it may be out of my reach to attend somewhere like nyu or Columbia.

is it worth pursuing something like this at a cuny like hunter? are these departments respected?

I feel I am getting a bit too caught up on prestige factor, but all the same would rather not invest my time poorly.

note: I am interested in fouling on things like probability, machine learning and signal processing. these are broad but this is generally where my interests lie.

thank you all

ps excuse typos written from phone

Cheng · Post by **Cheng** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:05 am

My 2c if you are serious (and I mean really serious) about doing a PhD in applied math: do it for the sake of it. Period. Don't even think about prestige, potentially better pay and the intellectual masturbation involved. If you do chances are that you fail, believe me.

astar · Post by **astar** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:46 pm

Why do you want to do a PhD? Do you have some interest in it?

CUNY has some good people in math, scattered throughout the city. Rutgers is another place you should consider. DIMACS is probably a bit too cs focused, but they have some mathy people involved. What area of applied math were you interested in? Use google to find people whose work you find interesting, and write to them directly. Dont focus on prestige.

frstwrldprblm · Post by **frstwrldprblm** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:31 am

I am extremely interested in probability, numerical approximation and machine learning. I would really like to grow in these directions (getting stronger with ODEs, where and how to apply them, more deeply understanding stochastics etc). Of course finance was my first interest, but through my first MS I have realized how much deeper one can go and how general this type of knowledge may be (going for the depth this time where first I got the breadth). I am just not yet where I want to be.

I am extremely inspired by the work happening in nanorobotics and would possibly be interested in studying the above topics as applied to nanorobotics (if there is a link), but it seems initially as if the school choices are very few and also the core knowledge is a bit outside my scope at the moment.

The interest is sincere, and I am not looking for a salary home-run or anything like that.

I would of course also like to become a really strong C++ coder. I have been brushing up on some java to more familiarize myself with OO, and to mess around with IB, and this has also been a great exercise.

Work is just not what I would like it to be (yet) and also I am not where I would like to see myself in 5-10 years time.

Thank you all as always for your feedback.

snovik · Post by **snovik** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 12:28 pm

it is not about uni/department but about supervisor. if you somewhat know the field already then you can make a list of couple of guys you would like to work with/for/under. they should be your goals and not the location.

sv507 · Post by **sv507** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:47 pm

What did you do your undergrad in? It sounds like you would be better off in eg engineering department -using the math rather than proving theorems.

"I did not do terrifically well as an undergrad (B average due to poor pure maths performance).

I scored well on gre and have a masters in qf. "

astar · Post by **astar** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 9:34 pm

Drop me a pm. I might give you some ideas of what people work on at courant and center for neural sciences (cns) in machine learning/computer vision type fields.

email in profile.

frstwrldprblm · Post by **frstwrldprblm** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:30 am

@sv507

Undergrad was in Math and Economics.

I would think that an engineering department would be a more difficult transition than applied math, although engineering is of course extremely interesting. This exact mentality of not just "proving theorems" is why I am choosing the route of applied versus a pure maths degree.

Nonius · Post by **Nonius** » Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:00 am

Cuny actually has a good math faculty. They are or at least used to be especially strong in Dynamical Systems which has little to do with finance but which is a very interesting field if you're interested in phenomena such as water dripping out of a faucet.

buddyforall · Post by **buddyforall** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:34 pm

probability, machine learning,signal processing, numerical approximation , ODE, stochastics, nanorobotics, really strong C++ coder, finance . You are interested in all these things.

Why exactly do you want to do a PhD ? Do you want to be a generalist or specialist ? Do you want to stay in academia after PhD ?

I feel you want to be a sort of super quant post PhD who has a decent knowledge in all the above things and deep knowledge in any one of the things.