Fall 2019 Biostatistics PhD Profile Evaluation/Program Recommendations?

[randata]

Undergrad/grad Institution: large public university

 

Major: Biology-Cellular/Physiology Track (BS), Mathematics (BA)

 

Minors: Global Public Health

 

GPA: 3.82 (Biology: 3.58, Math 3.93)

 

Type of Student: Domestic

 

Relevant Courses: 

Transfer from HS (Dual Credit): Computer Science, Advanced Computational Problem Solving, Calculus I, Calculus II, Bioinformatics, Molecular & Cellular Biology, Genetics

 

Undergrad

Biostatistics (A), Adv Biostatistics* (A), Adv Biostatistics II* (A), Intro to Biostatistics - SIBS* (A), Calculus III (A+), Linear Algebra (A), Intro to Higher Math (A-), Probability (A), Real Analysis (A); numerous biology courses, chemistry courses (through organic II), and public health courses

 

*graduate level, used R and/or SAS

 

Courses in progress: Modeling qPCR Curves (independent study/undergraduate research with biostatistics professor, R programming), Discrete Math, Math Statistics

 

GRE: 166V, 164Q, 3.5W (will be retaking now that ETS confirmed accommodations)

 

Programs Applying: Biostatistics PhD

 

Research Experience: 

Bioinformatics (Past):

• annotated a section of a virus genome – results in GenBank

• research project on virus distribution – used Mathematica, resulted in 2 poster presentations

Current:

• qPCR curve modeling - using R, modeling curve in order to predict absolute starting concentration of template DNA from raw fluorescence values

 

Teaching Experience: Tutor for microbiology and biostatistics at university tutoring center

 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

• ASA member - attended JSM for the last two years

 

Recommendation Letters: Will be asking this week: biostats professor (with whom I am currently working on research), director of the biostats summer program I attended (who offered to write one), calculus 3 professor

 

Coding Experience:

R, Mathematica, Bash, SAS, Java, dabbling in others

 

Other: LaTeX (I typeset all of my math homework), virtual machines, porting Windows software to Unix systems

 

Definitely Applying to:

Emory University (SIBS)

grad program at home institution

 

 

I am particularly wondering about what "tiers" of programs I should apply to (which programs would be "safeties", reaches, etc.) and whether there are any programs that would be interested in applicants with extensive biology background.

 

Any recommendations regarding my profile are greatly appreciated!

 

[Stat Assistant Professor]

I suspect that much of your chances will depend on the prestige of your undergrad and your letters of recommendation (for applicants from "large public universities," there will most definitely be a difference between a Berkeley applicant vs. an Oklahoma State applicant, i.e. the bar will be a lot higher for the latter). If you could give us an idea of the prestige of your undergrad, that may help us to give you a better sense of which schools to target.

Many applicants with backgrounds in biology get accepted to Biostatistics PhD programs, provided they have the math prerequisites. And your math GPA is quite excellent, so I think you have a strong chance at many Biostat programs.

Edited October 15, 2018 by Stat PhD Now Postdoc

[randata]

I'm currently attending the University of Louisville.

[theduckster]

Your profile looks great for Biostats. Where are you thinking of applying?

[randata]

18 hours ago, theduckster said:

Your profile looks great for Biostats. Where are you thinking of applying?

I know I want to apply to Emory and my home institution. Otherwise I'm not quite sure what would be good safeties/reaches for me. I know I want to apply to JH and UNC as reach schools.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Your letters of recommendation will probably make the difference in your case between borderline and acceptance. I would make sure that they are all very strong.  It seems as though the two biostatistics letters will be strong. However, I would recommend going with another professor besides your Calc III professor. I would definitely recommend asking a math professor for your third letter, but it may be better to go with the Real Analysis professor or the Probability professor. They can emphasize your ability to handle higher-level math, which would be seen as a huge plus.

[randata]

8 hours ago, Stat PhD Now Postdoc said:

Your letters of recommendation will probably make the difference in your case between borderline and acceptance. I would make sure that they are all very strong.  It seems as though the two biostatistics letters will be strong. However, I would recommend going with another professor besides your Calc III professor. I would definitely recommend asking a math professor for your third letter, but it may be better to go with the Real Analysis professor or the Probability professor. They can emphasize your ability to handle higher-level math, which would be seen as a huge plus.

Thank you for your recommendations. My biostatistics professors have agreed to write letters for me and I went ahead and asked my Probability professor.

Do you have any advice regarding what "tier" of program should I be aiming for?

[Stat Assistant Professor]

On 10/18/2018 at 6:14 PM, randata said:

Thank you for your recommendations. My biostatistics professors have agreed to write letters for me and I went ahead and asked my Probability professor.

Do you have any advice regarding what "tier" of program should I be aiming for?

I think the best to target would probably be schools like Emory and Vanderbilt. I would recommend that you also try for a few schools at the level of MD Anderson, in addition to UNC-Chapel Hill.

[randata]

On 10/20/2018 at 12:32 PM, Stat PhD Now Postdoc said:

I think the best to target would probably be schools like Emory and Vanderbilt. I would recommend that you also try for a few schools at the level of MD Anderson, in addition to UNC-Chapel Hill.

Thank you very much for your input! It was very helpful for finalizing my list of schools.

Other Updates

• Letters of Recommendation: All three confirmed, 1/3 submitted to all programs
• Updated GRE scores: 167Q, 164V, 4.0W