Hello,
I'm a junior who plans to apply to stats phd programs next fall. I took the undergrad mathematical stats at my school and wanted to take the grad version (since there is only 1 semester of undergrad math stats) in the fall, but the professor refuses to allow me to take it.
The only thing he asked for was my GPA (~3.75) and coursework and, in my humble opinion, his decision makes very little sense. I got an A in the undergrad math stats course and have also taken grad real analysis, complex analysis, topology this year, all with A's. I mentioned all of this to him and he said my grades in calc III/IV (got B+'s freshman year) are a concern and that I should instead take "easier" courses to get a better GPA if I want to apply to grad school.
It's also not the case that the grad math stats course is somehow significantly harder than the undergrad version. They both use the same book (Casella & Berger), so it's overall a bit strange that the prof believes I am totally unprepared for it. In any case, I don't want to argue with him, so I decided to just not take the course.
How bad do you think this will affect my application? It looks like I'll only be applying with 1 semester of mathematical stats now. Is it fine if I just stick to pure math/CS courses for the fall? My school doesn't really have a dedicated stats dept so there aren't really many options among stats courses.