Undergrad research in area other than stats

[mathmollusk]

Hello all. So currently I'm a double major in math and philosophy and I'm doing an undergrad research internship with a professor in the philosophy department. However, my goal is ultimately to go on to grad school (preferably PhD) in stats. What I'm wondering is whether this philosophy research will benefit my application at all (maybe by showing that I can generally do 'research'?) or whether it will have absolutely no bearing on whether I get into stats PhD's since it's not in stats. Thanks for the help.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

It probably won't have much bearing, since it is not relevant to PhD research in Statistics.

[mathmollusk]

1 hour ago, Stat PhD Now Postdoc said:

It probably won't have much bearing, since it is not relevant to PhD research in Statistics.

Ok, good to know. Thank you!

[cyberwulf]

3 hours ago, Stat PhD Now Postdoc said:

It probably won't have much bearing, since it is not relevant to PhD research in Statistics.

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Very few undergrads have done "meaningful" (i.e., publishable in good journals) research in statistics before they apply. Hence, committees look for evidence of research potential, which can certainly be inferred from contributions to research projects in some other field. Plus, your research advisor will hopefully say nice things about your intellect, work ethic, etc. that are relevant to any field.

[Gauss2017]

The other thing is was it done in logic, meta mathematics or set theory which are  important foundations for math

[Stat Assistant Professor]

3 hours ago, cyberwulf said:

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Very few undergrads have done "meaningful" (i.e., publishable in good journals) research in statistics before they apply. Hence, committees look for evidence of research potential, which can certainly be inferred from contributions to research projects in some other field. Plus, your research advisor will hopefully say nice things about your intellect, work ethic, etc. that are relevant to any field.

My mistake. Thanks for correcting. I knew most undergrads had not done publishable research in statistics, but I assumed it would only be considered a bonus if it was in a STEM area or a quantitative discipline (like quantitative economics or something). Good to know it helps even if it is in humanities. OP: please disregard my previous comment.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Stat PhD Now Postdoc