Statistic PhD Evaluation Request (Soon to be junior)

[Stats951]

Hi all :). Hope you're having a good week.

I am  a soon to be junior starting this summer at University of California Riverside (I am a community college transfer).

Classes taken at community college: General Ed, Calculus Series, Differential Equations and Linear Algebra, Physics 1 and 2 (calculus based), C++1 and C++2 -- 4.0 GPA for all classes.

EC's: None. Projects: None. I have sat for Actuary Exam Probability (almost passed it).

I am a math major at University of California Riverside. Classes I will take:

1) Math 151 ABC (Advanced Calculus Series)

2) Math146 ABC (Partial Differential Equations Series)

3) Math 168 (Introduction to Mathematical Modeling)

4) Math 144 (Set Theory)

5) Math 145 (Topology)

6) Math 131 (Linear Algebra)

7) Math 135AB (Numerical Analysis Series)

? Math Electives: Math 120 (Optimization), Math 121 (Game Theory), Math 126 ( Combinatorics)

On top of that for statistics PhD, I will take:

1) Stats 160 ABC (Elements of Probability and Statistical Theory Series).

2) Stat 170A (Regression Analysis)

 

* As a side note, senior year, I have an option to take graduate level series: Math 209 ABC (Real Analysis Series) as long as if I do good in the Math 151 ABC (Advanced Calculus Series); Is this definitely recommended for all programs? I am quite timid from Real Analysis as I saw a qualifying exam study guide for it and it looks pretty scary.

 

What GPA will I need to keep at university to be considered a competitive applicant for public universities like Arizona State, Arizona, University of California Schools, Florida State, etc.?

Next year I plan to do a math/stats REU, but what else can I do to bolster my resume/CV? 

Are the classes I listed above, excluding Real Analysis Series, sufficient for statistics PhD programs? 

Will PhD programs judge me differently because I took lower division coursework at community college?

Since University of California Riverside is low ranking school, will committee for PhD judge me differently compared to higher ranked schools?

Should I take GRE and Math GRE? Or only GRE? When should I start studying for GRE/Math GRE?

Any other general advice for me would be appreciated. Thank you. 

[Stat Assistant Professor]

1) Is the "Advanced Calculus" series the same as a baby real analysis class? And what is the content of the Math 209 ABC sequence? I know some math graduate programs insist on reteaching their first year grad students the "accelerated" undergrad analysis sequence at the level of the Rudin textbook unless they can test out of it. If the Math 209 ABC sequence is stuff like convergence of sequences and series, pointwise vs. uniform continuity, metric spaces, Riemann integral, etc., then I absolutely recommend that you take this sequence. You need to be fairly comfortable with doing mathematical proofs at this level if you're going to be doing even harder ones in a Stat PhD program.

2) If you can keep your GPA above a 3.7, I would say you can actually aim higher than ASU and FSU. The "sweet spot" for you would probably be TAMU, Penn State, and UMinnesota, but you could certainly afford to try a school or two like NCSU or University of Washington if your GPA is good. 

3) I think the summer REU is a good thing to have on your CV. Doing an undergrad thesis might also help, but this isn't strictly necessary.

4) I think your list of classes is good. It may be helpful to take a proof-intensive linear algebra class as well (not sure if Math 131 contains proofs... if so, I think you are good).

5) I don't think they will care that your lower division coursework was at community college. Just do well in your upper division classes at UCR.

6) You probably don't stand a chance at a school like Harvard, UPenn Wharton, Chicago, or Stanford because your degree will be from UCR, but I think you should be fine for schools at the level of NCSU and below (and may even be able to get into a school like University of Washington, which does accept some students from schools like Utah State, etc.). UCR is not a super-low ranked or unranked school (it's still in the top 100 according to USNWR), and it's not an unknown regional school or tiny, nonprestigious SLAC. And since you are a domestic student, even if you were from a regional school or a tiny SLAC, you could still get into schools at the level of FSU if you had a really high GPA.

7) You need to take the general GRE and ideally score 160 or higher on the Quantitative section, but I would not recommend taking the Math Subject GRE unless your math GPA is hovering around 3.5 or lower (then taking the Subject test and scoring well on it might alleviate some potential concerns about your ability to handle graduate-level courses in stats).

Edited March 16, 2019 by Stat PhD Now Postdoc

[Geococcyx]

Looking at the syllabi for the 151ABC and 209ABC sequence syllabi, I think you'll probably end up stronger than Stat PhD Now Postdoc thought you might -- 151 appears to go up through Lebesgue integration.  I can't really assess measure theory curricula, but 209ABC appears to cover the dominated convergence theorem, theorems by Fubini, Tonelli, Egoroff, and Lusin, Fatou's lemma, and Borel measures among many other topics, which are all probably beyond the more basic real analysis topics Stat PhD Now Postdoc thought the sequence might consist of.  If you got through the 151 and 209 sequences with, say, all A's, I suspect schools would look pretty favorably on your analysis background.  

That part excepted, I'd take all of the previous post's advice and assessment to heart.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

9 minutes ago, Geococcyx said:

Looking at the syllabi for the 151ABC and 209ABC sequence syllabi, I think you'll probably end up stronger than Stat PhD Now Postdoc thought you might -- 151 appears to go up through Lebesgue integration.  I can't really assess measure theory curricula, but 209ABC appears to cover the dominated convergence theorem, theorems by Fubini, Tonelli, Egoroff, and Lusin, Fatou's lemma, and Borel measures among many other topics, which are all probably beyond the more basic real analysis topics Stat PhD Now Postdoc thought the sequence might consist of.  If you got through the 151 and 209 sequences with, say, all A's, I suspect schools would look pretty favorably on your analysis background.  

That part excepted, I'd take all of the previous post's advice and assessment to heart.

Thanks for the clarification! Based on your description, the 209ABC sequence is definitely a PhD-level real analysis sequence (you need to know concepts from measure theory like product measure and Lebesgue integrability in order to study/understand Fubini and Fatou Lemma), and it is not strictly necessary for the OP to take this -- of course, if they did and performed well in this PhD level sequence, it would certainly strengthen the application and they may even be able to try a school like Duke or University of Washington. Even if they don't take this sequence, they should still be a competitive candidate for schools like TAMU, PSU, UMN, and Purdue if they have a strong GPA.

OP, it's up to you if you want to take the 209ABC sequence, but the 151ABC sequence would suffice for getting into a Statistics PhD program (the Stat PhD program would teach you Fubini, Lebesgue dominated convergence theorem, and Borel sets as part of their PhD curriculum).

[Stats951]

Great, thank you all. I will try very hard in my classes at UCR. I will be in touch in a year or so once I become a senior.