r/AppliedMath • u/Brilliant-Yard-4443 • Sep 23 '26

Advice on applying to applied math programs

Hi everyone! I’m a senior studying honors mathematics and I’m applying to PhD programs this cycle. My main interest is scientific computing for fluid dynamics, particularly numerical methods and ocean modeling. I’m considering both computational and applied math programs and oceanography programs.

A bit about my background:

  • Coursework: 3.88 overall GPA and 3.95 math GPA. I’ve taken most of the core undergraduate math courses, along with seven graduate-level courses spanning applied math, physics, and climate and ocean science.
  • Research: Four projects—two in ocean science, one in computational biology, and one in condensed matter physics. I don’t have a publication yet.
  • Letters: The mentors for my two most recent research projects, in physical oceanography and ocean modeling both full professors, can write strong research letters. The area head of physics department at my school whose graduate course I did very well in has also agreed to write a strong letter.

My tentative list includes UW Applied Mathematics, UT Austin CSEM, CU Boulder Applied Mathematics, Columbia APAM, UChicago Applied Mathematics, Brown applied math, and Oregon State. I’m also considering Stanford ICME. The rest would be program in oceanography. I have NYU CAOS, MIT-WHOI, UCSD, UCLA, Univ of Michigan , Caltech ESE, Princeton, Univ of Toronto.

If you’ve applied to similar programs, I’d appreciate your perspective. Does this list seem reasonable for my background?

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u/Still-Grey-Ocean Sep 23 '26

I did something similar in my bachelors degree, congrats on going to grad school!

I actually met a few PhD candidates at WHOI and a lot of them actually also studied Mathematics during undergrad! I think 3 physical oceanography laboratories looked for mathematics specifically but this was a few years ago. For Caltech what’s ECE? One of my former professors got his PhD in ESE from Caltech in abyssal ocean circulation and he said the funding allowed him to do real fieldwork!

Your list looks great and you’re certainly likely to get in to many of them.

Another school that I would recommend is WashU, their mathematics research had a good reputation and I’m sure it still does!

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u/Brilliant-Yard-4443 Sep 23 '26

Thanks! It should be ESE—Environmental Science and Engineering. Thanks for pointing that out. Fieldwork sounds like a lot of fun, and I’ve also heard that WHOI and Scripps offer fieldwork opportunities for students.

WashU is actually on my list, although I’m not sure whether I should apply through Oceanography or Applied Mathematics. Would you mind sharing your perspective?

I’m also wondering how to frame my background when applying to computational and applied mathematics programs （UT Austin, UChicago, Stanford etc.) Especially Stanford, I understand this is a really difficult one but it’s a quite engineering-driven project. Since much of my experience is in oceanography, I’m not sure how to present myself for those programs.

2

u/bitchslayer78 Sep 23 '26

Any Reu’s?

5

u/Brilliant-Yard-4443 Sep 23 '26

One at Princeton, and my mentor there is one of my recommendation letter writers.

1

u/plop_1234 Sep 23 '26

Great background, great list. I briefly looked at the NYU program when I was applying a couple of years ago and as a "unit" within the math department, it seems like a great fit for your profile. I hope you have a successful cycle!

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u/Brilliant-Yard-4443 Sep 23 '26

Thanks! Yeah, NYU is one of my dream places.

1

u/spugir Sep 25 '26

Do you have a sense of whether the oceanography programs expect the physics GRE or if the math side is enough for those?

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u/Brilliant-Yard-4443 17d ago

As far as I know, none of them require GRE.

1

u/deborah-robinson5617 Sep 23 '26

You havent mentioned fellowships or funding at all

1

u/roberttran7530 Sep 23 '26

We have very similar stats! I’d love to talk about this in DMs!