lazo

Got an email from Michigan today asking if I'm still interested in the program! I thought I was set on my decision, but I wasn't expecting this. Now I only have a few hours to re-evaluate everything....

I was waitlisted at UChicago Statistics on April 10th, 5 days before the April 15th deadline... Still nothing from Michigan Statistics. I never expected when I was applying to graduate programs that I still wouldn't know where I'd be heading this close to April 15th...

Finally decided to email all the programs keeping me waiting to ask why I don't have a decision from them yet... Haven't heard back from Harvard, Chicago, or Michigan. The program coordinator at Washington told me I am on the waitlist but was unable to tell me anything about my odds of being accepted, and Berkeley told me that I am on an unofficial waitlist but that it is unlikely that I'll get an offer. Looks like I'll be waiting until April 15th...

Still nothing for me... All these programs seem to love keeping me waiting.

Still nothing from Berkeley, Chicago, Harvard, Michigan, or Washington... 5 of the 7 programs I've applied to. I really expected to have heard back from most of the programs I've applied to by mid-March, but it seems that they really want to keep me anxiously waiting this year. At what point would it be okay to contact programs to ask for a status update? I know that programs are really busy and I don't want to annoy them, but I'd also really like to know where I stand with them too.

I haven't heard anything from Chicago, Berkeley, Harvard, Washington, or Michigan yet... Not a single contact or email since I applied to any of these programs, even though most have already sent out acceptances and rejections. I wonder why all of these programs are keeping me in the dark. I'm ready to be done with the waiting forever.

Anyone else have gotten almost no news as of now? I applied to 7 Statistics PhD programs, and so far I have only heard back from two (accepted at Columbia, rejected at Stanford). I only applied to top programs due to already having been accepted to the PhD program in Biostatistics in my department (where I'm currently a Master's student). The other 5 programs I've applied to seem to have already sent out rounds of acceptances and/or rejections according to the results page, and I've gotten absolutely no news from any of them. I can't really be on that many waitlists, can I? This wait is killing me...

I was admitted to Columbia Statistics! This is my first acceptance of the cycle. Don't lose hope, everyone.

Looks like rejections are coming out for UChicago Statistics. I just checked my portal and I don’t see anything, so I’m not sure where this leaves me. Looks like it’ll be more anxious waiting though...

Stanford's Admissions FAQ page has the question "What are the average GRE and TOEFL scores of recently admitted applicants?" with the response "Math Subject GRE score (percentile): 89%." Given that the average GRE subject score for admitted students is 89th percentile, which is a score of almost 900, I don't think it's surprising that the subject test score is important to them. That's a pretty high score even by Math Ph.D. program standards. They also state that they only accept 10-12 students a year, and in order to maintain an average subject test that high, they probably aren't accepting too many students with lower scores. It seems to me that they're mainly accepting students with a very strong mathematical background, which isn't too surprising, especially since they're a very mathematical department.

My friend just reported an acceptance from Stanford. Looks like Stanford Stats is sending out acceptances right now. I didn't get any news, but Stanford was always a super long-shot for me, so I'm not too bummed about it. I'm really excited for him though!

I could be wrong, but I’m a little doubtful about the acceptance on the Results page given that the entire school is shut down today due to the polar vortex.

I wouldn't take everything you read on thegradcafe as gospel... For instance in the math results, there's someone (or maybe a group of people) who keeps on putting fake acceptances. It's better to just be patient and stop obsessing over the Results page (easier said than done, I know).

What about if the applicant had already done a good deal of the coursework required for the Ph.D. in Statistics and received good grades in those courses? (Since sometimes Biostatistics students take courses in the Statistics department) Would that affect how the Statistics admissions committee considers the applicant? (Not saying this applies to my scenario, just a hypothetical)

I understand that I'll have to reapply to the Statistics department, but my question was more oriented towards "How would the Statistics department consider the fact that I already have a M.S. from the Biostatistics department?" I have never gotten a grade lower than an A in any of my courses in graduate school, so I like to think that my M.S. would make me more competitive, but it could also be that the Statistics department wants to discourage inter-departmental moves... In addition, is there someone I should contact in the Statistics department regarding my application? So far, I haven't contacted anyone yet, but is sending an email to the director of graduate studies (in the Statistics department) appropriate for someone in my situation?