Cal1gula

This guy on reddit has some good recommendations - https://old.reddit.com/r/statistics/comments/8s9ql7/because_ive_had_to_reference_my_linear_algebra/

Undergrad Institution: India. Not one of the IITs. Major(s): Bachelors in Pharmacy (+ MBA Pharma. Tech) GPA: ~3.4 (WES evaluation brought it up to ~3.6) Type of Student: International GRE General Test: Q: 166 V: 166 W: 5.0 GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A Research Experience: No relevant research experience. 1) Worked one summer in the chemistry lab, worked on synthesis of some compounds and forced degradation studies. No publications. 2) Conducted a study in which I set out to evaluate the influence of personality traits on patient adherence. Unpublished but had an oral presentation in college. Math/Stat Courses: Calc 1, 2 (A+)(covered in a one-semester course), Applied Math and Pharmaceutical Statistics(diff eq, laplace transformations and biostatistics) (A-) Computer Science (A), Operations Research (A+), Marketing Research Methodology (B+), Calc. Based Stat Course (C) - was suffering from malaria during exams (mentioned it in the SOP), was really worried that this would affect my chances Letters of Recommendation: One from calc professor, one from professor who taught me OR and MRM, and one from my chemistry lab advisor (not sure about the first 2 letters, but probably got a strong letter from my chem lab advisor) Work experience: Have interned at pharmaceutical companies (one month in a production plant, and 4 months in the supply chain department). Programs Applying: MS Biostatistics Applying to Where: University of Texas SPH - Accepted University of Iowa - Accepted University of Pittsburgh - Accepted Emory University - Rejected Ohio State University - Rejected WUSTL - Accepted + $10k financial aid Columbia - Accepted Boston University - Rejected University of Michigan - Rejected Vanderbilt - Rejected University of Minnesota - Accepted (attending) Overall : 6 Acceptances, 5 Rejections (Went much better than I expected it to!) Some Observations on the Application Process 1. Most of the applicants on the forum are (domestic) PhD applicants, so it was scary seeing their profiles and I knew my profile was nowhere near as good as theirs. However, masters programs are much less competitive--so as long as you have good grades and a good GRE score, you have a decent shot at getting into Top 15 programs. 2. As I was switching fields I really had no idea which universities I would get accepted/rejected from and I just applied to a lot of universities. I got accepted to some where I assumed I had no chance (Minnesota) and got rejected from others where I felt I would surely get accepted (OSU). So, apply far and wide if you're not sure--and remember, there are no "safety" schools! 3. Even though cyberwulf's advice indicates that your SOP doesn't really matter, I spent a lot of time on it because I felt like it was one of the few things in my control. I think I ended up with a really strong SOP but again there's no way to say what impact (if any) it had on my application 4. If given a chance to do it again, I wouldn't have applied to Michigan or Vanderbilt, and probably filled it in with colleges such as Brown, Penn etc.

School B seems to be the clear winner.

Finally got a decision from Vandy (a rejection but hey, at least it's a decision). Time to finalize and wrap things up. Good luck to those who are still waiting!

Yes, GSBS UTH and UTH SPH are different. UIC does not seem to have a thesis/practicum requirement for the MS degree while UT SPH does. And I am under the impression that Houston has a better job market (although I could be wrong on this one). I would go for UTH SPH.

Still no decision from Vanderbilt...

Well, now I feel dumb for not thinking about that... "biosta*" would be slightly better as it would also include the typo "biostaistics"

I was bored so I did a thing. I tried out various typos/variations of "biostatistics" on the results search page and this is what I found. Potentially gives you access to more data than just searching for 'biostatistics'. Typos Biostaistics - 43 results Biostatistic - 23 results Biostatisics - 18 results Biosatistics - 15 results Biostatstics - 12 results Biostatistcs - 2 results Variations Biostat - 24 results Biostats - 8 results

Good to see that some of the newer programs (Duke, Vanderbilt) have finally ranked. The MD Anderson dept. is definitely a surprise addition--don't think I have seen much discussion about it on the forum. I am curious as to why the Pitt biostats dept. is unranked.

Will Vanderbilt start rolling out decisions today? Hopefully...

Not exactly a rejection, but I guess this poster is a troll? The min. score on the GRE is 130 on either section, and I really doubt that this guy got 1.5 on the AWA(the poster seems fairly fluent judging by the comment). I suppose he's trying to get people riled up over the 'unfair' advantage that minorities have in the admissions process.

11,000 applicants? That sounds ridiculously competitive...

For anyone wondering about Vanderbilt: "All applications are still under consideration, and we hope to start making final decisions in the coming weeks by mid-March."

Well, we could be more helpful if you could tell us specifically the schools/programs you have in mind. Does the 1 year program have a thesis component? Does it cover theoretical aspects of stats? If your end goal is to get a job, then it probably does not matter if it's a 1 year masters/2 years matter e.g. the MS Applied Biostats at BU probably has good placements. But if your goal is to pursue a PhD, I would lean heavily towards a 2 year program. Another thing you can do is contact the school and ask them if they would be willing to give you alumni stats, and you can see for yourself how many of their students end up in a PhD program.