I am currently pursuing a Bachelor+Master program in mathematics and physics. While the material is very interesting, I feel it sometimes is lacking in the mathematical rigour necessary for Phd studies in mathematics.
A while ago, I discovered the one-year Master program (part III of the tripos) in mathematics at Cambridge University, and it seemed to feature a lot of highly interesting material. I think it would be a nice complement to my current program, and I am very interested in taking the course.
My only concern is, that at the time of graduating from my current program, I will be 26 years old. Would this be much too old for taking the part III course, and also, would I, upon (hopefully) completing the course, be too old for pursuing a Phd at a good university?
Thanks!
Best Answer
Personally, I would suggest emailing the relevant part of the University's Faculty of Mathematics, where you can find contact information on the bottom of the this page: http://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/postgrad/mathiii/.
I don't know how much you know about how the University of Cambridge operates, but if you were to apply for the one-year Masters, you would also need to look at the different colleges at Cambridge (there's more information available here: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/gradadmissions/prospec/studying/colleges/index.html). The University also has open days (both generally and faculty specific) throughout the year, so it may be worth having a look to see when they are.
On a more personal note, I doubt your age would be a barrier to getting onto the Part III course, provided there is a satisfactory explanation as to why - my expeirence with the Faculty members (I'm an undergraduate studying Maths at Cambridge) is that they only really care for a person's mathematical ability.