Grad School in Math

i'm going to be a senior in college this year and applying to grad school soon.

so i'm having a really hard time figuring out what schools i can get into with my 'stats'. i kind of fucked up the first year and a half of college, and only got mediocre grades, so my gpa is 3.0 after a year of almost straight A's

i'm going for a phd in math, so the schools i'm interested in are

UC Berkeley
UCLA
U o Chicago
U o Michigan
Cornell (maybe)

i'm confident that my gre general and math subject tests will be above average, probably in the top 10-30%. so good, but not outstanding.

can i get into the schools above? or is that just unrealistic... and if so, what schools should i apply to? what would be the 'second-rate' math grad schools that would take me?

i'm currently attending UC santa cruz, and i started taking graduate classes last quarter, and i can certainly keep up with the phd program here, but i really dont like the idea of spending another 6-10 years in santa cruz. that being said, its probably the best backup-school i have.

also does being a state resident matter as much as it does for undergrad applications?

ARGHHH its so hard to find information about this, theres so many shitty grad school search websites and so much clutter from undergrad information.

tl;dr, what are some second-rate math grad schools

As they always say (truth or otherwise), grades in upper division, and especially graduate course work matter most.  How did you do in that graduate class(es)?

Of those schools, I'm going to guess that UCLA/UMichigan are the easiest to get into.

Being a state resident is much less of an issue, since you're going to be subsidizing most of your graduate career by teaching (in which case tuition is waived).

UCSD's not a bad choice, but SDSU's almost certainly easier to get into.  If you want to meet a fellow /sci/entist, you can try joining UCSB.

A's or B's for all of my upper div classes(probably 3.5 average) with the exception of complex analysis(C+) which was my first upper div. B+ on my one grad class, but i'm signed up for 2 more next quarter.

thanks for the suggestions and ideas, and UCSB's faculty and department size is actually exactly what i'm looking for, so that actually sounds like a pretty good choice.

i'll have to talk to my advisor as well, once school starts.

i'm in a similar spot, except that i switched majors into math late in the game. my lowest grade is a c+ in calc i that i got 5 years ago, since then i have two B+'s and all the rest of the courses are A's.

i'm taking master's coursework right now (have 4.0 after a semester) but am looking to start sending apps out in the fall.

my gre's (not taken subject test yet) are ok and i should have at least two pretty good recs (the third might be a little fluffy)

i've been looking at grad school in colorado, specifically uc boulder or denver or possibly ut in austin, but i don't really know where to look past that.

same question here...

all A's in all math classes...

how is U Madison Wisconsin?

>>5
i think it's usually placed in the top 20 schools. faculty is supposed to be outstanding, and the department is large if you're into that.

the profs here at university of oklahoma have an annual talk about getting into grad school thought it is meant for physics students but i would think it would be similar for math students too. They said that grades and gre scores are not that important. one of the profs was on the committee to select graduate students and she said that they will recalculate your gpa excluding your 1st year since lots of people can do poorly there 1st year. as for the gre most school dont care much for the gre scores for US students since non US students do much better on them since most of them spend an intire year or more in a gre prep course. and  since the gre only test your ability to do  basic math and science book problems. what really matters is research, since that is what you will be spending the vast majority of your time doing. if you do an REU or work for a prof for a few semesters that will be invaluable. again this was advise for physics students and I not sure if there are math REU or if you can work for a prof in math or not but you should look into it.

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>>7
not to be contrary, but the head admissions guy in the MATH dept. at my college said pretty much the exact opposite: that grades are most important, (especially in upper division/grad level courses), then letters of recommendation (again, esp. upper division), then GREs.  Also, REUs don't really matter at all, and research needs to at least be published to be worth anything. 

It may be different in physics, or maybe different at my school. Just sayin.

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http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/mat/search/

find school, click onto site, check out math grad department webpage

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w00t, just took my GRE general test today, 500/800 verbal/quantitative, kinda dissapointed with the verbal, but i'm totallys stoked with the 800 in the math section.

i think this opens up my grad school options a bit

>>13
The math GRE matters more anyway.  I learned that the hard way [I'm assuming math is very similar to phys]

The University of Chicago is highly regarded in mathematics and certainly isn't anything less than "first-rate." The point being that it is very hard to get into. Still, go for it, I say! As far as which factors take priority in being accepted, I've often heard research, letters of recommendation and grades (especially in upper division courses) are most important. So I wouldn't worry much about the GRE. And to be honest, it doesn't say much of anything about your ability as a mathematician.

I hear the University of DIX! is good

Is it possible to get into grad school for physics if I major in math in undergrad?

>>17
possible
Yes. How easy it is and how to go about it is another matter.

>>18
noooooo...etc.