Shostakovich

I thought this forum was a little quiet compared to other forums on this website Looks like you're in good shape. You can check the results survey page from prior years to see when people got into certain schools, and doesn't seem like any of the schools stopped sending out acceptances before 1/14. Only one I'm slightly worried about is Washington, they said they do most of the decisions by January and looks like a number of people got in on 1/14 last year.

I'm not an expert, but I don't think you can go wrong with either the General or Applied track. Regarding where you get your masters, I heard that it doesn't matter so much if you want to get a job (at least in Biostats where I'm applying to) but it matters a lot if you are considering a PhD. Jobs that you will get with a masters are primarily programming oriented, so make sure you focus on learning languages like SAS and R if you head down that path. If you do a PhD, it's generally equivalent to something like a masters + 5 years of work experience in terms of things like pay, but you have more room for advancement and handle more management/research work than masters holders. Good luck!

Ah okay, so you have taken other math classes and did reasonably well on them. Those grades look a lot more competitive so seems like just a matter of making up the "hole" in Calculus. Also I'm not sure how relevant Number Theory will be, I'd personally go with something more relevant to Applied Math/Stats like Real Analysis, Probability, or Numerical Analysis.

Yeah, agree with the above posters merely just telling the adcoms you will be retaking prerequisite courses probably won't help for this year's admissions. Even at second/third tier schools, satisfactory performance in the Calculus sequence seems to be sort of the bare minimum to be considered for admissions (and also what you need to be able to keep up with the work). Not sure what your situation is so I can't comment further, but I personally don't think there's shame in taking an extra year or two to build stronger foundations before applying. As for study habits and test anxiety, there are many tools available at the Calculus level such as the instructor's office hours, tutoring center ran by the Math department (maybe not available at all schools), and even online forums like the mathhelpforum where you could ask questions. That way you would have correct scratch work and solutions to work off of for the exams, and persistently quizzing yourself on the definitions, theorems, and homework/lecture problems will be very helpful as well. Good luck!

May have been asked before but too lazy to search through this big thread. How's the weather here throughout the year? Would be cool if someone's lived in the Southern California area before and could comment how much of a change I'd be looking at.

I have heard of some Science departments having something like a 100 minimum requirement, although I'm not sure how strongly it's enforced.

I'm applying to Biostatistics PhD programs and already started receiving some acceptances. The Biostats crew seems to hang out in the Math/Stats section of this forum though. Good luck guys.

3.67 isn't exactly a terrible GPA. The C in Num Analysis will hurt, but probably not that much provided you did well on your other core Math courses (Real/Linear Alg, Diff Eq, Prob/Stats, Multivar. Calculus, etc.). You seem to have an interesting enough profile, with a lot of experience that many Biostats applicants lack. Assuming that you're a domestic applicant and not knowing more about stuff like your undergrad institution/GPA/letter of recs, I'd say apply to a lot of places in the top 15-20 understanding that you may be a longshot at the first few places but most likely have realistic options at the mid/lower end of that list. Also, I'd try to apply soon if you're aiming to start in Fall 2013 as many deadlines are approaching or have already passed. Good luck!

Also regarding international students, I have heard that their employers back home do look for more "brand name" schools than for department strength, although this is slowly changing. And Berkeley is widely considered one of the top 2 Stats departments along with Stanford, but is slightly weaker in Biostats. I suspect it might be due to the fact that they don't have a medical school and their department is not that big.

I have seen this happen in multiple occasions with my friends, having majored in a discipline where it's very tough to get into good graduate programs (Math). I think applying to a lot of "safety schools" is a good idea, although they should still be schools you don't mind attending (over stuff like getting a job or becoming a priest or something like that). Good luck!

I seriously doubt that this is true. Number/percentage of offers made in an applicant pool is a function of # of applicants and program size, and prestigious schools in large cities like Northwestern will attract many students to their programs, regardless of whether it's highly reputable or not. It is also a very small program like ANDS said, so it is quite possible that hundreds of applicants are competing for just a few spots.

Hi jwm, What one of my friends did was to do a second bachelor's in Mathematics before going for a PhD in Economics to show them a strong Math background, I think a masters would work similarly (doubt anyone would "look down" on you for having more math background, could be wrong tho). I doubt that Number Theory and Abstract Algebra are too important for Economics, but the programs may be more interested in more relevant courses such as extensive Linear Algebra and Real Analysis, and other "applied" courses like Numerical Analysis and Probability/Math of Finance. Also if you are just planning on doing a masters (or a second bachelor) for the purposes of piling up additional math background, I wouldn't worry too much about the reputation of the school as long as they are somewhat reputable. My friend did the second bachelor's at a UC (not Berkeley or LA) and ended up getting into top-notch Econ programs.

Hi JC, I'm no expert on admissions, but having applied myself as well as having experience in the California school system, I could tell you that your admissions will likely depend on the strength of your undergrad (since your GPA/GRE/recs look very good). I think depending on whether your "California State" school refers to a low-tier Cal State or high-tier UC, your chances can go from very difficult to very likely at the schools that you've mentioned. One other thing that might come into play is that if you're an international student (not citizen or PR) it's substantially harder to get admitted/receive funding. As for schools to add to the list, seems like you like California. Maybe add UC Santa Barbara and Riverside? I heard somewhere Riverside's Math/Stats program is comparable to UCSC's. Good luck!

I have seen some people with sub-3 gpa's get into PhD programs, and seems like it always took "something extra" to take them up to the competitive candidate level. This could include starting at a masters degree program at a decent school (which is way easier to get into than PhD, they have much later deadlines as well) and proving your worth by doing well in it. One other thing to keep in mind is that a "quite strong recommendation" often consists of someone who has past connections to the department writing on your behalf, since grad schools get piles of letters from recommenders telling them how wonderful their students were (one potential idea might be to apply to your recommender's alma-mater, although I'm not sure how much this will help). Undergraduate research experience doesn't seem to play a big part in applications either, unless your research was first-authored and published in a reputable journal. Of course your chances of admission will also depend on your institution name (something like a 2.99 from institutions known for grade deflation like Swarthmore, Harvey Mudd, etc. could boost your chances) and what your overall math background is like, but sounds to me (without additional information) that you need to do something "extra" to show the PhD programs why they should consider you over, say some 3.5+ GPA candidate with a decent quantitative background. Good luck!

I would say pretty high for most of the schools on your list. Harvard, UW, and Hopkins might be hard since their applicant pools are so strong, but all others should be good chances (with Michigan, Minnesota, UNC, Wisconsin, Penn, Brown being sort of like the next guys on the list in terms of ranking). Your best bet is probably to apply as soon as possible, looks like some of the first deadlines have already passed.

Long time ago I thought about doing this and did some research, even went in to discuss this with a counselor at my institution. What I concluded is that it would be better to go for a masters since the programs are very catering to your background, i.e. most of them would give you something like a year to catch up with masters level CS work. True masters programs are generally not funded, but the same is true for second bachelors where you can only take out limited loans and can't receive grants. Plus, I would think having a masters in CS is a better qualification than having a bachelors, whether you are applying for jobs or applying to PhD programs. Good luck!

From reading these boards, I think the answer leans towards no. But then again, all parts of your application matters at least a little bit. For example, not having a statement of having it written in incomprehensible language may damage your application. The advice given seems to be to keep the statement somewhat general, and just show that you're very interested in the subject matter. Good luck!

Another thing is Duke only has a MS program in Biostatistics and I think it's very new, so probably will be awhile until they get a PhD program well organized and catch up with the top programs. I actually ended up doing sort of a "safety/realistic" app for that program as well. cyberwulf, what are your opinions on the Midwest schools like Minnesota and Wisconsin for their PhD programs? Do they have a good future? And in your opinion, is potential future reputation of a school something to keep in mind when you choose a program?

State School as in Cal States? Because UCs and CSUs are both state schools But I mean, we're looking at something like UC Berkeley which has a Stats dept that many people rank as the #1 department versus many Cal States which I don't even think are ranked. Which degree is right for you depends on what your profile looks like as well as what you plan to do with the degree. Good luck.

I don't think there's really a way to know unless you're on the admissions committee or know anyone that's on it. Cyberwulf is a faculty of Biostatistics at a school so I'm guessing he has a lot more info about this than we do as students. However I also do agree it wouldn't be fair for the Stanford 3.9 to not have an advantage over a Oklahoma State 3.9 in the above example, all other things held constant. It's true many of the top schools are accused of grade inflation, but from what I've seen/heard students w those kinds of numbers are still quite rare at those institutions.

Few of the schools I'm applying to had a section where I input the courses I took to satisfy certain mathematics requirements. Cyberwulf probably has better answers, but personally I think the personal statement may be a good place to clarify your math background a little bit and how you feel about your readiness for graduate studies ("Being equipped with courses like multivar Calculus, Linear Algebra, and Statistics, I think ..." or something along those lines). Good luck!

nobody really knows your true chances because the schools don't release an exact rubric or anything, but from what i've read here and on school websites the most important criteria are: - GPA, especially in the Math/Stats courses - Letter of Recs - Personal Statement - GRE Scores (roughly in this order) supposedly research exp isn't as important although it could help. experience with programming helps too. and MS programs are a lot easier to get into than PhD programs. if i had to guess you should have a good shot at most of the "more possible" places and at least some of the places on the "reaches" list.

From some of the posts I read on here (regarding some of the better programs) from guys like cyberwulf it seems like about high 150's or better for the GRE quantitative is the cutoff (which you have). Like Noco said your GPA (esp in math classes), overall math background, statements, and rec letters play big parts in the app, but not so much the GRE scores (as long as that cutoff is satisfied) or prior research experience. If you don't feel strong in a lot of those areas you may consider submitting some MS applications along with PhD's for safety (from what I understand first two years or so of PhD is very similar to the MS program anyway since you're just taking background courses and browsing the subjects). Good luck!

I'm applying. A mix of MS and PhD programs, not 100% sure yet on # of schools but probably in the 15 ish range. Top choice is probably UCLA at the moment because of its location, but really I'd be glad to get into a few PhD programs and a few prestigious MS programs (doubt I have too much chance at the top PhD programs) and decide from there. GPA is 3.7, GRE is 162V/170Q. Have a decent math background from undergrad although been out of school for a few yrs, work exp in unrelated fields, and not much research experience. Really enthusiastic about going back got school and studying biostatistics if that helps

I don't think there's a way to know if your credentials are really good enough. A lot of schools publish the average scores of admitted applicants so maybe compare it to that? You didn't even say what program you're referring to, each department has different standards as to what they're looking for in terms of grades, test scores, and experience. And even then anyone outside of the faculty can't really assess your qualifications, it's not like the exact formula of admissions is ever released. Good luck.