Stats PhD and Program Recs?

[Buddenbrooks]

Hi All,

I am looking at applying to a few statistics PhD programs, along with some applied math and others.

Student Type: Domestic White Male

Undergrad: Top 100 overall (US News Rankings)

• Major: Applied Mathematics (minors Comp. Sci. and Economics)
• GPA: 3.72
• Coursework: Linear Algebra (A), Calc I/II/III (A-,B,A-), ODE (A), Discrete Math (B+), Analysis I/II (A-,A), Applied Probability (A), Math Stats (B-), Operations Research aka some optimization (A-), Applied Machine Learning (A), Econometrics (A-), Algorithms (B+), Artificial Intelligence (A-), Data Structures (A)

Graduate: 20-30 range in both overall and graduate mathematics programs in US

• Major: Mathematics
• GPA: 4.0
• Coursework: Real Analysis I/II, Complex Analysis, Algebra I, Differential Topology, Probability I/II, Stochastic Calculus I, PDE I, Multivariate Statistics, Linear Models (GLMs, Cochran's, Gauss-Markov, High-dim.), Advanced Statistical Modeling (theory of some machine learning stuff), 
• I might take this semester: Statistical Estimation (Lehmann & Casella, Point Est.) -- I'm under the impression that stats PhD programs will want to teach you this themselves though?

GRE: V: 162, Q: 168, A: 4.0

GRE Math Subject: 760 -- Was going to take again, but I'm not sure now with the current climate. Any one recommend retaking for a higher score?

Research:

• Publications: Coauthor on 1 Comp. Sci. conference using some Bayesian methods (mid tier conference -- not NIPS/ICML/etc.), 1 top financial journal with some econometrics (Journal of Finance/Financial Economics/Financial and Quant. Analysis). 
• Misc: Semester of pure math, 1 1/2 years as a full time research associate in the operations management division at a top 10 business school, summer intern at a top quant hedge fund/prop. trading.

Letters of Recommendation:  

• 1 letter writer who I published both papers above with. Applied mathematics professor working mostly in the area of stochastics and finance.
• Several others who I'll probably switch up depending on the program: 2 profs I did recent research with (comp. sci. and finance), 2 from math profs (probability and analysis courses). 

Research Interests: My interests are still somewhat broad (and will probably change some more), but I enjoy/am interested in:

• Statistics: high dim., inference, some bayesian stuff related to time series.
• Probability: Mostly stochastic analysis (SDEs and the likes), random matrices. I get the impression only a few stats departments have faculty in this area?
• Interdisciplinary: Financial econometrics, some machine learning theory (regression based models, graphical models), and genetics (though I'm quite new to this area).

Schools: Since I will also be applying to some other programs in applied math, I'm trying to keep prospective stats programs down to about 4-6 of the best matches, while also trying to keep in mind the number of admits these programs give on average each year.

• Washington, Michigan, Columbia, North Carolina, (Wisconsin/Penn St./UCLA/Rice)? 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Buddenbrooks
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[Stat Assistant Professor]

Your profile looks pretty strong. I think Wisconsin, Penn State, UCLA, and Rice are definitely possible. Columbia, Michigan, UNC, and Washington might be slight reaches, as these are very competitive programs and there will be other domestic applicants to these programs who have better undergrad GPAs from more prestigious schools. However, your research experience is very solid, and your graduate school performance should instill enough confidence in your math abilities.

If I were you, I would apply to 4 schools in the range of Wisconsin to Rice and then pick two schools from Columbia, Michigan, UNC, and Washington to apply to (of those, I think Washington and UNC are more likely to admit you).

[Buddenbrooks]

Thanks @Stat Assistant Professor! I think I’ll follow your advice on school choice. 

Anything in the coming semester that would help boost my profile? Shooting for higher subject test GRE? Another class to take? I’m leaning towards trying to take the subject test for a higher score because it’s a little easier to do since I’m working now. However, I can take another class if it’ll really help?  

[Casorati]

You have very strong mathematical background. A good subject test score will definitely help at top places like Washington/Columbia/Chicago and I think a 80% or even 90% is attainable with some preparation given your background. I think you have a good chance of getting into top 20 and you don't need to go lower than UCLA/Rice.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Casorati

[Stat Assistant Professor]

20 hours ago, Casorati said:

You have very strong mathematical background. A good subject test score will definitely help at top places like Washington/Columbia/Chicago and I think a 80% or even 90% is attainable with some preparation given your background. I think you have a good chance of getting into top 20 and you don't need to go lower than UCLA/Rice.

I still think the likes of Columbia and Chicago might be tough. There was a combined Bachelor's/Master's American student at the school where I got my PhD from (a large flagship state university) who had done legitimate research on theoretical probability, had taken basically the entire Statistics PhD curriculum *and* a bunch of math PhD classes (measure theory, functional analysis, etc.), and he was still rejected from most of the top statistics PhD programs (he did end up at a very good program though -- one of the four "reaches" mentioned by the OP). I think the top schools are very competitive, and a sub-3.8 undergrad GPA from a less prestigious uni may have a more difficult time cracking schools like Columbia or Chicago. These schools don't accept many domestic students to begin with.

That said, the OP does have a very good profile, and I would encourage them to apply to more schools in the top 20 if they can afford it. 

Edited August 23, 2020 by Stat Assistant Professor

[Casorati]

The overall GPA usually serves as a cutoff and you can definitely pass the cutoff so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Since you have strong background in math did well in all upper division courses, I think your profile will be viewed more favourably than someone with 3.9 GPA and low grades in real analysis. I would apply to 10-20 schools since admissions are much more competitive than before. I agree that Chicago/Columbia might be reaches but I think you have a good chance of getting into UNC/Wisconsin/Penn State. 

[Buddenbrooks]

@Stat Assistant Professor @Casorati Thank you both for the commentary and advice! Much appreciated. 

I agree on Chicago. I will probably pass on their stats program, but am thinking about Booth’s Econometrics and Statistics program seeing that two LORs have published with some professors in the school. Similarly for Columbia, two LORs (ones published with) are associated with the school, or someone in the school. One is a professor whose been there 20+ years (not specifically in stats, but does some theoretical work within the area), and the other published with one of the prominent stats professors recently. 

I’m a bit naive to the whole process, but I was hoping these connections might carry some weight? My LORs hinted that targeting programs within their immediate network is probably a good idea, but didn’t guarantee anything of course. 

[Stat Assistant Professor]

1 hour ago, Buddenbrooks said:

@Stat Assistant Professor @Casorati Thank you both for the commentary and advice! Much appreciated. 

I agree on Chicago. I will probably pass on their stats program, but am thinking about Booth’s Econometrics and Statistics program seeing that two LORs have published with some professors in the school. Similarly for Columbia, two LORs (ones published with) are associated with the school, or someone in the school. One is a professor whose been there 20+ years (not specifically in stats, but does some theoretical work within the area), and the other published with one of the prominent stats professors recently. 

I’m a bit naive to the whole process, but I was hoping these connections might carry some weight? My LORs hinted that targeting programs within their immediate network is probably a good idea, but didn’t guarantee anything of course. 

Having those types of connections may indeed be helpful. It could also depend on who is on the admissions committee.

It just seems as though most of the "top" Statistics PhD programs are extremely selective about what domestic applicants they admit (to the point that some schools like Harvard and UPenn only have 1-3 domestic students enrolling each year). Some top programs like UC Berkeley, University of Washington, and Duke are a bit more flexible (in that they admit more Americans and not all from very prestigious undergrads).

[Casorati]

In this case I would definitely apply to Chicago and Columbia. Although they are tough to get in, I think your chances are above average.

Edited August 23, 2020 by Casorati