Space+TimeStats

Wow, great information, really allows me to narrow down my course selection for next year to best accomplish my goals. So glad that I joined GradCafe and posted the question!

Thank you @bayessays and @Stat Postdoc Soon Faculty, both very helpful! It is nice to have realistic expectations prior to applying but it sounds like the best thing to do is simply confirm with the programs that I actually get admitted to (if that happens lol) and then make a decision. Not to completely change subject, but I noticed schools in UK have much shorter program lengths (3-4 years) and seem to expect candidates already having masters degrees. It seems like this assumption automatically shaves a year off the program (whereas in the US it seems to vary), I wonder if there is a tradeoff associated with this benefit?

I have (naively) not considered programs other than Statistics, so that is a helpful comment. Just making sure I understand the part on finishing in 4 years since I am still learning; PhD sequence is roughly (1) Take Masters Courses (2) Pass qualifying exams (3) Enter Candidacy - Research/ take PhD courses (4) Comprehensive Exams (5) Thesis defense. Your saying that with adequate preparation I can validate (1), (2) thus reducing the entire length of the program (like your friend did)? My guess is that this is program specific but speaking generally probably best to load up on electives that prepare me for the qualifying exam(s) (Applied Stats, Stat Theory, complimentary math classes - real analysis, linear algebra, etc.)?

I am interested in pursuing a PhD in Statistics to specifically research Spatio-Temporal Data or working in industry working with spatial data (finishing my first year at a Masters in Statistics at Top 5 Stat program & interning at top GIS company this Summer). I am trying to see if anyone can share their experiences in this field (Spatial Temporal Modeling) about going the PhD route or straight to industry (government, tech, or other)? Also, after searching the web, I came up with these prof's/ uni's as a starting point for reading literature: Chris Wikle (U. of Missouri), Debashis Mondal (Oregon State), and Mevin Hooten (Colorado State). Any others to mention as I begin reading papers this Summer to better compare/ contrast the two routes? Thanks! Any and all advice is appreciated!