runmore05

From what I've gathered, ranking does not matter too much when it comes to masters programs. Especially if you're planning for a career in industry. I think you should look at this post from the following thread (granted it's about biostats, but I'm sure the same principles apply):
 
 
 

Hi all, I am planning to apply to stats PhD programs for Fall 2021, but wanted to ask for an evaluation early to calibrate my expectations for where to apply, and to see if there is anything else I should absolutely do in the coming months while I still have time. I would like to get into a PhD program, but am willing to put the time into a masters if that's what I have to do based on my profile. I'm open to biostats departments but I enjoy math and theory, so I don't want to settle for a program that's too applied if I don't have to.
Type of Student: Domestic, White Male
Undergrad Institution: Small LAC (Known for lack of grade inflation and not playing the rankings game FWIW.)
Major: Linguistics
GPA: 3.3
Relevant Courses: Calc I (A-), Calc II/Intro to Analysis (B), Calc III (B-), Linear Algebra (B+), Intro Stats (A). All of the math classes were largely proof-based.
Further non-degree coursework at Directional State U (quarter system)
GPA: 3.96 UG, 3.66 Grad
Classes: Real Analysis I,II (A, A), Math Stats I,II (A, A), Applied Regression Analysis (A), Applied Diff Eq. (A), Group Theory (A), Numerical Optimization I,II (A, A), Computational Methods in Stats (Grad) (A), Bayesian Statistics (Grad) (B+)
Additional Info: I'm a fairly good coder. I did a decent amount of CS coursework with good grades and worked for several years in industry doing NLP/ML.
GRE General Test: Taken several years ago before the additional math coursework. Expect to retake with a higher quantitative soon.
Q: 163
V: 170
Programs Applying: Statistics
Research Experience: Working on an applied ecological stats paper with the professor I took Math Stats and Bayesian Stats with.
Letters of Recommendation:  One from undergrad thesis supervisor, one from professor I'm writing the paper with, choosing the third between the professor I took Numerical Optimization with (would probably be generic) or my work supervisor (has a PhD, but not in math or stats).
Coding Skills: R, Python, C/C++
Research interest: Bayesian stats
Main questions and concerns: I had weak undergrad grades, taking math outside of my major. I've developed more mathematical maturity since then and taken a lot more courses, though at a less than stellar institution. Will that upward trend be enough to make up for my undergrad performance? If I can do well, will taking the GRE subject test help convince admissions committees of my mathematical ability? Are there any other major holes I should try and plug by the end of the year? With the non-degree school being on a quarter system, I don't have a huge choice of classes I could take before applying in the fall. Would one more quarter of Real Analysis make much difference?
I'm having a very hard time getting a sense of where I stand. Would I have a shot at PhD programs at the lower end of the top 50 like Mizzou, UCI, UPitt, Ohio State, or Rutgers?

You'll find censored data/high dimensional people at a ton of places - Minnesota has a big focus on HD machine learning (think Lasso). For software, UC Davis has a major R guy, Duncan something. For spatial, look at Ohio State (and lower down, Mizzou).  For functional data, FSU has a huge group of people working on shape analysis and a wavelet guy - one of their grads is also a prof at OSU now.  

Here's a pretty solid list of data science programs in the US. https://analytics.ncsu.edu/?page_id=4184
The statistics ones are much easier to find since they have been around much longer. Just look at the US News rankings for a general idea of which programs are considered good.
As for your question about whether it's worth it to attend lower ranked schools, it really depends on what your goal is. If you want to boost your profile for PhD admissions, maybe not. However, it sounds like you want to become a data scientist and you should be able to do that from a lower ranked school. I interned at a Fortune 100 company as a data scientist and my boss had an MS in statistics from a directional university that I had never heard of. 

Based on some searching on here, I tried laying down some estimates for what GRE minimum scores are needed for the various schools that offer a Stats MS program. I was wondering if people could critique this list? Thanks!
159 Q  minimum target score for unranked/very low ranked schools
161 Q  minimum target score for the lower ranked USNWR schools
164 Q should be sufficient for most ranked schools
165  Q is a minimum target score for almost all of the ranked schools
 

So far as I know, such statistics aren't collated in one central location, so you'll have to check each school.  If they aren't posted on a school's website, then you can ask the director of graduate studies (or the director of the master's program, if they have one) and they can often provide some info to that effect. 

There have been a few people on the forums who did master's at NC State, but I don't know that any of us would have background on the environmental concentration.  Obviously the folks at NC State would be your best contacts if you wanted to ask them about the basic details (they appear to not have a specific master's program director listed, so I guess the DGS, Wenbin Lu, would be the choice there?).  She's probably quite busy, but Elizabeth Mannshardt might be somebody to ask if you're really interested in the program at NC State; she's an adjunct at NC State and is an administrator in the local EPA branch (and hence, probably works with some of the interning environmental stats students).  Normally I wouldn't just pull someone's name out of thin air like this, but she was recently president of North Carolina's ASA chapter and has worked on early-career mentoring of statisticians, so she might be more receptive to outreach than the average person.  
I don't know much about other stat departments, but I think Ohio State's statistics department is also pretty environmentally-oriented.  They've lost a few professors in that area (Kate Calder & Noel Cressie come to mind), so maybe less so now than in the past, but it might still be worth some interest.  

Yes, NC State has a top program, you couldn't go wrong going there.

Definitely look at Oregon State. Their department is very heavily environmental.  If it sounds interesting to you, maybe also look into biostatistics programs where you could possibly do environmental epidemiology type work.

It depends on what school you are applying to. The top 30 schools not only favor the applicants to have completed the lower division linear algebra, but also proof based linear algebra (upper division) and at least a course in real analysis. Getting a high GPA in a less known university is a disadvantage because they don't know how rigorous the program is. Stats classes (at least at UCLA) tend to be much easier than Math, they are not easy, but easier than Math classes. Most math majors at UCLA can easily ace the stats courses while struggling in math courses, so doing good in Math looks better than doing good in Stats and bad in Math. But you can try to take the two classes I mentioned and as many more as you can to prove your math skills, and try your best on GRE. Good luck!

In most cases, an applied masters program is not going to have any real theory courses.  If you don’t take any theoretical stat courses in your program you aren’t going to look (or be) any more prepared for the harder theory PhD courses than you are now. 

What is your end goal?  Do you want a Ph.D. in statistics or just an applied masters? An applied masters isn't going to help you get into a Ph.D. program.  But if an applied masters is your end goal that sounds like a good plan.

It sounds like a Masters in Statistics or Biostatistics is the best choice for you at this time. You don't need a lot of math to get into an MS program -- just Calc I-III and basic linear algebra.
If you decide later that you might want to do a PhD, you should take real analysis in your Masters program.

I think your initial plan is good. Do as well as you can in calc 3 and linear, get a decent GRE, and apply to MS in applied statistics, and some biostat MS programs outside the top 5.

It might not hurt to reach out to one of your professors in stats and ask them what they think. They could probably give you the best insight into it. That said, my coworker has a masters in biostatistics after being a neurologist in from another country. He mentioned there are a lot of international students and was under the impression that Americans aren't often drawn to apply for the programs. He could be totally mistaken, but I think getting the application requirements done and having a minor in statistics is totally acceptable if not normal.