Nothalfgood

Correct me if I'm wrong: It sounds like they are asking if there is anyone in their department with whom you would especially like to talk. For example, if there are faculty members whose work affiliations or research are interesting to you, you might want to ask more about related resources and opportunities. I am not in your situation, but here are my two cents anyhow. If, on the one hand, you have reached out to any faculty at Duke already or you have shown an interest in the work or research of someone in your application, then you have nothing to lose by inviting them to your interview. If, on the other hand, you have not made an effort to do either of these things, then inviting someone in particular might appear as disingenuous interest. However, on the bright side it appears that whether you invite anyone in particular to your interview, they probably won't have any special influence on your admission -- if they didn't show up, then someone else would. As such, such an invitation is probably only for your benefit and won't affect admission decisions.

Where are the functional data analysts when you need them?! My guess is that most variance is explained by recommendation letters. Other criteria like GPA, GRE scores, and statements of purpose seem to typically be used as binary predictors, i.e. some weight is given to an application if the general GRE Q score is above 165, but if it's lower, then there's a weight penalty. Maybe the form of our relationship is something like P(acceptance) = 0.01*1{GRE Q >= 165} + 0.01*1{GPA >= 3.3} + 0.01*1{SoP not terrible} + 0.1*(Rec Letters) + c where the function 1A is the indicator function over the set A, (Rec Letters) is some enthusiasm score for the letters on a scale of 1-10, and c is a bias term. My takeaway from conversations that I've had with my recommenders lead me to believe that my admission results are mostly out of my hands now. I've already gotten all the grades I'll have before they see my transcript. I've already done whatever research I could finish before they see my CV. They're also more interested in whether my professors think I'm grad school ready than if I am. So now I'm just filling out the paperwork and hoping for the best! It doesn't alleviate all the anxiety for me, but at least I can rest assured that all of the difficult parts of applying are either behind or beyond me now.

My unprofessional assumption is that 165Q is not so bad that it will be a problem for most programs, but you will probably need to have something else to show for your math skills like strong math course work if you are applying to PhD programs. To what extent the story changes between top 15 or so PhD programs and, say, top 50, I'm not sure. Are you at all concerned that you don't have sufficient credentials outside of the general GRE?

I'm in the process of finding a good list of statistics PhD programs to which I will apply in the coming months. My main plug for my application materials and essays is that I'm a strong expository writer with an interest in science communication (beyond just the usual things relevant to statistics). I consider my resume pretty strong overall, but my school does not have a big department with graduate course offerings in analysis or algebra or probability, etc. (Anything beyond the most vanilla upper level math courses I've had are through independent studies.) I would appreciate any thoughts on the sort of program that would be a good fit for me. I care about program rank and prestige to some extent, but I am more fixated on studying somewhere in the Midwest or on the East Coast and ideally in a department that is large enough to have more than one research focus. Currently the schools which I am most excited about are Duke and Carnegie Mellon, but I am concerned that I am shooting too high with these. My naïve assumption is that schools like Penn State and Ohio State are more like my match. Additionally, I would appreciate additional thoughts on my choices for recommenders. I am fortunate to have a number of professors in different places who I could ask for recommendations which I expect would be very strong, among them an applied statistics professor with whom I had an introductory sequence, a philosophy professor with whom I had a few intense upper-level philosophy courses, and an English professor with whom I have spent a lot of time through the Honors Program. At this point I have chosen to just ask three math professors for recommendations. Thanks for your time! *** Type of Student: Domestic male Undergrad Institution: Low-ranked, medium-sized public university known for engineering Major: Mathematics, Applied Statistics, Philosophy Minor: None; certificates in Writing and Financial Math; completion of the general Honors Program GPA: 4.00 GREs: General GRE (169 Quantitative / 166 Verbal / 6 Analytical Writing) Mathematics GRE (NA due to cancellations) Research Experience: One Summer in Biostatistics (SIBS) program in data science at a very top school One Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) program in coding theory at my home institution One year of data science work for the campus writing center Upper Level Coursework (Mathematics and Statistics only): Completed Introduction to Abstract Algebra (A+) Advanced Calculus I (A+) Mathematical Statistics (A+) Design and Analysis of Experiments (A+) Regression Analysis (A+) Introduction to Applied Statistics I / II (A+ / A+) Introduction to Topology (A) Introduction to Probability (A) Financial Mathematics (A) Dynamical Systems (A) Commutative Algebra (A) In Progress / Anticipated Advanced Calculus II Advanced Linear Algebra Measure Theory Partial Differential Equations Complex Analysis Algebraic Geometry References: One from my REU advisor who I expect to strongly speak of my research and writing skills Also my professor for Introduction to Abstract Algebra, Commutative Algebra, and Algebraic Geometry One from a professor who I expect to very strongly speak of my competition and leadership experience Also my professor for Financial Mathematics, Dynamical Systems, and Partial Differential Equations One from a professor who I expect to strongly speak of my presentation and coursework-relevant abilities Also my professor for Introduction to Topology, Advanced Calculus I / II, and Measure Theory Other: I received a department award for excellence in math that basically says I was #2 in the department last year I have 13 A+ grades total, many outside of math I have won a handful of writing awards for fiction and nonfiction I helped organize a lot of department activities through Math Club leadership including colloquia and math competitions and have pretty much led our department at a bunch of competitions since sophomore year