2019 Stats/Biostats Profile Eval

[Statstu]

Hey I will be applying to statistics/biostatistics phd this fall and I'd like to know where I stand among other applicants. Any evaluation/advice is greatly appreciated. Here is my profile:

Undergrad Institution: big state school
Major(s): Applied math
GPA:  3.85/4.0

 

Grad Institution: Same school

Major: Applied Statistics

GPA: 3.9/4.0

Type of Student: DWF

 

Relevant Courses:

Calculus 1-3 (A, A, A+). Linear Algebra 1-2 (A+, A+). Diff EQ I and II (A,A-), Probability (A), Numerical Methods (A), Boundary Value Problems (B), Real Analysis (A), Graduate math stats I and II (B,A), graduate level Regression analysis I and II (A,A), graduate level Data Mining I and II (A,A), graduate level Data Analytics (A), graduate level dynamical systems (A)

GRE General Test: 
Q: 165
V: 162
W: 5

Should I retake GRE to try and improve my Q score?

GRE Math Test: Taking in September

Research Experience:  Working as an economics research assistant at a relatively high level. Have developed 1 working paper currently being submitted to conferences 
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: masters student of the year in my stats masters program 

Letters of Recommendation: One from my economics research professor, one from dynamical systems professor who can speak to my work analysis, one from math stats professor
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Received a D in physics freshman year of college

 

Coding Experience: SAS, Fortran, Matlab, Mathematica, R

Applying to Where: This is my tentative list and it is subject to change depending on my GRE math results. 

Statistics: Stanford, Berkeley, Penn, Columbia, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, NC State, Yale, Rice

Biostatistics: Washington, Johns Hopkins, University of Texas MD Anderson, Berkeley, Emory

 

Is it bad to apply to both biostats and stats at the same school? Some of the schools are on both of my lists, and I'm having trouble deciding. 

 

Thanks for your help!

Edited August 28, 2018 by Statstu

[Stat Assistant Professor]

It really depends how prestigious the big state school it is -- the adcoms will set the bar much higher for your application if you went to say, Oklahoma State than to a school like UC Berkeley or Georgia Tech.

 But notwithstanding that, I think with the B that you received in Graduate Level Math Stats will make it extremely tough to get into the majority of the schools on your list. I would probably cross Stanford, Berkeley, Penn, Columbia, Duke, Yale, Washington, and JHU off your list, as these do not seem realistic. I think you definitely need to aim lower for Statistics and possibly Biostat as well.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Applied Math to Stat

[bayessays]

Agreed with above, it makes a huge difference what state school we are talking about. The B in math stat will not help. I think UT, Emory, and Rice are the only schools on your list that are currently somewhat realistic.  My evaluation would slightly increase if you had a higher GRE Q and if your big state school is Berkeley or Michigan or something like that, but almost your entire stats list will be unrealistic regardless.

[Statstu]

11 hours ago, Applied Math to Stat said:

It really depends how prestigious the big state school it is -- the adcoms will set the bar much higher for your application if you went to say, Oklahoma State than to a school like UC Berkeley or Georgia Tech.

 But notwithstanding that, I think with the B that you received in Graduate Level Math Stats will make it extremely tough to get into the majority of the schools on your list. I would probably cross Stanford, Berkeley, Penn, Columbia, Duke, Yale, Washington, and JHU off your list, as these do not seem realistic. I think you definitely need to aim lower for Statistics and possibly Biostat as well.

Thank you for the advice. So would you say rankings 10-20 are out of reach?

[Stat Assistant Professor]

30 minutes ago, Statstu said:

Thank you for the advice. So would you say rankings 10-20 are out of reach?

If you could indicate the reputation of your undergrad, that would help a lot more in our assessments. But in my opinion, most of the schools in 10-20 are also far reaches for you. I think the most realistic range to target is 40-50, but you can try applying to a few higher ranked ones if you have the funds. Are you interested in academia or industry? For industry, it won't matter that much. And for academia, it's much more important that you have a good publication record and recommendation letters than where you got your PhD...

[StatsG0d]

Your list is pretty top-heavy. I don't think you'd have a shot at Stanford, Berkeley, Penn, Columbia, Duke, Washington, or JHU. The others are probably OK. As a side note, I went to an undergrad institution (barely) in the top-100 and had about the same grades as you, similar GRE scores, but with less extensive math training, and I got into several institutions in the 10-20 range for statistics and one school in the top-5 for biostats. As the others have mentioned, if you've gone to, say, a state school maybe in the top-70 USNWR rankings (including private schools), then you're probably fine. If you're closer to me, your letters of recommendation will likely make or break your application. I know for a fact that my writers wrote very strong letters for me, so I think that boosted my application dramatically.

However, I agree with the others that you'll certainly want to broaden your range. I'd suggest the following breakdown (where the rankings should be interpreted as separate, not the pooled rankings in USNWR--see this thread for the separated rankings).

Stats top-10, Biostats top-5:   1-2 programs (just so you can say you don't have any regrets)
Stats 11-20, Biostats 6-9:        3 programs (target reaches)
Stats 21-30, Biostats 10-14:   3-5 programs (targets)
Stats 31-50:                               1-2 programs ("safeties")

This means sending out 8-12 applications, the costs of which can add up quickly. If this seems too financially burdensome, PM me and I can try to give more specific recommendations. Also, I don't think you need to retake the GRE unless you REALLY want to shoot for those top programs, which will be very difficult given your math background even with perfect scores. Perhaps if you really impress on the subject test, your profile could change dramatically.