BL250604

While research isn't a huge deal, I think it may benefit you more than a dual degree. Assuming your grades were good, your mathematical background is sufficient for biostatistics. I think having strong letters from people who know you personally is great. Take more coursework and keep doing well, that will help more than having a dual degree. 
It's good to start thinking about this early on, good on you.

As always, I agree with @Stat PhD Now Postdoc. I would be most concerned about your mathematical ability and lack of rigorous math classes. An introductory proofs class, at the very least, would make you more competitive. I can't speak directly to Biostats (as I was a stats applicant), but analysis I (and maybe II) would definitely be important, in my mind. I think taking some classes (over the summer and during the year) to bolster your mathematical background would be your best shot, then consider applying in the next cycle. 
For a masters, I think that your profile is pretty competitive. Whatever you choose to do, you will certainly be successful. 

I agree with @Geococcyx. I, however, have a completely different profile than you do. Due to some medical issues, my grades are much lower in my math courses (and overall). However, since then, I was able to show the adcom's that I could easily keep a 3.8+ when I was back to normal and healthy. Also, I had incredibly strong research experience. I made up for my coursework with research, and there are plenty of profiles which go the other way. There is no real expectation (at least not yet, but I suspect there will be one soon) of undergraduate research in statistics. Because of that, you don't need to be concerned about a lack of research. As long as you have demonstrated you are capable of doing well in theoretical and proof based classes- which it seems you have- and you can write some solid statements + get good recommendations, you should be a good candidate for some top 25 schools. Maybe even some of the top 15 if you did well in analysis and survival analysis.
 
Oh, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me.
 
B

I agree with @Geococcyx. I, however, have a completely different profile than you do. Due to some medical issues, my grades are much lower in my math courses (and overall). However, since then, I was able to show the adcom's that I could easily keep a 3.8+ when I was back to normal and healthy. Also, I had incredibly strong research experience. I made up for my coursework with research, and there are plenty of profiles which go the other way. There is no real expectation (at least not yet, but I suspect there will be one soon) of undergraduate research in statistics. Because of that, you don't need to be concerned about a lack of research. As long as you have demonstrated you are capable of doing well in theoretical and proof based classes- which it seems you have- and you can write some solid statements + get good recommendations, you should be a good candidate for some top 25 schools. Maybe even some of the top 15 if you did well in analysis and survival analysis.
 
Oh, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to PM me.
 
B

Undergrad Institution: Small Liberal Arts College, top 60 in US, top 10 in region Major(s): Double: Mathematics and Finance ; BS, BA
Minor(s): Double: Computer Science & Analytics
GPA: 3.5 Type of Student: Domestic, Male

GRE General Test:
Q: 159
V: 152
W: 5.5
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
64%ile (Not submitted)

TOEFL Score: N/A
  Programs Applying: Ph.D. in Statistics, M.S. in Statistics     Letters of Recommendation: Four strong letters from professors. All of whom I did research with for over 2 years (one ran the REU, one is the dept chair and the others are my advisors)   Math/Statistics Grades:  Math Stat I, II: B, B; Linear Algebra: C+, Calc I-III: A-, A-, B-; Real Analysis: B; Abstract Algebra: A; Computer Science I, II: A+, A+ ; Bayesian Statistics: A ; Applied Mathematics: A; Combinatorics: B+   ** Important Notes: Very strong Letters of rec from professors who I know incredibly well. I have submitted 2 statistics projects for publication and both are pending. I have presented my research at over 8 conferences (2 JMM's, many MAA's, etc.) and given 7 poster presentations.

Applying to Where:  Statistics Masters School - John Hopkins  / Rejected School - Columbia /  Admitted School - NYU / Admitted School - Georgetown / Admitted     Statistics Ph.D:  Withdrawn: UMD, UNC (STOR), Temple   Accepted: South Carolina (ATTENDING!), Florida State, Virginia   Waitlisted: Michigan, Virginia (then admitted)   Rejected: NCSU, George Mason, UConn, PSU, OSU, GW, Virginia Tech  

@Patrick McMahon 
First of all, I wanted to tell you that it takes a very strong person to be able to get through college when you have suicidal depression. My mother has had it on-and-off, and I know how it eats away at you every single day, and how it takes conscious effort to ignore how you feel/ think. You are doing a great job, and don't let anyone tell you differently.
Second of all, and to answer your questions, I believe you should be making academic decisions that will be beneficial to you in the long run (i.e., do not inundate yourself with a heavy workload if it would lead to you performing worse and worse). With your drive, and I can tell you have it, you will be able to succeed in a field like music (assuming you go on to grad school for it). However, if Math is truly your calling, you should focus solely on that and try to select only courses that are required for that major (and keep music as a hobby).
Regarding how grad schools look at people applying to a major when their undergrad was in a different major: It would be very difficult to do a Math PhD if you major in music for your undergrad. The courses required in a Math PhD assume you have a firm understanding of the Math fundamentals. Other students you would be competing against for the PhD position will most likely be students that majored in Math in undergrad (or a STEM major like Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, etc.). Thus, they would be preferable from the get-go because they would be less of a risk.
Tips for you in particular: 
-Try to talk to your counselling office about getting special accommodations for your test anxiety. Every university must abide by national laws regarding these issues.
-Consider doing your undergrad in 5 years instead of 4. I am doing mine in 5 years, and after going through the grad school application process, I can tell you that doing undergrad in 5 years will not be looked down upon by grad school admission committees. Doing undergrad in 5 years will give you the option to take fewer courses per semester/quarter and would give you more time to improve your mental health through extracurricular activities.

Yes.
1) The first two years, focus on coursework but don't obsess too much about grades. Focus on learning and making sure that you know the material well enough to pass your qualifying exams. That's really all that matters -- that you pass the qualifying exams. Whereas many undergrads are distressed by an A-/B+ vs. an A, this is really not the point of PhD education. I got two B's in my PhD program and not one of the postdoc positions I interviewed for asked about grades. They were only interested in my research.
2) Once you are mostly done with coursework (you may have a couple of electives still to take in your third and/or fourth year), you need to make the transition from "student" to "researcher." This is the roughest adjustment period for most students because there is no real structure like courses and exams, but you just have to be persistent. If you don't work well with lack of structure, then you should try to "force" yourself to spend [x] amount of time on research weekly (allowing for mental breaks and time off if you really need it). You will likely understand zilch of the papers you are reading at first, but just be diligent, ask questions, re-read several times until things "gradually" start to sink in, and know that it gets *much* easier to read dense, heavily technical papers with more experience. Also, learn to be okay with failure and rejection (many inexperienced grad students will have their first paper(s) rejected by journals). Know that it is okay to fail and to be rejected at this stage (most research is "hand-waviness" and trial and error until something works), as long as you take it as a learning experience and seek to improve yourself.

It may be a good idea to spend some of your free time reviewing:
- basics from Calculus I-III (specifically: the derivative rules like product rule and chain rule, integration and rules for integrals like u-substitution and integration by parts; partial derivatives, double/triple integrals and changes of variables/Jacobian matrix, and sequences and series... you don't really need to review things like cross products or torque)
- linear algebra (both basic and proof-intensive)
- basic real analysis (at the level of Abbott's textbook).
It is natural for a lot of people to forget things from these classes if they have not encountered/consistently worked with those tools in awhile, but it is a good idea to refresh your memory before starting. I find the MIT OpernCourseWare (OCW) to have useful resources for reviewing these things. 

Something is definitely different, that's for sure! I got an adequately nice form letter with my admission decision, and even had contacts there + a connection with my advisor. I know that they had some really top candidates and I'm sure they'll have a fantastic cohort!

Something is definitely different, that's for sure! I got an adequately nice form letter with my admission decision, and even had contacts there + a connection with my advisor. I know that they had some really top candidates and I'm sure they'll have a fantastic cohort!

Thank you so much for the link, I really appreciate it!

Some might say it is more insulting to the committee to make a stupid excuse. Both of your examples are crappy reasons to get a bad grade - for literally everyone who gets a bad grade but otherwise has good grades, it is assumed the reason is like one of those.   What else could it possibly be?? It is not a matter of hiding. In fact, it's taking responsibility by letting your record speak for itself. 
In reality though, this might be a good lesson for this forum overall. People posting advice are just people, who have their own experiences and opinions. Someone with the same opinion as alanc might be on your committee, and someone with my opinion might be, and you can't always please us both.  Even the most experienced people here like cyberwulf, their great advice might be completely wrong for a program whose admissions chair is particularly unique. We are all trying to give the best advice possible. 

Just got an email to check my portal at NCSU -- rejection. Not surprising. Good luck to everyone else who applied!

Just got an email to check my portal at NCSU -- rejection. Not surprising. Good luck to everyone else who applied!

Pretty sure you're from Penn lol. Stats/marketing professor is Prof. Fader?

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

If we were talking a 10 point drop in your other scores but 1 point lower Q, that would be one thing. But 1 point vs. 3 points isn't a big deal - your Q score is low for statistics grad schools, and you need every point you can get. 

I got hit hard by some warm and fuzzy feelings, so...
To all my fellow applicants, and especially to the future members of my graduate cohort:
December has arrived and with it comes the deadline for many of the programs we hope to attend next fall.
Congratulations on all of your hard work not only throughout the application process, but in all of your preparations to make yourself a good candidate!
It's been nerve-wracking, but we're stressed because we care about the field and our future in it–I think your passion will be reflected in your statements and in the academic life you're presenting to the faculty of these programs.
We'll work through our rejections and come out better for it, even if that means trying again next year.
I hope that the programs we attend are our best fits and in a community that we'll love.
 
To any and all faculty members now tasked with admitting students:
Us applicants may be feeling some relief, but I know you still have the work of evaluating our applications and making the difficult judgement calls that come with that territory. I hope the process is as hassle free as possible and that the best candidates for your program are easy to find. Good luck and godspeed!
 
It's finally that time of year again: Season's Greetings! And my best wishes for a good new year to all of you!
?

"Solely".  If they decide to reject you because of your grades, having a disability doesn't magically protect you. Further, OP has never claimed to have a disability.  Schools are required to provide students reasonable accommodation for their disabilities - they are not required to admit students who failed classes.  Can you just leave this forum and stop polluting every thread with your incorrect advice?

Profile Evaluation:
GRE: around 310
TOEFL- 105
Entrepreneurial Experience in Digital Marketing: Co-founder of lifestyle blog for last 4 years
Content Marketing: 6 years
(Overall Digital Marketing experience: 6 years)
Corporate Experience: 5 Years in Oil and Gas Sector in Core Electrical Systems Design and Learning and Development.
PGDM: Marketing Management from All India Management Association:
B TECH: Electrical Engineering from NIT Durgapur
Looking for Phd in Marketing in
USA
Please suggest 2 highly ambitious/2 moderate and 2 safe universities

I would like to start a research, but I am wondering what kind of research are people usually doing in statistics ? Or should I just join some research group in other faculty (ex. chem, bio) ? And how can I get funding? 
 
I am in my fourth year undergraduate, and I would like to apply to Standford statistics. Any hints (besides good GPA and GRE score) ? 
 
Thanks a lot a lot !!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don't have the opportunity to take a real analysis class, and want to find a textbook, my real analysis book was pretty digestable. We used Abbott's Understanding Analysis. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and it had a mix of both straightforward and difficult exercises. 

Hi everyone,
I am looking for some help about my list for Ph.D. programs in statistics. I figured now is as good as ever to post a profile especially because I am starting to work on my personal statement, SOP, and am trying to figure out my life a little more before senior year starts. Any advice is really appreciated as I am pretty different from most of the posters who are on this forum, so I hope my profile will help those who are in a similar boat to me! I apoloigize for the length but my background really isn't the traditional application you would see. 
 
Undergrad Institution: Small LAC in PA
Major: Mathematics and Finance
GPA: 3.45 (overall), 3.3 (Math) Type of Student: Domestic White, also a very well decorated NCAA athlete, if that helps Courses/ Background: Calculus I-III (B+), Linear Algebra (C+) , Mathematical Statistics I&II (B) , Transition to abstract math (proof writing) B+,  Combinatorics and Graph Theory (B),  Math Analysis (B), Experimental Mathematics (A), Independent study: Statistics; researching rivalries (A), Independent Study: Statistics; predicting voter turnout (A)   Next semester I will be in: Math: Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra (Graduate level to show I can do linear algebra because I was dealing with personal issues that semester), Statistical Models, CS: Multimedia in Python (if relevant)   GRE: Retaking! 158 Q / 156 V (I'm a terrible standardized test taker, but hope to hope to be around 160-163 Q)   Research Experience: 3 total years of research. One paper in statistics on assessing the prevalence of gerrymandering is in review now (done with my advisor and I), we are currently working on another project related to voter turnout (a paper will come out of it by the fall, again by my advisor and I), Previously a research assistant on researching rivalries in baseball (with a very famous mathematician) ,Have an OEIS sequence pending  review now for publishing (I constructed a new sieve to find all prime numbers), Finally, Will be a Researcher in algebra in the Spring
  Letters of Rec: I will have 4: 1 from my advisor, 2 from professors I have done research with, and 1 from the research coordinator.   I would say they will be pretty good. I am very close with my major advisor and he is a very good writer, and knows a lot about me. My statistics research advisor graduated from PSU a few years ago, and we have been doing research for 2+ years, onto 3. My other research letter is from the dept head who I did baseball research with. He is very well known in sabermetrics (baseball statistics), and I hope that will help. Finally, my last letter writer is the REU program head, and I have had him in numerous classes. He was one of the directors of DIMACS at Rutgers and he not only knows a lot of people but is also pretty famous. He worked with some of the most famous graph theorists and knows a lot about the process as he has sat on graduate committees for 20+ years, so I hope he knows what to write!   Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, Outstanding poster award at JMM18 for statistics (given to 3 kids), Presented research at 7 conferences (including JMM), Have research grants over the last 2 years including 2 summer REU's in number theory.   Given my academic record is all over the place (I dealt with crippling migraines which I have every day for 2 years, hence my poor performance) I will be applying to a lot of school. However, the two semesters I haven't dealt with migraines, including the last semester, I received a 3.8 so my grades are on the way up, and the trend can be seen in my math GPA as well!   Schools: GW Temple South Carolina UConn NCSU (Because of all my spatial statistics research, I know its a reach) FSU UNC Charlotte (applied math) UNH PSU (research advisor just graduated a few years ago from there) VT Rutgers UMich (family friend runs a bio lab there) UMD (best friends dad has a astrophysics lab there) George Mason UVA
OSU UC Riverside UNC UGA
UF   I know the list is very long but that is because I would be happy going to pretty much all of them, I just need to get into one!    Thanks so much for any of your help!   Ben  

Just a quick update. I got a 5.0 on AW (expected higher but oh well), which is 93% ile, so that should help. All of my GRE scores should increase the second time around, and I will also work with a tutor to nail down my Quant score.

How did your application process go?