Hello everyone,
I'm currently a senior planning on applying to PhD programs in statistics or any related field (eg. operations research) for Fall 2020.
Undergraduate Institution: UCLA
Majors: Mathematics, Statistics (Double major)
GPA: 4.00/4.00 (cumulative)
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male
Relavant Courses:
Math:
Calculus I, II, III (A+, A+, A+)
Linear Algebra (lower & upper level) (A+, A+)
Differential Equations (lower level) (A+)
Honors Real Analysis I, II, III (A, A+, A+)
Honors Complex Analysis (A+)
Applied Numerical Methods (A+)
Probability Theory (A+)
Intro to Financial Math (A+)
Statistics:
Programming with R (A+)
Intro to Mathematical Statistics (A)
Linear Models (A)
Intro to Data Analysis Regression (A+)
Intro to Design and Analysis of Experiment (A+)
Intro to Regression and Data Mining (A+)
Intro to Computational Statistics with R (A+)
Intro to Computation and Optimization (A+)
Intro to Monte Carlo Methods (A)
Python for Data Analysis (A+)
Programming:
Intermediate Programming C++ (A+)
Java Language and Application (A+)
Python for Applications (A+)
GRE General: 165V/169Q/Writing unknown.
GRE Math Subject: 940 (99%)
Research Experience:
No formal research experience, but will start a research beginning this fall under an assistant professor in the Stats/Communications department on computer vision
A directed research project for two quarters under the guidance of a stats lecturer (more of a project than of research) on the topic of computer vision
A Math Directed Reading Program for a quarter under a math PhD student on the topic of linear PDE.
Work Experience:
Three internships, one in finance, two in actuarial science (one in risk management with a ML project, the other is accounting related)
One part-time job as lab assistant tutoring programing in a computer lab.
Letters of Recommendation:
Have not asked yet, but I am thinking about choosing from the following options:
Three math professors that know me well from my Honors Analysis class (one is a tenure who taught me two real analysis classes, one adjunct who taught one real analysis, and one adjunct who taught me complex analysis) where I got A+ in almost all of them
One stats lecturer with whom I did a directed research project on computer vision with and whom I took three stats classes (2 A+, 1A)
One stats lecturer with whom I took two mathematical statistics classes with (I impressed him by getting ~90 on all the exams when the averages were all ~30)
As you can see, the weakness in my profile is the lack of research experience, despite of good GPA, GRE and GRE sub. So I am wondering what level of schools do I have a good chance into? I don't have a school list yet, and would like to seek feedback of the range of schools you recommend (like for example, what is the chance of me getting into phd programs of #10-20 ranking schools or what are the specifics schools that I have a good chance for?) and if there are other programs that fit my background other than statistics (eg. should I apply to operations research or something else?).
Thanks for your input!