M.S. in Stats Fall 2020 Profile Evaluation

[apartment3367]

Hi all,

Please give me some recommendations about the list of schools that I chose based on my below profile:

Undergraduate Institution: Top 5 UK University

Majors: Economics

Cumulative GPA: 4.00

Type of Student: International Asian Male

Relevant Courses:

• Probability & Statistics (A)
• Applied Statistics (A)
• Econometrics (A)
• Linear algebra (A)
• Microeconometrics
• Macroeconometrics 
• Computational Methods (Network theory, Spectral Theory, etc)

(subjects with no grades are still being taken this year)

GRE General Test: 336 (Verbal: 167 - 98% | Quantitative: 169 - 95% | AWA: 5.5 - 98%)

Research Experience: Helping an econometrics professor conduct research which applies machine learning to estimate heterogeneous treatment effects; done in R.

Coding Experience: Mostly online courses in Python and R. I have applied R in research work too. Went to summer school at an ivy league to do an introductory computer science course, got an A. 

Work Experience: 2 Non-quant internships in policy

Letter of Recommendation:

• One from my research professor
• One from another of my Econometrics professors
• One from my internship supervisor whom I got to know very well. (Should I change this for another member of academic staff, bearing in mind that my internship was mostly non-quant research based?)

Schools that I am considering:

• Columbia MS&E
• Stanford MS&E
• Berkeley Statistics 
• Upenn Statistics 
• CMU Statistics 
• Duke Business Analytics

I also have very clear intentions for why I want to take these program and a clear career path ahead for which the programs are relevant. My biggest concern is that I lack the internship and formal coding experience for these programs. 

Would appreciate it if anyone could offer their opinion on my odds of being admitted! Any other suggestions are also greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance!

Edited December 12, 2019 by IVL1998

[Stat Assistant Professor]

I don't think Penn has a Statistics Masters. Do you mean their Masters in Data Science?

Anyway, I think you have a solid chance at getting admitted to those programs. Just out of curiosity: is your ultimate goal to work in industry in the U.S.? If so, given the current climate, I would say that it is far easier for international students to get an H-1B work visa with a PhD in STEM (Statistics has recently been classified under this STEM umbrella) than it is for those with only a Masters. Even non-citizen/non-PR STEM PhD's from mid-tier universities will have an easier time finding industry employment than those with Masters from the top-tier universities. This is something that I would consider too.

Did you take real analysis as part of your undergrad? If not, then you may want to consider taking that in your MS program to prepare yourself for PhD applications if need be.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Stat PhD Now Postdoc

[Fred210]

I got into a number of the Masters programs you listed (and other of similar tier). I had no internship experience and had little formal coding experience (though I did have some small coding projects on the side). Although, I did have a very extensive math background which likely contributed to my acceptances. So, I don't think you have to worry much about your lack of internship experience and coding, as the programs tend to accept a very diverse range of students. Your scores and performance are very good so I'd bet you would get into at least one of the programs you applied to.