speowi

I didn't do any interviews so I can't help you on that front, but to search just the stats subforum, click on the search bar in the top right, enter your search term, and then click "This Forum" under the heading "SEARCH IN." Here are the results I got when I searched "interview" in this subforum: https://forum.thegradcafe.com/search/?q=interview&type=forums_topic&nodes=48. Good luck!

Interesting. I (a) acknowledged that there is a reason that ienisesv might have thought it was OK to out people in this forum (people aren't guaranteed anonymity on the Internet); (b) explained that, despite this fact, the norm in this forum is that we shouldn't out people just for the sake of outing them; and (c) gave ienisesv the benefit of the doubt by asking if they have a legitimate reason for asking the OP a personal question so that ienisesv could explain further. If this is criticism at all, it's constructive criticism. And I don't see how it's impolite. I don't want to derail the previous conversation, Gauss, so I'll let you have the last word on this if you want.

While anonymity obviously isn't guaranteed in this forum (or anywhere on the Internet, really), intentionally/directly trying to out people just for the sake of outing them isn't cool. Is there a reason that you're trying to get OP to explicitly name one of their recommenders? Edited to add: I used to think Gauss2017 wasn't a troll, but the fact that they upvoted ienisesv's comment without context is making me change my mind lol

Gauss2017 is missing the point. Nobody denies that the ADA prohibits universities that receive federal funding from denying an applicant solely because of their disability. However, universities that receive federal funding can still deny an applicant because of a poor academic record, even if a disability contributed to the poor academic record. More generally, they can also deny an applicant because they don't believe the applicant has demonstrated sufficient potential for research, even if the applicant hasn't demonstrated sufficient potential for research partially as a result of a disability. And while an applicant can certainly ask that a poor grade be overlooked or evaluated in light of the applicant's health at the time, the ADA does not require universities to do so when making admissions decisions. Disability law is extremely complicated, and I'm clearly not an expert. But, quite frankly, a substantial amount of Gauss2017's comments in this forum are irrelevant, misleading, or just plain incoherent, so I would disregard them. If you're really concerned about the legal implications of disclosing your health, talk to a lawyer. But I don't think it will have to come to that.

...Clearly, this is hopeless. This made me laugh. Rather than responding to your post, I think I'll just let you have the last word and stop the conversation here.

I don't think you're a troll. I just think you have a demonstrated record, based on your post history and this conversation, of failing to apply basic analytical reasoning skills. To be clear, I care about, as you put it, society and justice as well. We may even share the same views on many such issues. But it's evident that your reasons for your views are fundamentally flawed and require rethinking. If you really care about these issues, I would suggest that you relearn some of the basics of logic and argumentation before you engage with other people further. I mean this sincerely; these skills would help you immensely in many aspects of life and make people more receptive to your claims. Regarding your first bullet point: Again, I am not making the normative claim that students should submit their scores. I am refuting your descriptive claim that submitting very strong math subject GRE scores can never improve applicants' chances of admission. Please understand this crucial distinction before you respond. Here, I'll even help you out with another example. Descriptive Claim: If I pick up the stack of $10,000 that someone else left on the sidewalk, I will have improved my financial situation. Normative Claim: I should not pick up the stack of $10,000 because it doesn't belong to me. Both of these statements can be simultaneously true. The issue is that the OP was asking a descriptive question. The question was whether submitting a math subject GRE score can improve one's chances of admission. That is entirely separate from the normative question of whether she should submit her math subject GRE score. You're attempting to support your descriptive claim that submitting a math subject GRE score doesn't help at Berkeley or Washington with a prescriptive argument. That's just poor logic. Regarding your second bullet point: The evidence to support my position that there are some scenarios where a very strong math subject GRE score can benefit an applicant's chances of admission at Berkeley and Washington is twofold. First is the fact that both of these programs explicitly say that they will accept an applicant's math subject GRE score. Why would they say this if the math subject GRE score can only hurt applicants' chances of admission? You're seriously telling us that these programs are inviting applicants to submit these scores so that they can at best hurt their own chances of admission? Second is the fact that it is well-known that certain types of applicants would benefit from demonstrating some level of mathematical proficiency through the math subject GRE. These include applicants who haven't taken rigorous math courses in college, applicants who believe that their grades in math classes are not reflective of their mathematical abilities, and international applicants. This is well-known and has been discussed throughout this forum, so I hope I don't need to provide all of the links here. Do you know how to search for things? I ask because a while back you claimed out of nowhere that Stanford receives 400-500 Ph.D. applications each year when a simple search of Stanford's own website shows that they receive about 120 Ph.D. applications each year. If you need help, please let me know so that I can facilitate this process for you. Again, I mean this sincerely. I would genuinely be happy to help if you need it because I think it would benefit the level of discourse here. Regarding your third bullet point: I am indeed aware of this fact. It is hardly relevant. If you think that programs can't simultaneously look for a diverse student body/conduct holistic admissions and consider standardized test scores that are known to correlate with race and gender, then I guess you somehow haven't heard of practically every four-year college in the United States that has a household name. Is there some particular reason that colleges are able to consider standardized test scores while conducting holistic admissions but statistics Ph.D. programs can't? I'm going to take insert_name_here's advice and stop here. If you manage to come up with an actually insightful response, then maybe I'll continue this conversation. But I'm not holding my breath.

OK, excuse me; I misremembered. You only said that submitting one's math subject GRE score can't help at Berkeley or Washington. My interpretation of your below post was that (a) you're claiming that the math subject GRE score is NEVER helpful at Berkeley or Washington, since you didn't cite any reason specific to this particular applicant's situation that wouldn't apply to any other applicant, and (b) that you don't mean this to be specific to Berkeley or Washington, but rather simply mentioned those schools because the OP did as examples, which suggests that you think the math subject GRE scores can't help at other schools either. If my interpretation is not correct, then I apologize but also think you need to do a better job explaining your position so that other applicants who read your post don't get the idea that the math subject GRE score isn't helpful to them either. That being said, there's still the primary issue that the evidence you provide in support of your claim that the math subject GRE score can't help at Berkeley or Washington is extremely flimsy at best. Let me be clear for you about the flaw in your argument, since it is apparent that you still don't get it. Whether or not the general GRE is predictive of success (in any graduate program) is irrelevant. Whether or not the math subject GRE is predictive of success (in any graduate program) is irrelevant. Whether or not some professors in some programs in some other fields don't think the general GRE should be used in their admissions decisions is irrelevant. What is relevant is whether statistics Ph.D. admissions committees consider applicants' math subject GRE scores when making their admissions decisions. All of the links you've cited are irrelevant because they don't speak to the actual question at issue. I can agree with you that the general GRE is a bad predictor of success in some or all graduate school programs, and I can even agree with you that graduate school programs should not consider any standardized test scores when making admissions decisions. But that says virtually nothing about whether or not, as a matter of fact, it can be helpful to the OP's chances of admission for the OP to include their math subject GRE score in their applications.

Um lol. Are you serious right now? I don’t mean to be rude; I’m asking this sincerely because the link you provide is almost entirely irrelevant to your extremely broad claim that submitting a math subject GRE is NEVER helpful for one’s chances of admission. The fact that the UPenn *Philosophy Department* no longer considers the *general GRE* has virtually nothing to do with whether it is helpful for an applicant to *statistics* Ph.D. programs to provide his or her *math subject GRE* score if it is sufficiently high. If you really do think that the link you provided forms the basis of your claim, then, to be frank, I seriously doubt your reasoning and judgment.

I would also suggest considering Berkeley, though it seems like more of a reach than a target.

Yeah I have to say I don’t understand Gauss2017’s reasoning at all here. You should submit the subject GRE if you did well on it.

Given your location constraint (which I get--people have different priorities and personal situations), what you said sounds like a good plan.

While I think your profile is pretty good, two of the three schools on your list are among the best in the country. Unlike bayessays, I would not be surprised at all if you didn't get into Stanford or Berkeley given how competitive their applicant pools are, but I do think you have a chance. I think you're more or less correct about the weaknesses in your application. Unfortunately, the very nature of long-term research projects is that they aren't something you can do between now and when you apply, so there's not much you can do about that. How set are you on being in the Bay Area for your Ph.D.? If you're flexible on that, I would strongly recommend diversifying your list of schools by adding more programs. Other than that, it seems like the only thing you can do is prepare your application materials well and do well on the subject GRE. Out of curiosity, was summa cum laude awarded based on your GPA percentile (e.g., top 1%) or based on a hard, fixed GPA cutoff (e.g. 3.85 and above)?

Didn't you apply this past cycle? How would you know this?

I agree with both GoPackGo89 and Bayesian1701 that you don't really provide enough info for us to really give you any meaningful estimates. All we really know is that you go to a good school, have gotten good grades in math/stats classes, and have done some undefined amount of research-type work (projects and independent study). Many, many Ph.D. programs have students who fit that profile. "Different projects involving R" can be viewed very differently by admissions committees depending on the types of projects you did, e.g. a project you worked on for a month for a class vs. a project you worked on for a summer for a company that was meaningful and ultimately implemented vs. a project you worked on long term with a professor that led to a publication in a professional, peer-reviewed journal. Similarly, "independent studies with professors on theoretical graduate-level topics" can encompass a wide range of activities that are going to impress or not impress admissions committees to various degrees. None of the information you've provided suggests to me that you'd be automatically out of consideration at any program, but, again, really the only information you've provided that could've been a red flag but isn't is your GPA/performance in math and stats courses, so that doesn't say much. Without knowing more about your research (what it was about, how long you did it for, what came of it, what your specific contributions were), your GRE scores (are you also taking the subject test?), your letters of recommendation (who's writing them and what their relationship with you is like), and your overall purpose in pursuing a Ph.D. that you'll express in your SOP, it's really hard to say much; each of those factors could elevate or hurt your application substantially more than your GPA and the fact that you went to a T20 school. If you're uncomfortable providing more details publicly, I would recommend messaging people privately and/or talking to your professors. Good luck!

Congrats on your offers! I think you're posting in the wrong forum. This forum is for mathematics and (bio)statistics (but mostly (bio)statistics). Good luck choosing!