Fall 2020 Statistics Applicant Thread

[noinim]

Thank you @Geococcyx and @bayessays! Will definitely ask about dissertation/placements and potentially contact programs about alternate dates. (The dates aren’t conflicting, it was just a personal work related thing.)

[SomeNerd]

6 hours ago, softdrink said:

anyone heard back from U of Florida? I saw some got rejection on the result page, but no acceptance.

Nope. I emailed them about 10 days ago, they said "The admissions committee is currently reviewing applications. We do not have a specific time frame as to when decisions will be made but if anything else is needed the committee will contact you directly."

That's it. But on people's signature on this post I saw some declined offer from UF. 

[softdrink]

2 hours ago, SomeNerd said:

Nope. I emailed them about 10 days ago, they said "The admissions committee is currently reviewing applications. We do not have a specific time frame as to when decisions will be made but if anything else is needed the committee will contact you directly."

That's it. But on people's signature on this post I saw some declined offer from UF. 

Thanks! 

[Rose_Grad]

I applied to Harvard, Columbia, Brown, BU, Emory, GWU, UT Houston  all MS Biostatistics. I got accepted to UT Houston (12/16), GWU (1/13), Columbia(2/3), Emory(2/20)(accepted as Epi). I got rejected from BU (2/3), Brown(2/20)

Edited February 24, 2020 by Rose_Grad

[shuggie]

Do the veterans here have any advice on what other questions to ask post acceptance?

 

I've got a generic list of ~8-10 questions including typical TA duties, availability of RAships, placement, maybe a research question if I'm talking to faculty I'd like to work with, talking to other students, but I'm probably missing points that might have a major impact on my decision. Any information that you wish you had known before committing to a program?

[bayessays]

@shuggie I'd try to figure out availability of advisors (is there competition to work with certain professors?). Figure out any questions about funding you might still have, like whether you'll be funded in summers and what type of travel support there is.

I'd also try to get a gauge of the sense of community in the department and whether people seem happy.  Keep in mind they'll likely be showing you the happiest students on your visit and not the disgruntled ones.  Your first two years will basically be coursework.  Do people work together and seem to be friends with their fellow students?  Are people stressed about qualifying exams all the time? 

I'd look at coursework/quals in general a little bit, not so much for their content matter, but for stress/time purposes.  Some departments have 2 years of qualifying exams and 3 years of coursework, some places have 1 year of courses and no quals - big difference. Ask about qualifying exam passing rates.  If you are confident in your math abilities , it shouldn't be a huge issue, but some departments have pretty theoretical qualifying exams that weed out quite a few (usually domestic) students who are weaker at math. 

I would also get a good look at the facilities.  You'll be spending a lot of time in the department's buildings, and it can get depressing if you go somewhere without windows for 10 hours a day.

[lovestat]

Have anyone received an email about the details of CMU department open house?

[DanielWarlock]

On 2/22/2020 at 7:24 PM, softdrink said:

Thanks! 

I was rejected from UF this morning. I'm actually very curious of how all admission works. My profile got me into several top 10 programs but not good enough to get me into UF, Minnesotta, Michigan which are ranked much inferiorly? I have very good interests match with UF faculties. This makes me wonder. 

Edited February 25, 2020 by DanielWarlock

[Stat Assistant Professor]

53 minutes ago, DanielWarlock said:

I was rejected from UF this morning. I'm actually very curious of how all admission works. My profile got me into several top 10 programs but not good enough to get me into UF, Minnesotta, Michigan which are ranked much inferiorly? I have very good interests match with UF faculties. This makes me wonder. 

If there is anything that I learned from being in academia, it is that there is quite a bit of randomness in the whole process. Just as with PhD admissions, if you apply to faculty jobs, you will find that a lot of people with *incredible* CV's are routinely being passed over as well, even at mid-tier institutions. These other schools you mentioned also get tons of applications from very qualified applicants (particularly international ones) who also have legitimate research experience (e.g. http://xumaoran.com/). I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just celebrate your acceptances to amazing schools.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Stat PhD Now Postdoc

[StatsG0d]

3 hours ago, DanielWarlock said:

I was rejected from UF this morning. I'm actually very curious of how all admission works. My profile got me into several top 10 programs but not good enough to get me into UF, Minnesotta, Michigan which are ranked much inferiorly? I have very good interests match with UF faculties. This makes me wonder. 

Some programs will not accept you if they think that you wouldn't accept their offer because it will affect their yield.

[IdoMath]

Just been accepted into Drexel University. Their PhD program is new, they have no graduates yet. What do you guys think about their department?

[icantdoalgebra]

5 hours ago, DanielWarlock said:

I was rejected from UF this morning. I'm actually very curious of how all admission works. My profile got me into several top 10 programs but not good enough to get me into UF, Minnesotta, Michigan which are ranked much inferiorly? I have very good interests match with UF faculties. This makes me wonder. 

I wasn't aware that Michigan was ranked much inferior to top 10 programs. considering that its 11 overall including biostats programs if US News is what you use. 

[softdrink]

8 hours ago, DanielWarlock said:

I was rejected from UF this morning. I'm actually very curious of how all admission works. My profile got me into several top 10 programs but not good enough to get me into UF, Minnesotta, Michigan which are ranked much inferiorly? I have very good interests match with UF faculties. This makes me wonder. 

did you apply statistics phd for top10 too? not biostatistics?

I have not heard anything back yet from UF.  each school looks like they have a little bit different criteria.

[softdrink]

Usually middle ranking university offers 2nd round offer? I wonder turnover rate(?). It will be different year by year, but I wonder general trend.

[SomeNerd]

4 hours ago, icantdoalgebra said:

I wasn't aware that Michigan was ranked much inferior to top 10 programs. considering that its 11 overall including biostats programs if US News is what you use. 

although their biostats and stats are separate departments (actually pretty far from each other as well), their biostats did claim to be the #1 in the nation. I don't know where they get it from but that is what they told me when I visited past summer. 

[SomeNerd]

1 hour ago, softdrink said:

Usually middle ranking university offers 2nd round offer? I wonder turnover rate(?). It will be different year by year, but I wonder general trend.

Emailed UT Austin and they said 2nd round offer will come out no later than the end of March. From record, Colorado State's 2nd round would come before or during the last week of March. So I guess they are all trying to make it before national response deadline April 15th at least. 

[likewater]

michigan biostat being #1 in statistical genetics is plausible (and what was told to me during interviews by people at michigan and even at other places), but being #1 overall seems difficult unless you are using a very "unique" shall we say set of guidelines to determine your rankings

[SomeNerd]

18 hours ago, likewater said:

michigan biostat being #1 in statistical genetics is plausible (and what was told to me during interviews by people at michigan and even at other places), but being #1 overall seems difficult unless you are using a very "unique" shall we say set of guidelines to determine your rankings

yes that sounds about right. Actually the department I visited was called "center for statistical genetics." Seems like a legit place to go, lots of good faculty & plenty of funding. 

[dberlind]

Anyone have an idea what the odds of getting off Chicago's waitlist are like?

[Robbentheking]

13 hours ago, dberlind said:

Anyone have an idea what the odds of getting off Chicago's waitlist are like?

This is probably not helpful, but I do know someone who was accepted off the waitlist a couple years back. It's not a black hole with probability 1. 

[Robbentheking]

On 2/25/2020 at 10:28 AM, DanielWarlock said:

I was rejected from UF this morning. I'm actually very curious of how all admission works. My profile got me into several top 10 programs but not good enough to get me into UF, Minnesotta, Michigan which are ranked much inferiorly? I have very good interests match with UF faculties. This makes me wonder. 

Michigan is really good so I wouldn't put too much into that. But I second the comments about randomness in the applications, as well as the idea that some schools would not send an admit if they think you won't go. 

[moocha]

Is anyone familiar with UCSD biostat program? I got an offer but I can't decide if I should take it... Any comments or ideas?

[Jasmine Ng]

does anyone hearing from PSU biostatistics?

[stats_grad]

I still have not heard back from Berkeley (Statistics PhD). I saw there were both acceptances about two weeks ago/yesterday and then a bunch of rejections yesterday. What should I make of that? Am I waitlisted? Do they send out rejections/admits on a rolling basis? 

[ENE1]

1 hour ago, stats_grad said:

I still have not heard back from Berkeley (Statistics PhD). I saw there were both acceptances about two weeks ago/yesterday and then a bunch of rejections yesterday. What should I make of that? Am I waitlisted? Do they send out rejections/admits on a rolling basis? 

I can't answer that at all but just wanted to say that's rough.

I got a rejection today and was just glad to finally know for sure. Had been expecting it for 2.5 weeks.