Hi guys, I am a rising senior and will be applying for PhD programs in statistics this fall, but I am still unsure about the range of programs I should apply to. I have talked with one of my letter writers (statistics professor), he is fairly confident that I could get in schools like Ohio State and Florida, but I am afraid that he is too optimistic since I have a couple of bad grades from undergraduate math and statistics classes (B+ in both Calculus III and undergraduate probability), I would love to hear about your opinion on my current school choices. I am also interested in applying statistical methods on ecological problems, so if you know any school that is particularly strong in this area, I would also love to learn about it. Thank you so much for your help!
Undergraduate Institution: Top 80 state school, strong in pure math but meh in stats
Majors: Pure Math (honors program) + Applied Math & Stats
Minor: Biology (ecology & evolution concentration)
GPA: 3.90/4.00
Type of Student: International female
Courses taken:
Pure Math/Applied Math (undergrad level): Calculus II & III (A, B+), Differential Equations (A), Group Theory (A), Complex Analysis (A), Topology (A), Real Analysis I (A-), Advanced Linear Algebra (A-), Applied Algebra (A), Numerical Methods (A-)
Stats (undergrad level): Data Analysis (A), Probability Theory (B+), Mathematical Statistics (A), Applied Data Mining (A)
Stats (grad level): Linear Regression Model (A), Bayesian Statistics (A), Stochastic Process (B+), Mathematical Statistics I (A-)
CS (undergrad level): Introductory Programming (A)
Courses taking this fall:
Pure Math/Applied Math (undergrad level): Real Analysis II, Senior Thesis (2-semester sequence)
Pure Math/Applied Math (grad level): Topology
Stats (undergrad level): Independent Study supervised by grad-level Mathematical Statistics I professor
Stats (grad level): Introductory Probability Theory (will take measure theoretic grad level probability theory next spring)
GRE General Test: 159V/170Q/4.5W
GRE Subject Math: Will take in September (and maybe October too)
Research Experience:
1 research project in statistical ecology in national academy of sciences of home country resulted in 1 published paper (3rd author, mainly responsible for designing the algorithm, writing R codes and running the codes to test hypothesis proposed by the PI);1 summer REU at an ivy school in topology with no major results, gave one talk to the department at the end; doing data analysis for an ecology lab at my home institution since this spring; also doing research in topology at my home institution this summer (topic is related to senior thesis).
Working Experience:
1 year TA for introductory biology, will be TA for calculus sequence starting this fall, high school math tutor during sophomore year
Letters of Recommendation: 1 from senior thesis advisor (math professor who is also supervising my summer research now), 1 from grad level mathematical statistics I professor (who I will also take grad level introductory probability with and supervise my independent study in statistics in the fall), 1 from either the PI from the published paper or the PI of the ecology lab that I've been working in since this spring
Currently considering schools: Brown (under applied math department), Duke, Columbia, NC State, Penn State, Minnesota, John Hopkins, Ohio State, Florida, Colorado State Boulder (under applied math department), Pittsburgh, UCSB.