Statistics PhD evaluation / advice

[Spycrab]

Hello!

I am a current undergraduate senior applying to stats PhD programs for Fall 2020. I have talked to a few professors to gauge the strength of my application, but I have received a mix of answers, so more opinions would be appreciated. I am not going to list particular schools that I am considering,  as I still need to narrow that down. For now, I am more interested in what ranking / tier of schools I should be thinking about. 

Undergraduate Institution: Top 30 USNWR, Top 10 public. 

Major(s): Mathematics, Statistics, and Economics

GPA: 3.92 / 4.00

Type of Student: Domestic, White, Male

Mathematics: 

• Calculus 3 (A)
• Differential Equations (A)
• Sets and Logic (A)
• Complex Variables (A)
• Linear Algebra (A)
• Abstract Algebra(A-)
• Advanced Calculus, Two Semesters, A, A (Undergraduate level real analysis)
• Numerical Analysis (A)
• Real Analysis (IP, will be taking another semester during spring)

Computer Science:

• Programming Fundamentals (A)
• Fundamentals of Machine Learning (Current, graduate)

Statistics:

• Probability Theory (A)
• Statistics Theory (A)
• Statistical Machine Learning (A), graduate level course
• Regression Analysis (A-)
• Categorical Data Analysis (A)
• Bayesian Methods and Applications, graduate level
• Design of Experiments (A)
• Multivariate Statistical Analysis (A-)
• Theoretical Statistics (Current, graduate level, will be taking another semester during spring)

Computing languages:

• Fairly confident in R and Python from internships / courses / own time invested

GRE General: Q(168), V(170), W(5). 

GRE Math Subject: Have not taken it yet. Considering taking the October test, but I have just started studying. Not positive how essential this is, but I would be willing to put in the time if a good score would strengthen my application. 

Experience / Research:

• Working as an RA for an economics professor in my department. Mostly data level work, some web scraping, some elementary analysis. I am credited as an assistant in some of their papers. 
• Interned at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Was a very research heavy environment, albeit in Economics not statistics. 
• Summer program / Internship at Emory, bio-statistics research based
• Interned at a insurance firm, don't believe it is all that relevant. Mostly coding / automating various processes 
• Starting research this semester with one of my stats professors, not sure if any meaningful progress will be made by the time applications come around

Letters of Recommendation:

• One from my economist at the Fed. Should be fairly strong and hopefully speak to my research potential. I have heard that getting letters from industry is not always a good idea, but as the Fed is a very research oriented environment (and has sent RA's / interns to graduate school in statistics before) I am hoping it will be ok. 
• One from one of my statistics professors, who knows me very well and taught my bayesian / statistical machine learning courses
• Probably one from the  economics professor I work as an RA for
• I could attempt to get  a letter from one of my higher level math / stats course professors. Most schools seem to only require three, but allow four. Not sure if there is an advantage in doing so. 

Concerns:

1. My research background and most of my letters are tilted in favor of economics, not statistics. I am hoping that they will carry over decently, but I am not sure what the committees will think about that. 
2. Not sure how to stress the fact that some of my classes were taken at the graduate level (In the sense that most of the students are masters / PhD students). For most of these courses an undergraduate section was created so that I would not have to pay extra tuition, but their course code reflects that fact. I am not sure how / where to differentiate these classes, or even if I should.
3. Not positive where my exact research interests lie. While I have heard that research interests can change dramatically in grad school anyways, I am having a hard time narrowing down what schools interest me the most. 

Thanks in advance for any recommendations / advice you can give!

[bayessays]

You should definitely get into some top 20 schools, could definitely see top 10. Big state schools like Ohio State/TAMU are probably on the safer end for you. I'd apply widely throughout the top 30. I could definitely see you getting into any biostat program and would be pretty surprised if you didn't get into a top 5.

[Spycrab]

Hi, thanks for getting back so quickly! 

I should have mentioned in my post, but I am currently not inclined to apply to Biostats programs. 

Also, while I know that most programs don't require a math subject GRE score, would doing well on it meaningfully help improve my chances? 

[bayessays]

The subject test mostly only helps at schools that require or suggest it. Stanford is the only school I know of that requires it. Chicago, Yale, Washington, Columbia suggest it.  If you can do extremely well, it will help your chances at these schools which are reaches for everyone even with profiles as good as yours.