sidneysamson

Statistics. I figure I'll just ace the second semester of the course anyway and it will all average out to an A-. Thanks!

Hi--so I was really pissed about one of my grades last semester (B+...missed an A by ONE QUESTION) and I'm concerned because this was in my area of focus. Now I've heard grades don't matter in PhD programs. But at the same time, I feel like I should have an A in this class if I'm doing research in the field. I'm thinking about retaking this class in my fourth or fifth year when I'm done with all my other courses--what do you all think?

Also I'm a minority (black) if that helps. Graduate institution: Berkeley. My concern is that my UG GPA (3.52) puts me out of the running for the NSF and NDSEG. Can anyone provide some insight on this and also about possible fellowships to apply for outside of those two?

Hi guys, I have a fellowship stipend for $28500 a year for the first two years in my program. Does anyone know how much I should put aside for taxes? I'm a US citizen in California. Also, how could the IRS find out if someone used the stipend for room and board (taxable) vs books (not taxable). Are there any tips and tricks for minimizing the taxes I have to pay? All advice is appreciated!

One of my semesters, I may end up taking five classes. However, two of those are refresher courses. I took the classes in undergrad but it was so long ago and they're important for my field so I'm retaking them to brush up. I know people say five classes is hell but has anybody here done it? How did it go? I'm thinking my situation won't be nearly as bad since I'm retaking a linear algebra and computer science course so, since I won't deal with new material in those courses, it will feel more like four classes instead of five. Thoughts?

How common is it to pursue an internship after the first year of graduate study? Is it preferred that students stay around campus for the first year for purposes of attaining residency? Or is it preferred that students wait until the summer before their fourth or fifth years to do an internship?

You have an excellent shot at Stanford/Berkeley/Harvard/Washington stats programs. I had a background similar to yours but with a lower GPA (3.5-3.6 range) and I'm starting Berkeley in the fall. Also most of the math people go for math PhDs. There's less competition for stats, in my opinion.

Sounds good to me! Also I'm thinking about getting a masters in computer science as well. However, I could just do a "Designated Emphasis in Communication, Computation, and Statistics" instead. My big question is whether or not the masters in computer science would add that much value if I already have a statistics PhD. I figure some job listings are anal about requiring a "masters or above in computer science" too, sadly.

Hi everyone, what's the academic job market like for statistics PhDs? I want to become a professor ideally, but if the academic job market is as saturated as it is for math, then I'd like to know sooner than later so I can start making contacts with people in industry. I don't want to be toiling for a decade in low paid postdoc positions after a PhD. Ideally I would spend a year or two as a postdoc before moving to a tenure-track assistant professorship. I'm very risk averse since my math degree was fairly useless for anything except for programming jobs, and I don't want a repeat of the same. It gave me a good foundation to build on for grad programs, but it didn't provide much in itself. Also some more information about me...I'm a 24-year-old starting Berkeley's stats phd program this fall. Appreciate any input guys. Thanks!

What about quantitative finance? Thinking about that field as well.

I'm probably going to Berkeley in all honesty even though I really like Madison (as a town too). New experience and it's kind of hard to beat Berkeley...

Could someone give some insight on the differences between the two programs. I'm excited about attending either program but I haven't seen any significant differences between the two besides the fact that Berkeley's weather is way better than the cold of Madison, Wisconsin (I currently live in Madison so I'd know...).

Info about me: Single, 23 year old male in Berkeley stat phD program. Getting full support possibly in the form of a fellowship that is 27k a year with the option to TA for a semester for $8k on top of that. I'm thinking about saving $5000 before I start (if I end up entering this fall and not deferring for a year). What's an ideal amount to have saved up as a cushion. Do you all think that would be enough to live comfortably? I hear too many horror stories about people struggling financially and this scares me a bit. I guess the better questions are How much did you save before starting? Is it possible to pay off credit card debt (only $2500--laptop purchase) in grad school as well? and What are ways you all earned extra income outside of TA/RA/Fellowships while in grad school? Thanks!

This is part of the reason I'm considering deferring my acceptance for a year. I'd rather enter with 15k saved up instead of the 5k saved up that I will have by August. Also I'm in the middle of a solo work project for a client that may not be done until November, so...

I'm currently trying to save some cash before entering my stat phD program in the fall. Hopefully I'll have $5000 saved up by August, but I was wondering if most people have a hard time getting by with the grad student stipend. What have your experiences been with this? Has having some extra money made your life much better as a grad student? Or only marginally? I know I'll be extremely busy in graduate school anyway but it would still be nice to know if a grad student generally lives a paycheck to paycheck lifestyle. Are there ways to intern over the summers somewhere (a hedge fund, etc) before working on the doctoral dissertation? How common is this? Also has anybody ever gotten a CS masters while getting a stat phD concurrently? I'm interested in doing this because my research focus in stats will likely be in stochastic algorithms to bio (a rough i dea).