edward130603

u sure a phd in stat is what you really need for that type of a job?

Duke is located close to NC's Research Triangle Park region, which has companies like IBM and Cisco. As for the other two, which employer wouldn't want a more serious degree?

I agree that NCSU would probably be a bit of a reach. Low grade in linear algebra does not look good, since that is probably the first real proof-based math class you have. I think you definitely need to get a good grade in real analysis. Early January, NCSU asked me to send my fall grades (even though their website does says they don't want you to update them with fall grades). I'm guessing they really wanted to see how well I did in real analysis (other classes I was taking were pretty irrelevant), and apparently an A- was good enough. Would you mind sharing where you interned? Currently looking for some data/stat related internship for the summer and not having too much luck.

I haven't actually done a REU so not too sure about that one, but I know a friend who did one and it was a combination of classes and research. I did the NIH summer program for two summers a few years ago and it is definitely a real research experience, but forgot it's not open to international students. If students are expected to present a poster at the end of the experience, I'd say it's legit (and depending on whether you find anything substantial in the poster, that will go towards a publication). Personally, I've been taking "independent study" courses the past 3 semesters that allow me to take 1 less class each semester and use that time towards research (in addition to full-time summers with the same research group). I think building strong connections with research advisor and getting good rec letters from them is a really nice boost to application. When I applied, I had rec letters from research advisor for epidemiology research (worked with ~9 months), advisor for genomics research (worked with ~2 years), and a statistics professor (took 2 classes with). So far, I'm having more success with acceptances at biostatistics programs and statistics programs that aren't as theoretically focused, so perhaps research experiences not in pure stat are less useful if applying to a more traditional statistics school.

The NSF funds Research Experiences for undergrads (REU), though the deadlines might have expired for those. National Institutes of Health has a summer internship program. I think both of those should have some fairly quantitative/data-driven projects (though maybe not pure statistics) if you do some googling (baidu'ing?). Also just search for "statistics research undergrad". However, I think it takes longer than just a summer to build the connections with a research advisor. Can you try to find a professor at your uni who will take you on as a research assistant? At my school, faculty can post stuff in our student employment search to recruit students. Do you know R or SAS? Though I'm not sure how big undergrad research is in China, I remember going to a poster session in Beijing where a lot of high school students had solid research experiences, so I'd imagine it would be possible for you to get solid research going.

My intro probability course used "A First Course in Probability" by Sheldon Ross. Has solutions in the back, and you can find pdfs of it online. Maybe also khan academy.

I don't think it works (or at least I can't figure out how to navigate their site). The "Choose Duke" section doesn't even have the graduate program I applied to listed. But I didn't get an email, so I guess prob waitlisted/rejected.

For those that heard back from Duke Stats, was it via email or on a website?

I don't think there's a site that aggregates the admit stats that you would be looking for, and most programs don't list these on their website either. I think the best way to get more information is to email some stat departments that you are interested in, and ask for info like percent admitted, size of cohort, average GPA, average GRE, funding, etc. Personally, I asked my stat professor (who was going to write my LOR) about suitable programs and his suggestions were very helpful.

I feel like as long as this isn't a for-profit school that hands out free (paid) A's this profile looks very solid, esp with strong GRE scores and relevant research/activities. I've heard measure theory would be a nice boost for an application (according to Wharton Statistics admissions), but not something u must have.

Yes, just got the acceptance for UNC bios today so they don't send them all at once.