2020 Stats/Biostats PhD Profile Eval

[stglo]

I am planning to apply to Stats/ Biostats PhD programs for Fall 2020. Looking for any suggestions and advice on my profile, the list of schools I am applying to, the range of schools I should be aiming for, as well as if there are other places I should look into. Thanks in advance, any feedback will be highly appreciated!

Undergrad Institution: Large State School

Major: Math & Econ 

GPA: 3.97

 

Type of Student: International female

Relevant Courses: Calculus 1-3 (A), Probability (A), Statistical Inference 1 (A-), Linear Algebra (A), Real Analysis 1 (A), Time Series Analysis (A), Discrete Math (A), Object Oriented Programming (A-), Applied Statistics 1&2 (A), Data Science (A). Taking Real Analysis 2, Statistical Inference 2, and Stochastic Processes this semester

 

GRE General: 165 Q, 159 V, 4.5 AWA 

GRE Math Subject: Taking in October

Grad Institution: None

 

Programs Applying: Statistics and Biostatistics PhD

 

Research Experience: 

- Undergraduate research for > 1 year applying existing data science and statistical methods to perform predictions on health data. Published a few papers to health journals and presented at several conferences. 

- Semester-long independent research for my senior Econ class.

My research is mostly applied. I haven't really had any research experience in theoretical math/statistics. Will that be a cause for concern?

Teaching Experience: Graded for calculus and intro stats classes for 3 semesters.

Coding Experience: Proficient in R, Python

Letters of Recommendation:  One from research advisor, two from professors I took class with.

Research Interests: Statistical modelling, statistical methodology with real applications, non-parametric methods, causal inference

 

PhD Programs I am applying to:

North Carolina State (Statistics)

CMU (Statistics)

Columbia (Statistics)

Penn State (Statistics)

Purdue (Statistics)

Rutgers (Statistics)

George Washington University (Statistics)

University of Connecticut (Statistics)

University of Pittsburgh (Statistics)

Harvard (Biostats)

Emory (Biostats)

UCLA (Biostats)

[cyberwulf]

If you're actually interested in biostat programs, your list is odd. You've got Harvard, then two programs in the 8-12 range. With your profile, I think you have a decent chance of getting into a couple of top 8-10 biostat programs, so I would suggest that you add some of those programs (Washington, UNC, Michigan, Minnesota, Berkeley, etc.) to your list.

[stglo]

Thanks for the input, @cyberwulf! Actually, I am kind of torn between whether I should go more towards biostats or stats. On one hand, my research interests seem more geared towards biostats (statistical methodology and applications), but I also found that there are quite a few faculty from statistics dept that are doing statistics research in the biostat area. My thinking is that by going into statistics programs instead of biostats, I can still choose to do research in biostats while still keeping it general to potentially specialize in other fields with stats. Given this, do you think stats or biostats would be a better choice?

[bayessays]

Most people in top biostat departments and stat departments do research that is completely indistinguishable. They are essentially the same field.  If you are ok with writing your dissertation about a biology-related application, a biostat degree is fine and you will have the same skills afterwards. Some cases where it makes a difference: if you know you want to do very theoretical research, that is more common in statistics departments (especially outside the top 5 or so biostat departments).  Also, if you want to teach, teaching opportunities are more common in statistics departments. The cultures of the departments tend to be a little different too.  Do you want to spend your time in the liberal arts school (think basically the math department) or in the school of public health (more professional atmosphere)? 

[cyberwulf]

Outside of NC State and possibly Penn State, the stat places you list don't have a meaningful profile in the biostatistics world. Even CMU, a great stat program, doesn't really have a meaningful biostatistics footprint.

Assuming that you can find advisors doing similar things, the biggest difference you'll see as a grad student between a stat and biostat department relates to assistantships. In a stat department, these will mostly be TAships for "Stat 100" type courses. In a biostat department, these are more likely to RAships on collaborative projects where you do data cleaning, analysis, etc.

I'll point out one more thing. You likely won't identify an advisor until your second or third year, and your research interests are likely to evolve. Stat and biostat departments provide very different "evolutionary spaces" for research interests.

Edited October 25, 2019 by cyberwulf

[stglo]

I see. Thanks for all the feedback, I'll have a closer look at more biostats programs.