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outliers1

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  1. I was in the same situation as you last year, but I applied to MS in Canada. Follow what Noco7 said and I think you will be competitive. Good to see that more biology majors are getting into this field. I work with biostatisticians at my workplace and I know that education/experience in biology or more specifically microbiology or biochemistry will go a long way if you plan to work in clinical research, especially for any "earlier" stage study (i.e. pre-phase I, phase I and phase II).
  2. I am not qualified to give you suggestions in regards to your academics or career, but in terms of life choices: Yes, degrees, accreditation, certificates, prestige of school, research etc.. they all matter, but ultimately you go to school for one reason, and that is to learn. If you have no interest in Biostats, do not waste your time on it. Only an insignificant minority of people in the world gets the chance to go to grad school, so we should treat it as a privilege. I don't know if this is the best option for your career or finances (it might be), but life is short so go with your heart and choose your path.
  3. I agree with biostatguy I have been working in industry for 3 years now and I would say most fresh graduates from any Masters program would not just walk into his/her first job with the title "Biostatistician", even if they do, it is more a support role and its unlikely you will earn near to 100K in your first year.
  4. Thanks guys! These are great suggestions. I will email the admissions coordinator to find out.
  5. Thanks! My favorite school will not release decisions until April, so it does put me in a weird situation where I am not sure whether I want to hear back from the admissions of my 2nd, 3rd, 4th choice etc.. I see that you got accepted to SFU. SFU was 2nd on my list but I haven’t heard back from them yet. Not sure if that is a good thing or not...
  6. Just wondering if Canada follow this deadline as well? It would be much easier to decide on admission offers if they do.
  7. Has anyone applied to Biostats at U of T? It's actually MSc and not MPH, despite belonging to the school of public health
  8. I was looking at the Duke admissions site and they explicitly say "Prior coursework or other relevant experience in the biological sciences beyond the basic undergraduate level will be advantageous and viewed favorably in admissions decisions." I was actually quite surprised to see this because in Canada (where I am applying), there is absolutely no mention of that. As a biology grad, I am just wondering if that's a norm in US grad schools for Biostats, or is Duke an exception? If Duke's an exception, are there anymore exceptions out there?
  9. I am applying to Canadian Universities as well. Judging from the 2 professors which I talked with, I don't think it's that important to have graduated from an Honours. They are more interested in the courses you have taken at the 3rd/4th year level. You have taken many of those courses and got good marks, so I think you are competitive for any program which starts in Sept 2013. I can only wish I had the same breadth as you. Most departments usually have a list of recommended courses posted on their website (like McMaster, U of T), you can take a look at that and you will see you have met most criteria. Good luck!
  10. I'm applying to masters programs in stats and biostats in Canada for Fall 2013. I got my bachelors 4 years ago and went straight into the workforce at that time. Currently, I am actually working in a pharma company as a full time SAS programmer. I was just wondering, in the eyes of the admissions committee, would a good reference from a former prof carry more weight or would one from my employer carry more? For my 3 letters which I need to submit, should I do 2 profs + 1 employer; or 1 prof + 2 from current / former employers? Thanks
  11. Hi, I am in a similar situation (started since last year). In the past year, I've taken courses in Calculus, Linear Algebra and Statistics, and I will prepare my application for entry this year. I believe you shouldn't take the biols and chems because they have close to zero impact to your application (at least here in Canada). I think the admissions people would be more concerned about the math courses. So yeah, like emmm and hedgie said, taking the right pre-reqs are important. I understand 100% that its not easy to go back to school after working for so long. It's tough but I really hope you get admission somewhere. Good luck!
  12. I see that most schools offer MS Statistics and the courses seem fairly similar between MA and MSc pgorams, but what's really the difference between the two, in terms of stuff you learn and career prospects?
  13. I live in Canada, so it might be different from what you are facing now, but here is my view on this. Pre-reqs differ across program but typically you would need at least 3 or 4 upper year courses. To complete enough pre-reqs for admission for Winter 2013 is an aggressive schedule if you are going to school part time. This is because you will need to make sure you don't need to take the pre-reqs for your pre-reqs (i.e. permission to skip 2nd or 3rd years courses). Also, you would want good marks. I'm in a very similar situation with you. I have a bachelors degree in biology from a Uni in Canada and found myself working with clinical data as my 1st job since graduation. With biostats or any data analysis job in medical research, it seems that in order to advance in your career you would most definitely need at least a masters in math/stats (probably even more competitive in the US) Now, I just started taking pre-reqs at a local uni as a part time student to prepare myself. Hopefully I can apply for a masters program in 2013. Again, this is for Canada, so it might not be reflective of what your situation. Best of luck!
  14. I am not taking any courses now, but I have enrolled in Spring at a local uni for a couple courses. If I take 2 courses every semester, I might get just enough credits to submit a MS application within a year, (granted that I performed well in these courses) So I guess you are one year ahead of me. As a junior, I am learning it slowly. The reason I’m trying to pursue the MS is because I want to do more interesting things. Currently, the work is not the most exciting or intellectually stimulating, and it seems that I am not getting anywhere w/o a MS degree. Anyways, good luck with your applications. With that determination you displayed, I'm sure you will end up at a good program
  15. Hi Hanyuye, just joined, this is actually my first post. just wanna say that i really admire your determination. I also want to get in MSc Biostats / Stats and I’m actually working in a biostats company (very junior position and company name to be kept nameless) in Canada. My undergrad major was in Microbiology and Economics. I took some econ courses which were math related, but most admissions would not consider those. Now I am going back to school to take some undergrad math courses, hopefully they will waive me for some of the pre-requisite courses and let me take the senior courses because if I get a choice, I don't want to start from year 1 again. It will cost me a lot of time and a fortune, and I'm working full time now. I don’t know if I am as determined as you are, but I’m glad to hear from someone in a similar situation, and see that I am not alone.
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