One year master's program.

[miserablefunction]

Hi all,

Although I applied for roughly 20 statistics PhD programs this year, I was not able to get in any. So I decided to accept my only offer, 1-year funded master's program. And I am wondering if anyone has gone through this. As the duration of the program is 1-year, I would not have enough time to get a recommendation letter nor write a report/thesis from my master's program. In this case, should I just pick all three letter writers from my undergraduate? And how should I elaborate my master's work in application? By the time when I finish first semester, all the application would be already closed. I would appreciate any advice.

Edited August 20, 2018 by miserablefunction

[bayessays]

Depends. If you are aiming for the same level of schools, applying again without any extra coursework or letters is not going to help - maybe consider waiting a year. If you have adjusted your expectations and are applying lower, then your master's isn't going to help much but maybe you can get into a lower school this year. 

[Marlene5]

I haven't been through this yet, I'm still preparing and considering different options. However, I have heard from acquaintances a bit. 

Many PhD programs (if not all) want people with a Master, not a Bachelor. Also, they want people with research experience and it happens that someone applies to PhD and fails year after year even at not too known places. If they didn't get a solid background during your studies, they have to work on it after graduation in order to get in. So it doesn't surprise me you didn't get in.

You should change your application next year. Improve it if possible. I'm sure you can. You will be developing academically during this year, hopefully. If not in class, you can gain research experience outside classes. Try to get a new and better letter of recommendation - one, two, three. And then choose the best three you will have. 

Also, did you have plan B and C universities that you applied to? 

[Karlin]

Same here. I am going to attend my master's program in UK, but will try my best to apply in this fall.

I am wondering what is the reason that I got rejected and what I can do to improve this time.