student12345

At MINIMUM, you will need the following math classes to even be considered:
 
Calculus I, II, and III (up to multivariable)
Linear Algebra
A year of probability/mathematical statistics
 
You will also need Real Analysis to be taken seriously by anywhere halfway decent.
 
Even with those courses, you'd have pretty marginal preparation. Most applicants to stats programs were/are math majors, and so will have taken quite a bit more than the above. The graduate statistics courses you could take with your current background are likely very applied and are not going to help you much when applying to stats departments.
 
So it's a bit of a tough road, but the good news is that if you have 3-4 years, you should be able to pick up the relevant pre-requisites through a combination of in-person and online classes.

Don't assume real analysis will go well!

One problem you'll run into is that basic set theory is a fundamental component of other fields of math, but courses on set theory itself tend to be for the more advanced, and will usually pre-suppose some base knowledge, especially notation.
 
To that end, you might be better off looking at an Analysis book to start (Since they often have a chapter on basic set theory and topology), and then once you get a handle on the basics and notation, switch to a set theory book. It is still possible that some notation will be pre-supposed in them, though... But if you're able to describe any notation that you're having trouble with, I know I, and I'm sure others here, would be willing to help you out.
 
I happened to have a couple of my old Analysis books on hand, so I checked them out. This one book looks pretty good for the very basics. It's called "An Introduction to Analysis" by James R. Kirkwood. The first chapter has a section on sets. It's only a few pages, but it introduces (Pretty standard) notation. Should help you out

Just how much I sat on GradCafe...

Stanford (along with Columbia and Princeton) is one of the financial engineering powerhouses. The only person at MIT who really does FE work is Andrew Lo. The same could be said of Stanford MS&E and Giesecke (who currently has like a million PhD sudents), but there are more people in Stanford GSB who do FE (unlike Sloan) who you could take classes and work with. That said, there isn't really a wrong choice (except that you didn't apply for the PhD straight away; Stanford and Columbia for example both allow you to be considered for the masters automatically if you don't get accepted into the PhD, so there's no reason not to try with schools like this).

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Don't don't don't don't don't,

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A haiku to summarize the thread:

Don't don't don't don't don't,

Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't,

You might get sued, don't

You really don't think there is a big gap in the difficulty of that qual vs. the first years master's exam taken at, say, UW bio/stat? Because I sure as hell wouldn't mind taking the Stony Brook qual instead of the UW's!

Yes. Assuming you do well in the additional math courses, having more math will definitely help you much more than a few additional biochem courses.

why in the world would you want 2 master's degrees in the same program? makes no sense at all

Hey everyone, I figured this would be helpful for people viewing this site in the future trying to figure out where they should apply.

Reply to this thread in the same format as me, and hopefully we can help out future applicants!

 
Undergraduate Institution: Ohio State University
Major: Economics, Math, BS
GPA: 3.56 Cumulative, 3.8 Major
GRE: Verbal 163, Quant 159, AW 5.0
Graduate Institution: N/A
Important Classes: Probability, Real Analysis, Differential Equations, Linear Algebra, Econometrics, Numerical Analysis, Multivariable Calculus
Research Experience: 1 year working for an Econ professor
Publications: None
Grants: None
Teaching experience: 1 year as a department-hired Economics tutor
LORs: 1 from Econ professor I did research for, 1 Stats professor, 1 Well-known Econometrician
 
Applied: Northwestern (PhD), Rutgers (PhD), UIUC (PhD), OSU (PhD), Virginia (PhD)     All Statistics
 
Accepted: Rutgers (no $$), UIUC ($$), OSU ($$), Virginia ($$)
Rejected: Northwestern
Attending: UIUC

Comments: I am very excited to be attending UIUC!

I'm most surprised that my friends didn't strangle me, as grad school applications are all I've talked about since December.
 
Also, the school that I thought was most likely to accept me rejected me, and the school that I thought was most likely to reject me accepted me. The latter ended up becoming my top choice and is the school that I'm going to be attending in the fall. This whole process was full of surprises!

your offers were dear to you? there are so many obnoxious people in graduate school. a toast to the new cohort.

If funding were provided for Harvard or Washington, they would be the obvious choices, and you couldn't really go wrong with either... I would probably choose Harvard, but that's really just because I like the city of Boston and while the departments are roughly equal in terms of rank, the general prestige of Harvard University is arguable the best in the world (and without a doubt top 3).
 
Now, all three of these choices are great schools, especially for outside of academia where rank will matter even less. With that said, if Berkeley is the only place offering you funding, then I don't think the higher rankings of UW or Harvard outweigh you going into debt to attend them, again, especially for work in industry after graduating... Therefore, take the Berkeley offer unless the other places comes up with funding. 

A haiku to summarize the thread:

Don't don't don't don't don't,

Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't,

You might get sued, don't

I would call them right now and let them know, they might have given your spot away but in case they haven't they probably would be willing to take you back but you need to contact them NOW

MAKE SURE THE OFFER COMES FIRST.

I would ask the program director what the job prospects are like for graduates of the program. 
 
 

My thoughts exactly.  Not to minimize your problems, but babies are so amazingly wonderful!
As others have mentioned, I've heard dissertation phase is actually a relatively good time to have a baby, because you have the most flexibility in your schedule.  Our department is more family-friendly, I think, as some of the students had kids before they joined the program.  Another person in the program had a baby in what would have been her second year of classes; they arranged for her to do more in the summer, to make up for not getting a stipend one semester.  Now she's back in classes, and besides all the normal mom craziness is back to the normal routine.  So, even when it's at a less convenient time, it can be done.
All this to say that your DEPARTMENT is the problem, not you or your baby.  If they want to be sexists (I don't use that term lightly) and seek to further limit the opportunities of women to be in academia, you don't have to apologize to them.  (I'm really ticked off on your behalf right now.)
In addition to scoping out your school's policies (the graduate student center or student senate may point you to the right sources, if you don't know individuals), it's worth scoping out what benefits your boyfriend has for "paternity leave" -- some companies are actually pretty generous.  If you come to your adviser with a plan in place -- how much time you'll need off, how your boyfriend is also making sacrificing, how you will arrange things after maternity leave, etc. -- then I think you will still appear like your professional self.  Rumors do spread quickly though, so I think it's best to tell your adviser once you have a plan in place, before it spreads to everyone else in the department.
Lastly, you need to buy this:
.

Glad you had a good experience and an easier decision

A haiku to summarize the thread:

Don't don't don't don't don't,

Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't,

You might get sued, don't

A haiku to summarize the thread:

Don't don't don't don't don't,

Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't,

You might get sued, don't

A haiku to summarize the thread:

Don't don't don't don't don't,

Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't,

You might get sued, don't

A haiku to summarize the thread:

Don't don't don't don't don't,

Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't,

You might get sued, don't

A haiku to summarize the thread:

Don't don't don't don't don't,

Don't don't don't don't don't don't don't,

You might get sued, don't