Rutgers University PhD in Statistics

[MahanDastgiri]

Hi all!

I got an acceptance from Rutgers University for the PhD program in Statistics and I want to ask how do you view this department?

The university comes in the top 40 Statistics programs, however, I rarely saw its name being mentioned while talking about Statistics PhDs. That is why I am a bit concerned as this is my only funded acceptance. Any information and comments on the department or specific faculties will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Mahan

Edited April 23, 2020 by MahanDastgiri

[bayessays]

I don't know anything about the internal workings of the department, but it's appropriately ranked and has some really good people. Seems comparable to places like UIUC and OSU.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Rutgers is a very solid department, with some excellent professors like Cun-Hui Zhang (very famous) and Zhiqiang Tan. Some of their recently hired Assistant Professors are also very impressive, e.g. Zijian Guo and Pierre Bellec. 

It seems like the vast majority of PhD graduates from this department go into industry, but that may be because they have a preference to stay in the greater NYC region.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Stat Postdoc Soon Faculty

[BL250604]

They have a strong industry focus but are a very solid department. Last time I checked, I believe they still had a foreign language requirement? I'm not positive, however if that still remains... I know some of the professors there are and some grad students as I have a connection with DIMACS at Rutgers.

[MahanDastgiri]

Thank you @bayessays, @Stat Postdoc Soon Faculty, and @BL250604 for the information you provided. It definitely helped hearing your positive opinions on the department.

I have also heard about the university having hard time keeping students in academia, however, that should not be a problem for me as I'm interested to go into industry for the time being.  

[MahanDastgiri]

10 hours ago, BL250604 said:

They have a strong industry focus but are a very solid department. Last time I checked, I believe they still had a foreign language requirement? I'm not positive, however if that still remains... I know some of the professors there are and some grad students as I have a connection with DIMACS at Rutgers.

I haven't heard or been told about the foreign language requirement. But thank you for this. I will check with the department. 

[BL250604]

Here is the foreign language requirement, check under "Language Requirement." It seems now you may choose a "computer language," however this was not the case when I spoke with the department before my application cycle. 

https://www.stat.rutgers.edu/graduate-academics/phd-degree-program 

[MahanDastgiri]

9 hours ago, BL250604 said:

Here is the foreign language requirement, check under "Language Requirement." It seems now you may choose a "computer language," however this was not the case when I spoke with the department before my application cycle. 

https://www.stat.rutgers.edu/graduate-academics/phd-degree-program 

Thank you for the link, I appreciate it. I did not know about this requirement. Computer language should be easier and more practical I guess.