PhD in Biostatistics Fall 2020 Profile Evaluation

[Vash.181]

 

I am an International student completing Master's in an US institute. I am applying for Ph.D. programs in Biostatistics for Fall 2020. I have a good GPA, industrial and research experience and strong LORs. My main concern is my low GRE score and that I don't have any publications. I will be publishing my Master's thesis but not before I complete the applications.

Undergrad Institution: International, one of the top universities, good reputation

Major: Statistics

GPA: 72% (converted using WES - 3.58 GPA)

Grad Institution: Top 100 in USA

Degree: MS. Applied Statistics 50% scholarship

GPA: 3.89/4.0

Student: International, female

Courses: 

Courses (Sem I, II, III and IV): Fundamentals of Statistical Theory (A), Regression Analysis (A), Statistical Software – R and SAS (A), Design of Experiments (A), Predictive Analytics (B+), Design & Analysis of Clinical Trials (A), Categorical Data Analysis (A), Non-parametric Statistics and Bootstrapping (A -).

GRE: 160 Q, 150 V, 3.5 AW, scores are 3 years old

TOEFL: 104

Research/Work Experience: 3 years as a Data Analyst in a global Fortune 500 Market research company (native country), during Masters in USA - 2 and half years as a Teaching Assistant with 6 professors, 1 year as Research Assistant with 2 professors, 6 months with a startup as a Statistical Analyst Intern. Currently working as a Clinical Research Assistant within an Analysis unit at a Medical Center of a reputed University.

Judge and Mentor for a Datathon arranged for Undergrad students. Have attended a conference in 2019. Both events were associated with American Statistical Association.

Two Awards of Excellence when I worked as Data Analyst before Master's.

Won Best Teaching Assistant Award as well.  

Expecting strong Letters of Recommendation.

Applying to:

University of Rochester  Ph.D. in Statistics - concentration in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

University of Maryland - Ph.D. in Statistics  - Biostatistics and Bioinformatics concentration

University of Buffalo - Ph.D. in Biostatistics

University of California, Riverside - Ph.D. in Applied Statistics

University of California, Davis - Ph.D. in Biostatistics

Penn State - Ph.D. in Biostatistics

University of Texas, Dallas

 

Is my choice of Universities appropriate with my profile? Am I aiming too low considering my work experience, research experience and GPA.

Which of the above Universities conduct an interview before giving an admit? 

Please suggest some top universities which might be a good fit with my profile.

 

 

[shuggie]

I'm applying this year so I would take anything I say with a grain of salt, but from what I've seen on here you should probably try to boost your GRE Q by 5 pts and apply to some higher ranked programs in addition to the ones you listed. I'm not sure how important upper division math coursework is for biostat, but I'm assuming you took Calc I-III and Linear Algebra in undergrad? How were your undergrad stats grades? Real Analysis also helps if you took it, but if not I don't think it will hurt you for biostat programs outside the top 10? I'll let the more knowledgeable people comment on the specifics.

EDIT: Being international means your profile will be more heavily scrutinized.  The 150 on the Verbal might hurt you, and if your math background is weak or you had lower grades in those classes you might have a hard time competing against other international students. Again, I would advise waiting for one of the regular posters with more experience to comment.

Edited November 19, 2019 by shuggie

[Vash.181]

17 hours ago, shuggie said:

I'm applying this year so I would take anything I say with a grain of salt, but from what I've seen on here you should probably try to boost your GRE Q by 5 pts and apply to some higher ranked programs in addition to the ones you listed. I'm not sure how important upper division math coursework is for biostat, but I'm assuming you took Calc I-III and Linear Algebra in undergrad? How were your undergrad stats grades? Real Analysis also helps if you took it, but if not I don't think it will hurt you for biostat programs outside the top 10? I'll let the more knowledgeable people comment on the specifics.

EDIT: Being international means your profile will be more heavily scrutinized.  The 150 on the Verbal might hurt you, and if your math background is weak or you had lower grades in those classes you might have a hard time competing against other international students. Again, I would advise waiting for one of the regular posters with more experience to comment.

Thank you for the reply.

I had Calculus, Advanced Calculus for several variables, vector calculus, linear algebra in my undergrad. I had decent scores in them. My major was statistics and I have good scores in them as well. 

Most of schools which I am applying to has a cutoff of 300 for the GRE and mine is 310. Will that still be an issue considering my 3.89 GPA for Masters? My GRE scores are from before I did my Master's.

Which higher ranked schools do you think will be good for my profile? 

 

[mikstabio]

Your undergrad GPA is really low for an international student. Your master's mostly won't compensate for that. Research experience only helps if it is something methodological (preferably not just applying statistical models). Your letters should attest to that.  Your list is probably right. If you really want to add higher ranked places, I'd say add Emory and Vanderbilt, but they will be reaches because of size, general reputation etc. All UCs on your list will be very competitive due to location, and you should know that Maryland needs the Math gre.

Edited November 20, 2019 by mikstabio

[shuggie]

Whether it's useful or not the GRE Q has a meaningful impact in admissions, a low score will be used to disqualify your application. A 160 puts you well in the bottom quartile for the available data among Biostats applicants, and I think that will really hurt your application. I don't like the GRE, the first time I took it got a 155 on the quant and walked in 3 weeks later with a few practice tests and got a 166. I don't know why a timed test on low level math has such an impact on admissions, but it does and it's absolutely in your ability to boost your score to a 165+. I also think aiming for a 155+ verbal is probably worthwhile.