galois

Well, congrats on Duke! Most importantly, hope is not lost for the rest of us desperate applicants! I suppose they are just pulling off the waitlist one by one as accepted students withdraw? Is it acceptable to email and ask about the status of an application... or is it way too early for that?

Anyone hear from University of Washington yet?

I'm in a somewhat similar boat. I've applied to a number of PhD programs for Fall 2019, mostly because I want to be back in academia if only for a few years, but also because I am under the impression that these increase the level cap so to speak on end-game positions, for instance to work at MSR or be director of R&D somewhere, etc. Even if that's not the case from a hiring perspective, I know I would certainly gain invaluable research skills that I wouldn't be able to obtain on my own. I am currently a software engineer and while I like it, I just don't see myself doing it up until retirement. However, I switched jobs a few months ago to save as much for grad school as possible. And just for perspective on my situation, my current salary is $130k (sorry if that's not socially acceptable to mention). I also work remotely and have a very flexible work schedule. Although the company doesn't have a big recognizable name like "Microsoft", it's still a pretty ideal situation. The thought of moving to a new city with a likely higher cost of living and with ~15% of my current pay.. well it's getting harder to swallow as April 15 approaches?. I think my own issue at the moment, which is different from the views above, is timing. I turn 28 next month. To me, it seems like the door is closing on the PhD. If I don't go this year, when will I? Early thirties, kids might be in the picture. Having absurdly low pay for a 4-6 year window might not be a big deal if you are single, but otherwise, you are asking a lot of your SO / family. Sorry to hijack your thread with personal issues. Got a lot on my mind this season. My timing point may or may not apply, depending on your age. If you are straight out of college, I would absolutely advise you to take the MS job first, especially if you don't get into a dream school. In that case, just keep school on your radar; it's easy to jump into life and all of a sudden realize you still haven't gotten your degree many years later.

Out of curiosity, for anyone accepted to a program already, did your program report total number of applications? So far, I've heard UC Irvine: 400+ (source: my interview) UT Austin: 150 (source: results section) Seems larger than previous years. Curious if Duke, UNC, CMU have released this info. Also, I'm crushed that I (probably) didn't get into UT Austin.

Thanks! It seems like a cool program especially if you are into interdisciplinary stuff, e.g. intersection with Comp Sci. Just hoping the stipend is reasonable for CA.. Not yet - I responded to the email asking about a visit day, so I can post here when I have an answer. And unfortunately I don't know if they're still interviewing. I would guess they'd need to have some of the admits withdraw first?

Yes, something seems different this year. In my UC Irvine interview, professor mentioned that they received 400 applications and were only interviewing 20 of them. Idk what is typical but that sounds like an absurdly high number for that tier. If the applicant pool is so unprecedentedly large this year, it's possible Duke changed process to accept the top ~ 2% or something ridiculously low, and will proceed in stages, interviewing some in the next batch.. Idk, just speculating in ways that don't crush my dreams?

Congrats @orchidnora! That's awesome. It seems they must be doing something differently, I was under the impression they interviewed everyone first. Very cool! Can't pretend I'm not insanely jealous, but very happy for you regardless! I see in the results someone said Interview notified by Postal Service? Strange, if true. Gotta start obsessively checking my mailbox in addition to email?

I see a Duke PhD acceptance in results. Is that legit? I thought they interview everyone first?

Seems like a strategic move by Duke to up the yield rate. Making us sweat. And even putting out some word-of-mouth "we finalized things yesterday" ?

Huh, interesting wording. Do you know what he meant? Presumably the "application process" is already finalized, given the age of the program. Maybe they are making some changes to admissions this year?

I was referring to UW Applied Math. Their deadline is actually 1/15 and they already have some accept/rejects out. Quite a turn around time! But yes, all my applications to them (Applied Math PhD, Statistics PhD, Math MS) still read as status submitted.

Maybe they are rejecting all of us ? I feel like there won't be that much time for interviews now. Also, I see some UW Applied Math acceptances; I know this is a Stats thread, but did anyone else hear back from them? I'm curious if they mentioned anything about applicant pool, timeline, etc., in their accept/reject notices.

Dang! I was hoping for UNC. Does anyone know how they typically roll out their admissions? I find it odd that only two acceptances were sent out, and on a Sunday no less (at least, only two acceptances to members of this forum..). Perhaps they stagger them for a few weeks? Hopefully? ?

UC Irvine

So I've just been invited to my first interview, which should be a 30min Skype call. I have absolutely no idea what to expect in questions nor what I should try to convey. I've gotten pretty good at interviewing in industry, but it seems like this is different. I'm worried about sounding like an idiot since my research interests are so vague. For those with experience, what's the typical format, what will result in a good impression, and what differences are there, if any, from normal job interviews? (Also, I'm sure this has been asked before but I couldn't figure out how to search just the stats subforum - if there's a way, can someone post a link?)

Hmm. I would say the end of that article indicates that it doesn't matter. I mean, they aren't plotting a regression or anything, so there's no way of knowing, but if we're speaking strictly of the correlation between prestige and pay, the prestige of the schools listed there for highest pay vary wildly. Their findings look more regional (look at the cluster of schools near Amazon HQ).

When accepted to a program (via a generic acceptance email), am I expected to respond with enthusiasm? It didn't strike me as the type of email I should reply to, so I simply closed it and plan on attending the Visit Day once more info becomes available. Is this acceptable?

Anecdotally speaking, do you (or anyone else with a better perspective than mine) find that the prestige of an institution correlates to salary at all? I have heard that at those big companies which you mention, salaries are mostly well defined per role, so perhaps in that space there isn't much of a difference. But in general, across all Stat PhD graduates, I wonder if prestige of institution leads to higher salaries.

Yikes, did anyone else get that reply-all UCLA email? ?

I too got an unexpected offer from NC State. Pretty pumped about it. My email said the same thing "20 hours of TA"; that seems awfully high - is that normal?

Where?! Your signature isn't updated yet ?

Sorry to hijack ducky, but while we're on the subject, I would love to hear takes on UT Austin - specifically its strengths, weaknesses, and reasons for the discrepancy between its rank # 50 and its perceived prestige (at least according to this forum). I've heard previously this is only due to its size, but there are other small programs that score higher than 50.

Hi all. I'm applying for Fall 2019 to mostly statistics programs, but a couple applied math as well. I'm currently working full time, but I think I have time in my schedule to take one class at the local college where I live. I can chose between Complex Analysis and General Topology. Complex Analysis: This course provides a proof-based introduction to Complex Analysis. Topics include the complex number system, analytic and harmonic functions, power series, integrations, residue theory, analytic continuation, conformal mapping, and applications. General Topology: This course provides an introduction to general topology. Topics include the generation of topological spaces, continuity, connectedness, compactness, separation and countability. Thoughts on which I should take to best prep me up for next Fall? My motivation is mostly to shake off the dust, but I'd also like to consider what knowledge will be most valuable to me. (I have taken a "Complex Functions" course where I learned many of the common things you'd see in an introductory class, but it was not taught in an analysis style, so as to be more accessible to students outside the department. I have not studied topology formally.)

You have an interesting profile. I'll definitely be curious to see where you end up. I think your concerns around the GPA are definitely valid; the 3.65 GPA in undergrad doesn't bode very well for performance in graduate level coursework. However, you have significantly more research experience than other undergrads. I think, as with most situations, this is going to come down to letters. I think your chances will be much better if there is a good explanation for the GPA in your SOP, or ideally in your letters of rec. I would have guessed your list is a bit too top heavy - but I stand corrected! That's awesome that you're already invited to interviews at Columbia and UPenn - congrats!

Is there a thread or some singular location where I can read about which departments have which niche strengths? Is this something that just changes year to year?