2020 Fall Statistics MS/ PhD Application Evaluation

[Rkk1995]

Hi there!

I graduated in December 2018, took a 6 month long hiking trip, and here I am now applying to jobs and grad school. Ideally I'd like to work until grad school starts next fall. 

I am a rising senior who will be applying to PhD programs in statistics with interest in stochastic processes, time series, high-dimensional statistics, and uncertainty quantification. Not really interested in biostats even though I have a couple of experiences with biomath research.

Undergraduate Institution: UNC Chapel Hill

Majors: Statistics and Analytics

GPA: 3.81/4.0

Major GPA: 3.97/4.0

Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male

Courses taken:

• Math: 
  • Calc 3 (B+) (fml was lazy )
  •  Linear Algebra (A)
  • Economical Statistics(A)
  • Probability (A-)
  • Differential Equations (A)
  • Discrete Math (A) (proof class basically)
  • Statistical Methods I (A)
  • Spreadsheet models (A)
  • Intro to Optimization (A-)
  • Stochastic Modeling (A)
  • Simulation (A)
  • Advanced methods of Data Analysis (A)
• Other:  
  • Intro to CS (A)
  • MicroEconomic theory (A)
  • Corporate Finance (A)

 

GRE General Test:  161 V/ 166 Q/ 4 Writing

(Should I retake this and try to get 168+ Q?)

 

Work experience (internships):

Statistical Consultant at Deloitte 2017

Actuary at Lincoln financial ( 2 exams completed) 2015

 

Letters of Recommendation: 3 strong letters from professors. 1 From humanities, 2 from stats

Masters:

UNC stats

UNC biostats

NC state Stats

Wake Forest stats

Would I be competitive at these places? Would these be considered safety or reach schools for me? Should I apply lower down the rankings list to secure a safety school?

As for why I didn't apply for any outside of state programs is I'd rather not be 120k in debt after since most masters places dont provide any assistance. I'm not sure if its worth it to apply for out of state masters like  Washington/ Uchicago? Am I wrong to think this way?

PHD:

This leads me to consider phd programs due to funding as well.  I want to do around 10 applications so that leaves 5-6 PhD programs I can apply to. Do you think I would have a decent shot at getting into my state PhD programs such as UNC or NCstate? What about the top programs like Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, Washington, Duke, etc.?

 

Thank you so much for reading this and have a good day

Edited August 30, 2019 by Rkk1995

[bayessays]

You should be competitive for master's programs. Your math background is pretty thin for top PhD programs, especially in statistics.  I'd say UNC biostat is a slight reach but applying to biostat programs in the 5-15 range (of biostat programs alone) would be worthwhile. 

[Rkk1995]

Just now, bayessays said:

You should be competitive for master's programs. Your math background is pretty thin for top PhD programs, especially in statistics.  I'd say UNC biostat is a slight reach but applying to biostat programs in the 5-15 range (of biostat programs alone) would be worthwhile. 

Thanks for replying. So in regards to masters programs, I would be competitive for all my state masters programs. Would any of these be safetys?

And you suggest to not apply for statistics PhDs but rather biostatistics PhDs? I was thinking of applying to the UNC statistics PhD for sure since I know some of the faculty.

[bayessays]

I don't know enough about masters to say that anything is a safety.  UNC has a great statistics department and in general I would say your math background is a little thin for that, but personal relationships obviously throw everything up in the air - I'd talk to your professors.