Does a pathway to a PhD exist for me?

[cikerocks]

Hi,

I will be a junior next year and I hope to do a PhD in statistics/biostatistics in the future and possibly work in pharma, but my grades are not stellar. Based on my profile, is this plan viable? Should I pursue a masters first? I've seen a lot of threads in the forum and everyone seems to have crazy high grades at top places... I understand that I won't have a chance at top programs, but do I have a chance at programs that are decent/well regarded in industry?

Domestic Male non URM

UG: Rutgers

GPA: 3.49

Major: Joint Math/Statistics

Math Courses: Calc III (B+),  Intro Linear (C+), Elem Diff Eq (B), Theory of Probability (A), Theory of Statistics (A)

This is my main problem, smoked too much weed and partied too much, failed my math courses in the beginning of my college career cause I didn't study but started grinding at the end of the last year and got As in statistics/probability theory classes. I'm pretty confident I can get As and I will be taking advanced versions like normal linear and real analysis junior year fall as well as a grad level probability theory course, will good grades in these classes be enough to offset my grades in the beginning?

Research:

Contributed to a public policy literature review that was eventually published, completely unrelated and nontechnical

Programming research with navigation algorithms, also unrelated to statistics

 

Obviously my recs and GRE are still TBD, and I will grind hard to try to get them as strong as possible. I'm looking for advice on which classes to take in order to best improve my application, and also other general advice. I know I am fighting an uphill battle and will accept all criticism

Thank you!!

Edited August 5, 2020 by cikerocks

[MathStat]

First of all don't feel bad about a bad start, it happens. I have gotten to learn many stories of famous statisticians who partied in undergrad then discovered their math/stat passion and made it to top programs and very successful careers later on. 

From my experience with Stat PhD admissions, a sure-fire way to earn the admission committee's respect is to get As in grad level math classes, particularly in analysis and probability (which build the foundation of statistics). If I were you, I'd work my way up by taking the honors analysis classes offered at your school, then measure theory, then measure theoretical probability. Taking the courses I mentioned should take 2 years. In addition to that, a sure-fire way to impress committees is to have math research with professors at your university. In all honestly, what I have noticed is that, at many universities, math professors are much more open to taking students for research projects than stat professors. Of course, stat professors can also mentor you, but typically, undergrad stat research is just doing a small improvement to an algorithm or working with data which IMO is not enough to shine in your applications. 

All of this should take your junior and senior year, then perhaps you should take a gap year in which you work as a research assistant/in industry and in which you complete your actual applications to programs. In all honesty, I think masters programs entail such a massive financial burden and/or debts that I am seriously wondering if they are worth it anymore. At the same time, going to a very poorly ranked/bad department is not really ideal, although if there are good advisors there/good industry placements, then I guess, why not? These are the main reasons why I suggested a gap year to gain more time and build up a strong app for top places. By doing this you will at the same time figure out if a stat phd is what you really want (I think you have not yet taken enough courses to form a strong opinion, but you should figure out quickly once you take more advanced classes.)

Of course, take all this advice with a grain of salt as it is partially based on the path I took (i.e. math grad level classes and math research) which yielded much better results than I expected. It also tremendously helped me to have letters from famous professors, so try to work with such people at your university. 

There are of course many more possible paths, and I will let more experience posters on this forum comment on this too. 

Edited August 5, 2020 by MathStat

[bayessays]

Get As in a few more math classes, get as close to a 170 on your GRE as possible, and convince a few professors that you are smart and hard-working and you'll be fine, especially if your goal is just a decent biostat program for industry.

[bayessays]

Source: My grades were essentially the same in the same classes going into my junior year.