My son is applying to Baylor for PhD!

2,574 Views | 15 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by TechDawgMc
fadskier
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He graduates undergrad from an out-of-state university...thought he'd never come back to Texas...but Baylor has a good math department and that is what he getting a PhD in. Anyone know anyone at BU or the math department? Hint, hint...

Very excited and proud dad.
Doc Holliday
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Awesome!!!
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." ~ John Adams
RegentCoverup
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Fad, good for your boy.

Here's the catch with Math. There is big research in this subject for a long list of reasons, but it goes into Non-English speaking professors in a hurry, it just is. I'm in a STEM field and it's 85% Chinese. That's good for me though. I hear from high school kids that are interested in the subject and the advice I give them is to pursue a good teaching university. A bad one, ie, a state university with few english speaking profs, is just too risky. There are universities that still teach, they're just harder to find.

Ph'ds at a small program like Baylor will simply come down to the personality of the Department Chair. That's really all that's at stake.
This site leaks private information to Baylor Regents and Administration
Mitch Blood Green
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fadskier said:

He graduates undergrad from an out-of-state university...thought he'd never come back to Texas...but Baylor has a good math department and that is what he getting a PhD in. Anyone know anyone at BU or the math department? Hint, hint...

Very excited and proud dad.


Look at who's seed make smart babies. Congratulations! I am both happy proud for you.
Limited IQ Redneck in PU
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congrats. He shows good breeding.
Edmond Bear
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My daughter is an incoming freshman to Baylor and is a PHD type of kid - extreme academic interest, pursuing small details to understand the whole, wears all monochrome clothing (just kidding, that's a dig at my Finite Math prof from 25 years ago).

What types of things does she need would you advise her to do to make herself the most marketable in the teaching or research market?
fadskier
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Edmond Bear said:


My daughter is an incoming freshman to Baylor and is a PHD type of kid - extreme academic interest, pursuing small details to understand the whole, wears all monochrome clothing (just kidding, that's a dig at my Finite Math prof from 25 years ago).

What types of things does she need would you advise her to do to make herself the most marketable in the teaching or research market?
Are you asking me? I'm not exactly sure...this is all my son...he lost me at algebra I
Edmond Bear
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Just asking whomever....
GhettoHEBear
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What can you do with a PhD in Mathematics besides teach math? I'm not being snarky, just wondering where the careers typically go from there.
Baylor Mafioso
SSadler
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GhettoHEBear said:

What can you do with a PhD in Mathematics besides teach math? I'm not being snarky, just wondering where the careers typically go from there.
Help send astronauts to Mars, . . . maybe?

Or maybe, just maybe, help a child/youth/young adult become a first generation family graduate . . . . now THAT is a good place to "go from there".


NoBSU
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GhettoHEBear said:

What can you do with a PhD in Mathematics besides teach math? I'm not being snarky, just wondering where the careers typically go from there.
Sort of depends on what area. Could run a hedge fund. Could win the World Series of Poker.
NoBSU
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Good luck to your son.
Golem
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GhettoHEBear said:

What can you do with a PhD in Mathematics besides teach math? I'm not being snarky, just wondering where the careers typically go from there.


Golem
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fadskier said:

He graduates undergrad from an out-of-state university...thought he'd never come back to Texas...but Baylor has a good math department and that is what he getting a PhD in. Anyone know anyone at BU or the math department? Hint, hint...

Very excited and proud dad.


Congratulations!!! That's great news. You should certainly be proud.
TechDawgMc
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Edmond Bear said:


My daughter is an incoming freshman to Baylor and is a PHD type of kid - extreme academic interest, pursuing small details to understand the whole, wears all monochrome clothing (just kidding, that's a dig at my Finite Math prof from 25 years ago).

What types of things does she need would you advise her to do to make herself the most marketable in the teaching or research market?

There are probably a lot of things to consider. It does help that she's a woman.

Some basic things
Some fields are easier to get a job in than others. Easiest areas to get graduate school admission or a teaching job would probably be:
1) Engineering/computer science
2) Business (especially marketing or accounting)
3) Hard sciences

Hardest to get into
1) Humanities/religion

The general rule is go to the best graduate school you can. For religion/humanities, I'd try to get into a school like Duke, Yale or Princeton. It's probably a bit different for hard sciences, but I don't have a good picture of them. Business, you can probably do fine with Big 10/Pac 12/Big 12 type schools.

Study for the standardized test that's required. Find good guides and work hard on them. Test scores matter a lot.

In terms of getting a job, it helps to have already gotten something published. While there are a lot of teaching universities out there, even they care about publishing (accreditation gives them little choice).

She might find opportunities at Baylor to do some research, and maybe even get published with it, even in the undergrad programs. Those help.
Edmond Bear
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TechDawgMc said:

Edmond Bear said:


My daughter is an incoming freshman to Baylor and is a PHD type of kid - extreme academic interest, pursuing small details to understand the whole, wears all monochrome clothing (just kidding, that's a dig at my Finite Math prof from 25 years ago).

What types of things does she need would you advise her to do to make herself the most marketable in the teaching or research market?

There are probably a lot of things to consider. It does help that she's a woman.

Some basic things
Some fields are easier to get a job in than others. Easiest areas to get graduate school admission or a teaching job would probably be:
1) Engineering/computer science
2) Business (especially marketing or accounting)
3) Hard sciences

Hardest to get into
1) Humanities/religion

The general rule is go to the best graduate school you can. For religion/humanities, I'd try to get into a school like Duke, Yale or Princeton. It's probably a bit different for hard sciences, but I don't have a good picture of them. Business, you can probably do fine with Big 10/Pac 12/Big 12 type schools.

Study for the standardized test that's required. Find good guides and work hard on them. Test scores matter a lot.

In terms of getting a job, it helps to have already gotten something published. While there are a lot of teaching universities out there, even they care about publishing (accreditation gives them little choice).

She might find opportunities at Baylor to do some research, and maybe even get published with it, even in the undergrad programs. Those help.

Thanks. This is a great start.

She has a natural bent for Linguistics. She taught herself several of the Tolkien languages...yes, that's dorky like learning Klingon...but she's my dork. She reads and watches Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in Spanish for fun and is currently working on Welsh. These things are not my idea of fun. But, she eats it up.

I will pass on your thoughts. We are encouraging her to reach out to her professors during office hours to create relationships and find a mentor. It will be up to her to pursue. We are just trying to provide good coaching.

Thanks again. If you have any other thoughts, I'd love to hear them.



TechDawgMc
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Edmond Bear said:

TechDawgMc said:

Edmond Bear said:


My daughter is an incoming freshman to Baylor and is a PHD type of kid - extreme academic interest, pursuing small details to understand the whole, wears all monochrome clothing (just kidding, that's a dig at my Finite Math prof from 25 years ago).

What types of things does she need would you advise her to do to make herself the most marketable in the teaching or research market?

There are probably a lot of things to consider. It does help that she's a woman.

Some basic things
Some fields are easier to get a job in than others. Easiest areas to get graduate school admission or a teaching job would probably be:
1) Engineering/computer science
2) Business (especially marketing or accounting)
3) Hard sciences

Hardest to get into
1) Humanities/religion

The general rule is go to the best graduate school you can. For religion/humanities, I'd try to get into a school like Duke, Yale or Princeton. It's probably a bit different for hard sciences, but I don't have a good picture of them. Business, you can probably do fine with Big 10/Pac 12/Big 12 type schools.

Study for the standardized test that's required. Find good guides and work hard on them. Test scores matter a lot.

In terms of getting a job, it helps to have already gotten something published. While there are a lot of teaching universities out there, even they care about publishing (accreditation gives them little choice).

She might find opportunities at Baylor to do some research, and maybe even get published with it, even in the undergrad programs. Those help.

Thanks. This is a great start.

She has a natural bent for Linguistics. She taught herself several of the Tolkien languages...yes, that's dorky like learning Klingon...but she's my dork. She reads and watches Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in Spanish for fun and is currently working on Welsh. These things are not my idea of fun. But, she eats it up.

I will pass on your thoughts. We are encouraging her to reach out to her professors during office hours to create relationships and find a mentor. It will be up to her to pursue. We are just trying to provide good coaching.

Thanks again. If you have any other thoughts, I'd love to hear them.





I didn't know most of this when I was a student -- really naive. I would guess that getting to know profs in the area (as you're encouraging her) where she's most interested is her best bet. They can give an idea how easy/hard it is to get into programs, get jobs, etc. and what she should be doing to build a foundation. And it's also probably the best way to get connected to someone who will hep her get involved in research areas.

The good thing is that Baylor profs tend to be very good about that kind of thing. They actually have the interest in being connected with students.
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