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Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts University (ranked in the top 10 in the US) Major(s): Biology and Psychology Institution since undergrad: Local public university (I have been taking classes there because I was missing a few pre-requisites) GPA (undergrad): 3.355/4.0 GPA (*since undergrad*): 4.0/4.0 Type of Student: Domestic Female GRE General Test: Q: 166 V: 168 W: 4.0 Programs Applying: MS Biostatistics Research Experience: Volunteered/worked part time for 2.5 out of 4 years in undergrad. Worked in 3 different labs, all biology-related. 1 poster presentation at a national conference. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Since graduating have been working at a major research institution as research coordinator. 1 poster presentation and currently working on a manuscript that involved some use of statistics and SAS (might not be submitted to review by the time applications are in). Letters of Recommendation: Immediate supervisor (strong), collaborator on the manuscript (strong), professor for a biology class (decent) Relevant Coursework: Taken at undergrad institution. Calculus 1: B- Calculus 2: B- Intro to Quantitative Modeling in Biology: A- Statistical Methods and Applications: B+ Psychological Research Methods: B Taken since graduating: Calculus 3: A Intro to Linear Algebra: A Intro to Probability Theory: Still taking it, likely A Applying to Biostatistics Masters Programs (Subject to adding and subtracting *advice welcome*): Berkely Columbia University of Washington University of Michigan UCLA Harvard Boston University Rutgers University of Minnesota University of Pittsburgh Brown University Johns Hopkins

Hello! I've been accepted into Columbia and UNC's Biostatistics MS programs and I'm having trouble deciding between the two! I'm leaning towards Columbia but it worries me that their Stats department is apparently not well regarded. Does this reputation extend to their Biostats department, even though their department is still in the top 10? I know that UNC is a better program overall and has more renowned professors, but if my end goal is to pursue a PhD, does it matter where I get my MS? Cost is not a strong factor because I consider living in NYC to be a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am also more interested in eventually working in industry if that helps. (I've heard that Columbia has more ties in industry and UNC is more theoretical with difficult quals) Thanks so much for any replies!

For those who are admitted, could you guys please share info on the dates of campus visits? I think it will be very informative for applicants who are currently on waitlists.

Hi guys, I recently got admitted to the MS Biostats (Thesis track) program at University of Washington, Seattle. I tried to look up the school website for details about how successful past international students who graduate from the same program are in terms of job seeking. I did not find much. My questions are 1. Is this program a STEM program? 2. Are the most international student who graduated from this program able to find jobs in the US? What is the job placement rate? P.S. I am an international student from China. I am getting my Bachelor's degree from UCLA. Thanks for your help in advance!

Undergrad Institution: Small Private Liberal Arts College Major(s): BS in Biostatistics GPA: 3.514 overall (Biostats major (math,bio,chem): 3.29, math classes only: 3.63) Type of Student: Domestic Male GRE General Test: Q: 156 (63%) V: 167 (98%) W: 4.0 (59%) GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A Research Experience: 1) Summer doing research with Mathematics Department, focusing on developing a model of migratory species. Used Matlab. 2) Summer REU in Pittsburgh doing data analysis of enhancer sequences. Used R. Courses: Calc I,II, III (B, A, A), Linear Algebra (B+), Applied Statistics (B), Advanced Statistics (A-), Probability (A-), Discrete Methods (A), Mathematical Modeling in SCI (A), Bio 1105 Intro to Molecular Bio (B+), Bio 1106 Evolutionary Bio (A-), Genetics (B+), Chem 1101 (B), Chem 1102 (C+) Letters of Recommendation: PI at REU (good), Undergrad math/biostats advisor (good), 2 math professors I took classes with (good, but only one class with each) Work experience: ~3 years working on campus in customer service position, ~1 year at Dana Farber Cancer Institute doing data entry Awards: Deans list, nothing significant Applying to: MS Biostats/Stats/Data Science (realize that last might be better considered in the CS forum, feel free to focus on the other two) MS: Northeastern (goal, stats or data science) Boston University (stats) Umass Amherst (stats or CS w/ conc in data science) University of Pittsburgh (biostats) Worcester Polytechnic Institute (data science) Concerns: 1. Low GRE Quant score 2. Lower score in biostats courses 3. Low Bio/Chem scores I recognize I have a weird situation here and would really appreciate any advice/insights. I'm applying to MS programs in Stats/Data Science/Biostats (all three!), please feel free to only focus on those your familiar with! Order of preference is Data Science > Stats > Biostats but wouldn't mind any of the three ...so I thought I'd apply to all three types of programs and see what I get accepted to. I'd love Northeastern: its local, offers data science as an ms, and is in walking distance from an internship I plan to apply to. Biostats MS programs I'm a bit iffy about applying to, I just am not that good at Bio/Chem (see my overall biostats gpa...) and math interests me more. More a question of whether it is realistically worth applying to though, since I don't mind context I work in so long as I'm doing math! Thanks a ton in advance to anyone who responds *edited for clarity

About me: I graduated 5 years ago with a BA in English & Spanish. After working in public health for about a year I went on to do a MS in Epidemiology, which I loved and did well in. Both degrees were done in the UK. Moved back to the US 2 years ago thinking I might want to go to medical school, so have been working in clinical research at a large academic school and taking med-school pre-reqs (bio, physics, chemistry, biochem, etc) on the side. After working closely with physicians and getting to see a lot of different elements of clinical medicine/research, I am reconsidering my career path (again...), and am becoming more interested in the research/bioinformatics side of medicine. Luckily my MS was quantitatively strong and I have taken classes in calculus, biostats, bayes, and infectious disease modeling already. For those accepted to, pursuing, or graduated from a PhD in stats/biostats...what do you think my chances of acceptance are? If 0, what would improve them? Thanks for your advice!

I've narrowed down my final two choices for a PhD beginning Fall '17 to Johns Hopkins University's Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics (School of Engineering) and Brown University's Department of Biostatistics (School of Public Health). I've been accepted at both. I'm interested in applied statistics (I have work experience in data science and an M.S. already), so biostatistics sounds like a natural fit. I'm curious about the reputation of the Brown program. It seems small but mighty! My concern is that by going to Brown, I'm throwing away the opportunity to rub shoulders with JHU Biostatistics (they rejected me), but I suspect it's better to like the department you're in rather than the department you're near. I haven't heard much about JHU AMS. Thanks in advance for your $0.02.

Greetings, I am planning on applying to a MS in Biostatistics in the Washington D.C. area for next fall and was wondering if anybody here can give me any pointers/advice on which school would be better for this specific program, George Washington U. or Georgetown? Unfortunately, I have not been able to find too much discussion about the biostatistics programs at these schools and I would like to know about their relative strengths and weaknesses. I am going on the assumption that both GWU and Gtown are going to be relatively equal in terms of my chances of getting in so my main criteria for deciding will be job opportunities afterwards and which school will open most doors. What do you guys think? Looking forward to hearing any opinions/advice/experiences regarding these schools. Thank you in advance for your time and help.

I am currently applying to biostatistics masters programs and would love any insight or recommendations or just a general evaluation of my profile, recommendations or advice please! Undergrad Institution: Boston University Major: Math + Statistics GPA: 3.31 Type of student: Domestic white female GRE: Quant: 162, Verbal: 160, W: waiting to hear Relevant Courses (in order of completion): Calc 1 - A ; Stats 1 - A; Calc 2 - A; Stats 2 - B; Linear Algebra - B+; Calc 3 - C+; Regression Analysis - B+, ANOVA - A; Probability - B; Java 1: - B+; Databases -A; Mathematical Stats - B-; Stochastic Processes - A; Statistical Computing - A-; Linear Models - A; R Programming - A; Biological Database Analysis - A; Practical Skills for Biostatistics - A; Clinical Trials - A-; Java 2 - B+ Letters of recommendation: Clinical Trials and ANOVA Professor - Strong SIBS + Statistical Computing Professor - Strong Computational Biology Internship Advisor - Strong Misc: 1 Summer of SIBS // 7 month computational biology internship at a pharmaceutical company // currently in my 6th month working as a data analyst at a small healthcare company // 3 semesters deans list Concerns: GPA and low scores in some classes... specifically Calc 3. GRE Scores may not be high enough to get into top schools. I feel good about my chances at UIC and CSPH but not sure about the others. Schools: Brown University; Boston University; Columbia University; Northwestern University; University of Illinois at Chicago; Colorado School of Public Health Thanks so much in advance!

I got accepted to Columbia on Feb 8th, but I just heard back from UNC today morning. I had made up my mind to go to Columbia and even bought flying tickets to visit the campus for the admitted student day. Although UNC is ranked 2nd in SPH, at this point I'm a bit concerned about the overall school reputation. Just wanted to seek some advice before making a decision. I should still choose UNC over Columbia, right? Thank you in advance!

Hey everyone! I'm interested in getting some program recommendations for statistics and biostatistics programs. See specific questions at the end of this. (special thanks to @marmle for recommending me to thegradcafe.) Undergrad Institution: Poorly Ranked Southern Institution Program: BS Mathematics. Computer Science/Economics minors. (in spring of 3rd year) GPA: 3.91 (4.0 math) Type of Student: Domestic White Male Courses: Mathematics: Real Analysis I, Abstract Algebra I, Differential Equations, Introduction to Advanced Mathematics, Applied Statistics, Linear Algebra, Calculus I-III. (Currently taking): Real Analysis II, a graduate course in set theory, Mathematical Statistics I, Categorical Data Analysis (next semester, during application): Experimental Design, Mathematical Statistics II, Numerical Analysis GRE: V: 169 Q: 170 AWA: 5.5 Research Experience: Currently submitting a paper in extremal graph theory and should be presenting its results at an international conference. Currently working on two papers in applied statistics. Mentioned in acknowledgements for paper on multivariate normality. Hoping to do SIBS at least this summer, but have applied to several REU's Research Interests: Clinical trial design methodology/data quality (biostatistics), normality tests and bayesian inference (stats) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: large undergraduate scholarship, term gpa, honor societies. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Student assistant for math department since start of this year (grader, tutor, proctor for tests). Also am the director of elections for my school, and have programmed a survey software to be able to conduct elections for us (saved us about 1500$ a year in costs) Letters of Recommendation: - Math professor and associate chair who I am publishing graph theory research with - Stats professor who I am completing statistics research with (also adviser) - (currently, hopefully will which out with REU adviser if possible) math professor who has been my instructor for Real I-II, ODE, Linear, and Calc III Concerns/Questions: I'm more worried about the quality of my institution more than anything. Will programs in biostats and stats still take me seriously, or will the rigor of my school preclude my admission to some programs? I am considering dropping my CS minor (basically I will be on class short) in order to do an independent study in measure theory from Royden's Real Analysis. Is this worth it? I would love some recommendations on where to apply for my research interests for biostats. I would also really appreciate some recommendations for stats and biostats as far as reach/match/safety schools. Thank you!

I am an international applicant and was looking to get more information on the type and format of interviews faced by applicants to PhD programs in biostatistics. In particular, I am interested in knowing about the interview process at the following schools: 1) Duke University 2) University of Pennsylvania 3) UC Davis 4) UC San Diego 5) University of Miami (Coral Gables) Specifically, I'd like to know what people felt was the main thrust at these schools, if you have experiences to share from the past/ current year(s) . Are they directed at (i) gauging/testing technical knowledge (formal) ,or (ii) more of the get to know you sort ?(informal, want to know how your interests developed, why this topic/area in biostatistics etc. ?) Are they structured, or free flowing (applicant drives the interview)? Are the interviewers potential advisors or randomly chosen faculty members ? Are there interviews with multiple faculty or just one ? Length of the interview?

I am wondering if those admitted to the Master's (Biostats) program at UMichigan need to approach individual faculty members for funding (RA/TA positions) ,or is that internally decided by the admissions committee , in case the letter of offer indicated that the committee "may consider offering support"?

Hi everyone, So I was wondering how competitive is a masters program in Biostatistics and Statistics at the top schools? I.E. I would love to get into the Statistics ms program at U.Chicago because I am really interested in the statistical genetic research being done there. I would in reality love to go to a Ph.D program but I do not believe I have a strong theoretical background in mathematics that top Ph.D programs look for (I come from a applied stats department where my only theoretical courses were Linear Algebra, Probability Theory, and Math Stats), and I have a weak overall gpa(3.4) due to badish grades in non-related courses(chemistry 2, orgo 2, and biochem). I do have a strong research background where my work for a class has been presented at a conference, I have personally presented twice at my schools research symposium, at the end of this semester I will have published 2 papers involving statistical applications on genetic sequencing data from my lab, and at the end of the spring my researches Ph.D student in Genetics will be publishing his thesis, and I will be mentioned(potentially coauthor if it is allowed). I have 3 strong letters, it is just my grades that is a downside of my application. My gre is a little late as it is on Sunday (I couldn't have taken it earlier due to scheduling problems), but my practice gre scores from Kaplan, and powerprep are good. My quant and writing are above 165 and 5 respectively, it is just my verbal that ranges from 159 to 165. Is U.Chicago masters a realistic school to apply for or should I consider weaker schools? Also since my ultimate goal is a Ph.D in biostats from a top 10 Biostatistics program would a lesser name school be bad for a masters? Thanks, ScS

I saw three people in the results survey who were accepted by the PhD program. Any of the admits still undecided on the program? I appear to be on some sort of waiting list - anyone else in the same boat?