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I am currently pursuing a master's degree in mathematics at one of the top two institutes in India. The coursework here is very fast-paced. Many of us who joined this programme are encountering these subjects for the first time, whereas the rest of the batch consists of students who completed their bachelor's degrees at the same institute and are already familiar with the material. As a result, the instructors often assume a level of prior knowledge that we do not possess. It's really hard to score. Further, we don't have an opportunity to retake the exams to improve our grades.

To do a master's thesis, we need to get a grade above a certain threshold. However, it appears that often students struggle to meet this requirement and some even fail their first year. Many a times, students end up with poor grades and no thesis.

For context, the courses here are more advanced compared to those at other institutes in India. In most other places,it's relatively easy to get a good grade and often mandatory to do a thesis. Consequently, in raw numbers, students from other institutes tend to have better grades than those from my institute, putting us at a disadvantage.

All of this has led me to question whether studying here is beneficial, especially if it negatively impacts my prospects for pursuing a PhD at a reputable institution.

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    Are you intending to stay in India for the doctorate? Commented Aug 28, 2024 at 19:42
  • I am interested in pursuing a PhD abroad. (US/Canada/Australia/Europe) Commented Aug 29, 2024 at 10:48
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    Keep in mind that the harder program might make you more likely to succeed at your PhD if you do get in. Commented Aug 29, 2024 at 15:38

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If you are aiming for a PhD from a good university in the US, you need a degree with good grades from a good university. Admissions committees are very aware that it is much easier to get good grades from some lesser universities (whether in the US(*) or in some other country), to the extent that degrees from lesser universities may be disregarded unless you have exceptional recommendation letters.

Admissions in the US are done by the subjective judgements of a committee of professors. The committee will not use a formula. Quite frequently the committee will include (or at least consult) professors originally from India who are quite knowledgeable about which degrees are meaningful and which are barely worth the paper they are written on. Getting a masters from a lesser university, even with better grades and a thesis, will actually decrease your chances. (I have seen masters theses from lesser universities that are at the level of a course project I did as a third year undergraduate. Needless to say, they did not impress me.)

(*) Note before anyone panics - by a lesser university I mean Northwest Southeast South Dakota State University at Hoople, not the University of Alabama, which though not MIT is a perfectly good and serious university.

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  • Thank you for your answer. The other universities I’m referring to are indeed good, but my institute operates at a different level. To give you context, some of my peers in the programme are math olympiad winners and among the best minds in the country. We cover all the core courses that students at other universities would complete in their programme during our first year itself. While I’m confident that I’ll gain a deep understanding of mathematics here, I’m concerned that the lack of high grades might become a problem later on. Commented Aug 29, 2024 at 10:59
  • @Ranreljam: In general, I am not impressed with education in India - there is too much rote learning and not enough emphasis on developing creativity and problem solving skills. I'm worried the other universities are actually not good. Commented Aug 29, 2024 at 14:31
  • @AlexanderWoo I agree with you, and many people I know suggested that pursuing a PhD outside India is beneficial (if I have a choice), as it gives us a different perspective on how we do mathematics. Commented Aug 29, 2024 at 18:02
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Getting masters from a top institute in India, even with somewhat low grades, does not reflect negatively on your chances to get enrolled for Ph.D. In fact, most top research institutes in India give preference to students who did their masters degree from an institute of similar repute during Ph.D. admissions. So, if you are aiming for Ph.D., then it is in your best interests to continue your masters from a top/reputed institute.

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You seem to be looking at advanced courses which cover topics not covered elsewhere and high standards as a negative. I would advise you to turn this thinking around and try to see this as a positive opportunity. When you graduate from this programme you will be at a distinct advantage over your peers from other programmes that are not as rigorous. As you seem to wish to do a PhD, remember that just getting into a PhD programme isn't the end goal, instead you want to be able to build a successful research career. For this you need both a broad and deep knowledge base in your field, so seize all the opportunities you have along your path to get this - make that your goal and the grades/diplomas etc will mostly come along with it.

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