Piwi

I'm not sure what I would do in that situation, sorry. However, I wanted to say that I would love to be in your position - I'm looking at a long distance relationship for the next four years, and then a two body problem after that...

I do know that Harvard (at least the School of Public Health for Biostatistics) gives all new students a $3000 moving stipend their first year. (The stipend is smaller if you already live in the Boston area, but still exists). I haven't heard of it anywhere else though.

At all three of my interviews the profs (I met at least 4 at each school) encouraged me to email them with further questions. I felt I had already gotten my most important questions answered, and (more importantly?) gotten a good feel for the program. Like you, I decided to wait to ask questions until after acceptances (or not at all if they were rejections). I had written after the visits to thank them for my time, but did not ask further questions. I don't know how this came off to them, good or bad. What I do know is that I was accepted to two of those programs (and withdrew from the third). So even if it seems to be disinterest, it couldn't affect their decision too strongly. (But again, I made sure to reiterate my interest in their program when I emailed them).

I just want to reiterate that most Statistics programs do NOT require the GRE Subject test. The ones I know of that do require it are Stanford and Yale (and a few others "recommend" it, eg. Columbia). Wisconsin, Duke, and Berkeley are all top 10 schools, and do NOT require the Subject test (Berkeley may recommend it, I don't remember... but I know they don't require it).

I don't know if they've made all their offers. I know they interviewed several people in January/February. However, one of the current grad students said that he hadn't been accepted until early April (and got his "interview" then as well). So I'd say don't give up hope. If it's preventing you from making a decision maybe email them? (Though I'm guessing they won't know for sure what your status is until they know who is/is not accepting their offers.)

I'm going to Duke!!! I'm in the process of notifying other schools that I'm turning down offers/withdrawing apps. Good luck to everyone!

You might want to post this on the Math and Statistics page instead: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/48-mathematics-and-statistics/

I went to an interview weekend where the school had explicitly told us that we do NOT need to wear suits, but that of course it is an interview so we should look professional. I decided to wear black skinny jeans, a dressy shirt (think button down, but short sleeves and minimal collar), and a black sweater vest over the shirt. However, when I walked into the room that morning, ALL of the men being interviewed were in suits! I couldn't believe it. I was the only person not wearing dressy pants (thankfully my black jeans look nice). I had been expecting a group somewhere between suits and the attire described by OP so was pretty shocked at the excessive dressiness. Last year I went to a national conference and attire was very similar to that described by other posters above, so I still cannot get over the fact that all the men at this interview wore suits....

One school was about three weeks, the other was about five. Both had given us an accurate timeframe of when to expect to hear back.

I just want to say that in my case, I believe I am getting into better PhD programs now (currently in a terminal MA program, graduating in May) than I would have had I applied last year (w/o MA). (Note: Statistics may be different in this regard, since it's not uncommon for first year PhD students to already have a masters.) I made the choice to not apply for PhD last year (and to apply for MA instead) for multiple reasons: (1) my undergrad is fairly unknown, so having an MA from a well known institution might help the application, (1a) I had good grades as an undergrad, but because its a lesser known school, adcomms may not know how rigorous the classes are. Thus, having strong grades from a well known institution reinforces that my GPA was not a result of easy classes; (2) many statistics jobs are available for someone with a masters so it is certainly not a waste if I got rejected from all PhDs, (2a) it is only a one year program, so I am not spending too huge of an amount; (3) it affirms for myself (and adcomms) that this is truly what I want to be studying; (4) I've been able to add to my CV, and gain access to more "famous" recommenders; and (5) my SO is at this school, so we get a full year of being in the same place before spending four years long distance. While reason (5) was originally my main reason, the others are all true (and are how I managed to justify it to myself). Because I didn't apply for PhDs last year, I cannot say definitively that I did better this year than I would have without the MA. However, I honestly cannot imagine that I would have gotten into these schools last year (my background was strong enough that I think I'd have gotten in places, just not the same caliber places). Again, statistics may be different than other programs, and a masters (as others have stated, though I think we all knew this anyway) is not a guarantee. But I wanted to point out that in my case it really did help. Ie, in answer to your question, "Yes, it can help."

I went to visit Harvard SPH for a Biostatistics program and they mentioned that they take very few international students as a result of their funding. Most of the grants (at least for biostat) come from national organizations, NIH for example, and require that the money goes to American citizens. This makes it difficult to fund non-citizens (internationals), and thus they can accept fewer of them. I'm guessing that the funding situation is similar throughout HSPH, though I don't know for sure. This means that it's possible you truly are qualified, but that they simply don't have the money to fund you. (Not sure if this will make you feel better or worse (I hope better), but thought I'd let you know what I know.)

I just want to say that I'm glad everyone has emphasized that you should withdraw/decline when you are ready. No one should feel pressured to withdraw/decline until they are absolutely sure. At this point it seems likely that I will be withdrawing some apps, but I'm waiting until I am absolutely sure and 100% happy with the decision. I am also waiting on an official acceptance from one school (the department said that I should expect an official acceptance from the graduate school in the next couple weeks). It is a school I am very excited about, so I want to wait until I have something official, even though the chance of it becoming a rejection is very small.