MS to PhD in Biostats

[statatronic]

Type of Student: Domestic

Graduate Institution: Private university South East

Majors: Biostatistics

GPA: 3.78 graduate, 3.85 undergrad

GRE: 166, 164, 3.5 (I think this score might be expired so I may have no GRE score for this application season)

Applying to: Biostatistics phd

Research Experience: 

Applied research in critical care:  One publication on drug use after surgery, conference presentation on new neuromuscular blockade drug, Study on patients after c-section in terms of healthcare utilization

Thesis:  Focusing on different types of analysis for very rare outcomes in large nationwide healthcare datasets

Graduate Courses:  Stats Theory 1, Stats Theory 2, Applied stats 1 and 2, survival, ML, longitudinal, data science course

Did well in theory course, but got a B in first Applied stats course, which brought my grades down

Undergrad Math Courses (all A or A-): Analysis I, Calc 1-3, Linear algebra, discrete math, applied math, differential equations

Letter of Recommendations: 

Thesis mentor, professor for Stats Theory 2, another thesis mentor

Target: Duke, UNC, NC State (stats, but I've heard it is a big program that does biostats work), Amherst, Pitt, UC Denver

Reach: Yale, Columbia, Brown, John Hopkins

 

Thanks a lot.  Please let me know if I'm aiming too high/low in terms of schools.  In general, I want to be on the east coast.  

 

[Stat Assistant Professor]

What are the reputations of your undergrad and your Masters institutions (i.e. range of rankings in USNWR)? It would make a huge difference in your chances whether you attended Duke or Emory for your BS/MS vs. Charleston Southern University. 

That said, your research experience is good (one publication is great) and it seems like your academic performance is solid, regardless of the prestige of your undergrad/Masters school(s). I would say Pitt and UC Denver are very safe choices and you could aim higher (e.g. schools like UCLA and UMinnesota Biostat do not seem totally out of the question).

[Casorati]

Despite the general prestige of Ivy's, in the field of biostatistics, UNC and Hopkins are perceived to be much stronger than Duke/Columbia/Yale/Brown. However, admissions might still be very competitive at those Ivy's. Your grades look solid and I think if you attended a good school say Emory, you have a good chance of getting into schools like UNC/NC State/Columbia. You could also consider Michigan and Minnesota as they have a very solid biostatistics program. If your undergrad institution is not well-known then I would apply broadly.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Casorati

[statatronic]

Thank you so much for the responses.  This is really helpful for me.  My undergrad is top30, grad school is top20 [Based on USNWR for the overall school].

I really wasn't sure about the competitiveness of my application.  I've really enjoyed doing research, which has made me want to pursue a PhD.  

Edited September 15, 2020 by statatronic

[Stat Assistant Professor]

6 hours ago, statatronic said:

Thank you so much for the responses.  This is really helpful for me.  My undergrad is top30, grad school is top20 [Based on USNWR for the overall school].

I really wasn't sure about the competitiveness of my application.  I've really enjoyed doing research, which has made me want to pursue a PhD.  

In that case, I think you could afford to aim a bit higher than the schools that are ranked lower on your initial list. I would recommend applying to more top 10 Biostat programs, like Michigan, Minnesota, UPenn Perelman. I think you have a great shot at those, and you might be able to get into UNC too. It might be more competitive  to get into JHU, but you can certainly try your luck.