DIRTY_CRAPPED_BRIEFS

not that you know of

Former nuthouse resident here, can confirm the board games are crazy fun.

How's business been today?

1. Can we get a reading sample?

2. How many copies have you sold?

I'm glad that you're doing this AMA since I'm also interested in various aspects of the Langlands program and certain topics in mathematical physics. I graduated with a non-STEM degree but right now I'm taking some post-baccalaureate courses in mathematics so that I can apply to graduate school soon. Sometimes I feel helpless because being a non-traditional student who can't necessarily take all the advanced courses I want puts me at a disadvantage compared to other applicants to grad school. Other times I feel my efforts are futile because now that I'm getting glimpses of how huge math really is, I fear that even if I do go on to do research someday it will only be in a tiny sub-sub-field of some subfield and that only five or six other people in the world will care about what I publish.

I guess my question is: what advice would you have to give to a student in my position, or someone who is worried that they can only get into a second-tier graduate school or that their research will ultimately be too obscure?