Waitlist schools reapply? SOP?

[SheldonCopper]

Hi,

I got waitlisted from several top 10 statistics/biostatistics PhD programs last season, but ended up not getting into anywhere. Some said waitlist simply means the department does not have funding available to admit the student. So is it worth reapplying to these programs? I have contacted several director of PhD programs to get helpful/frank feedbacks on the application. They replied back saying either "I am pretty sure that you have another offer" or "There were too many strong candidates last season".  

In addition, in SOP for the last application, I specifically mentioned that my research interest is in high-dimensional statistics. One stat PhD told me that being too specific about research interest(in this case, high-dimensional statistics) is not good and try to be generic, while another said high-dimensional statistics is broad enough. Any opinion on this?

Edited September 9, 2018 by SheldonCopper
grammar

[Stat Assistant Professor]

I'm not sure that "high-dimensional statistics" is very specific, but in general, it is a good idea to keep the statement of purpose fairly generic, UNLESS you're one of the rare candidates who has research experience that resulted in publications in statistics journals. Either way, though, I don't think the statement of purpose is the dealbreaker. There isn't much you can do about your GPA at this point, and the GRE is only a "sanity check." So assuming that those are decent (and I assume they were well above average, since you were waitlisted at top 10 programs), I would focus on what you *can* control (i.e., the letters of recommendation). Make sure those are topnotch (i.e. that your letter writers will refer to you as one of the best students they've ever taught,), make sure to provide your letter writers with a very detailed description of what you did/accomplished in their classes so they can tailor the letters for you, etc.

It's fine to reapply to schools that previously waitlisted/rejected you. You may be lucky and be able to crack them the second time. But just remember to apply to a wider range of programs this time, not just the top 10 PhD programs. The top tier is difficult for even people with 3.7+ GPAs and near-perfect mathematics subject GRE scores to get into -- and based on what I've seen one such top 10 Statistics program, many of these programs seem to heavily weigh the prestige of the undergraduate institution (the domestic students I met were from MIT, Stanford, Yale, etc.).

Edited September 11, 2018 by Applied Math to Stat