MathsterJedi

Thanks for the thoughtful reply! Indeed it looks like programs in the 20-40 range should be my aim. I certainly do not think being an URM would simply guarantee me access, but a handful of mentors have suggested it may have a larger impact than I might suspect. For instance, per https://ww2.amstat.org/misc/RaceEthinicity2011-2017.pdf, the number of native Hawaiians and pacific islanders who earned a Statistics PhD is approximately 1/20th that of the Black American African population (2 vs 39). I got the impression my mentors were suggesting there was a tiered affect on different groups of URM's (ie, being a Native American URM was maybe more impactful than being a Black African American URM). Regardless, thanks for your advice! Not sure I would want to be in a program I am technically not qualified for anyway!! Thanks again.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply! Will take your advice into consideration.

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply. Best of luck in your studies.

I may be able to explain the low GPA in my personal statement. I come from the unfortunate "stereotypical" broken house hold (father is convicted felon, brother is a drug addict, etc etc). I've also seen that per the American Statistical Association data, only 2 PhDs have been awarded to "Native Hawaiians and South Pacific Islanders" and only 7 Masters Degrees over the past 10 years. Moreover, all of my poor grades were in subjective liberal arts courses - none were in any type of quantitative class. Not sure to what extent if any this additional information helps my case. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply! I am only ethnically Samoan. I was born and raised in the United States. I will look at the three schools you mentioned. Thanks again!

To clarify, I am only ethnically Samoan. I was born and raised in the USA. Apologies for not making it clear.

Thank you for the reply! To clarify, I am not an international student. I am only ethnically Samoan - otherwise born and raised in the US. Does this affect your suggestions? Thanks

Thanks!! To clarify, I am not an international student. I am ethnically Samoan but born and raised in the US. Not sure if this alters your opinion. Thanks again!

Thanks for the advice! To clarify, I am not an international student. Born and raised in the US! Thanks again!

Hi folks, I am just entering a terminal Masters of Statistics Program at the University of Utah (Utah doesn't offer a Stat PhD) and am hoping to apply to PhD programs after finishing. Could people kindly recommend fitting programs given my profile/history below? I have been struggling to find good information on the topic. Undergraduate Institution: University of Utah (#34 in Mathematics and #12 in Algebra/Number Theory/Algebraic Geometry per USNews) Majors: Mathematics (Statistics Emphasis) and Economics (Econometrics Emphasis) Double Major Cumulative GPA: 3.34/4.00 Math major GPA: 3.70 | Econ major GPA: 3.85 Graduate Institution: University of Utah Graduate Program: Master of Statistics - Department of Mathematics Type of Student: Male South Pacific Islander (Samoan) Relevant Courses: * Math/Statistics/Econometrics MATH 1050 College Algebra (A) MATH 1070 Intro to Stat Inference (A) MATH 1210 Analytical Geometry & Calc 1 (A-) MATH 1220 Analytical Geometry & Calc 2 (A) MATH 2200 Discrete Mathematics (A) MATH 2210 Calculus 3 (A) MATH 3070 Applied Statistics 1 (A-) MATH 3080 Applied Statistics 2 (A-) MATH 2270 Linear Algebra (A-) MATH 3210 Foundations of Analysis 1 (A) MATH 3220 Foundations of Analysis 2 (A) MATH 5010 Intro to Probability (B-) MATH 5075 Time Series Analysis (A) MATH 5080 Statistical Inference 1 (A-) MATH 5090 Statistical Inference 2 (A) MATH 5750 Inverse Problems (A) ECON 3640 Prob&Stat Inference (A) ECON 4650 Principles of Econometrics (A) ECON 4660 Applied Statistical Tools (A) ECON 4670 Community Research (A) - Senior Econometrics Capstone course *Additional Math/Stat Courses I will have completed by time of application MATH 4400 Number Theory MATH 5040 Stochastic Proc & Simulations I MATH 5050 Stochastic Proc & Simulations II MATH 6010 Linear Models MATH 6020 Multi-Linear Models MATH 6040 Probability Theory MATH 6070 Mathematical Statistics MATH 6210 Real Analysis Along with a myriad of graduate level computer science courses focusing around algorithms, machine learning, and perhaps scientific computation. * Computer Science: CS 1410 Intro to Object Orientated Programming (A) CS 2420 Intro to Algorithms and Data Structures (A) * Other Quantitative Intensive Courses Principles of Microeconomics (A) Intermediate Microeconomics (A-) Principles of Macroeconomics (A-) Intermediate Macroeconomics (A-) Physics 1 (B) (Algebra Based) GRE General Test: I have not yet taken Research Experience: I did two semesters of Undergraduate Research in the data science domain. I modeled mouse cursor movement data to better predict 1-5 *usefulness* ratings of web pages in an intelligent web browser my faculty mentor had created. I presented my model and findings and some data science conferences, but we never published anything. I've also taken two project based economics courses with "research" in the title, but was certainly not proper academic research. It was more like policy consulting to government agencies. Work Experience: I worked at a top investment bank, Goldman Sachs, for almost two years after finishing my first undergraduate degree in Economics. My position was first as a Business Intelligence Specialist in the Margin space in Securities, and I later moved to a liquidity risk engineer position (akin to a data engineer) in the Risk division. Other Relevant Items: My GPA is generally poor because I did very poor in several gen-eds at the very beginning of my college career. Regarding my (B-) in MATH 5010 Probability, I woke up the morning of the final with stomach flu. I could hardly sit for the exam and handed it in with the majority of questions left blank. This dropped me from a 98% (A) in the class to a (B-). I plan to retake the graduate level version this summer. Letters of Recommendation: 1 from Professor in Math Department (Asymptotic Theory Specialist) Other two Schools: UChicago Northwestern CMU UCLA These are really the only programs I am familiar with. Do I have a chance at top US programs? What should be target range of schools given the above? Thanks!!!!