nauhark

I guess a GRE general wouldn't be much help, but it can be pretty impressive if you do really well in the math subject test.

I would agree with @Stat Assistant Professor says. But you really should consider programs other than Cornell, since they've recruited off-the-record number of students (22 PhDs with a normal being 14) in the past two years. So, the program can be extremely selective in the few years to come. You could (and should) probably consider add a few other schools of a similar rank for safety.

Also, one factor you should consider is that Han Liu may no longer take students at Northwestern. Or, in other words, he hasn't taken any new students since he left Princeton.

Yes, both of them are from stat side, maybe he dead-set on getting into Stanford and wanted to spend another two years to increase the chance. I only heard about the decision, and didn't know him very well.

Actually, I knew a guy who received both Yale's PhD offer and Chicago's Master offer. And he went to Chicago's master program. Probably this should be something that you may want to know.

Good luck, big red!

Thank you all for your kind suggestions! Wish you all stay safe and be happy duriing such a hard time~

Hi all, The application season is approaching, I'm getting more and more nervous. I'm truly grateful if I might get any suggestions on the application process. Undergraduate Institution: Bottom tier Ivy League Undergraduate Major: Statistics Minor: Math GPA: 3.94 Type of Student: International Asian Male Relevant courses: Math: Calculus I-II (A), Multivariate Calculus (A), Linear Algebra (A), Honors Analysis I-II(A-), Numerical Analysis(A), Real Analysis at Graduate level(this fall) Statistics: Probability Models and Inference(A+), Linear Models with Matrices(A), Theory of Statistics(A+), Generalized Linear model at graduate level (A), Statistics theory at graduate level(this fall), Probability (measure level, this fall), Theory of Linear Models(this fall). GRE: Haven't taken it yet, but I'm pretty confident it would be about V160+Q170+4 Recommendation: This is the part that I'm pretty unconfident about. I'm not sure whether I would be able to get any strong letter from any of my professors. Maybe I will turn to some professors with A grades. Research: Only one ongoing one, about the applications of the graphical model on physics. And my problem is on choosing the right school and gapping this year. 1. Should I gap 2021 fall and apply at 2022? I suppose that the universities would be facing financial difficulties under the COVID-19 epidemic. 2. What tier of universities would be possible for me to apply? Not many undergraduates would apply for a PhD directly at my school, so the samples were really rare. Thank you in advance for your kind advice!