Caesar

I would say that you have an excellent shot at most of the schools in the "Top 35". Believe it or not, a super strong statistics background isn't as necessary as most people think. With the courses you've listed you should have no problem with a Casella & Berger or similar type of Distribution Theory/Inference course sequence. In addition, everything else in the range of graduate level methodology and computational stats should come to you pretty quickly if you already know SAS and another object oriented language. All of that stuff just says that you meet the academic requirements for a stats program though; what sets you apart are letters of recommendation and research experience which, based on your description, should make you very competitive for most of the "Top 35". Your GRE scores are fine by the way; I suspect that most of the people posting scores on GradCafe aren't really representative of the accepted population, but by all means if you think you can do better it won't hurt. I'll go ahead and shamelessly plug Texas A&M. A lot of people come to the Ph.D. program here with only an undergraduate degree and take the Master's courses on their way to the Ph.D. level stuff. The great thing is that they are classified as Ph.D. students, get a tuition waiver, and a monthly stipend (which as of Fall 2014 will be ridiculously generous, especially considering the cost of living in College Station). If you decide later that you want to leave with a Master's Degree you are free to do so with no penalty. I can't speak generally for all institutions, but I'm sure many programs operate in a similar manner. FYI, I left another Master's Program where I paid over $20,000 for one semester to come here where essentially the only thing I pay for is parking and a sports pass (which is absolutely necessary at TAMU). Speaking of sports, with a name like "footballman" you may already know that we now have the #2 football recruiting class (#1 Alabama doesn't have a stats grad program).

TAMU puts quite a bit of time, money, and people into their distance program and it's been extraordinarily successful thus far. For the most part, the distance students take the same exact courses as the on-campus students and get the exact same degree. You'll also have quite a bit of interaction with the professors. There are weekly Q&A sessions that each professor hosts in addition to their weekly classes and they are very active on discussion boards as well. I would have to disagree with "Applied Math to Stat" on recommendation letters though. I can't speak for other distance programs, but if you perform well, participate in class, etc., I see no reason why you couldn't move on to a quality Ph.D. program; in fact, quite a few distance students have and a few decide to move to College Station and pursue a Ph.D. here at TAMU. The only major drawback that I see to the distance program is that you have to pay for it, in contrast to the on-campus students which receive funding.

Probably not where you're at. Most of the statistics related jobs for the federal government are going to be in and around the Washington, D.C. area. Browsing through the USAjobs.gov website under the keyword "statistics" will give you a good idea of the types of jobs available and where they're located. https://www.usajobs.gov/Search?Keyword=statistics&Location=&search=Search&AutoCompleteSelected=False

Texas A&M has recently added an M.S. in Analytics through their Department of Statistics. Although the degree is new, the courses are all well established and offered both through Mays Business School and the Department of Statistics (both are excellent). More info can be found here: http://analytics.stat.tamu.edu/

I use R, SAS, and SQL on a daily basis and on occasion even integrate R with C++. R has certain advantages over SAS and vice-versa (e.g., graphics in R). If you're going to start learning SAS, I would go ahead and start with the certification process and at least get the SAS Base Programming and SAS Advanced Programming Certifications under your belt; you're probably going to need these anyway if you're looking for jobs in government or industry. SAS publishes fairly in depth prep manuals for both exams and "The Little SAS Book " that cyprusprior mentioned is also excellent as a reference. If you are currently enrolled in school you can also use the SAS Web Editor online instead of handing over a ridiculous amount of money to have SAS installed on your own computer. Info about the SAS Web Editor can be found here: https://support.sas.com/ctx3/sodareg/index.html%3bjsessionid=7D0311DA2CDAE115B20E8EA8CA4BFE06?execution=e1s1

If you're trying to stay in the DFW area then your only real options are SMU and UT Arlington (you can only do stats through UTA's math department though). SMU seems to have a relatively large program, so that should increase your chances. Baylor is an hour from Dallas, but their program is much smaller and UT Austin seems to be very small as well. Just for some perspective, I had a 3.94 GPA with a double Math/Econ major from a small unknown school with great LOR's and GRE scores of 155 V / 167 Q / 4.5 A and got rejected by both UT and Baylor; I also had little to no research experience. Be sure to put a lot of time into your statement of purpose and be sure that it makes you stand out (not "I want to go to SMU because it has the only stats department in Dallas County") and I would be sure to emphasize that upward trend in your last two years of undergrad and anything else that shows you're a serious student with a serious interest in the field. Also, LOR are very important; I would argue that they're the most important part of your application. Don't count out Texas A&M either. It's about a two and a half hour drive from Dallas and is arguably the best stats department in the state. They're also the 3rd largest program in the country and are pretty high in the USNWR rankings (if that gets your goat; I personally think school rankings are irrelevant and flawed). Long story short, apply everywhere and let THEM tell you yes or no. I would apply to SMU, UT Austin, Baylor, UTA, TAMU (of course), and maybe even Rice.

This is probably a bit late for you, but I had no idea that TAMU even had a separate biostat program in the School of Public Health. I went through the course registration portal and didn't even see any of their supposed courses being offered over the past few semesters. However, if you're interested in biostats and TAMU then look no further than the TAMU Department of Statistics. It's one of the largest programs in the country and has people working and doing research in biostat areas ranging from statistical genetics, agriculture, nutrition and toxicology, and oncology (I believe that they have close ties with M.D. Anderson in Houston which is a world leader in cancer research and treatment).

What areas of research are you interested in?

Headed to Texas A&M for a Ph.D. in Stats. Born and raised in Texas, but I've been away for a long long time. Looking forward to coming home for a few years.

I would also suggest focusing on the larger programs such as NCSU (if they haven't rejected you), Iowa State, and Texas A&M; By their size alone your chances will increase.

I would have to respectfully disagree with you about undergraduate university prestige. I came from a school that isn't even ranked or well known outside of its region and was accepted to all but two of the graduate Ph.D. programs that I applied to (all were top 20, one was top 5). In addition, I had very little research experience and far from exceptional GRE scores. From my experiences over the admissions cycle and conversations with grad school recruiters, my clearly defined statement of purpose and letters of recommendation were the deciding factors.

I received an acceptance letter from them in late January (I applied in late December). From my understanding they are taking about 14 Ph.D. students and I have spoken with others who have also been accepted. However, they were all domestic students and the application process may be different for international applicants.

I would pick UNC without a doubt. There are plenty of research options. I considered applying to UNC, Duke, and NCSU based on the Statistical & Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) alone. http://www.samsi.info/

I received the offer via email during the week of February 25th.

Hello all! If anyone here is familiar with ISU or TAMU's Statistics Ph.D. program I was hoping for a bit of advice on which one to pick. I don't necessarily care about program rankings (TAMU is much higher in US News, while ISU is much higher in NRC rankings). ISU is offering a bit more funding and the cost of living is less expensive, but I believe TAMU has a slight advantage with my potential research interests (big data, machine learning, stochastic processes). Any opinions or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.