Bruin123

1) As far as the math requirements go, it depends on the school you're applying to for the PhD. Some institutions might just make you take real analysis the summer before you start the program, others might let you skirt it knowing you'll be at a disadvantage in some classes, but if your application is strong, very few would reject you for simply not having taken the class yet. 2) Do well on the verbal and analytical writing sections of the GRE. For biostatisticians, who have to communicate with physicians and researchers across disciplines, strong oral and written communication skills are essential, but often overlooked by the students. Admissions committees, however, love to see demonstration of good communication skills. Top tier math scores are usually expected (i.e. it can hurt your application to do poorly on this section), but stellar verbal scores can put your application towards the top of the pile (because most students again don't focus too hard on it). Good luck!

Personally, I don't know much about CMU's program, but other programs have a tendency to vary about how they do their admissions. I know for a fact that at UCLA, for example, the committee may accept students into the MS program even though they applied to the PhD program because they need further training. I have also heard of other schools doing the same. You can still go into a PhD program with an MS; in fact many institutions accept a number of PhD students from their MS programs. And for Biostats, there are plenty of MS programs that will provide TA/RA positions that can cover the cost of tuition plus some $ on the side, and then you can save your guaranteed funding from a PhD program for your later years of education. The competition to get accepted to a PhD program in Biostatistics also varies by institution, with higher caliber programs and more famous institutions receiving more applications. From my professors who have served on admissions committees, a strong math and applied background is important, but strong oral and written communication skills are crucial as well. You can definitely boost your chances of acceptance if you do well on the Verbal and Analytical Writing GRE and construct strong supporting essays for your application. Majoring in math is great and all, but not required.

When considering the budget crisis, keep in mind that biostats departments are fairly resilient to the fluctuations and have steady sources of funding. The out of state tuition is still cheaper than an east coast private school, and (at least from my experience at UCLA) there have been lots of opportunities for TAships and research positions that cover the in-state portion of tuition for masters students (PhD programs generally won't accept anyone they can't fund). The budget crisis mostly affects arts and humanities, not as much science, math, and health related fields.

I think that was a joke.... But instead of criticizing these approaches, perhaps you could share what factors you believe contributed to your success so that others may learn from it. There is no posted rubric or vast body of information about the judging criteria for the NDSEG (unlike the NSF GRFP where there are explicit criteria and even panel review sheets), so we're left with speculation.

Rejected as well!

Apparently something around 25% of the score you get is based on GPA and GRE. At least that's what a previous poster stated. And yes, it does suck for it to matter that much.

Of course, after the rejections are sent, we're still going to be bugging those accepted to post their stats so we can see how we matched up to the superstars. Speaking of which, accepted superstars, care to list your field/GPA/GRE and what not for the future generations of applicants wondering how they too can obtain success?

Stages of grief involving the NDSEG: 1) Denial -- Perhaps those who claim they were notified weren't actually notified. 2) Anger -- Grrrr, just tell us already (and what is up with all these trolls?) 3) Bargaining -- I'll do anything, just tell us already. Maybe if well all keep pestering ASEE they'll tell us something? 4) Depression -- *Sigh* I give up. I was never going to win it anyways. I'll tell my troubles to my beer. 5) Acceptance -- But I'm ok with that. At least I was offered $ by my institution. Sure, I'll have to TA or RA for it, but it's better than no $ at all. I'm at stage 4 right now.

I think had we all been notified at the same time, it would not have been so painful. But because some people have been raptured with their judgments first, the rest of us are sitting in an unanticipated purgatory.

Actually, there's a program in the Navy where whales and dolphins are trained to detect underwater mines. But I also imagine that abundance modeling is important to the Navy to see how likely it is for an aircraft carrier to strike a whale and upset Greenpeace.

What field are you in to be able to do such awesome models? I've been really wanting to break into population dynamics modeling (specifically whales), but Biostats faculty/my advisors/my slave drivers to whom I owe my soul don't particularly care for those models, so I have to study other things.

Wow, I just burst out laughing like a crazy person in the middle of my lab. Awesome.

Now that just sounds awesome. I <3 whales.

Los Angeles anyone?

Too bad everyone on this forum is spread about the country. I would suggest that we all have a happy hour to commiserate the rejections and celebrate the acceptances. The most important thing is that we will know our fate. And knowing is half the battle.