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Hi All, I'm a pretty non-traditional applicant to Stats PhD programs -- I have a few questions, and am interested to see what y'all think of my chances! Student Type: Domestic White Male Undergrad: Top 10 overall (Private) (US News Rankings) Major: Physics (Chemistry minor) GPA: 3.88 Math Coursework: Calc 2-3 (A), Linear Algebra (A), Diff Eq (B), Complex Analysis (A), Numerical Analysis (A), Geometry Seminar (A) CS Coursework: Intro Programming (A-), Computer Architecture (A+ -- taken post-grad to prep for CS grad school) Other: Upper-level undergrad physics: Quantum I (A), Classical Mechanics (A-), Thermal Physics (A), Special/General Relativity (B+), Nonlinear Dynamics (A); Intro and Organic Chemistry Sequence (all A's) Graduate: Top 15 Computer Science MS (Public) (actually entering second year in the PhD program, but have decided I'm more interested in stats) Major: Computer Science GPA: 4.0 Coursework: Intro Artificial Intelligence (A), Intro to Theory of Computing (A), Intro to Algorithms (A), Probability Theory (A), Analysis I (A), Stochastic Processes (A), Linear Optimization (A), Machine Learning (Fall 2020), Nonlinear Optimization I (Fall 2020), Undergrad Math Stats (Fall 2020) GRE: Took in 2013, so it's expired and I'll have to retake. Scores then were V: 164, Q: 170, A: 5.0 GRE Math Subject: N/A Research: Publications: First author for a journal article on biological optics from undergrad supervised by a biology prof (cited 14 times as of posting this), Summer research on reinforcement learning under a physics postdoc (paper posted on Arxiv -- cited 2 times), worked on uncertainty quantification for ML methods in computational materials science since January 2020 -- hoping to get a paper by the time I submit applications this winter Misc: I'll be doing some data analysis for an education research group this fall -- (trying to apply ML methods to say something meaningful about user data for online education games) Letters of Recommendation: Planning to ask my three research supervisors (1 biology professor, 1 research scientist at Facebook now, 1 materials engineering professor). 2nd and 3rd should be strong. I think 1st should be strong too, but it's been a while since undergrad... I might ask my supervisor for my education research this fall if it goes well? Should I also ask a math professor? I don't think any of them would have a ton to say, other than "he did well in my class," which I'm thinking already comes across from my grades? Research Interests: Roughly: Developing applied/computational statistics methods for problems in the natural and social sciences Miscellaneous: I took 5 years between undergrad and my current grad program. In that time, I taught high school math and physics and got a MA in Teaching (3 years), and then worked for an education technology company designing online K-12 science/math curriculum (2 years). I really enjoyed both of those, but decided to go back to school because 1) I didn't see myself being satisfied in those career paths for an entire career, 2) I missed being in school and learning cool stuff all the time, and 3) especially after the reinforcement-learning research experience, I definitely bought into the "big data" hype, and wanted to be a part of it. I managed to sneak into a solid CS program, but once here I quickly gravitated toward the theory/math/stats side of things, and started considering mastering out and looking into stats. (As you can tell from my undergrad coursework, getting into top stats programs would have been tough without the probability/stats/analysis background that I've gotten in my current grad program.) Schools: Duke, UNC, NC State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Harvard, Texas A&M Questions: Thoughts on getting rec letters only from scientists in Bio, Physics, and Engineering? I'm aware my background is a pretty non-traditional -- I feel like it's given me a chance to grow personally and professionally, but any takes on how an admissions committee might view it? How much explanation do I need about transferring from CS PhD program to stats? Is just saying something like "I decided I want the rigorous theoretical foundation I would get through a Statistics PhD" sufficient? (Or, can I just frame it as an MS program I'll finish in May 2021 and leave it at that?) General thoughts on my chances at the schools I listed? Or suggestions for others? Thanks!

Hi there, I'm looking for advice as a non-traditional applicant. I have really been wanting to go back to school for my masters in SLP. I received my first bachelors in 2015 in the field of communication. I currently work as a business analyst in IT full time. Early this year I began taking some pre-requisite coursework in communicative science/disorders. My goal was to apply this year for a fall 19. However, I really didn't feel like I had a strong application. I did not do well in undergrad....I finished with a 2.89 I believe and Gre scores not impressive 140/152. So I wanted to take this year to really improve my chances. I can't go back and fix my GPA the courses I bombed were completely unrelated and I was told if they weren't relevant to what I want to now I shouldn't re-take them. What I have done is ensure that I do well in whatever courses I am taking now....my GPA is probably about a 3.7-3.8 with the classes I am taking through Utah State University. The two areas where I really need help is gaining experience and my letter of recommendations. Although not mandatory I would really like to get some volunteer or observation hours. However no one has gotten back to me, does anyone have any advice for being able to get a volunteering opportunity. I was thinking of asking one of my old professors to write me one, getting one from any volunteering opportunity, and I'm planning on taking one or two CSD classes at any college near me with the goal of getting a LOR. The classes I am currently taking are online and pre-recorded. We don't have any contact with the professor so I didn't want to ask for a LOR for any of the online classes I've taken. I've been feeling kind of discouraged lately so I'm looking for any advice from anyone who's taken a non-traditional route into this field. -Michelle

Hello everyone, Just some quick background. Long story short, I went to college for undergrad full time up until my first semester senior year. Due to personal reasons, I left to take a 2 year break. I went back in Fall 2017 to finish up my requirements and graduated in December. I am planing to apply to graduate school in the next 1-2 years. The school that I am definitely interested in requires a writing sample that is 15-20 pages long from undergraduate work. I have a sample that meets the length requirement. However, it was written about 3 years ago and my writing has evolved since then. I don't have any other recent samples (the final classes that I took were in French and Math). So, I would like to edit the paper that I do have. I was considering reaching out to students in the English department at my local hometown college for assistance in editing my writing sample to make it application ready. Since it is a lengthy paper, I figured that I would likely need to pay said editor for their help. I am not a current student, So I am not eligible to use my alma mater's writing center. Has anybody ever gone this route before? Does anyone have other suggestions for help with getting my paper edited? Does anyone know what a fair price might be for someone to edit a 20 page (about 6,000 words) paper for graduate school admissions? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Hi, I am evaluating changing career into public health focused on global health and sustainability. I have had multiple good school (think JHU, GW, Berkeley) and got good advice. I wanted to reach out to this community and get other perspectives as well. I do not have a traditional public health background but do have over 20 years of experience in management/strategy consulting and recently "ventured" into sustainability working on the people health. My intent is to bridge the gap between private sector organization and public health and help organizations connect the "triple bottom line" to health of the employees, develop strategies, programs and initiatives, and develop measurement criteria to evaluate business impact. I have a bachelors in engineering, masters in management (strategy) and an MBA from top 10 school with a decent GPA. I have not taken the GRE yet and need to start preparing for it. I am focusing on part-time programs (preferably Dr PH) since cannot do any full-time ones, given my family commitments. Does anyone have any ideas or thoughts around how my profile would fit in for some of the top programs and what kind of GRE score would I need to get to compensate for my lack of PH background? Thanks in advance. Zman.

Hi! Recently I've decided to face a rather significant fear and simultaneously pursue a passion; I want to apply to graduate school to study Religion, particularly ethics, with the eventual goal of obtaining a Ph.D. Academically, I'm interested chiefly in Ethics. I feel I need more understanding of Christian history and world religious thought. I am mostly interested in inter-faith dialogue and ethics on issues of sexuality and gender, with a sub-focus on humane education/peace studies. I am personally interested in religious literacy, inter-faith dialogue, and inter-disciplinary connections (particularly in art and literature in practice, with a contemporary focus. I am less interested in historical artwork -- I am interested in art as part of the religious experience, art as part of theological dialogue, and creativity as part of religious community, etc.) My educational background is interesting, non-traditional in some ways, and I am concerned it will handicap me in this process. First, I did not attend high school (excepting one semester) and graduated with a HSED (GED+civics+financial literacy). Despite this, I ended up testing average on my ACTs and attending college. While at school I studied art, had no initial study skills, but managed to earn a cumulative 3.5 before having a small crisis which resulted in dropping/failing/incompletes in a few classes (final grades unknown). I transferred schools and started the very next semester (spring) at a new school, and therefore never had a look at my GPA after that fact. After transferring, I changed majors to Religious Studies and did very well. However, the school I graduated from had a very small (and relatively unknown) religious studies department. Potentially more to my detriment, however, is the fact that this school (Alverno College) does not use grades, and therefore I have no GPA. Only a glowing narrative transcript of all the work I've done over the two years I was there. They do offer a service to translate my narrative record into a cumulative GPA for schools that require this, but I haven't the slightest idea of what it would be. The feedback I got for all my classes was good, if not great, and in many cases (as with my major courses) excellent. If I had to guess, I'd say 3.5+ given my scores at the previous college. GRE to be taken in one week. Stats: -B.A. Alverno College, Religious Studies -- Unknown GPA (estimated conservatively at 3.2) -Attended North Park University, Art (studio, for 3 years) 3.0-3.5 GPA -Excellent employment record (Run three community programs, lots of autonomy and achievement in a professional setting, massive teaching experience -- but with children and teens, not adults) -Excellent recommendations, but only one recommendation from a Religious Studies faculty (took courses mainly from one prof, many adjuncts and transfer credits) -President of the College Art Association at NPU -Student Speaker at Graduation (auditioned and was chosen to be commencement speaker) -Peer Academic Advised (similar to TA) at NPU, two semesters -GRE: unknown -No stats or research classes taken, no work published or presented. -No language skills - passed French 1 & 2 but currently have only a basic understanding. Could change this with hard self directed study -Religious affiliation (currnet): Society of Friends/Quaker (unofficial, attend but am not a member yet) -Religious Background: Lutheran and non-denom evangelical Questions - please feel free to address one or all or make comments, all feedback is appreciated! Are my interests too broad for graduate school applications, or do you feel these topics are inter-connected enough? Do I lack focus? For M.A. in Religion or Theology, how important is it to find a faculty member that has similar research interests? Given my interests (above), is there a particular school I should be looking at? Currently on my list are: Notre Dame, Duke, Harvard Divinity, Marquette, and possibly University of Chicago. (Possibility for funding is a requirement) Any thoughts/experience with narrative transcripts, how big of a setback will this be for me? The school itself is well recognized, but in fields other than religion. Given my background and qualifications as they are, is it possible that I am a qualified enough for some of the programs I'm looking at, or does my candidacy sound sort of like a long-shot at best? How many, if any, masters candidates start out with zero language competency? What is the best way to learn reading-level proficiency in a language, and which languages are best? It seems French & German for my purposes, but what about biblical languages? Do all schools require an interview, do schools interview at all? How does this work? I've read about it some places, but it doesn't seem to be listed among formal admissions processes. Keeping my personal and academic interests in mind, do you have any reading suggestions? My library is full of books and journals that I feel are meaningful and important, but I feel like I could be missing some very big things. My background in history is shoddy at best. (I've always been sort of wrapped up in my own little world of self-discovery and contemplation that sometimes I lose what's important in the big picture, hence my potentially impaired qualifications.) --- I realize this is long, so thank you in advance for taking the time. I have little to no frame of reference, I did not have a professor pushing me to pursue grad school (at the time I had a great job with lots of potential for a secure career, she felt that despite the fact I'd do well, the job outlook is very grim -- also, at the time, I was still very torn between creative writing, art making, and religious studies. I also was worried about being a woman - my faith growing up considered women to be ineligible for theological training and religious teaching/leadership outside Sunday school). Anyway! At the end of the day, the study of religion, writing about religion and spirituality, exploring the religious experience and cultural expression -- this line of thought is where I feel most at home, most compelled to move forward, and it's what I keep coming back to (albeit with many confusing inter-disciplinary interests attached). Thank you thank you!