2019 stat PhD profile

[stlearn]

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.

Edited August 22, 2018 by stlearn

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Actually, I think your strong mathematics background, your excellent subject GRE score, and your prestigious school all make you a *more* attractive candidate to Statistics departments. This is especially so at some schools like UC Berkeley Statistics Dept where they make you submit a separate document listing ALL the advanced math courses you have taken, grades earned in those courses, and the textbooks used. You don't need to be concerned about the lack of a specific research area, lack of research experience, or the fact that your LORs are only from math professors. There are plenty of PhD students in Statistics who took no probabillity/stat courses prior to enrolling (which you have done) -- they only took pure math classes.

The very top-tier schools (Stanford, Chicago, Penn) are always tough for anyone, but I think you should be able to be admitted to at least a few of those on your list (definitely schools at the level of ISU, Purdue and UCD). I wouldn't be surprised if you got into somewhere at the level of UWisc or higher.

[StatsG0d]

Like @Applied Math to Stat said, I think you have a really good shot at all those schools. Purdue also lets you put down in a form any mathematics courses you've taken. I think you're pretty much set for most schools in the 10-20 range. I definitely think you have a very good chance at the top-10.

[Gauss2017]

I think you have a great profile except for the 3.0 GRE score.  I would try to improve that if you can

[stlearn]

Thank you @Applied Math to Stat @footballman2399 @Gauss2017 for all your comments, really appreciate that. I think current GRE score is my best tho.. gonna prepare SOP's and all other stuffs at my best. Thank you!

[Statboy]

It's nice to see a fellow Korean student on this forum! I am assuming you attend KAIST? Although I myself am applying this year, I think your GRE subject score is your strongest point! Good luck with admissions!