Stat Assistant Professor

Looks like UNC-Chapel Hill will send out decisions at the end of the month? If you applied to UNC but you plan to go to another school you got admitted to, could you please withdraw your app from UNC asap so the rest of us have slightly, slightly better shots at getting admitted? thanks.

Congrats Stanford admits! Treat yo'self tonight or this weekend. Hope Minnesota sends out their decisions tomorrow...

Best of luck to you, clurp! Of those on your list, I have already been rejected from Duke, I expect rejection from UC-B, and I did not apply to UT Austin, CMU (for stats), or Columbia. I am hoping to hear good news from UCLA, UNC, Minnesota, and Rice, though given the competition this year, the first three are probably reach schools, haha.

I have not yet heard from Minnesota. Only one person on these boards reports to having heard back with an admission offer. Did anyone apply to UNC-Chapel Hill for stats? I'm hoping they reply soon as well.

koobear, I think you may be able to get better responses specifically about applied math programs over at mathematicsgre.com where there are a lot of pure and applied math folks. Not sure how helpful a statistics admissions thread will be for math... the prerequisites for entry are different, for example (I myself had not taken any prob/stat classes until I entered my MS program in math, heh). You can also feel free to PM me if you'd like. I can maybe offer a few answers since my MS degree is in applied math. Cheers.

Congrats to CMU admits! I applied to their joint program in Machine Learning and Public Policy, but have not heard back yet. Thinking I should've applied in Stats now, but what's done is done.

I edited my post to indicate that IF you do not get accepted this round, you can try to strengthen your application by taking some courses in the fall, if at all feasible. In my case, it was tricky, because I had a full-time job and could only take classes offered in the afternoons (I arranged flexible work schedule with my employer so I could do this). And yes, retaking the GREs may be a good idea too. Money is definitely a legitimate concern too. Try to research MS programs that offer TAships (RAships in math might be a bit more rare, especialy for MS students). I got a TAship for my MS program, TAing Introductory stat and math classes, so I had a full tuition waver and a small, measly stipend. I think some pure math programs also offer TAships (e.g. Virginia Tech's), but it seems you're set on going the applied route. Just throwing this out there anyway.

koobear, Don't give up or lose hope! MS programs are a bit less competitive, so you might have a chance. Do you live in an area where there are universities nearby? If you don't get admitted to a program this time but are insistent upon getting into an Applied Math MS program (I have a Master's in Applied Math), one thing you could do to prop up your application is to take some upper division math courses and do well in them. In my case, I pretty much had to take these math courses, since my undergrad wasn't even in math. But I did well in them and got some good letters of recommendation out of them, and I think that's what enabled me to get accepted into my MS program.

Agreed, StatPhd2014. I should have done a lot more of that prior to applying. Oh well, live and learn! My undergrad wasn't in math/stat though and my GPA was not the most outstanding, and my graduate institution (for math) was not a top program... and I did not submit math subject GRE either, so I was probably not a competitive candidate for the top tier schools in spite of my excellent grades in math and statistics courses. Can't do anything about it now. Just hope Rice admits me and that Minnesota, UCLA, or UNC-Chapel Hill gives me a chance, so I have a few options to choose from. Best of luck to all!

PS - Congrats to the Cornell admits! I didn't apply there but good for you!

Depends, aridneptune. Do you think you will have a substantially better shot at getting accepted to place D if you apply again next year? If it's not a big deal to you to apply again and you think you can improve your chances at D (and that your personal situation will be remedied by fall 2015), then sure, turn down all offers and try again next year. As for burning bridges, I doubt you will, as long as you're honest as to why you're declining A, B, and C's offers. Maybe someone who is faculty on this board can better attest to this though, but I don't think schools give those who turn down their offers much of a second thought. ETA: Seeing as I don't know the unique circumstances you're facing and seeing as I'm not on a grad admissions committee, you'll have to take my advice with a huge grain of salt.

statisticsfall2014, Completely agreed. I followed the advice of people in a broad number of fields, and in retrospect, I should have looked more specifically at advice for statistics applicants (had I known about The Grad Cafe forum BEFORE I sent in my applications, I would have applied for fewer of the top tier and a lot more schools right below that). I think contacting profs only helps in fields where you have to be accepted into a certain lab or research group or where research fit is *the* most important factor (and therefore must also be conveyed in your SoP, writing sample, etc.) At this point, I am hopeful for Rice, but it is definitely something that future applicants should keep in mind... that is, seek advice from people in your intended field of study ONLY.

Yeah, giving up on Berkeley, Harvard, and Michigan. I infer rejection from these. Oh well! I am now waiting to hear from Minnesota and UNC-Chapel Hill. Anyone hear back from these places? If Rice makes an offer and I get into either UMn or UNC (or both), I will decide amongst these places.

coffeehouse: that's true and definitely something I should have considered. He isn't TT faculty at Rice anymore though, so I can't have him as an adviser anyway. However, I do think he would have been a great professional contact to have (if he's even in Houston anymore) if I do end up at Rice. muzili: I do not have any idea how many applicants they intend to interview.

You are right, DoDream, but I see he is still listed as adjunct faculty on the Rice statistics webpage and on his LinkedIn profile. So he would still be a good contact to have, even if I can't have him as an adviser.

statisticsfall2014, Wow, thanks for the heads up! That would be totally awesome. I am personally interested in doing computational stats, so he would be a great adviser to have. I do think your adviser is what matters the most of all in your job search (academic or non-academic) as you near completion of the PhD. To anyone who may be curious, the e-mail I received from Rice U. was very personalized and I had a nice e-mail exchange with the prof. We will skype later this week.

Congrats to the Berkeley admit(s). Was a longshot for me, so I don't expect anything but a rejection e-mail. But we shall see.

I didn't apply to Wisconsin, but I'm surprised they would accept people to a PhD without funding. Seems fishy to me.

Also, Wisconsin accepting Doctoral students without funding? I wonder how many PhD applicants would actually go for this, unless they are independently wealthy...

"In general, if they send an e-mail asking you to check website, you can be pretty sure it's a rejection. (That's what Duke did)" statisticsfall2014, are you sure about this? I looked at past admissions results, and it appears people were sent e-mails to check a website, and some were acceptances (e.g. Berkeley and Chicago). Maybe it's different now though?

Thanks muzili. I'm not an international student. I do not know how many interviews they send out.

statisticsfall2014, Thanks a lot! My guess is that they're finalizing a waitlist and will notify waitlisted applicants and rejected applicants shortly. It seems Michigan and Harvard have a specific target incoming class number that is quite small, so a second round of acceptances seems unlikely. My guess is that it will just be rejections or waitlist at this point. But I could be wrong... I'm just going to infer rejection in my case.

FWIW, I got an e-mail from Rice University Statistics scheduling an interview. So this looks promising!

No regrets, statisticsfall2014! I knew some of these schools I applied to were a reach. But you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take! I'm just hoping I get in SOMEWHERE at this point. I would really only be devastated if I got rejected everywhere AND if I were not confident in my ability to succeed in a PhD program (I had no doubt that I could do the work required for a PhD if they were to admit me, so I don't take rejection as a testament to lack of ability or anything). I thought my record based solely on math/stat coursework, Master's GPA, and GREs were fairly strong indicators of ability, but a lot of people definitely had better overall records for sure (and better records when it comes to math/stat -- i.e. more relevant stats coursework, even higher grades in math and stat classes, etc.). A lot of peope with high GPAs and GREs are also ultimately rejected, so you never really know what was deficient about their applications vs. those who were ultimately accepted.

StatPhD2014, Thanks for the clarification. I would think it is a little bit less common at the top places. But based on the erratic acceptances of some places like Iowa, UNC-Chapel Hill and UCLA in the past (erratic in the sense that people are being accepted late in the season), I do think there definitely are places that send out several rounds of acceptances based on how many people accept their initial offers.