randomfields

Undergrad Institutions: Top-50 U.S. liberal arts college , overall GPA ≈ 3.36 (one bad semester with mostly D grades in humanities courses) Top-20 U.S. News university in the Midwest, B.S. in Computer Science & Mathematics , overall GPA ≈ 3.79 (dual degree partnership with my liberal arts college) Grad Institution: Same Top-20 U.S. News university in the Midwest, M.S. in Engineering Data Analytics & Statistics, GPA 3.83 Type of Student: International, male, Asian GRE General Test: Not taking / not submitting GRE Math Subject: Not taken TOEFL: Waived (B.S. & M.S. from U.S. institution) Research Experience: Coding/information theory & security, one peer-reviewed paper (middle author) at a top conference. Computational neuroscience (laminar boundary detection, spike–LFP phase analysis, image-based blur metrics). Remote sensing (diffusion-based models for multi-temporal satellite imagery; agricultural event detection and field boundaries). Honor thesis in Numerical linear algebra & spatial statistics (fast selected inversion for sparse GMRF precision matrices; variance estimation). Awards/Honors: Graduate scholarship Letters of Recommendation: Three letters (unknown quality) from long-term research advisors (2 CS + 1 stats) Grades (All stats/math related courses) Mostly A grades in: (taken at the liberal arts college): Calculus III, Linear Algebra, Intro to Proof, Engineering Mathematics, Probability Theory, Math Modeling & Numerical Methods, Mathematical Statistics, Signals and Systems, Probability and Stochastic Processes, Bayesian Statistics, Time Series Analysis, Statistical Computation, Topology I–II, Graduate Statistics for Networks, Graduate Bayesian Methods in Machine Learning, Graduate Theory of Statistics I–II (measure-theoretic), Graduate Spatial Statistics, Graduate Detection and Estimation Theory, Graduate Advanced Linear Models I–II. Lower grades: Differential Equations (B+), Real Analysis (B-), Combinatorics & Graph Theory (C), Optimization (B+), Abstract Algebra (B+), Graduate: Complex Analysis I–II (B, B+), Algebraic Topology (B+), Measure Theory & Functional Analysis I–II (B+, B). (All of these constitute the qualifying exams for my PhD programs in Mathematics.) Miscellaneous: In my last two semesters at my graduate institution, I took a heavy load of graduate math/stat courses (7 classes per semester), which led to a few B grades in these graduate analysis courses. I also passed a graduate measure-theory qualifying exam. Programs applying: Stats: Ultra Dream: UMich Dream: CMU/ NCSU/ Texas A&M/ Reach: Iowa State/Penn State/Purdue/ UIUC/ UConn Target: Oregon State/ Virginia Tech/ Home institution/FSU/Colardo state Biostats: Ultra Dream: JHU/ UW Dream: UPenn/Emory/Vanderbilt I'm wondering whether I should include one paragraph or a few short sentences explaining my one horrible semester that dragged my GPA down (mostly due to mental health issues). Also, are there any other programs I should be targeting, and is this list realistic?