tc1234

Hello! I am currently preparing for fall 2023 biostats and stats phd applications. I took honors (graduate) level real analysis 1 and dropped the class halfway (with notation on transcript). Then the next two quarters, I took the regular real analysis 1 (A-) and then 2 (B+). I am wondering if I should mention this in my SOP? Will this hurt when they look at my transcript? Thank you!

You're right... after some research I think I shouldn't risk applying to CS programs. I have decided to focus on biostatistics/statistics. [UPDATE] My new list of schools: Biostatistics: Brown, JHU, Rutgers, U Pittsburgh, UT Health Houston, UMN, UNC, Havard, BU Statistics: CMU, TAMU, UW Madison

Student Type : International Asian Female Undergrad Institution: CC, then transferred to US News Top 20 in Sophomore year Major: Math/Econ GPA: 3.97 in CC, 3.85 later Some Relevant Courses: Lower div: AP Calc AB (5/5), Calc II (A), Calc III - Honors (A), Linear Algebra (A), Ordinary Differential Equations (A), Intro to C++ (A), Discrete Structures (A) Upper div: Linear Algebra (B+), Analysis 1 Honors (Dropped), Analysis 1 (A-), Analysis 2 (B), Ordinary Differential Equations (A), Intro to Probability (A), Intro to Statistics (A), Optimization (A), Econometrics (A-), Economic Forecasting (A-) Other Relevant Information: First-Gen, skipped 12th grade HS by taking GED, so I started college a year early. Just graduated this year (June 2022). Started volunteering at an NPO (not well known) as a research & data analyst in August, and will be starting to work as a Data Analyst at this US News Top 20 School in September. Unrelated summer intern experience in Sophomore year at a securities firm. Grad Institute: None Research Experience: Only did some group projects from class, mainly data analysis and visualization, mostly social science/ humanities related. Used R, Tableau. GRE: Not planning to take - since most programs don’t need it LORs: Maybe I can get 2 from Professors of the classes I did those group projects, still waiting for their reply. And one from a young associate professor (CS PhD), taught me in a communication class, but Prof is in both Communication and Statistics Department and that class involved topics like Python/AI/ML/deep learning. (Because I am thinking about CS Programs too) Programs Aiming Biostatistics PhDs: UNC, John Hopkins, Upenn, Harvard If I do apply to CS PhDs, I am thinking of UCLA, Berkeley, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon For research interests, I am currently interested in Machine Learning, Data Mining, Data Science, NLP, Computational Social Science, Social Networks, and especially how they intersect with public health issues. I think this can relate to both Biostatistics and CS. Where else should I look into? I know the schools I listed are all reaches. How strong is my profile? I am really interested in CS Programs too, but given that I do not come from a CS background, should I not even try it and focus on biostat? Do you think I am really uncompetitive? For LORs, maybe I can ask my future boss too? But that person does not have advance degrees and I am just starting to work there.