Monte Carlo

Thank you @omicrontrabb @GoPackGo89 I've also talked to a few current PhD students. They all told me that a PhD student has to be very self-motivated and has very strong interest in what he/she is doing. Regarding of this, I'd say I am only above average. I'm pretty sure I am not the top 5% or 10% of people who has strong self motivation, so I am a bit worry that I might struggle in the PhD program. However, some people encouraged me to try it out. They said the worst case scenario is to drop out of PhD and get a free master degree. But I feel like I would be so frustrated if that happened.

I am having a hard time choosing between Duke's Statistics MS and UVA's Statistics PhD. Duke’s stats program is top 10 in the US. It is also one of the only two year MS programs. It requires MS students to finish a Master's Thesis to graduate, which seems like a good preparation for PhD. But the problem is that if I want to continue pursuing PhD, I need to do well in the MS program. Typically they admit around 2 PhD students from their own MS students, and around 3-4 more students get admitted to other PhD programs elsewhere, out of 35 students each year. For UVA, they have a pretty low program ranking (around 70 in the U.S), but the advantage is that I don’t have to apply again and I get full ride for the five years. Also, they have a pretty small program (3-4 PhD students each year), which means I might get a lot of attentions from the advisors. At this point I’m not 100% confident about my academic ability to become a PhD. Also, I'm not quite sure what research topic I want to do for PhD. I thought it would be better if I get a masters degree first and decide afterwards. But at the same time, I realize that a PhD degree can give me much better job opportunities and higher salaries. If I force myself to go to PhD at this point, I might as well finish it, but I might struggle. I guess my question is if I want to work in the industry eventually, does program ranking and school reputation matter a lot? If money is not a big issue, should I go straight to PhD now or get MS at Duke first? Can anyone give me some advice please?

I think they r doing rolling admissions. Some people got the results in early Feb, some people may have to wait until May. BTW the deadline for application is May 31st, so definitely no need to worry at this point.

i feel like stanford ms is gonna release results tomorrow. Let's see if I'm right.

I guess if you want to get a PhD eventually, then a thesis track would be better. As far as I know, thesis track is designed for students who wish to pursue a PhD.

they sent me an email to check the website

I got in. Good luck to everyone.

I just got in. Good luck to everyone.

Thank you. I tried a different browser and it worked.

I just got an email from duke that says a decision has been made. But after I logged in, it says decision not ready under my MS application. Anyone got the same message?

Congrats! it seems like you are the only one admitted so far. Also, did you have an interview with the program director?

it seems like harvard data science sent out acceptance yesterday. I feel like I should expect a rejection by now.

Hi, do you mind sharing which program did you apply to? MS or PhD?

it seems like they also sent out some offers today. Should I expect a rejection now?

i guess just dont get anything worse than B