noinim

Undergrad Institution: Top LAC Major(s): Mathematics Minor(s): GPA: 3.88 (major GPA like 3.92 ish) Type of Student: Domestic Asian Woman GRE General Test: Q: 167 (90%) V: 170 (99%) W: 6.0 (99%) GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: M: N?A TOEFL Score: N/A Grad Institution: N/A Programs Applying: (Statistics/Operation Research/Biostatistics/Financial Math/etc.) Research Experience: REU in CS/ML (no publications), senior thesis with honors in applied stats/ML/probability theory Awards/Honors/Recognitions: School GPA awards, mathematics department awards Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for linear algebra, real analysis, took 1 year after college to work in consulting Letters of Recommendation: 3 from undergrad math professors. All 3 I took multiple classes with, TA'd for, and/or did research with Math/Statistics Grades: Calculus sequence, linear algebra, real analysis 1, abstract algebra, advanced linear algebra, a smattering of other mid-level courses (diffeq, number theory, combinatorics, etc.), probability theory, stats theory, computational stats, intro CS, fundamentals of CS, data structures, intermediate macro+micro, econometrics. All A or A+, except abstract alg (B+), fundamentals of CS (B+), data structures (A-), diffeq (A-), linear alg (A-) Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Applying to Where: (all stats PhD unless otherwise mentioned, in rough order of notification) University of Minnesota - Accepted (Declined) Duke - Accepted (Declined) Harvard - Rejected University of Michigan - Accepted (Declined) UCLA - Accepted (Declined) Carnegie Mellon (Joint Stats & Public Policy) - Accepted MIT (Social Systems & Engineering)- Accepted UW - Ghosted :(( i.e. prob rejected at this point Because I was interested in social networks, policy, and economics applications, I also applied to some demography programs with close ties to ML/stats, but that's probably a bit far afield. Notes: It was a definite gamble to essentially apply only within the top 30, but my reasoning was that I had a job already, there were no such thing as guaranteed safety schools for PhD apps, and I didn't want to apply to any place that didn't have a relatively strong investment in doing interdisciplinary social science & stats/ML research (and that happened to be departments that were more highly ranked and more established). Also, looking at previous results, it does seem like domestic students have a small boost in admission outcomes, which I took into account when I was applying. I think doing a CS REU was helpful to offset my relatively lower grades in CS. I didn't plan for this entirely, but it turned out that I took a bunch of classes with the same 3 professors in undergrad, and got to know them quite well both in class and in other capacities (as a TA, academic advisee, research advisee, etc.) and I think this definitely helped my app a lot. So get to know your professors well! and if you're applying after graduating, make sure to stay in contact and let them know before you graduate that you may be applying to grad schools if you can A lot of people warn not to read gradcafe too much, and I remember it was definitely painful to watch admissions results roll in and be refreshing an empty inbox (there was like a span of 5 days when my top 3 favorite schools Harvard, UW, and CMU all came out and I had gotten none of them at that point) but it was also comforting to read yall's commiserations in the main forum thread. So thanks for keeping me company these past few months haha

Thank you @Geococcyx and @bayessays! Will definitely ask about dissertation/placements and potentially contact programs about alternate dates. (The dates aren’t conflicting, it was just a personal work related thing.)

Hi, I was wondering if any of you have any input on a dilemma I'm facing. I'm mostly interested in statistics and social science applications, particularly social network analysis, policy and causal inference, demographic methods, etc. I was accepted into the joint program at CMU (statistics and public policy) earlier today, and am not sure I can attend both their visit day and the Michigan visit day. I know there are a couple professors at Michigan doing similar research, but I'm not sure if their program is as focused on interdisciplinary social science research as the CMU joint program is? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I was not the person who got the UW interview, but I was wondering if usually all potential admits were interviewed or only a subset? There seem to be results from 2019 indicating that at least one person was admitted without an interview, while others were admitted after an interview.

Hey, I was one of the Minnesota admits (stats PhD). I’m guessing they notified me earlier because they told me they wanted to nominate me for a university diversity fellowship that has a deadline next week and requires an additional essay. The visit day isn’t until March 6, so they could definitely be doing several rounds of admission offers.

That makes a lot of sense, thanks so much for the advice and reassurance! I'm definitely interested in more applied areas of research rather than theoretical probability, so I will probably just let it go and work on strengthening other parts of my application. It's just hard not focusing on every little detail of my application now that deadlines are coming up... Good luck on your apps too!!

Hi, I'm a 2020 Statistics PhD applicant and I have a bit of an unusual question. I go to a well-known liberal arts college and have taken courses at nearby college campuses. I took one of my more important higher-level math courses (abstract algebra) at one of these adjoining campuses and got a B+ -- this particular school, however, is known for grade deflation. I think the B+ at this other school would have definitely been a A- or above at my own. (I realize this rather specific description probably outs which school I'm from...) Unfortunately I haven't taken any upper-division math courses beyond abstract algebra (I got a A in real analysis at my home school.) I'm worried that the B+ on my transcript, especially from my own school (which doesn't have the grade-deflating reputation of my neighboring school), would hurt me. Can/should I make a note of this on my application? Or add the neighboring school to my educational background? Thanks so much for any advice!