omicrontrabb

Your profile is pretty solid. I think you should generally aim for stats programs ranked 20-40. If you want to maximize your chances of being accepted, apply to large programs in less glamorous locations, for example Ohio State. I would recommend not applying to Virginia. Their admission rate is extremely low despite their ranking. Boston has a combined math/stats department and recommends the math GRE subject test. You probably don’t have the math background they want. Wisconsin and UNC are reaches.

@Taxxi It's just quite difficult to get into CMU in general. They are one of the top programs and focus a lot on machine learning which is really hot right now. Compared to the OP, you went to top 3 university in South Korea, so a top 100 university in the world, and you said you think you'll get 90%+ on the Math GRE. That would make you a standout applicant. The OP has a really good profile and I think should definitely still apply to CMU and other similar schools. They're reaches, not impossible.

@Dandelion_97 Very few PhD applicants in statistics have any publications. It’s difficult to get involved in statistics research without a graduate degree in statistics. You have a very solid profile and you should be able to get into some great PhD programs. Since you’re an international student and didn’t go to a super famous university, I think you’ll have a tough time getting into CMU. But you should have a good shot at TAMU, Penn State, NC State, Ohio State, etc.

With your GPA being so low, I don't think it's worth it for you to apply to Stanford, Berkeley, Chicago, CMU, Duke and Columbia. Those are the top programs and have tons of applicants with near perfect grades and GRE scores to pick from. I'm not exactly sure what you should expect since very few people get B's in calculus and linear algebra, then an A in graduate real analysis. I would apply to a range of schools ranked between 20-50 and see if someone is willing to take a chance on you, since you clearly are capable of advanced math. It's not a good idea to apply to only UC schools, since their location makes them more desirable and harder to get into. As for your GRE, it's probably not worth retaking.

You have a good profile, but you're applying to way too many reaches. I would be shocked if you got into Harvard/JHU and I think it's unlikely you'll get into Yale/Brown/Columbia. A few things: Ivies are more selective than their ranking suggests, since everyone wants the prestige of going to an Ivy. Yale/Brown are very small programs and therefore extremely selective. For getting a job, departmental reputation is far more important than overall university ranking. For example, people in the field would consider Minnesota better than Columbia. You should have a good shot at BU. You should apply mainly to schools like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pittsburgh, etc. Lastly, if you could improve your GRE-Q score by a few points, I think that would be helpful.

@Rasha.K I would consider adding places like Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA and maybe Washington.

Have you considered applying to epidemiology PhD programs instead? They're similar to biostatistics, but less math intensive. They also value public health and biology experience a lot more that biostat programs do. I'm not super familiar with epidemiology admissions, but your background seems like a good fit for that.

Have you taken other math classes besides what you've listed? Have you taken Calc 1/2/3, linear algebra, etc?

Even for PhD programs in statistics, professors don’t really want you to contact them before you’re accepted. It’s mostly a waste of their time and isn’t going to increase your admissions chances. There’s just too many applicants for professors to have time for that. Go to an open house or visit day if you want to talk to people.

@likewater That looks about right. Although with how competitive admissions are, I wouldn't consider anything a "safety." I go to Harvard/Wash/Hopkins and was rejected from BU. Yale and Brown are probably reaches since their programs are very small (like 2 students a year) and everyone wants to go to an Ivy+. I would consider adding Pitt to your list. Lastly, you might consider applying to Washington (Seattle) in addition to/instead of one of Harvard, Hopkins. UW seems to be a bit easier to get into, since again, everyone wants to go to an Ivy+.

I think 1 of the 12 programs I applied to asked for fall grades, so I don't think it's very common. I was also rejected by about half of those programs, so I must have been on the "cusp of admission" at some of them. I was also enrolled in real analysis during that fall semester. So a few might, but generally they won't.

You should definitely apply to all of the top biostatistics schools. You're really underselling your background. You took Calc 3, linear algebra and real analysis. (I'm a PhD student at one of Harvard/Wash/Hopkins and as an undergrad, the only math courses I took besides those were differential equations (not useful) and another semester of real analysis.) You go to a top university with excellent grades in general plus a high GRE score. You also did SIBS, which I think is a plus. I would not consider you a non-traditional applicant. I'd be fairly surprised if you didn't get into at least one of Minnesota/UNC/Michigan/Berkeley. (Although Michigan frequently admits people to their MS instead of the PhD.)

@DanielWarlock The original poster is a domestic applicant. You're an international applicant. It is much harder to be admitted as an international student. (He's also an Ivy League math major.)

Do you think that could improve your GRE score? A mediocre GPA, few math classes, and a low GRE score is a tough combo, since those are the main ways to show your math ability. Getting a 165+ on the quantitative portion would probably help. Even if you improve your GRE, without real analysis, you're not going to be accepted into UNC and I think it's highly unlikely you'll get into Brown, Vanderbilt, Penn or BU. (Vanderbilt and Brown both have very small programs, Ivies are very competitive regardless of ranking.) What is the topic of your publications? Admissions committees at ranked biostats programs do not seem to care much about applied research experience or work experience, since those are so different than the type of stuff you do as a PhD student. I am not familiar with most of the other programs you listed, but you may have success with them. For example, Maryland's is a PhD in biostatistics and bioinformatics. They may value your CS background and work experience.

I graduated with a BS in statistics and a math minor from a top 15 stats school. I had a 4.0 GPA and similar GRE scores as you and was rejected from all of those stats programs you listed (but accepted into some of the biostats ones.) Your research experience is definitely exceptional, so you may have better luck than me, but you should probably also apply to some lower ranked schools.