u8a4

Thanks! This is helpful. Yeah, the postbac classes I took were all As, and I'm a domestic applicant. Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the UT Austin? Seems like a great program and my guess is that it'd be a reach as well despite its ranking (currently 50).

I finished undergrad 10 years ago in the humanities. I became interested in data science through work, found I loved learning about it, and decided to enroll in school. I took a few semesters of undergrad math (real analysis, math statistics, numerical analysis, ODE's) then enrolled in an MS in Applied Math at a CSU school. The CSU school is not the best, and the curriculum of the MS is frankly similar to upper-div undergrad classes at a top-tier school. I want to continue my studies in Statistics, but I'm not sure the best path. I currently have 3.8 gpa, starting a semester of research (related to aerospace, not statistics unfortunately), and have good relationships with a few professors. I'm considering: 1. Pursue a second master's, this time in statistics, this time at a "better" school. (Is this crazy?) Having more coursework under my belt this time, I think I should be able to land a higher ranked UC school. However, some UC schools (such as UCSD math) will not accept master's applicant's who already have master's degrees. This leads me to option 2: 2. Pursue a PhD? I hadn't planned on a PhD when I started this back to school journey, but the more I think about it, the more I would love to make it work. Additionally, having paid for one masters degree, a funded program would be ideal. The primary challenge is getting in somewhere though. How do I know if I have a shot at, say, 50th ranked programs? Anybody done something similar? What kind of programs should I be considering with my background?