Hi everyone! I'm trying to get a sense for my PhD or masters prospects for statistics, and would really appreciate any help!
Undergrad Institution: University of Toronto Major(s): Industrial Engineering, focusing on Operations Research (Bachelor of Engineering) GPA: 4.0/4.0 Cumulative GPA (94% average)
Relevant Courses:
Calc I (for engineers): 99
Calc 2 (for engineers): 100
Calc 3 (for engineers): 98
Applied Linear Algebra: 96
Probability: 100
Modelling with Differential Equations: 100
Statistics and Design of Experiments: 96
Data Mining (taken in Statistics Department): 97
Time Series Analysis (taken in statistics department): 93
Type of Student: International (Canada) Male GRE:
167 Quantitative
163 Verbal
4.0 Analytical
Taking the GRE Math in September
Programs Applying: PhD in Statistics (or masters)
Research Experience: Doing an undergraduate thesis in my last year, focusing on applying machine learning to the reliability/manufacturing engineering.
Letters of Recommendation: Likely one from thesis advisor (operations research professor), one letter from my 8 month internship working on reinforcement learning, and likely one from another professor in my faculty (there are two professors where I got 100 in two of their classes). I also have another professor that would write me a terrific recommendation letter (went truly above and beyond in an applied course), but she is part of the business faculty.
Computing Skills: R, Python, SQL, Java, C
Work Experience: Spent two summers working as a software developer, and 9 months working at large bank on applying reinforcement learning to capital markets (research intensive).
Concerns:
-Worried about my math background (specifically no real analysis course - although I plan on taking one in my final year), especially coming from a non-maths undergraduate background
What schools would be attainable with my background? The goal was originally to apply for top tier programs (Stanford, CM, Chicago) - but I probably need a bit of a reality check. Anything I can do to bolster my chances?