DC1020

Aside from probability you look to have great, or at least good enough, statistics for top programs. Two recommendations as someone who just went through this: - LORs: It sounds like you would be on much stronger ground with meaningful recommendations from work rather than from undergrad professors who barely know you. Would your boss be willing to write an enthusiastic letter? A client? Another option is to take a relevant night class (perhaps statistics/probability?) this summer and have that professor write a recommendation. - Statement of purpose: This is likely to be what makes or breaks you given how many applications are being sent into these programs nowadays. I'd start writing it now and plan to revise over the next few months. What's unique about your past? What do you want to do with the degree? Why do you stand out? If you have an SOP that could have been written by a couple dozen other applicants (I want to work in big data, data is the future, I'm smart, pick me) then it's hard to imagine they will pluck yours out of the haystack when the others making the same case have 4.0 GPAs and glowing recs from professors.

"Should" is not quite the same as "must" - the results board shows a few sub-3.5 admits over the past few years. They are few and far between though. You will probably have to be an absolute superstar with a very compelling story and application in order to get in with a low GPA.

12 units is a normal load so I don't see why this would be a problem.

Ouch (not me thankfully) 0a/0w/27r. Bad season. What's the probability of such a rejection rate?

Your score may be 80th percentile overall, but as you have heard from the horse's mouth, it's below average for many of the programs you are applying to. Overall, for people who declare an interest in "mathematical sciences," the average Q score is 162 and nearly half score 165 or above. More than one in ten get a perfect 170. Those numbers are going to be even higher at top programs - for example, Duke masters admits had an average Q GRE of 168 two years ago and 167 last year. https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/statistical-science-master-s-admissions-and-enrollment-statistics There's no answer to what is "good enough." If Duke has an average of 167, that means there are a lot of people who got in with scores in the low to mid 160s. However, the rest of their applications were probably bulletproof. Given that your GPA is marginal, that means you need AMAZING letters of recommendation and statement of purpose to overcome grades and test scores.

I'm happy to be able to add a story to this list. I had multiple false starts at a very highly ranked undergraduate school. I wasn't going to class, wasn't doing homework, wasn't engaged at all. I took a year off, came back, was recommended to take some time off. Tried to come back, again had to leave. My overall GPA was 2.0. After officially flunking out I worked for a couple years and somehow managed to get them to readmit me. Upon return I had a 3.5 GPA the rest of the way - an improvement but it was far from perfect, with a couple B-'s. My overall GPA netted out to a 2.5 and I graduated four years late. Once I decided to try for a master's degree I spent nearly a year putting together my application. - Most important, I have spent six years in industry at a unique, interesting job that was relevant to the kinds of programs I was applying to, working in a relatively senior role. - My SOP told an understandable and likely unique story about what I planned to learn and what I wanted to do with that knowledge. - I didn't dwell on past failures but included a separate paragraph in the SOP addressing them forthrightly. - I got a really great GRE score. - I took two night classes relevant to my field and got an A in both. - My LORs were strong and spoke to my ability from different perspectives - my boss, a client, and a professor at a reputable university (from the night class). In the end, I thought my application was pretty strong and only applied only to top programs. I was rejected from some that I expected to get into, for reasons that are unknowable. But I got into my top two choices, one of which had a 3% acceptance rate for the program I applied to. I was fortunate to have very high test scores and a degree from name brand undergraduate institution, even if my record there was abysmal. But everything else - work experience, SOP, LORs, and additional academic experience - came from a lot of hard work. If you had told me I'd be going to this school 10 years ago I'd have said you were crazy. But I'll be there in the fall

They are pretty much all cash cows for their respective departments! Three separate people I talked to used the term "cash cow" without prompting to refer to the #1 program on the US News list. But that doesn't mean a masters is not worth doing if it fits your academic and career goals, or even that those cash cows aren't selective and difficult to gain acceptance into.

That's a helpful post.

Where did you apply? Where were you accepted, rejected, waitlisted? Stats? Any thoughts or wisdom for people applying next year?

You can feel the desperation start to sink in on the results board, at the same time others are celebrating their acceptances and making plans. What a process.

Me too.... womp womp. Congrats to those who got in!

The year before that they came out in late March... still waiting here.

I applied to eight schools with a pretty clear top three priority ranking. I got into my #2 a month ago, which was really great for my peace of mind, and got rejected from my #3 yesterday. Now I get what it means when people say it still stings, even when it doesn't really matter to what you ultimately do. There was almost no chance I'd go to #3 but that doesn't mean it's fun not to get in!

I'm having some serious whiplash watching my first admitted student webinar. This has been a year-plus-long process of putting together a package to get people to want me... and now the tables have turned. "PICK US!"

2015 Stanford PhD: Feb 4 2015 Stanford Masters: March 4 2016 Stanford PhD: Feb 3 2016 Stanford Masters: Guess we'll have to keep waiting

Nope, I'm applying for masters and haven't heard anything. All my other schools are releasing decisions in early to mid March so I haven't felt the need to call for an update from them. Given the huge number of PhD rejection postings last year, it seems likely that the bulk of the PhD results have yet to be sent out.

That, plus people spam the results board with a bunch of questions that should be put in the forum... All from TODAY: I was wondering if anyone has heard from the University of Delaware? If so, do you have any idea when they will be letting us know if we were accepted or not? Good luck to everyone! To the poster below, I don't know when we'll hear from App State but last year the earliest anyone heard was April 13th so unfortunately I think we have a while. Please post if you call or hear otherwise! Does anyone know when we will hear back from App state about decisions? Has anybody else decided on Northeastern yet? I'm accepting my offer (they were my first choice) I was wondering if we should make a Facebook group like past cohorts have? Too early? Had my interview on February 6th. Anyone else who had an interview in the past two weeks, have you heard back with any results (accepted; wait listed; rejection...anything?). Has anyone interviewed for Mercy yet? I have my interview next week and wanted to get some feedback! Good luck to all those interviewing I'm getting very anxious waiting for them! Does anyone know when we might hear back? I interviewed last Friday and have not received a phone call or letter in the mail.

Email was VERY misleading. Said there had been a change in my status, that I would be receiving log in credentials soon and that I should check the website for the official letter. I got super excited, then super sad when I found out I had been rejected. Ok, starting to sweat a little. That's brutal.

There are so many Speech-Language Pathology posts on the results board. I had no idea this was even a degree until a couple weeks ago.

The acceptance rate is on their web page along with a lot of other information. I'd be worried less about having a 3.7 vs. a 3.8, and more about setting yourself up to write a great Statement of Purpose about why you want to be there and to have three enthusiastic and diverse letters of recommendation. Masters: We receive upwards of 500 MS applications each year, and admit approximately 30 applicants for the Statistics M.S. program and 8 for the Data Science program each year. PhD: We receive approximately 140 PhD applications each year, and we are able to admit 10-12 new students each year. Average GRE for admitted students department-wide: Verbal 83%, Quantitative 91%, Analytical Writing 52%, Subject Test 82% (for PhD only)

Received last night - in three consecutive emails. Dear XXXXX, The application system for Columbia Engineering graduate programs... ...will be unavailable for a brief period on: Thursday, February 25th, between 8:30a.m. and 12p.m. (EST or NYC time). Please do not use the system during the closure period to avoid any problems with your application data. You may resume to use the system after 12 noon.

It's very doable, though not particularly convenient. The drive is about 45 minutes without traffic. Public transit is also an option but you'll have to change trains twice - once at Trenton and again at Princeton Junction. You'd probably have to budget an hour and a half or maybe even more.

Applied Math & Statistics

So why did these people pay good money to apply to this school? "Take a second to look at the CVs of their current students. Sans degrees from well known institutions (or, Ivy Leagues universities), they have little to offer in terms of formal training in critical thinking. Their students present at piss poor conferences, too (like NYSCA). Waste of money. Only applied because I wanted to live in NYC." "Yeah everyone knows MCC blows. Have you looked at their placement rate lately? Oh yeah, you can't because it's nearly non existent. Don't worry, you can find their students at the National Communication Association. NO WAIT - you can't do that either because none of their students understand disciplinarity. They are all psuedo anthropologists and sociologists. This program is a joke and I can't wait to turn down admission. My adviser was right."

I wouldn't put much stock in those warnings, especially for smaller programs that don't use a robot that will throw away your application without looking at it. That said, GPA is one of the most important components of your overall package, so the rest of your application will need to be exemplary. Your test scores will have to show that you are smart enough to handle the work and your SOP/recommendations will need to demonstrate that you are passionate about your field and likely to care about and succeed in graduate school.