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I read https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/110566-2019-statistics-phd-applicant-profile/?tab=comments#comment-1058618935 which is Statboy's post. this post is quite similar to me so i became curious about my profile (his profile seems better than mine tho) Undergrad Institution: Top 3 South Korean University (Science and Technology) Major: Mathematics Minor: Physics GPA: 3.85/4.0 Major GPA: 3.92/4.0 Minor GPA: 3.93/4.0 Type of Student: (International) Asian male Relevant Courses: Calculus(A)(~StokesTheorem), Differential Equations (A+), Analysis I, II (A), Linear Algebra and Its Application (A+), Linear Algebra(theoretical)(A) ,Discrete Mathematics (A+), Probability and Statistics (A+), Complex Analysis and its Application (uses Brown-Churchill's book) (A+),Complex Analysis(Stein's Book)(A+), Abstract Algebra I ,II(A), Differential Geometry (A), Topology (A-), Graduate level Real Analysis I (A+), Introduction to Probability Theory (A+), Macroeconomics (A+), PDE(A+), (theoretical)ODE (theoretical) (A+), (Graduate level) Variational Calculus (A-), Mathematical Modeling (A-), Mathematical Physics(A+), Quantum Mechanics I,II (A+) Planning to take next semester : Mathematical Statistics , Graduate PDE, Time Series Analysis (maybe?) TOEFL:100; 30/29/23/18 (I accidently got 18 on writing section, so gonna retake) GRE: 161/170/3.0 (V/Q/AW) GRE Subject Mathematics: 900 (94%) Programs Applying: Statistics PhD Research Experience: - one semester research experience (scholarship included) with a math department professor on PDE. Ended with a written report submitted to the department. - one summer long research experience in national math institute about machine learning - (gonna participate research in applied math lab which also does machine learning next semester) Teaching Experience: Tutored several Undergrad math,physics course (including analysis I) TA for Calculus I& II Recommendation Letters: Three; all from math dept Computer Skills : C, Python (Tensorflow, Keras and some other ML packages) Research Interests: statistical learning, Reinforcement Learning, Bayesian statistics, statistical inference , theoretical/mathematical approach to statistics, statistical modeling Applying to: Statistics PhD Stanford, UChicago, UPenn, UWisconsin, UNC, NC State, UMichigan, Columbia, Cornell, Iowa State, Penn State, UMinnesota, Purdue, UIUC, JHU, CMU, Duke, UCDavis, OSU, NYU, Concerns: (same as Statboy's post) Not having a specific field of interest within statistics (mainly statistical learning tho) Not having enough research experience/published papers. Being an international student. not being from stat department. (LOR all from math dept) Hi, I found this forum today and saw https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/110566-2019-statistics-phd-applicant-profile/?tab=comments#comment-1058618935 this article and he was asking questions exactly what i wanted to know. Following is the questions that Statboy wrote in his article, which is same question that i'm asking. I would really appreciate any sort of feedback, especially regarding school range. Also, any recommendations for schools that I failed to mention above would be extremely appreciated as well! Thank you in advance! and Thank you Statboy for posting your profile.

Undergrad Institution: UK Top 5/6 (Although this is misleading as I believe 5th-8th are seen as interchangeable in the UK, if not (controversially) 3rd-8th) Major: Mathematics and Philosophy Concentration: Statistics, Pure math (mostly analysis) GPA: (Converted) 3.90~4.00/4.00 (4.00/4.00 according to the guideline of my UG institution. Also, only the upper division classes count towards the GPA) Graduated: 2018 Awards: Nothing besides Dean's list for the final 2 years Type of Student: International Asian (East Asian) Relevant Courses: (Grad classes) Measure & Probability theory (A+), Ergodic Theory (A+) Advanced Bayesian Inference (A+) (Undergrad classes) Functional Analysis (A+) Linear Algebra (A) Differential Eq (A+) Markov Chains/Processes (A+), Multivariate Analysis (A), Advanced Logic (A+) Dissertation (A+) GRE: (V)166 (97%)/(Q)177(97%)/(W)4.5(82%) GRE Subject Math: 820 (82%) - will retake as I ain't got much to do before applications Programs Applying: PhD Stats mostly Research Experience: - Year-long dissertation (mainly) on (Hilbert) Sobolev gradient flows and their applications in image processing (Applied math-PDE). This is tightly linked to my current research interest. - A project in the Advanced Bayesian inference module on MCMC approach to Bayesian network inference (mostly a survey of two main approaches) This is my biggest concern as I missed the opportunity to do undergraduate research internships partly due to personal complications but mostly because of my lack of focus and organization. There seem to be many who end up with publications and more with at least a meaningful experience of being part of serious mathematical/statistical research. The closest thing to an official recognition of research experience is a consolation letter for my dissertation for 'almost' winning the prize. I did go theoretically deep as I could with my dissertation but for the most part it was deciphering already published papers and deriving middle steps that's rarely mentioned only because people in the field all would know without having to spell it out. Recommendation Letters: Two from professors of the pure math grad classes. One should be close to very good and the other probably at least good . Another from my dissertation supervisor (Applied math) which would be close to very good and the last from statistics professor for the grad class in bayesian stats (cannot gauge the quality of the letter but he's a very nice person). Pure math professors are senior while appliedmath/stats are junior faculty members. Research Interests: Intersection of the Wasserstein space and Bayesian inference (In particular, Approximate Bayesian inference such as Variational Bayes, Monte Carlo methods). Miscellaneous -I switched from Political science & Philosophy to Math & Philosophy before going into honours (upper division). My grades in the first two years are inconsistent especially in philosophy & poli sci as I had quite strong opinions in social science back then. My math grades are less inconsistent but have a pity-pass (D) in 2nd year introductory statistics and a B in upper division real&abstract analysis which I took in my 2nd year (sad but no regrets as that allowed me to take grad classes later). -Took a couple years of leave of absence due to personal matters. Applying to (probably) PhD Statistics: UW-Madison Harvard Chicago Iowa Duke Berkeley UNC Chapel Hill Michigan Phd Math: CMU ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Remark: Although I'm personally not very comfortable with big-name universities, the above were pretty much the only ones I could find (after reading papers in spare time) with researchers in the field I hope to go into. Application of optimal transport theory/Wasserstein space in statistical inference seems to be pretty big in France (which is a shame because the only french I know is 'can I get the bill please') but not so much in the States, especially outside the top 20. That is one of my concerns as I don't feel like any program in the list is even close to being a safety for me, and I've realized how difficult admissions can be in the last application cycle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, I've been reading posts in this form in the last application cycle which turned out very badly, so I posted desperately looking for an advice on this forum. Last year I've applied to 5 PhD programs in the range of Chicago~Northwestern (in terms of USNEWS ranking) and I was rejected at all programs, with only one waitlist (ironically) from Chicago (and the waitlist that year seemed fairly long). The possible reasons are inconsistent transcripts especially in the first two years, lack of research experience, and possibly not very strong letters of recommendations. Last year I applied after returning from a two-year-long leave of absence so I had to ask for letters only after 2 months of trying hard to make an impression. I was told by the professors that the letters were very strong, but they probably did not have that much to write even if they had the best intention. In terms of letters I think it is reasonable to expect significant improvement. Also, I bumped up my GPA +0.2-ish in my final year so the transcripts would seem more consistent. Funding is a very important factor which is why I'm (forced to) only look into PhD programs. It'd be nice if I could take more classes and get a real research experience from a Master's it is unlikely that I would be able to do so unless I get a stipend. I will apply to MS programs with generous funding (McGill, Bonn, BMS Phase I) but it seems the competition for scholarships is nearly as fierce as those for PhD programs Also I'm planning to write to professors working in the field of my interest asking if they are taking in new PhD students. Websites (of the professors) often refer to the department's page for prospective applicants, and I'm not sure if that's a kind way of saying 'don't email me unlesse you are admitted' or just 'don't email me if you are going to only read the abstract of my work and ask to weigh your chances'. I'd be very grateful to hear thoughts of anyone with similar experience/plans. Again, I am desperately looking for an advice, so any input will be much appreciated!

I am a rising senior in undergrad at TCNJ and looking at grad programs. I would appreciate any advice. 1. I want to study applied statistics as opposed to theoretical, and am particularly interested in environmental applications. I've found studies in remote sensing and spatial analysis that interest me, but they are not out of statistics departments. Does anyone have suggestions for programs (preferably in eastern US) where I can get in, get funded, and do research in applied statistics (not business applications or biostatistics)? So far I have found interesting programs at Penn State and NC State, but I do not know if I can get into NC State and it doesn't seem likely that I will get into Penn State. I'm also looking at applying to Rutgers, but I have yet to find any professors in the Statistics/Biostat department who are studying what I want to study. 2. I would like to get a Masters en route to a PhD, and I need to be fully funded. It makes sense to apply to a PhD program, right? Undergrad: The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Major: Mathematics with a Statistics Specialization Minor: Graphic Design GPA: 3.71 Cumulative, 3.61 in Mathematics/Statistics Student: White female GRE: 160 Verbal / 165 Quant / 4.5 Writing Schools I am considering applying to: NC State, Rutgers New Brunswick, Penn State Courses / Background: Calc A(B+), Calc B(A-), Multivariable Calc(A-), Proof Writing Through Discrete Math(C+), Statistical Inference(A), Linear Algebra(A), Data Management and Analysis(A), Probability(B), Regression Analysis(B+), Sampling and Nonparametric Statistics(A), Datamining and Predictive Modeling(A), Real Analysis(tbd), Mathematical Statistics(tbd) I'm proficient in R and am a certified base programmer for SAS 9. Research Experience: Summer undergrad biostat research program at TCNJ Potential Letters of Recommendation (haven't asked them yet): -Advisor / Research Advisor / Statistics Professor of 2 of my courses -Criminology professor who taught my Data Management and Analysis course and helped me get SAS certified -Boss of an online statistics internship I did Thank you for your time, and I appreciate any advice you can give regarding applied statistics graduate programs.

Has anyone who has applied to Yale's PhD program in biostatistics heard anything? Or does anyone know if Yale interviews their PhD biostats applicants? I noticed in the results survey they interview their epi candidates and that a lot of them have already heard since the interview weekend is Feb 13th. Any insight would be helpful - thanks!