Bayesian1701

On a related note at most the number of unique applicants in stat/biostat PhD programs is probably in the low thousands. Assuming about 150 applicants on average (may be low) for around 100 programs (ballpark number based on US news) and 8 programs (may be more like 10+) per applicant that’s about 1875 unique applicants. But assuming an average cohort of 10 there are about 1000 spots? Do my numbers sound reasonable? Because that seems like a lot more people fail than I expected. I am just guessing here based on the programs I am familiar with. I am guessing here. But how do my numbers sound? There are some large outliers for applications and cohort side so it’s probably pretty skewed. Edit: Cohort size may be more like 8. But either way if my unique individual number is anywhere close the probability of not getting a spot is much higher than I would have thought.

I wouldn't officially accept until you are 100% sure. I think the CGS resolution says you can back out of an offer before April 15th but I don't see the point in accepting early. I have an idea where I want to go but I am not accepting until I am 100% sure. On a semi-related note you can decline somewhere before you made your final decision.

True but I am trying to be hopeful because I don’t want to choose a program before I know my results. I know it’s a crap shoot the better funding and freedom would probably change my decision.

@SheldonCopper Waitlist offers should start coming soon. It’s also going to depend how they structure 1st round offers. If they take yield into account and offer more than they have spots then waitlist chances are going to be lower. UT and Duke both admitted more than what they wanted to do to get a target class size after yield. However I don’t think Missouri and Virginia Tech do this so it’s going to vary. I am trying to only hold onto one or two post visit offers, and I think other people in the same boat as me are trying to respect those on the waitlist. It’s visit day season so people should start declining. @jswizzle48 It should work pretty similar but I think with unfunded Masters programs it would be easier to get off a waitlist since adding another student is easier especially if it is coursework based. PhD programs may have funding limitations and require more one on one support for the dissertation. Plus I think it’s more likely to get into multiple MS programs than multiple PhD programs.

@lordtiandao Dear DGS, Thank you for your offer. I enjoyed talking with you (I had an interview), but I have decided to withdraw my application. Best regards, Bayesian I didn’t say I made a decision because I still have no idea and all I knew was I wasn’t going there and I wanted to avoid them asking where I will be attending.

Not necessarily but I am not hopeful for my self personally because I literally applied there for one professor and the last PhD student of theirs I could find graduated years ago. I tried asking if they were accepting PhD students but it’s a perfect fit so I applied anyway. @ileeminati where you one of the acceptances and what was the interview like?

It feels so final. I know I don’t want to go there but the paranoid part of me is afraid my other 4 schools will fall through. I also turned down a visit at that program. I was afraid I would regret my decision (I wrote the email on Friday but just sent it today) but I made the right choice. It was my worst funding offer and my last choice but saying no was still hard. Maybe that’s why rejection letters come later since they might be afraid of the other offers falling through.

Agreed. If you want a PhD the theory could help you. Plus if it’s a CS program their version of those courses may not be as theoretical as courses targeted at Math PhD students. Plus the better reputation should help you in PhD admissions later on. What’s the funding like at GA Tech? 31k isn’t a lot for LA.

I declined my first offer today. It was harder than I expected. I felt bad but it is not like I can attend multiple programs.

I am personally using this. I think it’s good and it has a lot of college towns (some of the other ones didn’t and you need to use one site for all of them to compare accurately). Also be sure to subtract fees and state taxes before you do a comparison because both of those will vary a lot. It might not be as big of a difference as you think. Plus all of these models will have some error so if it’s close consider the possibility of a tie. I am aiming to have rent and utilities account for 30-40% of my income after taxes and fees unless that is impossible for the city.

How miserable would you be at school 2? Would it be to the point where your research would be affected? How bad are the funding issues at school 2? If you are at the point where school 2 would have a lower probablity of you completing due to the issues than you should consider location. I know that for myself that location and funding is a factor I am considering especially since at some of my programs I am worried that my unhappiness may reduce my risk of completing.

If one of the top 20/25 programs has similar placements to the top ten then it may not matter that is lower ranked. A top 20/25 program may also be better in your subfield as rising_star said. Look at the placement records of professors in your subfield at the institution. $50,000 is a lot of debt. If I was in your shoes I would have to know that it would definitely be worth it on the job market.

Would they maybe let you reschedule for a different date? It's worth asking in my opinion and since you are already decided it won't matter if you meet all your POIs or miss out on some of the events. An alternate visit would be better than no visit in my opinion. Plus you might be able to find a place to live.

Directly ask about funding now. I didn't and I had a miscommunication over flying/driving to a visit. Another thing is you will need some way to get from the DFW airport to Arlington. I am from the area originally and there really isn't public transportation from the airport to Arlington (unless something has changed very recently) and depending on traffic it will be about a 30 to 45 minute trip.

Does anyone else want to guess the release date? Here are the historical dates (thanks @Spaghettyohz for the dates from 2009-2016): 2017: Friday, March 17 2016: Tuesday, March 29 2015: Tuesday, March 31 2014: Tuesday, April 1 2013: Friday, March 29 2012: Friday, March 30 2011: Tuesday, April 5 2010: Tuesday, April 6 2009: Friday, April 10 I am going to go with Friday March 23rd. That's the average of dates from the past two years. We are down to approximately 3 to 5 weeks of waiting left!

There aren't "safety schools" but places where your probability is higher but not necessarily high. In statistics (which is possibly remotely similar to CS) a safety school for an international applicant may only have a probability of you being accepted with funding in the 20%-30% range while that might be classified as a reach school for undergraduate admissions. You can ask in the CS forum, but international applicants in STEM get "shut out" (rejected everywhere) pretty commonly. See where past international applicants with similar profiles have gotten in. Start with this thread here. Also be sure to check for research fit since an amazing applicant can be rejected at the worst program in a field because their interests don't align with the department.

I am a member of Golden Key and another one (I don't remember the name lol and I joined it as a freshman) because they have a chapter at my university that's an official student organization and for that to happen multiple students have to put some time and effort into making it official. But looking back they might have done it because the president of an honor society looks good on a resume. Although I don't know if it was really worth it though. The dues were like $75-$100 for a lifetime membership, but I have seen some that you have to renew and can be very expensive. When I was in high school there was this "honors society" that literally invites everyone to join it. I think some parents joined just so they could have the "my child is a member of (honor society name)" bumper sticker on their car. Dues were like $100 so that's a very expensive bumper sticker, and no one informed takes that one seriously.

Not in math but I am also waiting on funding at stats program. I emailed shortly after getting in about when funding decisions would be made. I was told March and I was also notified about acceptance in late January. So this wouldn’t be unheard of. This doesn’t mean that they won’t fund you. It’s very possible no one has heard back yet. According to my mentor who has sat on AdComms at my joint math/stat department part of the logic (at least at my institution) behind this is to increase yield because some of the applicants will withdraw since they decided to go elsewhere since the program is more of a safety school for most people. They also maybe don’t know how many returning TAs they will have and/or how many funded spots they have yet. Don’t tell them you are willing to go without funding yet. There is no point in doing that. You have already been accepted and they might interept that to mean don’t offer you money because you will come anyway and I think you want the money. Just ask when are funding decisions being made. Assuming your offer is completely official they can’t revoke it unless you do something major (crime, academic dishonesty, don’t graduate, lied on application). So you don’t need to worry about showing them you still interested.

NCSU is a great program. It’s major downside is probably its sheer size (at least for me). They have like 170 grad students. If that doesn’t bother you they are a top program. And if you want to do Bayesian they aren’t the best because they don’t have a lot of Bayesians (especially relative to their faculty size). If you are dead set on Bayesian statistics it might be better to go somewhere lower ranked but better in Bayesian (ie Florida).

@1PhDplz what's the ranking/prestige difference? If USC is also good and both of them would help you achieve your career goals the funding and security of knowing you can stay there until you complete are major pluses in my opinion. Stanford sounds risky because you could not get into the PhD program or have to get debt (or even worse both). How many spots do they typically have in their PhD program for those that did their MS? Do you feel comfortable with getting 60k in debt or possibly not being able to finish? I was in a similar situation except that the risky school wasn't my top choice and I decided not to do it and opt for the safer place.

I want to decline an offer but I am trying to avoid them asking where will I attend because I don’t have a final decision. I could guess where I am going but I don’t want to say I don’t know and I have it down to four other schools. It’s definitely a hard pass on this program and I want whoever is next on the list to get an offer so they can possibly attend the visit weekend next month. Should I just say I am no longer interested?

I don’t know if it would help but you could put it on your CV. Also defer to @bayessays opinion they are more experienced then me. I knew your GRE was really low but I thought your masters would make up for it. How long ago did you take it and how much did you study?

Florida should still be a possibility. There have been a few admits but you are a good candidate and they probably don't have all their spots filled yet. Maybe you are unofficially waitlisted? It's not that you aren't a competitive applicant it is because your list was a little too reachy. If you apply again and assuming you want to do Bayesian statistics try Baylor, U Florida again, UConn, TAMU (reach but if the application is free it's worth a shot), Missouri, Michigan again, and maybe some of the big departments like NC State.

Where did you apply this year and what have been your results so far?

Virginia Tech gave me an official offer. It's only one semester of funding guaranteed at $1826 a month. I am declining it citing funding concerns (in the off chance that they might fix the problem and give me some security). The lack of funding security and the fact that their completion rate is 30% (as reported by them) makes me too nervous. I am kinda offended because they acted like they were going to give me the fellowship and if they really wanted me to go there like they said they did they should have given me a more stable offer. My other packages are multiyear and are easily renewable provided I pass quals/prelims/comps (or whatever their exam structure is) and have a reasonable GPA and are at places with over double the completion rate and at better programs.