Student2091

thank you all!

My ideal career goal is to work in industry and work with machine learning, big data, etc, applying statistics to health/public policy/social sciences. I know that the aims of a Masters and PhD are very different, and I want to make the decision that will open the most doors given my career goal. I've researched alumni placement and faculty research interests (though I couldn't find Stanford's M.S. alumni placement on their website.) I've also been admitted to NCSU's Stat PhD and Duke's Masters in Statistical Practice, and my question is the same. Any advice on this decision? Thanks!

How much would the B+ in the GWU graduate mathematical statistics course hurt me in the application? I'd like to know how much to address that in my SOP. Thanks!

thanks very much for the advice!

Undergrad Institution: Public, large research university Major(s): Economics, Political Science Minor(s): Data Analytics GPA: 3.96 Type of Student: Asian American GRE General Test: (took twice, taking highest of each section) Q: 164 (87%) V: 169 (99%) W: 6.0 (99%) Programs Applying: Statistics MS, some PhD programs that are more applied than theoretical Research Experience: Worked as an economics research assistant in government agency for two years. Helped with maximum likelihood estimation of truncated distribution, conducted statistical regressions, maintained a time-series model, scraped data, data visualization Text mining, topic modeling political speeches as undergraduate research assistant Undergraduate political science thesis included multinomial logistic regressions on predictors of a political phenomenon, received High Honors Awards/Honors/Recognitions: University Medal Finalist, Undergraduate Researcher of the Year, Best Honors Thesis Award Courses: Math/Stat: Mathematical Statistics (graduate level) -- B+; Multivariable Calculus -- A; Linear Algebra -- A, Applied Probability and Statistics -- A, Econometrics I & II -- A+ in both, Calculus I & II (high school) -- 5 on AP exam Programming: Intro to Java -- A, Python for Data Science -- A, Data Analytics -- A, Database Systems -- A, Economics Computer Methods -- A Letters of Recommendation: Professor I did text mining research with who was also on my thesis defense committee (very strong letter); current work supervisor for whom I'm an economics research assistant; econometrics professor whose class I was the top student in Goal: My research interests are more on the applied side rather than theory. Interest in helping evaluate/improve public policy. Programs considering: PhD: Duke CMU Joint Statistics/Public Policy Rice Ohio State (they suggest applying for Ph.D. if undecided between Ph.D./MS) NC State MS: Duke Purdue University of Minnesota -- Twin Cities UNC - Chapel Hill Northwestern M.S. in Analytics (safety) Georgetown M.S. in Mathematics & Statistics (safety) UVA (safety) Berkeley Chicago (extreme reach) Stanford (extreme reach) Concerns: I know my math background/GRE is weak, and expect I'd have a better chance at Masters than Ph.D. I'd like to get a better sense of where I might get in, and am happy to be corrected about my expectations. I'm hoping strong rec letters will help (I'm pretty sure I'll have at least 2 strong ones) Any advice on how to fund a Masters? Thanks so much!