dendrogirl

I am in stats. I recommend finding a good research project rather than tutoring. Hopefully, you will get a much better letter of recommendation from a professor with whom you do research. The trick is finding a project you can work on. Good luck.

For this one, I would ask one of your professors - one who is familiar with admissions and is writing your recommendation would be best. Sorry I can't offer any better advice.

I agree with cyberwulf. I might suggest the complex variables class if you need some extra practice with calculus.

I'm not sure about that... But I am offended...

I think you could angle your work experience to make up for your lack of undergrad research. You're reasoning for going to graduate school seems really sound (you had a job that you found interesting, but your lack of math knowledge became a barrier). The fact that you went through a master's program while working and you still want to learn more is great. It doesn't matter that you "didn’t really do anything beyond what was required" because you were working! In your personal statement, try to connect what you learned in your MS to your job and describe why you feel you need the PhD. Before you ask for letters of recommendation, sit down with your professors and talk about your motivations for getting a PhD. Ask their advise. Go over your application highlights with them. Then, when they sit down to write your letter, they'll have a fresh idea of your motivations and you'll hopefully get better letters. I wouldn't state that you don't want to go into academia because its just not necessary. Just describe your true motivations. If you go onto get a quant job, you'll be doing "research" (i.e. coming up with new techniques), and you need a PhD to excel as a quant. All programs (top to bottom) want students who will complete the program. Your work experience and motivations are strong indicators that you'll be able to finish. That being said, I would apply to a range of schools. The top ones and some middle ones. More important than the rank of the program is the availability of faculty doing research in econometrics (or whatever you want to study). These days, even middle programs are getting 500+ applicants for ~10 positions.... Yikes!

A good strategy, which you've probably already heard, is to apply to a few "dream" schools, a few "safety" schools, and a few in the middle. I wouldn't worry about not coming from a prestigious undergraduate university. Your background seems really strong and your grades are good. Try to get as high as possible on the math section of the GRE. Make sure your letters are from people in the the applied math / computation field. The good thing is that you're starting early. Try to talk with your professors to see what they look for in a graduate student. If your school doesn't have a graduate program in your field, try making contact at a nearby university or one of the "mid-level" schools you are interested in. Find out what they look for (besides the stuff they can read on your CV). Then get started on your personal statement. This is the one thing you really have control over. Be sure to have your mentors read your personal statement and take advantage of any writing-help programs your school has. Finally, I would recommend you start planning to apply for the NSF fellowship. If you get this, you can pretty much go wherever you apply. Hope that helps!

Personally, I only contacted a couple faculty members. When I went to visit the schools, after being accepted (PhD), it was nice to see a "familiar face" among all the faculty I had to sit and talk with. That being said, I don't think it was necessary, and definitely not expected, that I make contact with a faculty member. A lot of the advice out there for applying to grad schools emphasizes the importance of finding a faculty member you want to work with, and then making contact with that person. I think this is because in the other sciences (and maybe humanities?) you are expected to know, more or less, what type of research interests you. In other fields you maybe "hired" into a research group. However, statistics is an inherently graduate level field. Professors DO NOT expect an applicant to know specifically what sub-field he or she wants to do research in. In my experience, the professors "eyed me suspiciously" because I had already identified a sub-field. (however for the NSF fellowship you are expected to know exactly what you want to do) So you don't have to make contact. In your case, it sounds like you are quite familiar with a particular sub-field of statistics. So, you might go ahead and contact the people you are interested in working with. You might start off by asking what type of theses are his/her grad students working on (unless this info is posted online). But I'd caution you not to sound like you know a lot, because you probably don't (no fault of yours, they simply don't teach this stuff to undergrads). Advice about contacting professors: 1) "inquiries about admission chances" Don't ask about admission chances. That would be annoying. Its a big roll of the dice and you just have to decide on your own if your chances are good enough to apply. 2) Don't ask anything that can be found online. That would be annoying. 3) If you want to contact a professor, see if any of the professors at your school know him/her. This will give you a way to start the conversation: "Hi I'm Bob, and I'm currently at the U of X. I've been researching graduate programs, and a professor of mine, Prof So and So, suggested the program at U of My Dreams. ... 4) Don't be worried if the professor takes a couple weeks to get back to you, or if his/her response is really brief. Professors are busy and they generally hate email (because they get LOADS of it). Its nothing personal. 5) If you have a lot of questions (and you better have a good reason to be asking), ask to set up a time to call. Hope that helps! P.S. In my experience, getting grad students to respond to your emails is harder than getting professors to.

I am moving to Davis from out of state, and what I've read about Davis apartments has me really worried about committing to a place without seeing it first. This worry has caused me to look in surrounding cities, where I have found plenty of apartments that allow pets. I'm actually making a roadtrip from Seattle next week to check out apartments. Wish me luck

I'm starting a phd program at UC Davis in the fall (statistics). I have a small dog, just wondering if there are other students out there with pets? I thought it might be nice to get to know other pet-owners (sorry if you're opposed to the term "owner") and possibly help each other out with occasional pet sitting and dog walks. It would be nice to have a network of responsible people to turn to when we need to be out of town for a conference or whatever.

Hey, to those of you who checked your RamWeb statistics application and found that you were accepted (like me) -- it was a mistake. No decisions have been made yet. I wrote to the department to ask about funding notifications and was so informed. It appears the admissions department had a glitch with their website --- so it wasn't the stat department's fault. Too bad, I was really excited --just have to wait some more. And quit checking RamWeb!!

The wait is killing me too!! Coincidentally, I'm applying to statistics programs too, but not the same ones. I guess you're wait listed? I haven't had the guts to email my departments yet, I'm just waiting, waiting, waiting... I guess its good that you haven't been rejected yet

I LOVE my mac book pro (2.4 GHz Intel Core Duo ~13in) . I bought it a few years ago (so its an older version). I NEVER have any problems with it. It is FAST. Here are some of the major benefits I like (not necessarily in order of importance): 1) It never crashes 2) It comes with everything installed 3) It makes it easy to work with Linux/Unix based programs (this is a big deal for me, as a scientist/math/stats person, might not be important to you...) 4) It is EASY to BACKUP with Time Machine (so you don't have to worry that you'll lose a draft of your thesis if, God forbid, something terrible happens, like you drop your mac in a lake) 5) You don't have to worry as much about viruses and stuff. 6) It has multiple desktops so you can keep screens from becoming too crowded. 7) I love using Hot Corners : drag your mouse to a corner to start the screen saver, or access Dashboard (which has various widgets), and especially ALL WINDOWS which shows you all the windows you have open on the desktop (so you can find the one you want, without minimizing the screens one by one) 8) I'm not a computer wizard: I like to use my computer for work and play and I never want think about the nuts and bolts of it. I never have to with my mac. 9) This is a big one: With a mac, you can have multiple program gui's open from the same program at the same time: for example, I can have ten windows documents open at the same time. (Last time I used a window machine, this wasn't possible: it might have changed...) 10) There's probably a lot more that I like, but those are the major ones I can think of in a minute. Oh, and 11) it never crashes!! 12) it never crashes!! Note on switching from Windows to Mac: When I bought this laptop (I guess its more like 3 years ago now) I was coming from a windows platform. Expect to have some frustration getting used to navigating with the mouse/trackpad and learning the new window symbols. Expect to love everything about it after you get used to the controls.

Those fellowships are pretty prestigious. I'd think they might be a big sway for a decision that hasn't officially been made. But as for reversing a decision, I don't know. Tough situation. Sorry I can't offer any better info.

Professors are often forgetful and bad about responding to email (probably because their inboxes usually have hundreds of unread emails). I would try giving him/her a call.

I've been looking at apartments, but I didn't think to start looking at furniture.... thanks for the idea! I need another distraction!

I haven't heard from UC Davis. Makes me nervous since someone in the results section was accepted mid-February

That's a tough situation! Have you tried asking him why exactly he prefers the other city? Don't ask in an attacking way, ask in a practical lets-make-a-list way. It may help you come to a common ground again. Plus, whats the harm in waiting it out a few more weeks for the waitlist school? I know waiting sucks and you probably just want to accept the offer and be done with it (that's what I almost did when I got my first (and so far only) acceptance) But, I'd hang in there, and definitely go visit the other city/school. It seems expensive, yes, but in the long run it might lead to a better, more informed decision. And since he's your fiance, you want him to know his opinion/happiness is a top priority.

Your profs may not have given you bad advice. You may have seemed (may actually be!) well qualified to be accepted to the program, but with budgets being extremely tight, many schools are limiting the students they take. Plus, it could just be bad luck, sorry to say it Most grad school advice books (at least that I've read) say to apply to about 5 schools, even if you are an excellent candidate, because luck often plays into the process. That being said, I'd probably be angry too! But angry at my luck, not my profs who believed in me and tried to give me the encouragement I needed to pursue a graduate degree. As for jobs, I would ask your profs to write you letters of rec for the jobs you apply to: they believed you could get into grad school for a reason Tell your employers (who I think you said want you to earn a masters) that you didn't make it this round, but you've learned a lot about the process blah blah blah and you are looking forward to next year... blah blah.. convince them that you're qualified and able, but that this year just didn't work out. Also, don't give up on a grad degree if its what you really want. To find out if its what you really want, I recommend reading "Getting what you came for: the smart student's guide to earning a master's or Ph.D." by Robert Peters. Hope that helps!

2. I imagine that they are just in the process of drafting up you're admission letter. If they offered you funding, they will admit you for sure 3. I'd be kind to the other school and tell them as soon as you've accepted the other offer. But, if it would make you feel better, you can just wait until you have the formal acceptance letter: it should only take a few days. 4. I would respond with a "reply all" notifying them of your acceptance of the offer. Then I would contact each prof separately. I would keep in touch over the summer, definitely! Then you'll feel like you already know them in the fall. Hope that helps!

ASK!! I don't think its tacky to ask. They said that they would like to send you a funded offer soon, plus they called you to tell you they liked your app. I'm reading this as: "we really like you, we want you to know right away so you don't say yes to another program before we send you an offer, and we're still ironing out the details of our budget" I would say something like: I'm really looking forward to the visit. Does the department offer assistance with transportation costs for students flying in from out of state? I'm not sure what field you're in, but in the math/sciences I think departments usually pay for their students to come visit.

First off, I'm a statistics student, not an actuarial student. But, I have spent some time talking to professional actuaries. From what I've learned from them, it ls most important what actuary exams you have passed --not what school you come from. So, I would focus on finding a program where you would fit in, be happy and get a good education so you can pass the exams. Find out if there are differences in how each program prepares you to take the exams. I would ask the departments directly about their success in placing MS students as actuaries. Also ask the department directly what support they offer students for finding jobs after graduation. Ask if the MS students are generally able to find internships during the summer. Its okay to be direct I might also do some research to find out which campuses (or surrounding cities) have active actuarial professional societies or student clubs. I've found that professional organizations are a great way to make connections that will lead to jobs. Hope that helps!

I got my rejection letter early on. (mid Feb). I got an acceptance this week. I think that if you're rejected flat-out, you'd have heard by now. I'm guessing that you're still in a good position. It seems like its still pretty early for decisions to be made. I also found out that notice of acceptance can be delayed while department committees wait to hear back on results of university-wide fellowship nominations. They only nominate you if your are an excellent candidate, but they still might not notify you until they hear back from the fellowship committee.

I am currently in a relationship and my boyfriend is planning to move with me. He's not in school but, fortunately, has enough career flexibility to move with me. Its incredibly difficult for both of us. I've gotten one acceptance with full funding, but its in a place that is really expensive to live. That poses challenges for him. I keep waiting to hear back from the other schools, but it was difficult to find good programs in affordable areas. I'm trying to find a balance --but its hard! I'm trying to involve him in selecting the school, but so far I only have one offer -- I haven't heard from the other three. If I were you I'd bring you sig other to visit the school. And take a couple extra days to explore the area if you can.

Good point!

Geez! How much $$ did you pay? My application fees were only around $70. That doesn't go far toward paying a group of professors to review my application and a grad assistant to handle everything. I'm glad they take their time in deciding whether or not I'm going to be admitted -- If they wrote me off in less time, I'd be upset.