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Stats2015

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  1. I looked for masters programs that didn't have a PhD program at their school thinking that I would have a better shot at funding for a Masters there since there wouldn't be PhD students TA-ing the lower level stats classes. Three that I know for sure offer funding are: -South Dakota State -University of Idaho -Northern Illinois University (South Dakota automatically offered funding but the last two had a separate application for assistantship). I've also heard that some of the really big schools sometimes fund masters students because they don't have enough PhD students to TA all the lower level classes offered (I believe someone mentioned this with regard to Michigan recently).
  2. Thank you for the info. I appreciate it. I liked the program from what I've seen. I just wasn't sure if there'd be enough computational statistics related classes and/or opportunities to do research in that realm.
  3. I was reading how unsubsidized is typical for grad school and that PLUS loans are more common since I think the max for regular loans is around $20,000. I just wasn't sure how high they would go to cover tuition and cost of living since I've never needed that much before.
  4. I was just curious if anyone has had experience with funding an MS program using federal loans? I was looking into the MS Statistics program at Michigan and out of state tuition is over $40,000 per year not counting cost of living which they estimate at $13,000. Do they give loan amounts that high ($50,000+) for graduate school?
  5. It sounds to me like Ohio State might be your better choice. I've worked with professors in the past that were difficult to got responses from and that is a huge factor for me now. Having the support of the school and faculty will make a big difference not just in taking classes but also while doing research. Plus it sounds like Ohio State has laid out all your questions for you so there isn't any mystery. I did feel like Purdue has a lot more options in finance but if you're not 100 percent sold on that area then Ohio State sounds better to me.
  6. Thank you for your input. I really appreciate it. The MS programs that I have gotten into so far are: -Northern Illinois University (NIU) -South Dakota State University (SDSU) -University of Idaho -my undergrad university I don't think that they really place anyone into academia but I'm not sure exactly. I know both NIU and SDSU have PhD programs but I believe they are in "Computational Sciences and Statistics" and "Statistics and Applied Probability" respectively but I don't know a lot about them outside that.
  7. Thank you for your reply. I agree about the applied statistics PhD at UCR. I asked a few of the professors there about it and they said that it remains applied mostly in name at this point due to the way the UC system is set up for statistics PhDs (and the fact that you take 12 credits outside stats dept that students often use as part of their dissertation) but that they do tend to attract people who are sometimes looking for an applied emphasis which fits what you said about most wanting industry to begin with. I considered what you mentioned about being able to transfer if it turned out to not be what I was looking for, but I've heard that transferring departments is really difficult to accomplish, and I want to try and be fully committed if I go to UCR. I appreciate your advice regarding UCR vs an unranked MS dept. Do you think your advice would change if it were UCR vs a higher ranked MS dept? I'm still waiting to hear back from the MS at Michigan, Illinois, and Utah (not ranked for stats but MS stats degree would come from math dept).
  8. I was able to visit the school and I left thinking very highly of the professors and the program. They do have a professor doing data mining (but it's more biostatistics, not sure if that matters) and there is a professor doing theoretical computational statistics and another professor doing high dimensional data methods which both interest me. They have at least one professor with a research lab in the computer science department doing machine learning and collaborations are encouraged, but I don't think machine learning is a specialty in the stats department at all. I also believe there would be more individual attention as all the faculty seemed very personable and eager to work with students. The only reason I was concerned at all was because, during the visit, almost every professor we talked to really emphasized their focus/success at placing people in industry and when I asked about academia placement I got the impression that it was possible but not the norm (several professors mentioned approximately a 10% academic placement rate). I later found a list of recent graduate placements and that's when I saw the placements in tenure track math department positions. I really don't think there's anything wrong with a tenure stats position in a math department. I just really want to focus on research in academia and was worried that I would have a harder time placing in academic positions that would allow me to do research (as opposed to a university where the emphasis would be placed much more highly on teaching, leaving little to no time for research). I believe there is a way to accomplish what I want at Riverside. But this is a conclusion I am reaching while trying to piece things together and not necessarily a response from them of "yeah, we can place you in the position you want to go into". I just wasn't sure if it was the same at other programs or if what I wanted would be easier to obtain at a slightly higher ranked or different program as this is the only program I visited so I was curious as to the impression that other people had after they visited their programs.
  9. I agree that it may be difficult to comment without knowing the specifics. I just wasn't sure what was appropriate as far as disclosure on a forum such as this and I didn't want to seem disrespectful in any way to a school that made me an offer. I was admitted to the PhD program at UC Riverside and a few MS programs from unranked departments. I've been narrowing my interests down lately to Data Mining and possibly Machine Learning and my main goal was to work in academia. I know Riverside has placed people recently in tenure track positions but they have been in mathematics departments from what I have seen. I am leaning toward accepting the PhD offer at Riverside, but I just wanted to make sure I was making the right decision as I was under the impression that where you go to school can sometimes define your career possibilities in the future.
  10. I thought about just continuing to take classes and try to do more research for a year and reapply next year. I'm just running out of classes to take at my current university because they don't have a statistics department and don't offer many stats classes. But I know I could always take additional analysis courses here. The offer I received was from a school that is currently ranked in the 60's by usnews so I don't want to seem greedy because it is a good program and I am grateful for the offer. I just feel that my GRE score is not reflective of my ability (I just ran out of time during the test) and I would hate to think that something such as that might be holding me back. I just wanted to get another opinion on the matter to see if people thought it was worth all the trouble to try to get into a slightly higher ranked program or if it was better to focus on the other things that the school has to offer outside of where they're ranked at this point.
  11. I've been trying to consider going into industry, but my original plan was to go into academia and that's one of the main reasons I was concerned with a lower ranked PhD program. The PhD program I was accepted into has a really good placement in industry but only a few go to academia each year and most are to Mathematics departments or unknown Statistics departments. I guess I don't really know if it's my GRE score that is causing me problems. I just assumed my GRE is my weak point because it's so low. My GPA is 3.8, I've worked on several research projects (two in statistics), and my letters were pretty good from what I can tell. That was my other concern was if I decided to go the MS route first, there's no guarantee I'd get into a PhD program after either. I just assumed getting an MS degree and trying to raise my GRE score would make me more competitive. Plus, I've been refining my research interests in computational statistics these past few months and that's not something that I was able to express on my SOP when I applied in Dec/Jan.
  12. The MS programs I applied to aren't professional masters programs, but I don't know that they will offer a ton of variety in coursework either as most of the schools seem to just offer the main theory courses. I guess I am just questioning whether it would be better to wait a year or two, possibly obtain a Masters degree and see if I can get into a higher ranked PhD program in the future, or whether it would be better in the long run to just jump straight into a lower ranked PhD program now and try to excel through research?
  13. That's what I thought too but he seemed pretty adamant about it but he may have been referring to students not continuing on in their respective programs due to a lack of ability or a personality conflict.
  14. Most of the MS schools I applied to were terminal MS degrees that either don't have a PhD program at all or only have a PhD in a non-statistics degree (i.e., Mathematics or Computational Sciences) because I knew I would have a better chance at funding for a MS at these schools. I am still waiting to hear back from two schools that I was rejected from their PhD program and offered to be considered for their MS programs but I am assuming these schools would not fund me for a MS degree. I also worry that if I go to a school as a MS student that has a PhD Statistics program but decide to apply to another PhD program, that other schools may question why I am applying to their school if I am already in a department that theoretically knows me. I had a Professor tell me recently that doing that raises a red flag to him but I don't know if that is a universal opinion amongst all professors on admissions committees. Has anyone else heard anything to that effect?
  15. I received an offer from a lower ranked PhD program and several funded offers to MS programs. I am still waiting to hear from several other PhD programs but at this point I am not holding my breath. My question is if I scored poorly on the GRE (Q 156) this round but had a reasonable package otherwise, would it be in my best interest to accept the PhD offer I currently have or go for a funded MS program, try to raise my GRE score, and reapply after my MS degree? The PhD offer I received is from a decent (but smaller) school and they made me a pretty good offer. I just don't want to look back later and wonder if I could've bettered my situation by trying for a higher ranked program.
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