movingtostats

Gender : Male Ethnicity : Indian Undegrad Institution : University of Delhi (tier 2 college) Major : Economics GPA : 7.12/10 (3.6 US equivalent) Relevant Courses : Math/Statistics : Math Econ I (7) ,Math Econ II (8) , Statistics (7), Introductory Econometrics (8), Applied Econometrics (10) All grades are out of 10, the two math courses covered some linear algebra and the rest was multivariable calculus but did not have vector calculus stuff like green's theorem. The statistics course was calculus based and had random variables, hypo testing, clt and similar stuff. Econometrics was mostly regression stuff. Graduate Institution : Indian Statistical Institute Major : Quantitative Economics ( MS in QE) Grade : 85.95/100 (For three semesters.) Relevant Courses : Math Methods (95), Statistics (95), Game Theory (91), Probability Theory (66), Econometric Methods - I (90), Game Theory - II(98), The Theory of Mechanism Design(92), Real Analysis(100), Time Series Analysis(77), Econometric Methods - II(78). All grades are out of 100. Second Graduate Institution : University of Washington Major : Statistics Grade : 3.81/4.00 Relevant Courses : Statistical Inference I (B+), Design and Analysis of Experiment (A), Statistical Inference II (A), Applied Regression (A-), Database Systems (A-), Machine Learning (A), Statistical Computing (A) General GRE : Quant(168), Verbal(158) Research Experience: None so far. Work Experience: Working for one of the big four firms. My job mainly has to do with validation of credit risk models for banks(our usual clients). I generally get to work with regression models like linear regression and beta regression, additionally also with logistic regression. I have done a personal project in which I used a boosting algorithm for a prediction problem and another in which I used deep learning to create a facial expression recognition system. I have also done the deep learning specialization on coursera. Not sure how helpful this stuff is. The things that I worry about are that my UG institute wasn't really the best in the country, it wasn't a bad school but just wasn't amongst the top colleges, my GPA in UG is also not fabulous however I think it is still better in the relevant courses. Will bad grade in probability theory, time series analysis and econometric methods - II be a significant factor? LOR : One from statistical inference I professor, one from statistical inference II professor and another from Advanced regression (ongoing class) professor. I don't expect them to be great since I don't have a rapport with the professors. I want to apply to PhD Statistics for Fall 2024 in US. Can you guys please help me get some Reach, Match and Safety schools please.

Gender : Male Ethnicity : Indian Undegrad Institution : University of Delhi (tier 2 college) Major : Economics GPA : 7.12/10 (3.6 US equivalent) Relevant Courses : Math/Statistics : Math Econ I (7) ,Math Econ II (8) , Statistics (7), Introductory Econometrics (8), Applied Econometrics (10) All grades are out of 10, the two math courses covered some linear algebra and the rest was multivariable calculus but did not have vector calculus stuff like green's theorem. The statistics course was calculus based and had random variables, hypo testing, clt and similar stuff. Econometrics was mostly regression stuff. Graduate Institution : Indian Statistical Institute Major : Quantitative Economics ( MS in QE) Grade : 85.95/100 (For three semesters.) Relevant Courses : Math Methods (95), Statistics (95), Game Theory (91), Probability Theory (66), Econometric Methods - I (90), Game Theory - II(98), The Theory of Mechanism Design(92), Real Analysis(100), Time Series Analysis(77), Econometric Methods - II(78). All grades are out of 100. General GRE : Quant(168), Verbal(158) GRE Mathematics Subject Test : Not given yet. Research Experience: None so far. Work Experience: Working for one of the big four firms. My job mainly has to do with validation of credit risk models for banks(our usual clients). I generally get to work with regression models like linear regression and beta regression, additionally also with logistic regression. I have done a personal project in which I used a boosting algorithm for a prediction problem and another in which I used deep learning to create a facial expression recognition system. I have also done the deep learning specialization on coursera. Not sure how helpful this stuff is. The things that I worry about are that my UG institute wasn't really the best in the country, it wasn't a bad school but just wasn't amongst the top colleges, my GPA in UG is also not fabulous however I think it is still better in the relevant courses. Will bad grade in probability theory, time series analysis and econometric methods - II be a significant factor? LOR : One will be from my game theory and Mechanism Design professor who is a PhD in industrial engineering, rest all will be from other professors. Can't say anything about the quality of the LORs, I hope they will be good. I want to apply to MS Statistics for Fall 2022 in US. The things I worry the most about are my low grades in Probability Theory, Time Series Analysis and Econometric Methods - II. Can you also tell me how important a role will the SOP play in my applications? Additionally, do I need to give the GRE again to get 170 in quant, is the 168 going to be a big problem at many schools? My goal is to be able to find a good job as a data scientist, I would like to move into machine learning later on in my career after gaining some experience working as a data scientist. I have shortlisted the following schools right now, let me know if any schools need to be removed or added and if the list looks reasonable. Please also let me know of some schools that will be easy to get into and will help me find a good job easily. Reach: University of Washington, UW Madison Match: TAMU, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Purdue University, UCLA, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UIUC, Georgia Tech's(Industrial Engineering with specialization in statistics) Safety: Stony Brook, Rice University, UC Irvine

Gender : Male Ethnicity : Indian Undegrad Institution : University of Delhi (tier 2 college) Major : Economics GPA : 7.12/10 (3.6 US equivalent) Relevant Courses : Math/Statistics : Math Econ I (7) ,Math Econ II (8) , Statistics (7), Introductory Econometrics (8), Applied Econometrics (10) All grades are out of 10, the two math courses covered some linear algebra and the rest was multivariable calculus but did not have vector calculus stuff like green's theorem. The statistics course was calculus based and had random variables, hypo testing, clt and similar stuff. Econometrics was mostly regression stuff. Graduate Institution : Indian Statistical Institute Major : Quantitative Economics ( MS in QE) Grade : 85.95/100 (For three semesters.) Relevant Courses : Math Methods (95), Statistics (95), Game Theory (91), Probability Theory (66), Econometric Methods - I (90), Game Theory - II(98), The Theory of Mechanism Design(92), Real Analysis(100), Time Series Analysis(77), Econometric Methods - II(78). All grades are out of 100. General GRE : Quant(168), Verbal(158) GRE Mathematics Subject Test : Not given yet. Research Experience: None so far. Work Experience: Working for one of the big four firms. My job mainly has to do with validation of credit risk models for banks(our usual clients). I generally get to work with regression models like linear regression and beta regression, additionally also with logistic regression. I have done a personal project in which I used a boosting algorithm for a prediction problem and another in which I used deep learning to create a facial expression recognition system. I have also done the deep learning specialization on coursera. Not sure how helpful this stuff is. The things that I worry about are that my UG institute wasn't really the best in the country, it wasn't a bad school but just wasn't amongst the top colleges, my GPA in UG is also not fabulous however I think it is still better in the relevant courses. Will bad grade in probability theory, time series analysis and econometric methods - II be a significant factor? LOR : One will be from my game theory and Mechanism Design professor who is a PhD in industrial engineering, rest all will be from other professors. Can't say anything about the quality of the LORs, I hope they will be good. I want to apply to MS Statistics for Fall 2022 in US. The things I worry the most about are my low grades in Probability Theory, Time Series Analysis and Econometric Methods - II. Can you also tell me how important a role will the SOP play in my applications? Additionally, do I need to give the GRE again to get 170 in quant, is the 168 going to be a big problem at many schools? My goal is to be able to find a good job as a data scientist, I would like to move into machine learning later on in my career after gaining some experience working as a data scientist. I have shortlisted the following schools right now, let me know if any schools need to be removed or added and if the list looks reasonable. Please also let me know of some schools that will be easy to get into and will help me find a good job easily. Reach: University of Washington, UW Madison Match: TAMU, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Purdue University, UCLA, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UIUC, Georgia Tech's(Industrial Engineering with specialization in statistics) Safety: Stony Brook, Rice University, UC Irvine

@cyberwulf My goal is to dive deeper into statistics, as mentioned by bestregards above I haven’t taken many stats courses. Also, I want to use the MS as a way to enter the data science/ml job market which is not possible for me right now. Finally, I might even consider a PhD and the MS will help me in that. With that said, can you please give me school suggestions?

Ohh I see, well thanks a lot for the advice that you've given me. I appreciate it.

@bestregards The thing is that I cannot take anymore statistics courses as I am enrolled in the economics department and you can only take a limited number of courses from the statistics department. Also, I have read the SOP link, but isnt that mainly for the Doctorate programs or does it apply to Masters programs as well? Also, as my profile stands, can you please tell me what should be my safety, match and reach schools please?

Hi everyone, I want to apply to MS Statistics for Fall 2021 in US and Canada but I would prefer the US. I know that I am late in applying and the deadlines for many schools have closed but I am still hoping to get into some decent/good program(s). Can you please tell me what my safety, match and target schools should be? The things I worry the most about are my low grades in Probability Theory, Time Series Analysis and Econometric Methods - II. Can you also tell me how important a role will the SOP play in my applications? Gender : Male Ethnicity : Indian Undegrad Institution : University of Delhi (tier 2 college) Major : Economics GPA : 7.12/10 (3.6 US equivalent) Releveant Courses : Math/Statistics : Math Econ I (7) ,Math Econ II (8) , Statistics (7), Introductory Econometrics (8), Applied Econometrics (10) All grades are out of 10, the two math courses covered some linear algebra and the rest was multivariable calculus but did not have vector calculus stuff like green's theorem. The statistics course was calculus based and had random variables, hypo testing, clt and similar stuff. Econometrics was mostly regression stuff. Graduate Institution : Indian Statistical Institute Major : Quantitative Economics ( MS in QE) Grade : 87.6/100 (For three semesters.) Relevant Courses : Math Methods (95), Statistics (95), Game Theory (91), Probability Theory (66), Econometric Methods - I (90), Game Theory - II(98), The Theory of Mechanism Design(92), Real Analysis(100), Time Series Analysis(76), Econometric Methods - II(75). All grades are out of 100.Math course had good amount of linear algebra, decent amount of real analysis and a lot of optimization topics like KKT. Statistics was taught from Casella & Berger, had things like cramer-rao bound, cramer woldt device, likelihood ratio test, NP lemma etc, Prob Theory was from the stat department and I couldn't do well in it because Real Analysis was a prerequisite which I had not studied at the time, the course had convergence concepts(almost surely,distribution etc) and markov chains. General GRE : Quant(168), Verbal(158) GRE Mathematics Subject Test : Not given yet. Research Experience: None so far. I have done a personal project in which I used a boosting algorithm for a prediction problem and another in which I used deep learning to create a facial expression recognition system. I have also done the deep learning specialization on coursera. Not sure how helpful this stuff is. The things that I worry about are that my UG institute wasn't really the best in the country, it wasn't a bad school but just wasn't amongst the top colleges, my GPA in UG is also not fabulous however I think it is still better in the relevant courses. Will bad grade in probability theory, time series analysis and econometric methods - II be a significant factor? LOR : One will be from my game theory and Mechanism Design professor who is a PhD in industrial engineering, rest all will be from economists. Can't say anything about the quality of the LORs, I hope they will be good.

Thank you so much for your reply. Yes @Recklessreader and I are hoping to take Linear Algebra and Linear Models, and Analysis - II as non credit subjects since that seems to be our only option. We also think that we will delay applying for an MS by one year so that we can get all the Math courses on the transcript as well as give the GRE Math Subject Test in April. You seem to know the working of the Stats department at Indian Statistical Institute.Do you think professors from the statistics faculty will be willing to write us LOR’s(assuming that we do well in their subjects)?, we have been a little apprehensive about how they will receive us considering our background. We will definitely try to get in touch with the Statistics faculty and follow their advice. Thanks again, your reply was very helpful.

I see, thanks.

Can you please tell me what masters at Harvard did this student pursue, was it biostats? Because last I checked Harvard does not have a MS statistics program.

Thanks a lot, I always thought that there had to be a reason for the (relatively)low math requirements at biostat programs, now it makes sense. Thanks for the advice about wake forest, I’ll definitely check it out. I was also thinking about chicago and duke but they’re very tough to get into. One last thing do you think I should give the mGRE to show my mathematical ability(assuming I can do well on it) or is it a waste of time?

This is amazing!!! Don’t worry, you’re not talking down. If I’m being honest I didn’t find the first three papers to be theoretical enough, and the last two might have been a tad too theoretical , I think I am looking for something in the left neighborhood of the last two papers which I guess can be found more in the stats depts but then again stats depts are too difficult to get into so maybe I’ll have to go the biostats route. But I highly doubt my capabilities being from a non math background, I’m still trying to shift into statistics and will try to get an MS and see how it goes from there. Btw if you’ve got time I’d love for you to tell me which schools I should apply to for an MS, here is the post I had made a while ago https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/123426-profile-evaluation-ms-applicant/

Hey! I am no expert on admissions but am a long time lurker on this platform, so take what I say with a grain of salt. First of all things will be very different depending on whether you are a domestic or international applicant. Also you should give more info about your major and math/stat courses taken in UG and masters. My suggestion would be to take as many grad level math courses and perform well in them. I don’t think taking grad level algebra courses makes sense as it doesn’t really apply to stats, grad level analysis courses will be better, also your LORs can be a factor that might help you overcome the GPA. UPenn is amongst THE most selective schools maybe even more than the likes of CMU so I wouldn’t count on this school. For JHU if you’re thinking about their applied math and stat dept then I don’t have good advice because even though it’s ranked low I am not sure about how easy or difficult it is to get in. But if you can get good grades in grad math classes and get good LORs then depending on your major and math courses taken in UG, hopefully schools like OSU should let you in. All of this advice applies if you are a domestic applicant, if you’re an international one then it’s going to be much more difficult. Again take whatever I say with a grain of salt.

Ohh I had now idea that the funding worked in such a different way for biostat programs.

I see, so I guess biostats is maybe not the best option in general for somebody who wants to work only in theory, but it is probably just as good as the stats depts if somebody is interested in applied or a mixture of applied and theory.

One thing I don’t understand is that why is it so much easier to get into top biostat programs than top stats programs when most people say that the two depts do mostly the same things.

I see, yes they have quite a few guys working in probability/ stochastic processes as well I think. Their department seems more like an operations research and applied math dept rolled into one. How does the difficulty level of getting into their programme compare with that of other programs, I’m guessing it’s maybe rougly the same as that of duke’s?

What do you guys think about JHU’s applied math and stat department, its ranked a little lower , I think it’s at 31, is it a good dept for HD and financial statistics? Also is it really that much easier to get into it given the low rank?

@jelquiades Do you think I have a shot at getting an MS from the schools that you’ve mentioned, I’m not sure how I would fare and what my chances are at schools like Uchicago, Duke and UNC. Previously I thought that masters admissions aren’t that competitive and that given my profile I’d be able to get into a very good school for a masters but now I’m not so sure.

@bayessays Thanks a lot for the helpful advice. Can you also tell me which schools I should apply to for the masters in the US.

I would love to get the opinion of and advice from @bayessays . If you have time please let me know what you think.

@Stat Postdoc Soon Faculty I see, thanks for letting me know, I will now have reasonable expectations regarding where I can get in. What schools do you think I can get into for a masters in the us and canada?

@Stat Postdoc Soon Faculty I see, are you saying this after taking into account the fact that I will first get a masters in statistics from us or canada after my current masters in econ and then apply for PhD or did you think that I’m directly applying for a PhD in stats after my masters in econ. Just want to make sure that we’re on the same page. So at the time of applying for a PhD I also will have a masters in statistics( hopefully from a good school), so still you think that I can only do as good as the 50th ranked program?

Hi guys, hope everyone is safe, healthy and practicing social distancing . I made a post a few days ago asking for a profile evaluation and got some very helpful advice. What I was wondering is, does a path to one of the top doctoral programs for statistics in the US exist for me, if yes then what does it look like. I will be applying for a masters coming fall and then for a PhD. I will reupload my profile so that you dont have to go to my previous post. I basically want to know what steps I should take from now on so that I can get into the best possible school, given the below parameters. Here is the profile that I posted asking for an MS stats profile evaluation, If you want to evaluate my profile for the MS you are more than welcome. Undegrad Institution : University of Delhi (tier 2 college) Major : Economics GPA : 7.12/10 (3.6 US equivalent) Releveant Courses : Math/Statistics : Math Econ I (7) ,Math Econ II (8) , Statistics (7), Introductory Econometrics (8), Applied Econometrics (10) All grades are out of 10, the two math courses covered some linear algebra and the rest was multivariable calculus but did not have vector calculus stuff like green's theorem. The statistics course was calculus based and had random variables, hypo testing, clt and similar stuff. Econometrics was mostly regression stuff. Graduate Institution : Indian Statistical Institute Major : Quantitative Economics ( MS in QE) Grade : 86/100 (This is only one semester, I rank 4 in a batch of 23.) Relevant Courses : Math Methods (95), Statistics (95), Game Theory (91), Probability Theory (66) All grades are out of 100.Math course had good amount of linear algebra, decent amount of real analysis and a lot of optimization topics like KKT. Statistics was taught from Casella & Berger, was very mathematical had things like cramer-rao bound, cramer woldt device, likelihood ratio test, NP lemma etc, Prob Theory was from the stat department and I couldn't do well in it because Real Analysis was a prerequisite which I had not studied, the course had convergence concepts(almost surely,distribution etc) and markov chains. Relevant courses from this semester are Econometrics I, Theory Of Mechanism Design( not sure how relevant but it is a mathematical course) and Game Theory -II When the time to apply comes I will have had a course in Real Analysis(Analysis-I from the stat dept) and I am pretty sure I'll get an 80+ in it and I will also have had and additional course in Econometrics, one in Sample Survey and and one in Time Series, in my last semester I will also take either Measure Theory or Analysis - II depending on my interest, I cannot take these now or in the next semester as the Institute doesn't allow too many courses from other dept. in one semester. General GRE : Quant(165), Verbal(164) GRE Mathematics Subject Test : Not given yet. Research Experience: None so far. The things that I worry about are that my UG institute wasn't really the best in the country, it wasn't a bad school but just wasn't amongst the top colleges, my GPA in UG is also not fabulous however I think it is still better in the relevant courses. Will bad grade in prob theory be a significant factor? I am also planning to give the GRE Math by studying for it over the summer, I think I should be able to manage 70+ percentile on this, will this add significant value for top schools? LOR : One will be from my game theory and Mechanism Design professor who is a PhD in industrial engineering, rest all will be from economists though should be good.

Thanks a lot for the reply, this will help me assess my situation and finalize schools to apply to.