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I'm going to be a senior in the Fall and am interested in applying for Statistics PhD (most likely 2020 cycle but a few questions on that). Undergrad: UC Berkeley Major: Math + Computer Science GPA: 3.96 Student Type: Domestic, Asian Male GRE and Math GRE haven't been taken yet Courses: Math: Honors Linear Algebra (A+), Honors Abstract Algebra (A), Honors Real Analysis (A-), Honors Complex Analysis (A+), Numerical Analysis (A+), Grad Analysis I and II (A, A) Statistics: Probability Theory (A+), Mathematical Statistics (A+), Theoretical Statistics I, II (for PhD Students, A, A), will take grad probability in the fall Computer Science: Intro to Programming (A), Data Structures (A), Discrete Math and Probability (A+), Intro Computer Architecture (A), Databases (A), Algorithms (A), AI (A), Machine Learning (A) Programs Applying: Stats PhDs Research Experience: Currently working with a professor and his students on some theoretical stuff, pushing to get it published in a top tier journal (I contributed in a somewhat nontrivial way, deriving some lower bounds) Work Experience: Spent a summer at a startup doing some natural language processing, another summer at a quantitative asset management firm Letter of Recommendation: Professor doing research with (hopefully would be decent, but one of the big names at Cal who is very busy and I rarely spent time with him so its hard to tell), another professor that I took Theoretical Statistics with (will also hopefully be decent as I think I stood out a decent amount in that class, actively participating and going to office hours), and I don't have a good choice for the third one (that's part of the issue) I have two main questions here: 1) As I still need to take the GRE, and missing a recommendation letter, should I delay applying by a cycle? My thought were that I could spend my final year doing more research (and having some publications), getting a better letter of recs by interacting with the professors some more, and have extra time to prepare for the GRE. I was wondering about the marginal benefit of waiting a year and how much that would help my application. 2) What schools should I consider for my safeties if I do decide to apply this cycle? I want to apply to the top 10ish schools, but I don't know what else should I be considering.

I'm honestly just curious to see if you think that with my credentials I could get into any PhD program. I'm at an odd point in my career--the original plan was to go for an Econ PhD, but I realized pretty quickly into my current job that I'm not interested enough in Economics for that. I still want to learn enough math to be able to answer interesting questions about the world, though. My current plan is to enter a statistics masters program with the hope to later apply for PhD spots, though if it's possible to just enter a statistics MS/PhD program now that would be great to know. I am NOT looking into schools in the top 20-30--I have somewhat realistic expectations, and also for me what matters more is location/what the professors specialize in. My interests lean towards environmental or applied statistics. Undergrad: Top 50 Public University Majors: Economics and Statistics GPA: 3.62 Student Type: Domestic, White Female Math Courses: Calc 1 (B+), Calc 2 (A-), Calc 3 (B+), Differential Equations (A), Probability Theory (A), Math Stats (B), C++ Programming (A), Linear Algebra (B+), Stochastic Modelling (B+), Applied Regression Analysis (B), Time Series Analysis (A-) GRE General: Haven't taken it yet, but I anticipate very good writing/reading scores and ~163 quant. Math GRE: NA Research: Undergraduate research for an Econ professor. I'm in my second year of a 2-3 year Research Assistant position at a government agency. I work daily with PhD economists. Most of my work is more data management/low-level statistics; I'm essentially on R playing with huge datasets all day. I am not on track to get my name on a paper during my time here, though I am involved in multiple projects. The work I do is not related to the field I want to go into (it's basically all finance-related). Letters of Recommendation: One will probably be an Econ professor I was close to in undergrad. Another will be my chief, who I've worked with on small projects and have a great relationship with. A final one will be the economist I do most the most research with. Concerns: My math grades are not great due to a mix of me being lazy/thinking that Econ was the most important thing to focus on in undergrad. I haven't taken Real Analysis, though I am doing so this Fall and intend to work harder in it than I did in my undergrad classes. I don't have any actual research papers to my name. Also, I don't have a clear vision for higher education (e.g. "I want to study the migration patterns of X animal since 2005 to prove that...") so I feel like I'd come off as someone who has no idea what they're doing.

Any recommendations for schools I should go for would be great, not really sure if I’m reaching too far with my current choices considering my lack of research experience. Undergrad Institution: Top 50 Public School Major: Math – Minors in Business, Computer Science, Statistical Modeling GPA: 3.94 Student Type: White Female GRE General Test: 165 Verbal, 170 Quant, 4 Analytical Courses: Linear Algebra Honors (A-), Probability (A), Calc 2 (B+), Diff Eq (A), Mathematical Statistics (A), Decision Analytics (A), Predictive Analytics (A), Applied Regression and Time Series (A), Intro to Stochastic Processes (A) Courses I Plan to Take (Before Graduation) : Two grad level statistics courses meant for first year PhDs, Real Analysis Research Experience: Bioinformatics freshman research. Did data analysis consulting for my university (kind of research). Two internships doing quant/trading work for finance firms. Going to be writing an undergrad thesis on applications of behavioral finance. Programs Applying: PhD in Statistics Awards/honors: Part of interdisciplinary honors program, 2 departmental scholarships Programming Experience: Python, R Letters of Recommendation: One from the professor who is supervising my thesis, one from a former supervisor at a job (has a PhD), one from a professor who has taught three different classes I took (but only has a Masters). Applying to where: Duke Harvard Chicago ??? Concerns: not enough research experience, also coming from a public school vs. private. Thanks!

Currently applying for Statistics Phd programs after having graduated this past May, would like to know where I stand/how import GREs will be for me. Undergrad: Top 50 according to US News. Major: Math GPA: 3.88 Student Type: Domestic, White Hispanic Male Math Courses: Real Analysis I,II (A,A), Complex Analysis (Grad) (A), Measure Theory (Grad) (A), Calc I-III (A,A,A), Probability (Grad) (A), Dif Eq (A), Dif Geometry (A), Linear Models (A), Math Stats (A), Algebraic Topology (Grad) (A-), Algebra (Grad) (A), Functional Analysis (Grad) (A), Linear Algebra (A), Topology (A). GRE General: Q: 161 (76%) V: 158 (80%) W: 3.5 (39%) Math GRE: Well below 50%. Research: 1 REU in topology/geometry, paper to be published in the Rocky Mountain Journal of Math. Presented a poster of this research at JMM. Letters of Recommendation: Professor of the grad probability class with whom I also audited a seminar course for no credit. Mentor during REU. Mentor over summer program. Programs Applying to: Statistics Phd, maybe Applied Math Phd as well. Interests: Probability, Stochastic Analysis, Topological Data Analysis Considering to Apply to: UWashington, UFlorida, Brown, Cornell, NYU, Texas A&M, Penn State I'm quite worried about my test scores as I don't expect them to improve too much despite studying (anxious test taker). Should I not report the math GRE if it is below 60%? Also, does anyone know of other (non-elite) schools that do topological data analysis? Thanks for the feedback.

I’m applying to Csudh Msw fall 2019 program, if you have applied what are your stats and when did you or when are you turning in your application. Do you know when they start sending out acceptance or denials? Why did you choose CSUDH?

Hi everyone! I'm trying to decide between statistics doctoral programs. My top choices at this point are Duke, the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor (with a fellowship that exempts me from teaching/service obligations for my first year and two additional semesters of my choice), and NC State (with a fellowship for the first year). Duke and Michigan offered comparable stipends. NC State's stipend was slightly lower, but they suggested that they could try to match other offers. I'm interested in the research at all three schools, even though there are major differences. I am finishing my Bachelor's in math, and I haven't yet delved heavily into any specific area of statistics. However, I have really enjoyed that probability theory classes I've taken as well as the applied statistics and computer science projects/research that I have undertaken. In essence, I could foresee my future research taking a variety of directions, so this is less of a deciding factor (at the moment). In terms of my career goals, I have always wanted to become a professor, so I hope to pursue a tenure-track faculty position eventually after I finish my doctoral studies. As of now, I'm leaning towards Michigan, Duke, and NC State in that order (which is very tentative). Michigan's fellowship was very appealing, and they also offered to cover relocation expenses and dental insurance. I might be biased because I am originally from the Midwest, and it's honestly my favorite part of the country (unpopular opinion). The weather is not a problem for me, but the isolation of Ann Arbor is slightly detracting (whereas the proximity of SAMSI to NC State and Duke is very appealing). I just visited Duke and NC State, and they both had beautiful campuses and very friendly faculty and students. However, I was slightly concerned that NC State seems to have a high percentage of domestic students who fail the qualifying exams. My questions mainly are: 1) Is there a major difference between Duke, Michigan, and NC State in terms of rigor and/or potential for landing a post-doc at a strong program? 2) I'm also considering offers from lower ranked programs: UNC Chapel Hill, Purdue (with a fellowship), Emory (biostatistics), UC Davis, and Texas A&M. Is there a notable difference in the prestige of these programs compared to Duke, Michigan, and NC State? How accurate/reliable/useful are the US News rankings? Thank you so much for any input!!!!!!

Hi and thanks for taking a look! I’m finishing up my senior year of undergrad and I’m planning to apply to Stat PhD programs for Fall 2019. I would appreciate any opinions on my chances at the schools I have already started my applications to and any advice on picking more schools to apply to. Undergrad Institution: Large state school with a big statistics department (~200 majors) Major: Mathematics & Statistics, Analytics GPA: 3.9 Cumulative, 3.86 Major (4.0 Scale) Applicant Demographics: Domestic White Male GRE General Scores: 163v/164q (Unofficial since I took the test this week) Statistics Courses: Intro Statistical Modeling (A), Probability (A-), Regression Analysis (A), Statistical Programming (A), Statistical Learning (A), Data Visualization (A), Inferential Statistics (A), Time Series (A), Intro Bayesian Statistics (in progress), Statistical Consulting (in progress) Mathematics Courses: Calculus 1-2 (AP), Linear Algebra (B+, honors course), Calculus 3 (B+), Differential Equations (A), Abstract Algebra (A), Real Analysis (A), Numerical Analysis (A), Optimization (A-) Computer Science Courses: Data Structures (A), Database Systems(A), Algorithms(A), Artificial Intelligence (in progress) Research Experience: I’ve worked with one advisor and various other students throughout undergrad. From a project freshman year I’m an author on a paper that is currently accepted pending minor edits in a B tier stats journal, hopefully will be accepted before applications are due. Sophomore year I worked largely independently on a project that I went on to present at the JSM and placed in a graduate/undergrad competition. Junior year I also presented a project at the JSM that resulted in some useful tools that I published as an R package on CRAN. Awards/Honors: Participated in our school’s DataFest a few times and was on the winning team twice. Awarded scholarships from the math/stats/business school analytics programs. President’s list/Dean’s list each semester. Relevant Work/Teaching Experience: I’ve had an IT internship at IBM, which led to a year long co-op as well as a summer research fellowship in the biostatistics department of a large children’s hospital. I’ve assisted professors as an unpaid TA in our stat learning, inferential stats, and intro modeling courses (mostly office hours, helping with classwork/programming and teaching occasional small lessons) Letters of Recommendation: One from my research advisor, one from our stat department head, one from a professor I’ve helped in class, and a final from my real analysis professor. I think these will be relatively strong. Additionally, if I decide to apply to any biostats schools my mentor from the hospital will write a letter. Concerns: the low grades in my first few math classes, but will my later grades mitigate that? Also I know my gre quant could stand to be a bit higher. If you see any other concerns from my profile let me know so I can consider those in my personal statement! Programs I've started applying to: NC State, Iowa State, Purdue, UC Irvine Programs I’m considering applying to: Pitt, CMU, Duke, Michigan, (JHU/Harvard for biostats) I’m not sure how many programs I should apply for. If there are any programs doing data science/stat learning/spatial where you think I would fit in please let me know! Also, I don’t know if any of my options are too safe so it might not hurt to add a safety. Again, thanks for reading this!

Undergrad Institution: An American liberal arts university in Europe Major: Mathematics Minor: Economics GPA: 3.97/4.0 Type of Student: International Relevant Courses: Calculus1,2(A,A), Multivariate Calculus(A), Linear Algebra(A), Abstract Algebra (A), Complex Analysis(A), Numerical Analysis(A), Mathematical Statistics(A), Elementary Statistics(A), Financial Mathematics(A), ODE(A-), Dynamical System(Withdraw - was also taking Complex Analysis and Mult. Calculus that semester and I simply overestimated myself), Intro to Comp. Science(A), Databases (B+) Micro,Macro Economy(A,A), Econometrics (A), Quantitative Methods in Economics (A) I am taking Real Analysis this fall. TOEFL: Will not have to take it since the language of instruction in my undergrad inst is English GRE: Will take it in October (twice), aiming at 165+ Q GRE Subject Mathematics: Not offered in my country Programs Applying: MS Statistics Research Experience: - Will do a Senior Thesis on stochastic processes/financial mathematics Teaching Experience: -Elementary statistics subject tutor for three semesters -Linear Algebra TA for a semester - Will be a Calculus TA this coming semester Recommendation Letters: -A professor I took Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra and Mult.Calculus with ( got all As) -TA advisor or senior thesis advisor (leaning towards the latter) -Statistics Professor. took 3 courses with and got As in all of them. He also recommended me for the aforementioned statistics gig. Computer Skills : STATA, Octave, Python, C++, SQL Applying to: Duke UChicago Yale Northwestern John Hopkins Cornell Rice This is still a tentative list and I am open to any suggestions. I do not know how much it will change anything but it is also worth mentioning that there is a scholarship at my uni for alumni who are admitted to top 20 US unis (this is also why I am aiming so high). Thank you in advance.

I'm an international student looking for advice on which schools to apply. I would really appreciate your insight, recommendations and criticism. Bs Degrees: Mathematics, Economics, Statistics. GPA: 3.28 Msc Degree: Mathematics. GPA: 3.39 Type of student: Latin male. Program desired: PhD in Statistics Research Experience: coauthor of one published chapter for Springer's Contributions to Statistics. Teaching: 5+ years as an adjunct teacher. Teaching calculus and statistics for engineering and social sciences. Programming: Proficient at R, MATLAB. Basic knowledge of Python, STATA, SPSS and Julia. GRE: Verbal 165 (96th percentile), Quantitative 166 (91th percentil), Writing 4.0 (60th percentile) GRE Subject Math: 840 (85th percentile). Planning on retaking it. TOEFL: 112/120. Course Work: calculus 1-3, linear algebra 1-2, abstract algebra, real analysis, measure theory, stochastic processes, stochastic analysis (grad level), probability, differential equations (ordinary and partials), data mining, econometrics at undergrad and grad level, linear regression, sampling theory, spatial analysis, design of experiments, microeconomics, macroeconomics, multivariate statistics at undergrand and grad level, statistical inference, bayesian statistics, time series, toplogy. Low grades though, average GPA is 3.3. Research interests: I would like to do research on statistics on manifolds. Or, more generally, applying geometry/topology to statistics. I'm open to many other problems like functional data analysis, time series, regression, etc, etc etc. Applying to: Pittsburgh University. Arizona State University. University of Illinois. University of Texas. UC Davis. Duke and Stanford. Clearly, I'm having trouble assessing my real options here. So that's why I wanted to kindly ask you to point me in the right direction for "match" and "safety" schools. Thanks again!

Going into my 3rd year and I've been thinking about graduating a year early (i.e., in 2019). Should I even consider graduating early and applying to PhD programs with the following profile? Undergrad Institution: US Top-5 in Statistics Major: Statistics GPA: 3.95 Major GPA: 4.0 Type of Student: Asian Canadian Male Courses: Real Analysis (A), Probability Theory (A+), Statistics Theory (A+), Linear Algebra 1-2 (A+, A), Data Computing (A+), Discrete Math (A+), Calculus 1-3 (all A+), Data Science (A) Courses for Next Year: Real Analysis II, Stochastic Processes, Abstract Algebra, Machine Learning, Numerical Analysis, Linear Modelling GRE: Q: 169 V: 165 W: 5.5 Program Applying: Statistics PhD Research Experience: 1.5 years in psychology lab helping with database management and surveys (no publications). 1 semester in a independent reading project in pure math. Recommendation Letter: 1 from research advisor, 2 from professors/lecturers I've had. I don't expect any to be particularly strong. Coding Experience: R, Python Programs Considering: Michigan Wisconsin Toronto UCLA UC Irvine UT Austin Michigan State UC Santa Barabara I've done well with the courses I've taken so far, but I've only really completed the bare requirements and I'm not sure if I should even consider applying for 2019. If I were to apply for 2020, I'd have actual grades for the courses I'm planning on taking next year instead of just "In Progress," a second major (math), and likely stronger recommendation letters. Any thoughts, comments, or advice would be much appreciated!

Hi guys, I'll be applying for a 2019 PhD program. I greatly appreciate your time and advice! Below is my profile: Undergrad: Smaller state school in PA Major: Mathematics Minor: Statistics, Actuarial Science GPA: 3.9 (Only 1 B from Abstract Algebra) Type of student: Domestic White Male Program desired: PhD in statistics Research Experience: 1 published paper, 2 large projects in sports analytics. I've presented them at IFORS and SAS Global Forum (Oral presentations, not poster). Both accepted for presentation at INFORMs 2018 annual meeting. 1st was done entirely in SAS, uses SQL and IML and simulates baseball games (Win/Lose accuracy about 70%). Second is about optimizing pitcher rotations with a fully functional front-end. Coded all in Python. Starting another project within a few weeks, probably about sports, using machine learning. Teaching: 1 semester as a TA in a stats class, 4 semesters working in math tutoring center. Other: 1 actuarial internship at large insurance company in actuarial/analytics role, passed first two exams (P and FM) Programming: Strong: Python, SAS, R, SQL, Latex Proficient: C++, VBA GRE: Haven't taken yet Course Work: Calc 1-3, Mathematical Statistics 1-3, Statistical Computing, Statistical Modeling (grad level), Data Mining (grad level), Abstract Algebra, Linear Algebra( this fall), Real Analysis (this fall), Deterministic Models of Operations Research, Stochastic Models of Operations Research Plan on applying to: Ohio State Michigan NC State NC State Chapel Hill Pitt Penn State CMU Stanford Iowa State (maybe) Duke Columbia Rochester Please criticize my schools, or add any you think. I've just started the list and know I need to add quite a few more. Let me know what you think! Thanks again.

Hi everyone, I was accepted into an excellent PhD program in Statistics in 2015 and I completed a full year of the program. At the end of the year, first years take a basic exam which determines their eligibility to continue on in the program. I took the exam and passed at the Master's level, not the PhD level. I was then informed I would have to retake several courses and needless to say I was depressed. I wasn't in the best place in my life during this time anyway and I made a poor decision to leave and search for a career as I had a great resume already from my undergrad in math. Well, life happened and I became extremely ill and bed-ridden due to pregnancy (sorry if this is TMI) but since then (summer 2016) I have been a full time mom. I'm now trying to take accountability of some of the decisions I've made in my life and I would really like to go back and get my PhD. I have always loved school and I have come a long way with my mental health/stability since then and feel confident in my decision to go back to grad school. That all being said, do you think that I have a shot in getting into another PhD program given the fact I left a program back in 2016 and have since not worked, not been in school, encountered a "slump" in my life, and just been taking on a mom role the past 2 years? Please offer any advice or general comments if you can. I hope this doesn't come across as too desperate but I would like to know what my chances are given my circumstances.

Hello, I am apply for mostly phD programs in statistics for fall 2018, and I would love to hear your thoughts on my profile. Undergraduate Institution： Top 40 USnews, public school; no statistics department, but math department is top 20 major: statistics GPA：3.732 in general, major GPA is 3.76 Ethnicity: International Asian Male （what I have heard is that my actual competition will be the applicants from my country, as opposed to applicants that went to undergraduate schools in the US ） GRE: 161 verbal, 166 quant, 4.5 writing Math GRE: did not take it TOEFL: I know this is not required since my undergraduate school is in the US, and I took my TOEFL in 2013, but still, just in case. 112 Programs Applying: phD in statistics, phD in biostatistics, ms in statistics Noticeable Courses Taken: all A's in freshman calculus series (4 courses, including multivariate), A's in linear algebra ( 2 courses, one elementary, the other applied upper division), 2 A-'s in real analysis (took two courses in a supposedly rigorous 3-course series), A in complex analysis, A- in a project-based big-data statistics course, A+ in computational statistic, A and B in a two-course mathematical statistic series, ABA in a 3-course probability/stochastic series, B+ in time series, A in numerical analysis, A in a project-based math programming course, A in financial mathematics. P(pass) in a graduate-level applied statistics course. Recommendation letters: one from the professor I took computational statistic with, also doing a reading course with him this quarter; one from a professor I took multiple statistics courses with; and one from the professor I took numerical analysis and math programming with. There first two professors are quite well-known in the statistics industry, although I doubt that their recommendations would be strong because of the usual high standards they set. The third professor is less well-known and his letter should be better than a generic letter. Research experience: had a big group project in which I build regression models on a Kaggle data-set, on which I developed most of the theory and did all of the coding; a walk-through research on a R-package on isotonic regression, had a 5-page long research report Professional experience: no experience in the industry so far, but I am looking into some data analysis internships after I graduate. Misc: I TA'ed a elementary statistics course for two quarters, and I also have TA'ed some calculus courses; the TA reviews were all quite good. I am graduating in the start of my 4th year as an undergraduate. It is unusual, but I am not too sure how this will things. If I do get into a masters program, I really hope to get enough funding and TA-ship to at least reduce my tuition: I just really want to be financially independent and not have my parents pay tuition anymore. Schools and programs I am applying to: OSU, UIUC, Florida State, UC Davis, Iowa State, North Carolina State, Purdue Pittsburg University, Rutgers UConn UC Irvine Texas A&M Texas Austin Northwestern Rice UCLA North Carolina Chapel Hill I am applying to phD in statistics to all of those schools above, phD in biostatistics if available, masters in statistics/biostatistics if enough funding is provided. The way I list these schools is the by how much I fit, Northwestern, Rice,UCLA, NC Chapel Hill are reaches; UIUC, OSU, Texas A&M, Texas Austin, Florida State, NC State, Iowa State are hopefully matches; and the rest are naively considered safeties for now. Concerns: I have had some B's in statistic courses; no GRE math score; research is not stellar; no professional experience; no strong recommendation letters. Please let me know your thoughts: what other schools should I apply to? what phD programs do I have a decent chance at ? what masters programs should I apply to, given that I really want some funding ? Thank you so much for your time and thoughts.

Hello, I am apply for mostly phD programs in statistics for fall 2018, and I would love to hear your thoughts on my profile. Undergraduate Institution： Top 40 USnews, public school; no statistics department, but math department is top 20 major: statistics GPA：3.732 in general, major GPA is 3.76 Ethnicity: International Asian Male （what I have heard is that my actual competition will be the applicants from my country, as opposed to applicants that went to undergraduate schools in the US ） GRE: 161 verbal, 166 quant, 4.5 writing Math GRE: did not take it TOEFL: I know this is not required since my undergraduate school is in the US, and I took my TOEFL in 2013, but still, just in case. 112 Programs Applying: phD in statistics, phD in biostatistics, ms in statistics Noticeable Courses Taken: all A's in freshman calculus series (4 courses, including multivariate), A's in linear algebra ( 2 courses, one elementary, the other applied upper division), 2 A-'s in real analysis (took two courses in a supposedly rigorous 3-course series), A in complex analysis, A- in a project-based big-data statistics course, A+ in computational statistic, A and B in a two-course mathematical statistic series, ABA in a 3-course probability/stochastic series, B+ in time series, A in numerical analysis, A in a project-based math programming course, A in financial mathematics. P(pass) in a graduate-level applied statistics course. Recommendation letters: one from the professor I took computational statistic with, also doing a reading course with him this quarter; one from a professor I took multiple statistics courses with; and one from the professor I took numerical analysis and math programming with. There first two professors are quite well-known in the statistics industry, although I doubt that their recommendations would be strong because of the usual high standards they set. The third professor is less well-known and his letter should be better than a generic letter. Research experience: had a big group project in which I build regression models on a Kaggle data-set, on which I developed most of the theory and did all of the coding; a walk-through research on a R-package on isotonic regression, had a 5-page long research report Professional experience: no experience in the industry so far, but I am looking into some data analysis internships after I graduate. Misc: I TA'ed a elementary statistics course for two quarters, and I also have TA'ed some calculus courses; the TA reviews were all quite good. I am graduating in the start of my 4th year as an undergraduate. It is unusual, but I am not too sure how this will things. If I do get into a masters program, I really hope to get enough funding and TA-ship to at least reduce my tuition: I just really want to be financially independent and not have my parents pay tuition anymore. Schools and programs I am applying to: OSU, UIUC, Florida State, UC Davis, Iowa State, North Carolina State, Purdue Pittsburg University, Rutgers UConn UC Irvine Texas A&M Texas Austin Northwestern Rice UCLA North Carolina Chapel Hill I am applying to phD in statistics to all of those schools above, phD in biostatistics if available, masters in statistics/biostatistics if enough funding is provided. The way I list these schools is the by how much I fit, Northwestern, Rice,UCLA, NC Chapel Hill are reaches; UIUC, OSU, Texas A&M, Texas Austin, Florida State, NC State, Iowa State are hopefully matches; and the rest are naively considered safeties for now. Concerns: I have had some B's in statistic courses; no GRE math score; research is not stellar; no professional experience; no strong recommendation letters. Please let me know your thoughts: what other schools should I apply to? what phD programs do I have a decent chance at ? what masters programs should I apply to, given that I really want some funding ? Thank you so much for your time and thoughts.

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

I will be applying for Masters (and possibly some PhDs) in Statistics for Fall of 2018. I was hoping to hear how competitive my profile is at some of my target schools. Stanford (MS) is my dream school, so I'm most interested in feedback there. I'm concerned about whether to retake the GRE, since the average listed score at Stanford is a perfect score (97%). Undergrad Institution: Top 5 Public Ivy (Ranking: ~top 30-35 nationally overall, roughly top 20 in stats) Cum GPA: 3.89 Major: Statistics (3.84*), Psychology (4.0*), both B.S. *Only explicitly includes stats/psych department classes, respectively. Excludes math, astronomy, physics, & related classes that counted towards my majors, which would likely bump up my stat GPA a bit. Type of Student: Domestic White Male (DWM) from the south. GRE: 167 (93%) Quant, 164 (94%) Verbal Research/Work Experience: ~1.5 years as a statistician at a large research company. Have worked on surveys / projects with institutions such as the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), Center for Disease Control (CDC), and other government bureaus. Project topics include criminology and victimization, drug usage, and general health. I presented at a large statistical conference recently (published a proceedings paper). I did some very minor research during my undergraduate classes. Awards/Recognition: Phi Beta Kappa. Dean's List GPA (3.5+) every semester. Inducted into Phi Sigma Pi Honors fraternity. Nominated for junior statistician award by coworker (winner not announced yet). Applying to: Statistics/Biostatistics, Masters (maybe PhD) Dream: Stanford (M.S.) - Statistics Reach: University of Chicago (M.S.) - Statistics** Harvard (M.S.) - Biostatistics** UC-Berkeley (M.A.) - Statistics Match: University of North Carolina (M.S.) - Biostatistics** University of Michigan (M.S.) - Statistics** NC State (M.S.) - Statistics (also looking at Advanced Analytics/Data Science) **May consider PhD, depending on how competitive I am at program

Hello. Cynics preferred, be honest, hold nothing back. I want to study economics, stats, computational finance or something similar and hopefully connected to data science or predictive analytics. I’m graduating a year early, for what it’s worth. I want to offset the year I’m graduating by getting a better school appended to my name so I have some good long-term CEO potential. Honestly, I’m considering so many options because I’m desperate to get a better school attached to my name. I’ll be entirely up-front about that. I’ve gone to a shit undergrad school because I became homeless my senior year of high school during application season and couldn’t capitalize on the fact or write a decent letter to save my life due to my living circumstances devouring my mental sanity. However, I’ve made the most of what I have here, truly, and I want help in getting the best out of what I can. Truly appreciate all the help guys and gals! Undergrad Institution: Shitty midwest state university, ranked like 200th+ in the USA :-( Major: Mathematics, Economics… (two degrees probably) Minor: Statistics Cumulative GPA: 3.82 Major GPA, Cum.: (mathematics): 3.83 Type of Student: Domestic White male (though in no way “privileged”) Math/statistics and applicable economics Courses: Undergraduate: calc 1, 2, 3 (AB exam pass, B, A), intro differential eqns (A), Applied stat. methods (A), Business Statistics (A, econ), Set theory and Logic (A), intro to linear algebra (A), Linear Algebra (A), Theory of probability (A), Statistical Theory 1, 2 (A,A), Intro to Real analysis (B present), Capstone Math (A), Econometrics 1, 2 (A, forecasting an A, econ) graduate: (Spring 2018) Linear Statistical Models (A) GRE: V: 161, Q: 165, W: 5.5 (88%, 89%, 96%) ... the low quant is why I’m essentially aiming at schools ranked 12-20… I’m a realist. :-( GRE Mathematics Subject Test: N/A Research Experience: 2 NSF funded programs and the Ronald E. McNair Scholars program (national program) ==> 5 semesters total of research experience of 6 semesters in college: -one is research in financial math (SUAMI) which was summer 2017 at Carnegie Mellon, very competitive to get in. -the other NSF funded one was at my University in a small group -Rest was with the McNair program: one of my projects was meh, I made a computer program for calculating Ducci numbers or something, my second one was better studying nonparametric estimation (Kernel density estimation) proving the bias and the expectation, as well as learning some R. My third one is a lot better, moving on from NP KDE to quantreg (simulation and more) I’ll design a user-friendly interface in java for large data sets (never-seen-before type of thing) and I will couple this with a quantile regression simulation and application for value at risk of stocks on the S&P or DJIA. -continuing a research project with my research partners from Carnegie Mellon trading stocks, and doing stuff with quarterly earnings (completely profitable program, 0 loss thus far, quite phenomenal tbh) Leadership roles: Chess club president (3 semesters), Actuarial Science Club president (2 semesters), Table Tennis Club treasurer (founded), Political organization Vice president Awards: Deans list, departmental scholarship(s), McNair program, Mason's scholarship, 3 local scholarships other: Actuarial Exams… P/1 passed 01/2017 and FM/2 sitting 04/2018 Program. Languages… Java, C, Python, LaTeX Software & Tools… Minitab, all Microsoft Suite, SPSS, STATA, & R Recommendations: 3 from research experiences (1 REU at Carnegie Mellon, 2 at my university), and my last 1 from class (he had me in like 6 classes though). I can surely state that 2 of my recommenders will write phenomenal letters, the one from CMU is probably going to be good (mainly affirming my research strength), and my class-only recommender will write a great one, but he has only had me in class so it should be discounted. (2 Ph.ds from Rice University, 1 from Iowa state [rather well-known in math education], and 1 from Washington state) Programs I'm Interested In: Top 20 Stats Ph.D./Masters (better if they have Machine learning classes), Top 5–12 Computational finance programs, Top Economics (not the top 4-5, I’m realistic here lmao) order matters (tentative on the Masters or Ph.D.) Carnegie Mellon (economics masters or Ph.D., MSCF, statistics MSP or Ph.D.)... meet the score requirements except for MSCF Berkeley (Econ masters or Ph.D., statistics masters or Ph.D., MFE finance engineering) UPenn (statistics, economics MA or Ph.D.) Umich ann arbor (economics) Princeton (finance masters) Columbia (econ masters or Ph.D.) UMN (applied economics Ma or Ph.D.) UCLA (econ masters or Ph.D.) Please criticize me or bring in some realism. I'd love to just chat about writing a better application too. I believe I can write a great personal statement since writing is honestly my strength, above all else to be frank, and if people want to call or email about this process, I'd be more than willing (restricting it to weekends though). Just my two cents below... My personal thoughts and worries: ... I know what you're thinking, I got to a small school... its only known for aviation, rural medicine, and hockey. I know this will ding me the most; professor Shreve at CMU in the MSCF program said so, additionally, they’ll have to evaluate my school to see if it’s good enough to even consider me. (ouch) I really want to go to CMU. IDC what for tbh, economics or stats. I believe I have a shot since I did research there and have at least 1 recommender from CMU, informally I could get another. my quant sucks, but I’ve gotten 165 twice so I’m rather shit out of luck tell me if I should retake it, I have a chance on the 26th of October (planned, but may cancel it) my recommenders will be great my research experience is great my leadership experience is great

Undergrad: Nankai University (top 5 maths in China)Major: MathematicsGPA: 3.4 Classes:real analysis (B+) Probability theory (B+) Masters: Columbia UniversityMajor: StatisticsGPA: 4 Type of Student: international male gre: v:151 q:170 aw:3 I don't know if my maths background is good . As a maths major,I have taken almost all maths classes but my gpa is not high. In my master years, I got all As in stats classes. Unfortunately, I don's have any research experience in statistics, my only research is in number theory. I plan to apply for top 50 stat PhD in fall 2018 and i need funding. Are there any suggestions? What are my safe picks? Programs I'm Considering: Purdue, BU, UFL,UIUC Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I work for a company in Michigan and we're looking for a statistics course that members of the company could take remotely or have a representative come on site and teach for a certain number of hours a week. I'd love some recommendations for good reputable programs or institutions that can help us. Thanks!

Need some help, thought I'd make an account an ask...Do I have any chance of getting into a decent Stats PhD? I'm a junior attending an "elite" US institution (top 15), but don't have a solid GPA (3.54). I'm majoring in Stats and Economics, and my major GPA is around a 3.6. I've taken calculus and linear algebra, but have no advanced math classes, although I do plan on taking real analysis in the Fall. I have no research experience. I don't have a great relationship with any of my professors. ...All that said, how screwed am I? I literally never considered a PhD before this month, so I never bothered to research or do anything. At this point, I'm left coasting on my university's name, which I'm still not sure will get me anywhere. If anyone could chance me in general and recommend me schools that I could actually get into, I would be highly appreciative. My top two schools are Rice and UTAustin at this point, but I'm not sure I could get into either... Edit: Haven't taken the GRE yet, but I'm expecting a 90% percentile+ in the Quantitative section...I feel like the only thing I can do is standardized tests. I'll probably look into the Math GRE subject test as well and try to study over the summer...

Hey there, I'm a chemistry major (biochem concentration) at a top 5 public school (in the US) about to enter my last year in Fall 2017. I am on track to finish my degree in 3 years, however my GPA due to heavy course loads is about 3.5 (3.58 if all goes well next fall semester). Practice GRE tests put me in the 95 percentile range, but I haven't taken a chem GRE test yet. I have over a year and a half of research experience in two different labs, both relating to pharmacology and bio-organic chemistry, but unfortunately no publications. I am looking at programs in medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and biochemistry. I want to get some opinions on my competitiveness as a candidate for PhD programs and narrow down my list of graduate schools (because it costs a small fortune to apply to just one). Brutal honesty will be much appreciated. Examples of some schools I'm looking at: University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Duke University, U-Illinois Urbana Champaign, U-Illinois Chicago, UPenn, UChicago, Rutgers, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and University of Toronto.

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.

Hello, I received an interview day itinerary from a School Psychology Ph.D. program and it states that there will be a "short stats sample in the morning to supplement the materials you submitted with your application." Does anyone know what this means or experienced something similar during their interview? I'm slightly freaking out and would appreciate any advice! Thank you.

Hello, Can people give me their opinions/ranking on any of the schools (Statistics PhD): UCLA, UF, Texas A&M I've been admitted into these schools, and I'm having hard time deciding... My opinion: UCLA -seems good for industry jobs (i.e. data science), since located in LA -course load seems heavy on machine learning (good) -expensive to live in though (apartment/food worries...) UF -course load seems to be more oriented toward traditional statistics (no machine learning courses) -I heard they're theoretical heavy (good) -located in my hometown (wouldn't have to worry about life stuff, i.e. cost of living, food, etc.) Texas A&M -I heard they're a very large department that does mostly applied stuff -I'm not that worried about the cult life thing Bio: -Undergraduate: UNC Chapel Hill, Graduating in May 2017 with Bachelors in Stats, Math -US Citizen -Hoping more for industry than academic job Thank you so much!

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!