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I have stack-exchanged through my undergrad math program. Am I likely to succeed in mathem

I'm currently a third-year mathematics student at a top-20 private research university in the US (though mostly known for the humanities). We have a small und

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I have stack-exchanged through my undergrad math program. Am I likely to succeed in mathematics PhD programs?

admissions ▲ 109 8 views 2026-07-12

I'm currently a third-year mathematics student at a top-20 private research university in the US (though mostly known for the humanities). We have a small undergraduate mathematics department, but we were offered the option to take many graduate courses. I’m always passionate about studying pure math, specifically algebra, and I’m very seriously considering pursuing a PhD degree in mathematics. Nonetheless, I’ve not been able to participate in mathematical research of any kind so far – getting undergraduate research experience is impossible due to personal status issues, and my department has no resource committed to undergraduate research.

Indeed, as of my course load, I’ve finished the three-semester algebra sequence by my second year (i.e., group/representation, ring, field/Galois, category theory, commutative algebra, and homological algebra). Though I started late, I'm also working my way through the analysis and topology/geometry sequence, taking differentiable manifold and complex analysis now. I maintained all As in the graduate courses I’ve taken.

Regarding this, I do have one important confession to make, and it is in fact the reason why I’m asking this question. Math SE is a very robust community with respect to algebra. This worked very conveniently for me as there are very few peers at my school to discuss math with. As a combined consequence I actively seek ideas on SE whenever I get stuck on homework. (Please note that I'm not in violation of any collaboration rules set by my department: I understand and then proceed to write every proof myself.) This happens in about 30% of the assignments. I have no problem with exams since they are usually much easier than assignments.

Only after having recently talked to graduate students and professors at a conference, did I realize this is a terrible approach. I vividly remember one said something like: “unless you went through a textbook and attempted to prove every theorem yourself first you won’t truly understand the subject”, which is, the exact contrary of what I’ve been doing. I’m seriously in doubt about my aptitude over these subjects, fearing that I will be subpar on the level of understanding as well as the ability to conduct research, to approach open questions when I reached graduate school. I fear I never try/explore “hard enough” to come up with proofs like others have suggested. I managed to do most just by familiarity of common methods/tricks and theorems, but those things can be forgotten over time.

So here comes some specifics of my question:

  • Is searching SE for homework problems common for math students?
  • How will doing so affect a student’s understanding of the material?
  • In what ways does doing so tie to one’s ability to do research?
  • What are some possible ways to remedy this, besides completely re-learning the material?
  • How much do I have to pay in the future for stack-exchanging through my courses?
Source: Funny Morphism on Stack Exchange — CC BY-SA 4.0.

3 Answers

Yes! In fact, I think you're well on your way to doing better than your peers! Taking longer to understand something isn't something to be proud of! There's no need to reinvent the wheel. If someone can help you understand something, you would be well-advised to make use of them. In the same way, you would be well-advised to attend the lectures, thereby getting help from the professor, instead of staying at home with the ZFC axioms and attempting to derive the whole of mathematics from scratch.

My experience asking questions on Stack Exchange also indicates that simply writing the problem in a form which others can understand is a great help in clarifying my own understanding of the problem. Indeed, I've solved some of my problems simply by beginning to write a (never asked) question.

Of course, this doesn't mean you should outsource your understanding to others. You should make it so that you can explain the concept to next year's students without help (answer some other SE questions while you're at it!). But even then you should feel free to ask for help with next year's problems.

Source: Allure on Stack Exchange — CC BY-SA 4.0.

First of all, I believe this is extremely common these days. More and more I notice students neglecting to develop important problem solving skills and instead developing great “google-fu” and “stack-exchange-fu” skills to achieve the same goals.

Now, don’t get me wrong, SE-fu is a terrific skill to have. Just like you are worried about using the internet too much and coming to rely on it as a crutch, some people genuinely ought to worry about having the opposite problem of obstinately trying to figure everything out themselves even if it takes them weeks or months and refusing to ask for help. This is just hugely inefficient. These people may in fact become excellent problem-solvers given enough time, but it’s just not a practical approach to covering the large amount of material a modern mathematical education requires.

So what I’m saying is, there is a right amount of stack-exchange usage that can be really good for you. Someone who makes the right use of math.SE and other great online resources can really boost their ability to master complex topics and speed up the learning process compared to their peers who don’t use those resources. And then... there is definitely also a wrong amount of stack-exchange usage. It is certainly possible to rely on it too much, or more generally to rely too much on asking other people to help you figure things out when you get stuck (before SE was around, people with such tendencies also existed, they would just nag their friends and class mates with lots of questions instead of using google/SE).

So, is this a fatal flaw or an indication you’re unlikely to succeed? Absolutely not. From your description it sounds like a slightly bad habit at worst, but one that you likely share with a lot of other students (I mean probably something like 70% of them, if we interpret your habit to include heavy use of google and not just SE).

I do advise you however to actively work on shaking this habit and investing more time and effort in trying to solve problems by yourself before you give up and ask for help. Getting yourself unstuck when you get stuck is a skill in and of itself, and involves important sub-skills like learning how to identify when you have a serious misconception about a problem, learning to believe in your ability to solve problems by yourself, learning to be attentive to small details, and probably other things that are equally important but that I would have a hard time articulating in words. When you look up the answer or ask for help on SE, you end up solving a specific short-term problem (figuring out the answer to the specific question you need solved), but deprive yourself of broader opportunities to acquire these very valuable problem-solving skills. It’s certainly not too late to start though, and your tendency to over-rely on help sounds fairly mild in any case, if it even exists. Good luck!

Source: Dan Romik on Stack Exchange — CC BY-SA 4.0.

I wouldn't worry too much. It sounds like you are making excellent progress. You are still an undergraduate, you have tons of time ahead of you!

There are lots of good ways to learn mathematics. Talking with others (including over the Internet) is one. Allowing yourself to get stuck, and trying hard to come up with your own proofs is another.

If you feel that your study habits have skewed too much towards the former, I'd recommend trying out the latter approach. (Which does not mean you have to change to it permanently.) For example, choose a course or book and try to get through it without SE. See what happens!

Source: academic on Stack Exchange — CC BY-SA 4.0.

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