effhorses

For those who haven't heard from UCLA one way or the other, email to ask. I was waitlisted but only found out after I emailed the graduate vice chair asking for an update. It's not unreasonable at this point to ask, and to ask again at the end of March/beginning of April if you don't get a final decision by then.

One mistake I made was that I focused my search too much on specific research interests. I wish I had been more flexible and applied to more good schools that, while not a screamingly obvious fit for my interests, were good all-around programs. I'd recommend this especially for those coming straight out of undergrad, since you almost certainly haven't done enough research or taken enough coursework to know for sure what you'd like to write a thesis on, so flexibility in that regard is good. Agree with all of this. I only had the confidence to apply to top schools because I knew I would have strong letters, and even then I got rejected from most of the ones I applied to. And it's good to ask people knowledgable of admissions for an honest assessment of where you'll get in. It seems that stat programs are getting more competitive, however, so try to find someone who's involved with it now vs. was involved with it years ago.

I'm coming to Harvard in the fall; when is a good time to start looking for an apartment? I'm wondering if now is too early, but I'd like to get it out of the way ASAP so I'm not scrambling to find a place over the summer. Other general advice is also appreciated, but I know a lot of my questions have been addressed by previous posters.

Thanks, I'm pretty excited after getting a chance to visit and chat with professors/students; definitely made my decision easier. Berkeley is a place worth waiting on; hope you get some good news!

He told me specifically that I'm on their wait list. I'd assume you are as well, but can't say for sure. I wasn't going to wait until April anyway so I withdrew.

Heard back from UCLA stat; they said I've been wait listed and that a decision might take 1-1.5 months. So it sounds like they've already made all of their initial offers. I'm probably going to withdraw my application since I'm unlikely to accept an offer anyway.

Well that's... uninformative. I sent him an email as well asking if a decision had been reached and, if not, when I could expect one, so I'll let everyone know if he provides any sort of timeline.

Not a problem! The director also said to expect a decision sometime this week. The fact that you're getting an interview means you have a very good shot at being accepted. One other thing: I was asked whether I had any other offers. Based on the low-key nature of the interview, my guess is one of the main points of these calls is to gauge how likely it is their top choices will attend; that way they can figure out how many offers to make.

It was a 10-minute phone conversation with the director of graduate studies. It wasn't a super-intense interview, just asked me why I applied to Northwestern and whether I had any research experience, then told me about Northwestern's program.

My only experience is from applying, so I only know as much as they have on their website and what the director of admissions told me in a brief phone interview. It's a very small program; they have 10 faculty members, they accept only 4-6 PhD applicants per year and don't have a master's program. It seems fairly balanced in terms of faculty research, at least for a department of that size. I applied there because the research of Larry Hedges and Bruce Spencer sounded interesting to me. In terms of rankings, it's not particularly well-regarded; I haven't asked around to see how accurate that is.

Nothing from UCLA here; if you're curious you can check your application status at the following link: http://www.gdnet.ucla.edu/gasaa/admissions/applicat.htm Mine doesn't list a decision, just says "submitted."

stats

I'm still waiting on UCLA, Columbia, and Northwestern. I'm assuming Columbia will be a rejection, and I had a phone interview with Northwestern that went well so I'd guess I'll receive an offer. No idea what to think on UCLA.

Finally got the Michigan rejection. My guess is they're just now getting to the applicants who asked their applications be transferred to the Master's program. I told them I was no longer interested.

Undergrad Institution: Big state school, well-regarded but not super elite Majors: Math (Statistics concentration), Economics Minor: Philosophy GPA: 3.9 Type of Student: American white guy GRE General Test: Q: 164 (89%) V: 167 (97%) W: 4.5 (78%) Math GRE: didn't take Programs Applying: Statistics PhD Research Experience: Some experience with statistics research at internship, but no publications Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's list, various academic honors (mostly for good grades) Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Intern at federal agency Letters of Recommendation: Supervisor at internship is fairly well-known, and my limited research experience came working with him. One came from an economics professor who taught econometrics-focused classes, letter was assuredly very positive. One came from a math professor who taught probability theory, not sure how positive the letter was but I was one of the top students in the class. Applying to Where: Carnegie Mellon University / Rejected on 2/14 University of Washington / Rejected on 1/23 Harvard University / Admitted on 1/29 University of Michigan Duke University / Rejected on 2/7 UCLA Columbia University Northwestern University / phone interview on 2/20 Iowa State University / Admitted 2/9 / declined 2/13 UC-Davis / withdrew 2/8 University of Illinois / withdrew 2/8