ebahumc

I applied to graduate programs this year as an undergrad and until recently thought I was all set to decide between master's programs, but I received an email from NC State stating that they were planning on taking a few students off their waitlist for their PhD program and asking about my status. Initially, I applied to mostly coursework master's programs because I don't have a set research area of interest and don't plan on entering academia, but I knew a lot less about graduate studies in statistics than I do now when I applied and it seems like this is a less common path for undergraduates. Since then, I've opened up more to the idea of continuing to a PhD but I still am not sure whether I'm prepared for the time commitment and whether I have the right mindset to pursue it. Is it worth expressing interest to stay on the waitlist and potentially forgoing a MS to do a PhD or is this just something they typically send to all waitlisted students? If it changes anything, I have the choice of going to basically any of the top master's programs in statistics if I choose that route.