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Just wanted to come here to say that you might not want to go around saying that spending $100 for each school you apply to isn't a big deal! Individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are not well represented in statistics and biostatistics, and this sort of mentality doesn't help. See e.g. this twitter thread. To actually comment on the original question in this post, my department is accepting the same number of people as in previous years.

Almost certain @GoPackGo89 meant UNC (and Michigan) biostats (regardless there are faculty in both stats and biostats at UNC that don't just do theory, so this comment seems a bit odd).

You don't need a bio background to get into any biostats phd program, it probably doesn't even help in a lot of cases since programs want to see first and foremost that you have the math background to handle their coursework. I majored in math/cs (took one stats class during undergrad) and got into good biostats programs, your background won't be a problem.

Just want to throw out that I've heard anecdotes of students being admitted to all of the programs that recommend the Math GRE w/o taking it (including Stanford!)

If you can afford a mac, I'd recommend to just dish out the cash and get one (preferably a pro). Lots of programming languages/computational tools used in stats are made with unix systems in mind, so it eases a lot of getting things to work. If you don't want to pay for a mac, getting some linux laptop would be the next best route if you're comfortable with using linux (it's not for everyone). Of course getting a cheaper windows laptop is also fine, you're probably just going to go through more hassle to get stuff to work.

I don't think there's a reason for you to not apply to UW, you have a shot. You don't need to take the math gre if you don't think you'll do well on it, it won't hurt you if you haven't taken it (but doing very well on it, like 75%+, would probably help). If you really want to go to UW you should also apply to the biostats program since the two departments are well connected/ you can work with profs in either department while in either program.

@rosebud123 Yeah just go through the last 5 or so years here: http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/people/alumni/alumphd.shtml

@StatHopeful Some of your ties are off for biostats. Here's what I got for the full lists. For reference here were the last set of rankings https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/52537-2014-usnwr-rankings-statisticsbiostatistics/. Stat 1. Stanford 2. Berkeley 3. Harvard, Chicago 5. CMU, Washington 7. Duke, Michigan, Penn 10. Columbia, NCSU, Wisconsin 13. UNC 14. Cornell, Iowa State, Penn State, Texas A&M 18. Minnesota 19. Purdue 20. Hopkins, UC Davis, UCLA, Yale 24. Ohio State, Illinois Urbana-Champaign 26. Rutgers, Florida, Iowa 29. Rice 30. Colorado State, Florida State, Connecticut 33. Michigan State, UC Irvine, UT Austin 36. Northwestern, Pitt 38. George Washington, NYU, Georgia, Missouri, VTech 43. UC Santa Barbara 44. Indiana, Southern Methodist, UMBC, Virginia 48. Oregon State, UC Riverside, Massachusetts Amherst, South Carolina 52. Arizona State, Case Western, Temple 55. Baylor, George Mason, Kansas State, Colorado Denver 59. Kentucky, VCU 61. San Diego State 62. UNC Charlotte, UT San Antonio Biostat 1. Harvard, Hopkins, Washington 4. UNC 5. Michigan 6. Berkeley 7. Minnesota, Wisconsin 9. Columbia, UCLA, UT MD Anderson 12. Penn, Yale 14. Emory 15. Brown, Duke, Vanderbilt 18. BU, UC Davis 20. Florida, Iowa, Rochester, UT Houston 24. Medical College of Wisconsin 25. Illinois Chicago 26. Case Western 27. Colorado Denver 28. Massachusetts Amherst 29. South Carolina, SUNY Buffalo 31. Kansas, Alabama 33. SUNY Albany, Cincinnati, VCU Not ranked from last time: Pitt, Medical College of South Carolina In stats it doesn't look like there are a lot of big changes besides Michigan moving to 7, Columbia moving to 10, and Texas A&M moving to 14. In biostats, once again, not that many big changes besides Hopkins moving to being tied for 1 (which makes sense considering how good their placements have been lately) and Penn moving to 12. For both stats and biostats there were a lot of new programs being ranked.

When people talk about programs being applied/theoretical they're usually talking about one of two things: coursework/quals or the research being done by professors in the program. I'm guessing when most people say Harvard is more applied they're talking about the coursework/quals. Harvard is a lot lighter, in this regard, than other top biostat programs where measure theory/more theoretical coursework is required (e.g. UW, Hopkins, UNC). However, that doesn't mean there aren't professors there doing theoretical research (off the top of my head there are a few bayesians who do pretty theoretical work there), just like the programs with more theoretical coursework/quals have professors who do applied work.

Echoing what the others said, you have a shot at every biostats program. Also, if you're interested, you also have a shot at every stats program considering your math background and math gre score (80% is really good for stats programs). So apply to wherever you want to go!

I think there might've been a topic or two in the past asking this question, so it might be worth looking back through the forum for some older perspectives. I was in a similar situation last year and, for me, visiting the programs, talking to current students/professors, and interacting with other accepted students who are going to be your future cohort were the most important parts of the decision process. UW and CMU are both top schools that have good placement records, with professors working in all of your areas of interest, so you really can't go wrong choosing either.

It seems like you already have a good general list at this point. I don't know if you have some substantial research interests at this point, but if you do I'd recommend munging around department websites to see which schools have people working in that area. This would probably be the best way for you at this point to add/remove from your list.

Looks like you have a pretty reasonable list (for phd programs) given your profile. You'd probably have a good shot at most masters program across the board, you can either look into program websites individually or look back through old posts on this forum to see which masters programs give funding (there won't be a lot).

Jesus christ, 88% isn't mediocre for stats, even for internationals (Stanford's average is 82% and they're the only program that requires it). Definitely submit it wherever you apply. No biostat programs really even asks for it, so you'll be way ahead of the pack there.

Given you have pretty much a 4.0 from a top 5 undergrad, your math gre is only really gonna matter at Stanford, so I wouldn't worry about it. Also I'd say to not really worry about the GRE, you just need to score above the 90th percentile in the quant section, which I'm guessing isn't going to be hard for someone with your background (most schools don't care about the other sections as long as you don't really bomb them). Lack of letter writers being able to say you can do good research shouldn't be much of a problem since most applicants don't have a ton of research in general. Also as you can see from the stickied post in this subforum, the sop doesn't really matter a whole lot. You have a good shot at pretty much any stats program, so I'd say apply to where you want to go, and if you're really worried about getting shut out everywhere throw in a few larger programs (like Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas A&M, NC State, Penn State, Minnesota, Purdue, etc.). Since you don't have a whole lot of time left, just prioritize making sure you finish all of your apps on time, and making sure all of your letter writers know when they have to submit letters by.

I would post on http://www.mathematicsgre.com/ since the people who post there are more in tune with math programs. But also like Kevin said some schools only allow one app, and Stanford/Berkeley/other top 10 math programs are going to be much more of a crapshoot than their stats programs, so be wise about how you spread your apps!

@Radon-Nikodym No you're right, I didn't remember correctly! And you might be right that the Math GRE could be more important for you since you're interested in probability theory, but I also think that coming from Chicago and doing pretty well in the math classes there already shows you're capable. My guess is that your score is good enough that it won't make or break your chances at any top schools considering it's in line with the rest of your app. See this post from cyberwulf https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/89814-2017-applicant-profiles-and-admission-results-for-statisticsbiostatistics/?tab=comments#comment-1058493642

Chicago definitely has a reputation for grade deflation/ the math major is notoriously tough so I wouldn't worry too much about your grades (you can't change them at this point anyway). Your GRE should be competitive for top programs since you're a domestic student (the only place that requires it is Stanford, and their average is 75% and that includes internationals who are held to a higher standard), your departmental advisor probably is talking about applying to math programs or they're out of touch with current statistics phd admissions. There were at least three Chicago undergrads accepted to the stats program this last year so it seems they're ok with accepting undergrads/ that shouldn't hurt you there. Overall I'd say apply to the schools on your list and also throw in some of the bigger state schools in the top 20, you'll definitely get in somewhere.

Op definitely has a strong profile, especially with multiple papers in the works and summer research at a top 15 biostats program, so they should apply to everywhere they want to. Just would caution about being overly optimistic for UW/Harvard (not sure about Hopkins), even though that already kind of goes without saying since grad admissions are super competitive. At the visit days for both, nearly everyone was either from a top 20 undergrad, a flagship state school, or a top liberal arts college. There were a few from colleges that didn't fit into that mold, but they were definitely the minority (I would consider myself in the minority even though I went to a top 35 undergrad). Then again, this might've just been this years applicant pool, so idk if this is typical or not. Also to the op, if you're interested in neuroimaging why not apply to Penn biostats (http://www.med.upenn.edu/pennsive/)?

Have you tried talking to some people in your department/ in the stats department at your school? I wouldn't think it'd be that hard to work with a prof in your stats department even if the two departments aren't super well connected (I'm guessing there have been students in the past at your program who've been in a similar situation). It doesn't seem like your reason for transferring is super compelling given that you can find a ton of graduates from biostats programs going to non bio/public health/medicine related positions post grad, and plenty of stats professors that have phds in biostats (and there are professors at all of the top 3 biostats departments working on ML/high dimensional stats/other traditional and theoretical stats problems).

In order to roughly give you an idea of where you're competitive, you'd need to provide a profile. However this won't be of much help as you've only completed your freshman year (and since you said it was rough I'm guessing your grades weren't the highest). From looking at the schools you want to apply to in the future, it looks like you're applying mostly based on brand name/undergrad prestige, and not based on research interests. Those schools are usually arbitrarily more competitive because of people just applying to them for their name. In terms of what safety and match schools are, they're not very well defined for phd programs, as admissions can be a crapshoot (unless you have an amazing profile). Usually "safety"/"match" schools are those that accept a large number of students (mostly large state school programs)/ some of the lower ranked schools, and "reach" schools are schools that accept a smaller number of students (brand name schools)/higher ranked schools. My advice would be to forget about choosing which schools you're applying to until the spring/summer before your senior year. You'll probably have a better idea of your research interests, and your profile will be a good indication at that point of where you should apply.

I don't think any schools will fly you out pre-admisison unless they do on site interviews (e.g. Duke stats, a few biostats schools). However, most schools will pay to fly you out if you're admitted (all of the programs I was accepted to offered to fly me out). There might be a few exceptions (maybe some schools don't have as much funding for recruitment as others), but I would definitely not try to purchase any flights till you're accepted/the schools tell you about their accepted students days. If you're worried about being able to buy the flights before being reimbursed, some schools can book your flights through their travel agencies.

No, an A- won't hurt your chance for a masters program (or PhD program) given A's in all of your other math classes

Undergrad Institution: Top 35 US Undergrad Major(s): Math, Computer Science Minor(s): GPA: 3.94 Type of Student: Domestic white male GRE Revised General Test: Q: 167 (93%) V: 163 (92%) W: 4.0 (59%) GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: M: Didn't take Programs Applying: Statistics/Biostatistics PhD Research Experience: One summer of SIBS, one REU in biostatistics Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Pi Mu Epsilon, Awards for being in top 5% of class Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Math Grader, Computer Science TA since sophomore year Letters of Recommendation: Should've been good Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Nothing that really sticks out Applying to Where: Berkeley - Statistics Reject 3/7 Chicago - Statistics Accepted 1/24 Washington - Statistics Waitlisted 1/18 CMU - Statistics, Joint Statistics+ML Reject 2/23 Duke - Statistics Reject 2/3 Wisconsin - Statistics Accepted 2/24 Michigan - Statistics Reject 3/14 Columbia - Statistics Reject 3/8 Cornell - Statistics Reject 4/13 Yale - Statistics Interview request 1/27, Reject 2/21 UT-Austin - Statistics Reject 3/21 Washington - Biostatistics Accepted 1/6 Harvard - Biostatistics Interview invitation 1/6, Waitlisted 2/3 UNC-Chapel Hill - Biostatistics Accepted 1/3 Penn - Biostatistics Interview invitation 12/20, Accepted 2/15 Princeton - Operations Research Reject 2/10 Chicago - Computer Science Accepted 2/23 If anyone wants to see more details about my background, look back through my posts. Overall very happy with my acceptances. Also it's of note that I didn't take the math gre and got into one program that recommends it (Chicago) and got waitlisted at another that recommends it (Washington), so the advice on this forum from the past that you don't need to submit a math gre to get into programs that recommend it seems to be true.

You have a >3.7 gpa from one of the best schools in the country (that's known for grade deflation), a perfect gre quant score, 80th percentile on the math gre (Stanford's listed average is probably skewed by internationals so your score is probably above average for domestic students), two summers of REUs and additional research, and you've taken graduate classes. I'm not sure if you're judging yourself as not having an amazing profile because you're comparing yourself to other math majors who're applying to math phd programs, but for statistics your profile is about as good as it gets! And you probably would've fared well applying to math phd programs too from the looks of it. I don't have any real input since both programs are great and there really isn't a wrong choice for you. If there's nothing related to specific research interests that draws you more to one school than the other, my suggestion would be to choose the program you think you'd be happier at socially/ outside of the classroom (e.g. do you like berkeley or palo alto more, is the stipend significantly better at one school, were the other perspective students at one school more fun to be around, etc).