So it appears that some biostatistics PhD decisions have started to roll in for some applicants, which naturally causes worry in those of us who haven't heard anything yet. So I am now wondering if I should be concerned that I could be left out in the cold at the end of this, so I'd appreciate some feedback and critique of my application prospects.
I am already enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh for a MS in biostatistics, and will be graduating this April with around a 3.85 GPA. My undergrad was in math, and although I didn't do spectacular, I would say I performed about on average with the usual grad school applicant. I have research experience, conference presentation experience, and a pending journal publication which I should hear back on soon from a summer internship I had. Also, one of my recommendations is from the chair of the biostats department who is highly respected in the statistics community.
So now I've seen that some decisions have come in for PhD students who applied to Harvard and UNC Chapel Hill, and I'm wondering if maybe I aimed a little too high with the schools I applied to, as I have yet to hear anything. My UNC app was turned in about a month ago, so I'm hoping maybe it wasn't reviewed yet, but the Harvard app has me concerned because their deadline was earlier and it seems emails have gone out for interviews. If anyone could give me an outside perspective on what the future decisions could hold that would be great. Here is where I applied, all of them are biostat PhD programs:
Johns Hopkins
Harvard
UNC Chapel Hill
Cal Berkeley
Washington
Pittsburgh (current student)
Thanks, and good luck to everyone applying