Stat Assistant Professor

Good luck! I have not heard back from Duke about an interview... not sure what to infer from this, but best of luck to all who did get interviews!

I didn't hear anything from Duke. When did you get this interview request? Do they interview all the people they plan to extend offers to? Just trying to infer if I should assume rejection from them if I don't hear anything soon.

Looks like Wisconsin has sent out acceptances. I did not apply there but best of luck to those who did!

Hmm, possibly. Maybe they will do a second round of offers and denials (depending on how many some people immediately accept their offer). OR Maybe everyone who hasn't been notified yet is on a waitlist that they plan to rank (so establishing such a ranking could be what they mean when they say "establish a waiting list"), and they won't reject anyone from this ranked waitlist until after all their available spots are filled (THEN they'll reject everyone else). It's hard to know for sure which is the case. But if you didn't receive an e-mail at all (I didn't), there miiight still be hope. It could mean you aren't completely ruled out yet. Any other thoughts, anyone?

I see only rejections for UW Stats being posted today. Anyone get any admits or waitlists (after 1/17)?

It seems as though you will have met the minimum math requirements for virtually all Master's programs in Statistics, so it's not impossible. However, if you want to be slightly more competitive, maybe you could take a few more math and/or stat classes in the fall. In your application, you should clearly indicate that you are currently taking probability and [other math or stat class] and that in the spring of '15, you plan to take [this math/stat] and [that math/stat] as preparation for the MA. However, chances for Columbia specifically, I can't say... Apply all around, I think you may have a decent shot getting in somewhere. Full disclosure: my undergrad was also unrelated to my Master's (undergrad in social science, MS in Applied Math). I think taking some more upper division math classes to show I was capable really did the trick in helping me to get admitted to the MS program.

Ah, that is too bad. If you are applying again, I wish you the best of luck. It seems to be unusually competitive these past few years. FWIW, I applied to Harvard, CMU, Berkeley, Washington, Michigan, Duke, Minnesota, UNC, UCLA, and Rice. The first several are definitely reaches and I am not expecting much (but you never know...), but hopefully the last few are within decent reach.

dasgut, Are you sure that it was the undergrad GPA that was the cause of these rejections? I noticed that you applied to a lot of statistics programs.... had you taken any classes on probability and statistical inference prior to applying? Also, do you have any sense of your letters of recommendation?

Hello all, I am hoping you can offer some insight into this. I majored in a social science at an Ivy League institution and graduated with a 3.5 overall GPA (~3.7 major) over six years ago. The only math courses that I took in undergrad were Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra and I got A-'s in them. Then two years after graduating, while working in financial services, I became more interested in mathematics and decided to go to graduate school in applied mathematics. To better position myself for grad school, I took several upper divison math courses (ODEs, number theory, abstract algebra) as a non-degree student at nearby colleges and then successfully got into an Applied Math MS program at a large state school. Since graduating from that program, I have been working as an engineer for the past 1.5 years, but now I have decided to go back to school for a PhD in stats. All the grades I have earned in math and stat classes have been A- or A (including an A in real analysis and A-'s in the graduate level probability/statistical inference sequence -- I took these classes in my MS program). So I believe that based on my performance in these classes, I would be able to hack it in a stat PhD program. But I am just curious as to how much weight will be given to my good but not stellar undergrad GPA, especially if it is not really related to math or stats at all. Will this reflect badly on me? Or will adcoms be more impressed by the fact that I took the initiative to take math classes after graduating and did well in them? FWIW, my Master's GPA was a 3.9. Additionally, I believe that my letters of recommendation (all from math and statistics professors) will be strong, since they will each give specific details about projects and work I've done for them, and my GRE scores are 166 V (96%), 164 Q (89%), and 6.0 W (99%). Any feedback about my competitiveness would be greatly appreciated.