5 ms·

How long did you self study? Total years and average hours per day? Merci!

by jkmcf 6y ago

artagnon 6y ago
I started in late 2016. Initially, it was just during the weekends. I was a regular at the local coffee shop near my place in Boston: I'd go in with my iPad and some sheets of paper, spend 4~5 hours studying, while constantly consuming coffee. Then, I found a friend who had done a Bachelors in math, and we'd visit the local community college 3~4 times a week, and discuss general math and GRE problems on the blackboard for a couple of hours after work: it was a lot of fun. In mid-2017, I moved to California and spent ~2 hours a day studying by myself, while maintaining a day job writing Haskell and Coq. Then, in late-2019, I quit my job and moved to India to study mathematics full-time (read: 4~6 hours every single day). I started meeting a professor at the local university once a week to discuss my solutions to problems in Miles Reid. We worked through Reid together. I also audited a course in algebraic topology at the university, simultaneously. In mid-2019, I moved to Paris to continue studying part-time (1~2 hours a day) while working on a Coq project. After some shuffles, I found a professor I really liked, and we started working together. He wrote me the primary recommendation for the Masters program. I hope the elaboration was more useful than two numbers.
- mangamadaiyan 6y ago
  If I might ask - which local university was it that let you audit their course? This is not a usual occurrence in India, which is why I ask -- I'm extremely happy to hear that things like this even happen as outliers, btw. The fact that it was a graduate-level course in algebraic topology seems to imply that the university in question is not a run-of-the-mill university, which makes me all the more happy.
  - artagnon 6y ago
    Chennai Mathematical Institute.
    - mangamadaiyan 6y ago
      That is simply wonderful! Good for you, and good for them!
- zrkrlc 6y ago
  Was your undergrad GPA ever a factor in the admissions process?
  - artagnon 6y ago
    No, because my undergrad wasn't in math.

How long did you self study? Total years and average hours per day? Merci!

by jkmcf 6y ago

How long did you self study? Total years and average hours per day? Merci!

I started in late 2016. Initially, it was just during the weekends. I was a regular at the local coffee shop near my place in Boston: I'd go in with my iPad and some sheets of paper, spend 4~5 hours studying, while constantly consuming coffee. Then, I found a friend who had done a Bachelors in math, and we'd visit the local community college 3~4 times a week, and discuss general math and GRE problems on the blackboard for a couple of hours after work: it was a lot of fun. In mid-2017, I moved to California and spent ~2 hours a day studying by myself, while maintaining a day job writing Haskell and Coq. Then, in late-2019, I quit my job and moved to India to study mathematics full-time (read: 4~6 hours every single day). I started meeting a professor at the local university once a week to discuss my solutions to problems in Miles Reid. We worked through Reid together. I also audited a course in algebraic topology at the university, simultaneously. In mid-2019, I moved to Paris to continue studying part-time (1~2 hours a day) while working on a Coq project. After some shuffles, I found a professor I really liked, and we started working together. He wrote me the primary recommendation for the Masters program. I hope the elaboration was more useful than two numbers.

mangamadaiyan 6y ago
If I might ask - which local university was it that let you audit their course? This is not a usual occurrence in India, which is why I ask -- I'm extremely happy to hear that things like this even happen as outliers, btw. The fact that it was a graduate-level course in algebraic topology seems to imply that the university in question is not a run-of-the-mill university, which makes me all the more happy.
- artagnon 6y ago
  Chennai Mathematical Institute.
  - mangamadaiyan 6y ago
    That is simply wonderful! Good for you, and good for them!
zrkrlc 6y ago
Was your undergrad GPA ever a factor in the admissions process?
- artagnon 6y ago
  No, because my undergrad wasn't in math.