Bayesian1701

Day 36: As the days go by the fear of rejection increases. While we can physically make it another 100 days until April 15th, emotions are wearing thin. The main thing we lack is enough data to comfort us about our odds.

My point was more to aim high on the GRE, because a high score certainly won't hurt you but a low score might. I understand it is a screener and possibly a tiebreaker on borderline cases. Also I agree most schools don't care about the math subject test, but over half of the schools on OP's list recommend or require it. I didn't take it but I would not have sent the score until I knew what it was, and the only reason I used my free reports on the general was that I was confident it would be "good enough". Perhaps I should have clarified that those scores are goals that seem to represent average acceptance, I know you don't need them to get in but they would help. GREs are used as a weedout so the goal is to not be weeded out. I mentioned applications fees because I wish I would have known sooner how expensive it is to apply. The OP may have been aware of this, but they may not have.

Loved this. Seriously the MBA and MA in education emails need to stop. When I did GRE search service I was expected stats programs and maybe a few data science or economics programs, but all it is expensive MBAs and MA in education. Why would anyone drop $70k a MA in math education puzzles me, but they email me still. The worst is when Duke's MBA emails and I get excited over an email from Duke, and find it is for their stupid MBA. Are you expecting to hear from anyone soon? Duke stats interview requests could come any day now.

One of the four professors writing my recommendation letters is stressing me out. He sent the first batch at 5 pm on the day they were due. And a few days later he completed the next one which was due a few days later. My next round of deadlines is 1/8 and 1/15. They are not submitted at the time of this writing. I have emailed him approximately once every two weeks since October (when I sent out requests). He supervised my independent study so I included deadlines in almost every email. I could theoretically replace him with another writer but he is the ONLY stats professor I had in class (for 3 semesters) and I am applying to stats programs. I know that professors are busy and have lots of commitments but the other three professors haven’t had any problems and usually did them within 48 hours of the request. I also hate reminding him because I feel bad since he is volunteering to do this for me. He could probably complete the remaining 5 in a couple of hours. I just want them done and completed on time. And the fact that it is over break means I can’t be sure he has gotten the emails without an annoying read receipt but I am going to include one in the next email.

I am applying for fall 2018 admissions so I am not an expert, but I have read the past admissions profiles and survey results so many times I almost have them memorized. Your list is a little top heavy, but you have great grades from a good institution. You won't get in everywhere with that list, but maybe 2-4 places on the list assuming a good GRE. Try to get some more research experience (if possible), and study for the GRE. Take a general GRE practice test as soon as you can. Ideally, you would have 167+ on quant and 160 on verbal, and 80%+ percentile on the math subject test. I would consider signing up for the April 2018 math GRE and take the general by August or September. I recently wrote a post with general GRE advice here. I was worried about the process too and adding safer (no school is a safety school though) programs on my list made me personally feel better. You can read last years profiles here and you can find more by searching. Also be prepared to spend $1000-1500 on application fees (Columbia's was $110), GREs, and sending transcripts/score reports. Texas A&M had a free application this year that required no official score reports or transcripts and if they do that again so should consider adding them to your list.

I wrote this advice on the Magoosh facebook group and I thought I would post it here as well. I took the test on August 25, 2017, and received 167Q/160V/4.0AWA. I was nervous and I think I could have retaken and got a higher quant score but I felt like there isn't enough of a difference to adcoms between 167/170 to justify retaking in my case. I definitely recommend Magoosh, I actually tried it and canceled it in March until I realized there wasn't anything as good out there at a similar price (in my opinion). My magoosh predicted ranges were Q167-170 & V160-165. I had about 100 verbal questions left and I retook all missed quant questions. I took my first practice test in February, but I didn't start really studying until June. I don't have much verbal advice, but here are the books I used and the tests I took. I used the magoosh 90 day advanced plan from June to August. I did not do all the verbal practice in the plan since my target verbal score was 155. I also bought the Magoosh quant tutoring package, which I recommend. Overall, I feel that no practice tests accurately represent the 2nd hard quant section (for those who do well on the 1st section) beside the powerprep tests. I also recommend that in addition to watching the video explanations for the questions you miss and that you watch the videos for the questions you took longer than the average pace. I would also wait to retake missed problems until the very end of your practice, I remembered the answer to multiple problems. Below are the books and practice tests I used to prepare.BooksManhattan Prep 5 LB Book - Highly recommend anyone aiming for a 90%+ percentile on quant to do the last half of every chapterETS Official GuideETS Quant Practice ProblemsETS Verbal Practice ProblemsManhattan Prep Text Completion and Sentance Equilivance Strategy Guide - The words are very obscure, but it helped me learn how to guess betterManhattan Prep Word Problems Strategy Guide - More helpful than I would have thought, great if you need more practice outside of MagooshManhattan Prep Quantitative Comparison - also great if you need more QC practiceNova GRE Math Prep Course - it has questions arranged by topic and difficulty. Contains around 200 hard and very hard problems. There are some typos, but most of the time they are pretty obviousI did not use the GMAT official guide as suggested in the plan.I bought the Ready4GRE app, but I don't recommend it.Practice tests listed in order over 6 monthsKaplan- Q164/V155 (free), Looking back it was too easyManhattan Prep 1 (MP) - Q160/V155 In general, the MP quant section was WAY too hard, the verbal was pretty weird but the scores were pretty accurate for me. I felt the quant sections were demoralizing and made me feel like I wasn’t making progress.MP 2 - Q163/V159MP 3 - Q160/V160ETS Paper 1 - Q165/V160Magoosh Q167/V158ETS Paper 2 - Q169/V159Princeton Review - Q164/V162 (free) The second quant section felt accurate, but I felt it was graded too hard (I missed 3 questions total on quant).Crunch Prep - (free) Q164/V157 The quant was weird, and they advertise that they grade AWA but they didn't grade mine before my trial endedMP4- Q161/V161The economist - Quit after the first section of quant, the question format and topics were way different from ETS material. It's the only free test I don't recommend.MP5 - Q163/V156Powerprep 1 - Q169/V159 - Quant was easy for me, but I thought the verbal was hardPowerprep 2- Q166/V163 opposite of PP 1, quant had a few very hard questions

https://www.directtextbook.com/ is a good place to comparison shop across multiple sellers. I don't know if Springer is a common publishing company in your field, but if it is and your library is a member of their MyCopy program you can get paperback copies of books for $24.99 with free shipping.

Just submitted the rest of my apps. Duke (stats) seems to send out the first few weeks of January. I am checking my email constantly. I will try to keep y'all updated if I hear anything. Anyone else struggling with the waiting?

I don't really understand why more programs don't provide more information. I get that GPAs and GRE scores are not the only factor and if there is more than one person there is always an admitted applicant with a GRE or GPA below (and above) the average. I am applying to statistics programs and I want to quantify my chances but I really can't because I don't have enough data to create a meaningful estimate in most cases. I also doubt that they make enough money on application fees (after staffing a graduate admissions office, paying for application platforms, etc.) for that to be an incentive to not provide information. I know that things change, but can they just tell me what happened the last few years?

I am also applying to stats PhD programs. Assuming application deadlines are pretty consistent throughout the past 5 years or so, and that the results survey typically has at least 1 result from the first round, I would say approximately 4-6 weeks after the deadline. If it is a Top 20 program you can find results in the survey. Lower ranked programs may not have a lot of data but they, in general, seem to take 4-6 weeks to start admitting people. Duke, in particular, takes longer and usually starts sending out interview invitations in January and acceptances in late February. Unfortunately, there isn't enough data to be more exact than 4-6 weeks without knowing the programs you have applied to. I don't know how the turnaround time compares to other fields. I am definitely going to post on results as soon as I hear anything, but I am not expecting news until the end of January. Good luck!

Anyone else read Inside Graduate Admissions by Julie Posselt? For those of you that haven't heard of it, Dr. Posselt sat in on PhD admission committee meetings at "elite" institutions for various fields. The names and universities have been changed, but it was interesting to read. It did freak me out a bit since the prestige of the undergraduate institution played a bigger factor than I expected. I wasn't even thinking of getting a PhD when I choose my undergraduate institution. My undergraduate institution is Tier 1, but they just got upgraded a few years ago and it's a second-tier state school. I am applying to a field (statistics) where there are hundreds of applications for a handful of spots. I worry that my undergraduate institution is going to hurt me. I have a couple of weeks at least before I hear anything and the waiting is awful.

The bill was signed today and became official. Lifetime learning credit is kept and tuition waivers are not taxed.

I have not had a phone interview but during a visit, I had four 15 minute interviews. It was a stat PhD program though so it might vary a bit. In two meetings we basically just covered my research interests and theirs. In two of them, we also covered my undergraduate research experience and why I want a PhD in statistics. I would imagine that the main questions would be why you want to go to graduate school (maybe why biostat over general stats?), what are your research interests are if any, and a description of the program. I wouldn't stress about it too much since they told you it was a 15 minute interview.

Someone familiar with math might comment, but most of the people on this forum are stats people. You might have better luck at mathematicsgre.com, another forum.

I would also like to blog.

I am a statistics PhD program applicant for fall 2018, so I am not an expert. I have however read most of the applicant profiles threads, and old posts about admission chances. Baylor doesn't really have a masters program. I am not sure if it will let you apply. Baylor is my first choice and I have visited. They say they only have PhD students and the master's program exists in case people want to leave with a masters degree after two years. You might have a shot at Baylor's PhD program, but your real analysis grades will likely hurt you. Your GRE much higher than the average 164Q/155V they told me. Baylor's program is biostats focused but they have people doing other things. You mentioned in your other thread that your endgoal is a PhD, so I am not sure if you want to go straight into a PhD program. I think you would have a shot at getting into most public non-elite masters' programs, but I don't know if anyone would fund you or if you need funding. Some domestic students have gotten funding at Florida State and Iowa State in the past for their masters' program, but I don't think they fund all of their domestics. Duke and Columbia are very competitive and I think your math background could not be strong enough. Columbia has a MS in quantitative methods for social science which I imagine wouldn't care about your math background, but I don't know if that would help you get into a Statistics PhD program. It also depends on what your undergraduate institution was. If it is UChicago or someplace that is commonly known for grade deflation, that may help cancel out the grade because a B/C+ there might be As and B+s at some places. Really it depends on whether or not you need funding, and what you want to do after you graduate. If your end goal is a PhD in stats I would get an MS in statistics that requires/allows you to take theory over an MS in math. I know nothing about applying to math programs but I think it would be easier to get into a stats program over a math program if you don't have a strong math background. There aren't a lot of math people on this forum but you can go to mathematicsgre.com and ask on there. It might be better to wait a year do well in real analysis and apply for programs for fall 2019. I think an A in real analysis could really improve your chances at both the MS and PhD level.

I made a list of first admissions decision (accepted, waitlist, or reject) dates for the programs I applied to for the last few years and I figured it might be helpful to post it. I think most of the inconsistency within programs is due to nonresponse bias but it is hard to tell. The amount of data seems to decrease as rankings decrease. Most of mine (except Duke and UT) had basically no data with GRE/GPA. I looked at all statistics PhD responses as well and they were similar but I didn't catalog them. Five of my apps are in and the other four are all done besides my transcript with fall grades. I designed my list hoping for at least 3 admits and a very low chance of no offers. tl;dr: First round application decisions are usually made late January to February, and rejections appear to come after or at the same time as acceptances. For my list 3-6 weeks is a typical response time. Duke Statistics PhD 2017 – Acceptance 1/31, Waitlist 1/31, Reject 2/3 2016 – Interview 1/11, Acceptance 2/20, Reject 2/23, No wait list reports 2015 – Reject 1/7, Acceptance 2/4, no waitlist reports. 2014 – Reject 1/28, Acceptance 3/10, no waitlist reports Columbia Statistics PhD 2017 – Reject 3/8, no acceptance or waitlist reports 2016 – Masters acceptance 2/8, Acceptance 2/24, Waitlist 3/1, no reject reports 2015 – Acceptance 2/11, Waitlist 2/26, Reject 3/18 2014 – Accepted 2/18, Waitlist 2/19, no reject reports UT Austin Statistics PhD 2017 – Accepted 2/1, Rejected 2/28, no waitlist reports 2016 – Accepted 1/30, Rejected 2/25, no waitlist reports 2015 – Accepted 12/22, Rejected 2/3, no waitlist reports 2014 – Accepted 1/31, Rejected 2/25, no waitlist reports Baylor Statistics PhD (DGS said at visit results come in late January or February) 2017 – Reject 3/04, no waitlist or acceptance reports 2016 – Acceptance 2/23, no reject or waitlist reports 2015 – Reject 2/8, no acceptance or waitlist reports 2014 – Accepted 3/18, no reject or waitlist reports Texas A&M Statistics PhD 2017 – Acceptance 1/25, Reject 2/28, no waitlist reports 2016 - Acceptance 1/30, Reject 2/24, no waitlist reports 2015- Acceptance 1/20, Reject 2/25, no waitlist reports 2014 – Acceptance 2/24, no reject or waitlist reports Kansas State Statistics PhD 2017 – Waitlisted for funding 3/2, no reject reports 2016 – No PhD data 2015 – No PhD data 2014 – rejection 2/24, no waitlist or acceptance reports University of Missouri Statistics PhD 2017 – Accepted 2/10, Rejection 3/28, no waitlist reports 2016 – Accepted 2/23, no waitlist or reject reports 2015 – Accepted 2/26, Rejection 3/11, no waitlist reports 2014 – Accepted 2/20, Waitlist 2/24, Reject 3/7 Virginia Tech Statistics PhD 2017 – Interview 2/17, Accepted 2/24, no reject or waitlist reports 2016 – Accepted 1/12, Rejected 2/16, no waitlist reports 2015 – Accepted 1/24, no reject or waitlist reports 2014 – Accepted 2/19, Rejected 2/19, no waitlist reports Florida State Statistics PhD 2017 – Accepted 3/2, Rejected 3/27 2016 – Accepted 2/22, no reject or waitlist reports 2015 – Accepted 3/5, no reject or waitlist reports 2014 – Accepted 3/13, no reject or waitlist reports

It is going to depend on the department. My undergrad institution's math department (also houses stats) lets all assistant and associate professors supervise. At my undergraduate institution all assistant professors are tenure-track and can teach graduate courses (otherwise they are lecturers or visiting professors), but that may not be the case elsewhwere. Given the small proportion of full professors at most programs I would assume most departments let assistant (tenure-track) and associate professors supervise. There is a thread on name dropping in stats here.

Just read this which says tuition waivers aren't taxed under the bill. This is developing and I am curious about what the verdict is on the endowment tax and the lifetime learning credit. I hope that this is true but not believing it until the final passed bill doesn't tax waivers.

That is correct, but taxed tuition waivers were in the house version. The endowment tax is separate from the taxed tuition waivers. If your university is a very rich private institution then it’s endowment might be taxed, but tuition waivers from all universities would be taxed under the house bill. If taxes tuition waivers pass will likely affect you especially if you are a grad student right now (I don’t think universities have the time to change spring 2018 packages). Scholarships are an option for universities (according to this) but they have to be competitive and can’t require work (you can work on a scholarship though). It will take universities some time to respond to the final bill. It is possible that taxed tuition waivers will be included in the final bill. The endowment tax and the cuts to education credits (house bill only) are also issues that will affect higher education, but they are separate parts of the bill(s).

I am scared I will have no admits. Everything I have read suggests I should have multiple funded offers, but I don’t have a backup plan right now so I am freaking out (probably for no reason). I am graduating in three years, but I don’t know if that is helpful. Institution: Tier 1 State School with Math PhD program (no stats) Major: Mathematics GPA: 3.79 overall, 3.86 upper-level math Type of Student: Domestic White Female GRE General Test: Q: 167 V: 160 W: 4 Research Experience: over 2 years of research experience on a independent project Work: research Honors Award : undergraduate researcher of the department twice (both years in college), honorable mention in national undergraduate paper contest Courses : Calc 1/2/3 (A,A,B), linear algebra (A), intro to proof (A), real analysis I (A), numerical analysis (B), Math stat 1/2 (A,A), Diff Eq (A) , Likely As in Econometrics and Real Analysis Teaching: basically none Letters of Recommendation: math stat professor, research advisor, and either real analysis prof (to show mathematical maturity) or honors seminar prof (to show my collaboration skills and passion about teaching statistics) Programs: UT Austin Texas A&M Baylor Kansas State Missouri Duke Columbia Florida State Virginia Tech

Some updates: The goal is to have a bill passed by Dec. 18 now. I wanted to add a new easy way to contact reps, just enter your email and address and it will email all 3 for you, and tell you some good news. A letter about removing the waiver tax is gaining support among congressmen. Glad my rep is on the letter (maybe someone read my 10 emails to him).

You might want to repost this as a profile evaluation in the appropriate field sub-forum. I have no idea what that would be since I know nothing about Neuroscience but maybe Biology or Psychology or something like that. Although I know nothing about Neuroscience PhD programs your profile seems highly impressive.

My apologies, and thanks for pointing it. I wasn’t aware of the new bill. The actual tax bill doesn’t include this but instead a new unpassed bill. At least it isn’t finalized yet.

As soon as they agree and they will probably want it done before the holidays. I am going to guess you are talking about student loans. EDIT: The tax bills don’t touch that program but a house bill reauthorizing the Higher Education Act does. The senate bill still allows deductions on student loan interest. The American Council on Education has a post here on the senate bill. The house bill cuts deductions on student loan interest. IMO, the senate bill is better for education. But in order to keep the education credits and pass with a simple majority the final bill probably needs the individual mandate repealed (saves government money on subsidies) and the senate tax brackets. I think the house is going to be ok with the individual mandate repeal but I am not so sure they will like the brackets. Both bills are really close to the limit of the deficit increase then can have to pass with a simple majority which is my main concern. Taxing tuition waivers isn’t a substantial revenue source but it may be “necessary” for the other parts of the bill. More and more news articles are being published about the differences in the progress. I don’t want to link anything because things are going to probably change. But you can probably find something from one of your favorite organizations easily. Edit: Typos, removed incorrect statement abo