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A Mathematician's Survival Guide: Graduate School and Early Career Development
Graduate school marks the first step toward a career in mathematics for young mathematicians. During this period, they make important decisions which will affect the rest of their careers. Here now is a detailed guide to help students navigate graduate school and the years that follow. In his inimitable and forthright style, Steven Krantz addresses the major issues of graduate school, including choosing a program, passing the qualifying exams, finding an advisor, writing a thesis, and getting that first job. As with his earlier guide, How to Teach Mathematics, he avoids generalities, giving clear advice on how to handle real situations. The book also contains a description of the basic elements of a mathematical education, as well as a glossary and appendices on the structure of a typical department and university and the standard academic ranks. Steven G. Krantz is an accomplished mathematician and an award-winning author. He has published 130 research articles and 45 books. He has worked in many different types of mathematics departments, supervised both masters and doctoral students, and is currently the Chair of the Mathematics Department at Washington University in St. Louis.
240 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 27, 2014
This is the second guide from Krantz which I've read (the first was How to Teach Mathematics), and I must say that I was once again impressed. As a third year graduate student, experience under my belt has allowed me to already be aware of a third of the advice he delivered (e.g. passing prelims, choosing an advisor, graduate fellowships), but the counsel he provided for upcoming events was very useful. Overall, I was very motivated by his words of wisdom. I really liked his advice on speaking to an advisor about thesis topics, what to do when you cannot solve your thesis problem, and what to do when things do not go as planned. I really enjoyed reading advice on what happens after PhD graduation and the reality of the job market. Even though I have already discussed these topics with my own advisor and other students, it was good reading it as reinforcement and as a reminder. I do wish I read this book PRIOR to entering graduate school (like as a graduate-school-bound senior) because I would've felt more comfortable starting graduate school with a better idea of what I was getting myself into. I highly suggest graduate school prospects to take a look at the chapter "What I need to know for graduate school"--which provides a nice summary/list of topics in various fields of mathematics which show up in many first year courses and qualifying exams.
July 13, 2023
I have been reading some books of this kind of late A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum, The Ph.D. Grind: A Ph.D. Student Memoir, 57 Ways to Screw Up in Grad School: Perverse Professional Lessons for Graduate Students and some others which I would be picking up soon. But all them were unable to offer more than a general advice to students of maths due its its nature being different from Arts as well as other sciences that involve experimentations. This book did well to plug in gap and can surely be the one work one may read.
Still the age of the book shows (no one uses Fax these days or email are lot more accepted) and its American centredness (which to be fair the Author accepts in the opening of the book.)
Still the age of the book shows (no one uses Fax these days or email are lot more accepted) and its American centredness (which to be fair the Author accepts in the opening of the book.)
February 3, 2009
Well this was interesting and may prove to be helpful.
There are a couple oddball pieces of advice here.
One is that undergrad research experience is irrelevant for admission to grad school. I have pretty consistently heard exactly the opposite.
The other, which I consider completely bonkers, is the advice not to study for the Math GRE. "A person intending to go to graduate school in mathematics certainly should score *at least* in the high 700's on the advanced mathematics subject area exam. ... If you have a solid background, and if you get a good night's rest before the exam, then you should do fine. ... I can see no reason to study for the Math GRE, and I do not encourage you to do so."
Right... Well, since less than 20% of students who take the test make his high 700's minimum, perhaps the rest forgot about the good night's rest beforehand? It seems that his assumption is that students applying to grad school all have good backgrounds. And, yes, for students with strong undergrad backgrounds, the Math GRE is pretty basic. But there are plenty of students with weaker backgrounds who NEED to fill in some gaps in their knowledge. To be honest, probably the large majority of math majors, even ones with their eyes on grad school, have "weaker backgrounds." And, regardless of background, anyone who doesn't at least work the sample exams for such an important test is just crazy.
I think this attitude may ultimately come from propaganda by testing companies ("Our test is magical and really tests innate ability, so it's impossible to study for it!") and seems to have been prominent a few decades ago.
There are a couple oddball pieces of advice here.
One is that undergrad research experience is irrelevant for admission to grad school. I have pretty consistently heard exactly the opposite.
The other, which I consider completely bonkers, is the advice not to study for the Math GRE. "A person intending to go to graduate school in mathematics certainly should score *at least* in the high 700's on the advanced mathematics subject area exam. ... If you have a solid background, and if you get a good night's rest before the exam, then you should do fine. ... I can see no reason to study for the Math GRE, and I do not encourage you to do so."
Right... Well, since less than 20% of students who take the test make his high 700's minimum, perhaps the rest forgot about the good night's rest beforehand? It seems that his assumption is that students applying to grad school all have good backgrounds. And, yes, for students with strong undergrad backgrounds, the Math GRE is pretty basic. But there are plenty of students with weaker backgrounds who NEED to fill in some gaps in their knowledge. To be honest, probably the large majority of math majors, even ones with their eyes on grad school, have "weaker backgrounds." And, regardless of background, anyone who doesn't at least work the sample exams for such an important test is just crazy.
I think this attitude may ultimately come from propaganda by testing companies ("Our test is magical and really tests innate ability, so it's impossible to study for it!") and seems to have been prominent a few decades ago.
September 7, 2017
Being a first-year Masters student, this book has great advice! I do feel that this book is more directed towards PhD students than Masters. However, Masters or PhD student, heck, an undergrad who is about to take their GRE and thinking of going into graduate school, you get amazing tips from Krantz. For the next two years, this will be my reference in finding where I need to go for a career and choosing a thesis adviser for possible theses. Several reasons as to why this is a highly regarded book to take as a reference: (i) everything is so detailed and (ii) the author is/was (?) a current professor at Princeton, which makes this pure
platinum
January 27, 2019
No bullshit advice about surviving your first few years in academia. Disclaimer: I did at one point teach as an adjunct in the math department of Washington University in St. Louis, of which Krantz had once been the chair.
March 11, 2020
I think he generally gave good advice but his voice was at times so aggravating I had a hard time giving credence to his words.
February 5, 2023
Huge help for my future in mathematics. Some information is outdated but it is still so monumental to my understanding of life during and after a Ph.D in mathematics.
October 5, 2015
Just skimmed through while I was chilling in the library today (tired after in-school math competition). Great advice, great book. I didn't pay a lot of attention to the later half of the book though.
I have actually listened to Krantz in person- aside from reading his multivariable calculus text. He was the guest lecturer at the Illinois Sectional MAA meeting this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed his talk on the geometry of the center of gravity. He was a great expositor, and a very prolific mathematician (go through his CV to understand this). This partly fueled my desire to read up this book, and it didn't disappoint. Though, a point to make here is that sometimes his personal anecdotes seemed too good to be true, and this might estrange some readers.
I can't really testify his advice, but I guess the experience of reading this book is similar to reading a (very) extended and well-written Quora answer. A lot of interesting insights and anecdotes, some not so great but would not reduce the quality of the "answer" as a whole.
______________________________________________________________________________
Update: I read this again as my recent academic trajectories demanded a review of my old values. Krantz's writing rings true and insightful in a time of extreme confusion, tightening higher education budgets, and on and on and on. I am thankful for the insights added to my view of how things are working.
Extremely clear, witty and expository anecdotes make the book a joy to read.
His last chapter, where he sums up the mathematical topics in the Quals, is a prime example of accessible and insightful math exposition.
I have actually listened to Krantz in person- aside from reading his multivariable calculus text. He was the guest lecturer at the Illinois Sectional MAA meeting this year, and I thoroughly enjoyed his talk on the geometry of the center of gravity. He was a great expositor, and a very prolific mathematician (go through his CV to understand this). This partly fueled my desire to read up this book, and it didn't disappoint. Though, a point to make here is that sometimes his personal anecdotes seemed too good to be true, and this might estrange some readers.
I can't really testify his advice, but I guess the experience of reading this book is similar to reading a (very) extended and well-written Quora answer. A lot of interesting insights and anecdotes, some not so great but would not reduce the quality of the "answer" as a whole.
______________________________________________________________________________
Update: I read this again as my recent academic trajectories demanded a review of my old values. Krantz's writing rings true and insightful in a time of extreme confusion, tightening higher education budgets, and on and on and on. I am thankful for the insights added to my view of how things are working.
Extremely clear, witty and expository anecdotes make the book a joy to read.
His last chapter, where he sums up the mathematical topics in the Quals, is a prime example of accessible and insightful math exposition.
December 15, 2020
This Survival Guide guides you through getting into a top graduate mathematics program up to securing a tenure-track position in a university. It gives you the big picture of how would your life be if you choose to become a mathematician. Although the book is a bit outdated, the procedure and the given advice helps a lot.
You might have read one of Krantz's textbooks in mathematic, so you probably know he knows what he's saying!
If you are planning to pursue a Ph.D. in math, and don't have the slightest idea what should you expecting or what happens after getting a degree, this book is worth a shot.
You might have read one of Krantz's textbooks in mathematic, so you probably know he knows what he's saying!
If you are planning to pursue a Ph.D. in math, and don't have the slightest idea what should you expecting or what happens after getting a degree, this book is worth a shot.
August 9, 2015
Simple and thorough explanation of the academic career path from graduate school to tenure. It's informative and very concise, no unnecessary advice and long anecdotes (some of the footnotes are hilarious though). It explain grad school and the process of getting a PHD, demystifying many silly notion about what you need to be in order to get a math PHD. I strongly recommend this for anyone who has even a remote interests in college mathematics.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews