Fall 2020 PhD application evaluation

[ENE1]

Hi there!

Thanks in advance for reading and for any advice. It is very much appreciated.

 

Undergrad: Top Australian Uni

Majors: Maths and Statistics (double major).

Honours in maths - sort of like a 1yr research Masters degree (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honours_degree#Australia)

 

GPA: 3.9+/4

 

Relevant Courses:

Maths:

The standard calculus, linear algebra, group theory. Real analysis, measure theory, functional analysis. A class in ODEs. Advanced algebra (algebraic topology, algebraic geometry, representation theory, etc.) A bunch of graduate level courses.

Stats:

Regression (linear, logistic etc.), mathematical statistics, stochastic, statistical inference.

Comp Sci:

Databases, information theory, computation theory, algorithms, AI, logic.

 

GREs: Haven’t taken.

 

Awards: 

Top of the class for first three years.

Scholarship for Honours year.

Scholarships for summer research projects.

 

Research:

Some research projects in maths at uni (two summer research projects mentioned above). Honours thesis (6 months, full time equivalent).

 

Work Experience:

Applied statistics in health research (while I was at uni). No authorships but was acknowledge in some publications. I graduated a few years ago and currently working full time in statistics and doing research. Hopefully will have submitted some papers by the end of the year.

 

Schools I’d like to apply for:

- Stanford or UC Berkeley (reach)

- Michigan Ann-Arbour

- Washington

- UC Davis (backup? See question below.)

 

Letters of Recommendations:

I’m a bit unsure of who to ask here. There are a few people who I could ask:

- My Honours supervisor, but he might not give me the best recommendation. (My thesis wasn’t the best and I don’t think I really lived up to his expectations.) I feel like if I don’t get a letter from him, then the admissions committee will wonder why.

- Another maths professor who I took a few advanced courses with, but I haven’t done any research with. (He also got his PhD from UC Berkeley, which I would like to apply to; and he is reasonably ‘famous’ in his area (a field of pure mathematics).) I think he would write me a good letter.

- I did a research project with another maths professor for a semester. We had a really good relationship but that was over three years ago and we haven’t talked since. I think he would have written me a good letter at the time, but I don’t know if he’ll remember me now.

- Supervisors at my current job. They’re not academics, but do have connections to academia (e.g. adjunct professor and editor of academic journal). And they would be able to support my claim of research in my job.

- My supervisor in health research. They’re at an Australian university, but they don’t teach and they work in health. The research I did for them was very applied.

- I don’t know any statistics professors who I could ask (I don’t think any of them would remember me).

 

I'm a little lost because: 1) I’ve been out of university for a few years, so it's hard to get advice on that. 2) I'm in Australia, and I want to go to the US, so I’ve got less knowledge on US admissions. I’ve been reading lots of posts on this site and I’m already understanding a lot more, but I have some personal questions.

 

Questions:

- How will attendance at an Australian uni affect my chances of admission? Is there anything I can do to increase my chances, as a Australian?

- I’m worried about my lack of research experience. I don’t have any published papers. I have a few in the pipeline that will hopefully be submitted before application deadlines. But they definitely won’t be accepted before I finish writing apps, so I’m not sure how much weight the committee will give them. Is this a problem with my application or is this okay?

- Should I take the maths GRE? I’ll have to do a fair bit of study, because I haven’t looked at that content in three or four years. And I’m not confident I’ll do super well, given the time pressure. I also think that my transcript is evidence of a strong maths background, but it’s from an Australian university, so it may not hold as much weight. A lot of schools I’ve looked at encourage the maths GRE, but don’t require it.

- Who should I chose to write my recommendation letters? My current supervisors are more recent and know me better. But they are not academics. 

- Is it worth applying for top schools? What are my chances? Am I aiming too high? Should I apply to less prestigious schools? Any recommendations on this? Are any of the schools I've listed 'safe bets' or am I at risk of being rejected from them all?

- I’m interested in topological data analysis. Does anyone know schools with research groups in this area? I’m also interested in formal privacy and am wondering if there are any statistics schools with researchers in this area. (I know that it’s mostly a field for computer scientists, but from reading publications, it seems like there are a few statisticians with research interests in privacy.)

 

Thanks again in advance. I look forward to any and all advice! Cheers.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Re: your chances at top-tier programs. Your profile looks quite strong, and I think you have a definite chance at the top Stats programs in the U.S. If you went to a top university in Australia like Australian National University, University of Sydney, or University of Melbourne, you should be fine. These schools are regularly ranked among the top 50 universities in the world, and they are also known for rigor in their mathematics programs. I have seen Australians from the aforementioned universities graduate from the likes of Stanford Statistics and UPenn Wharton Statistics (e.g. Giles Hooker). For someone like you, I would recommend applying to most/all of the top programs in the U.S., including UC Berkeley, UChicago, Columbia, Washington, etc. and a few large state schools like Texas A&M, Minnesota, and Purdue for good measure. I think you should definitely be able to get into University of Washington, and you have an excellent shot at a place like Berkeley as well. 

Re: letters of recommendation. You should aim to get the strongest possible letters of recommendation from people who can speak to your research potential. You do not need to have published any papers to have a chance at Statistics or Math PhD programs (that's what the PhD program is to help train you to do!), but you need to display evidence of research potential in your application. I think you have pretty good evidence of that. Your supervisor who is the editor of an academic journal would be fine as an LOR writer, as would the supervisor in applied health research. Ideally they would mention in their LORs that they work in a research capacity and that they conduct research that is published in academic journals. At least one letter should also point to your excellent performance in advanced mathematics and your strong mathematical aptitude.

Re: subject GRE. You will need to take the math subject GRE if you want to have a chance at Stanford. Otherwise, you could probably do without it.

Re: your research interests. Off the top of my head, University of Washington is strong for TDA, and Carnegie Mellon is strong for both TDA and differential privacy. I would say that for your specific interests, UW and CMU are two of the strongest programs in those areas among the top-tier programs in the U.S. (though it's possible that other top-tier programs are also particularly strong in these two areas, I just may not be aware of it). 

Edited September 8, 2019 by Stat PhD Now Postdoc

[Geococcyx]

It's probably a little lower than where you're aiming, but I think Duke stat has good people in TDA (Sayan Mukherjee) and privacy research (Jerry Reiter), although my lack of knowledge of differential privacy makes the second point a bit speculative.

[ENE1]

Thanks @Stat PhD Now Postdoc for the insightful advice. And thanks @Geococcyx for the references -- I will look those people up.

If anyone has any more suggestions/advice, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

[bayessays]

On 9/8/2019 at 10:25 AM, Geococcyx said:

It's probably a little lower than where you're aiming, but I think Duke stat has good people in TDA (Sayan Mukherjee) and privacy research (Jerry Reiter), although my lack of knowledge of differential privacy makes the second point a bit speculative.

Absolutely, these are the two people I think of when I think of these fields.  Definitely apply to Duke. 

[ENE1]

I have received a government scholarship which will pay for my living stipend, coursework/researcher fees and health insurance for 5 years. I assume this will help in my application, but I'm wondering how much of a help this would be. 

Are the cohort sizes at top unis (e.g. Harvard, UC Berkeley, etc.) restricted by funding (so they'll be happy to admit me now I have outside funding)? Or are the cohort sizes restricted by other factors (so having outside funding doesn't make much of a difference, and it's still very hard to get accepted)?

To be clear, this is a scholarship for any university, but I still have to get admitted by the uni.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

1 hour ago, ENE1 said:

I have received a government scholarship which will pay for my living stipend, coursework/researcher fees and health insurance for 5 years. I assume this will help in my application, but I'm wondering how much of a help this would be. 

Are the cohort sizes at top unis (e.g. Harvard, UC Berkeley, etc.) restricted by funding (so they'll be happy to admit me now I have outside funding)? Or are the cohort sizes restricted by other factors (so having outside funding doesn't make much of a difference, and it's still very hard to get accepted)?

To be clear, this is a scholarship for any university, but I still have to get admitted by the uni.

That should help your application. Your profile is strong enough that you probably would have been admitted to at least one of (likely several of) Harvard, Berkeley, UPenn Wharton, Columbia, Duke, University of Washington, etc. regardless. But I think this will definitely help your application. I assume these government scholarships are very competitive to get, and it looks great on your application.

[ENE1]

I took the GRE for the first time today. My scores were 164 (V) and 169 (Q). Should I resit for a higher score? Do admission boards care about the difference between 169 and 170, or is it negligible compared to other parts of the application? I assume my verbal score is good enough, given that quantitative is the main concern for stats admissions, right?

[bayessays]

Your score is wonderful. Do not think of retaking.

[ENE1]

6 minutes ago, bayessays said:

Your score is wonderful. Do not think of retaking.

Thanks bayessays! That's great to hear.

[ENE1]

Thanks everyone for your help. I just submitted my last application. I ended up applying to UC Davis, UC Berkeley, Carnegie, Penn State, Washington, Colorado, Harvard and Duke. Fingers crossed!

[BL250604]

Best of luck, I'm optimistic! Please do keep us posted.