Master's Stats 2021 Profile Evaluation

[ND2troll]

Student Type: Domestic

Undergrad: Liberal Arts College (ranked around 40 among liberal arts if that matters). Graduated 2020 May.

Major: Computer Science

Minor: Economics

GPA: 3.63 (Major 4.0)

Math Coursework: AP Stats, Calc II (B+), Discrete Mathematics (A-), Multivariable Calculus (B+), Linear Algebra (B+), Operations Research (A)

CS & Econ Coursework: Data Structures (A), Algorithms Analysis (A),  Computer Organization (A), Databases (A), Special Topics in CS [manifold learning] (A) , Microeconomics (A), Macroeconomics (A-), Applied Econometrics (B+), Game Theory (A-)

GRE: Have not taken yet. From practice exam I took without studying, Q 167 V 155. Hoping to hit Q 170 V 160+ after studying. Expecting 4 or 4.5 for writing.

Research: Nothing meaningful unless you count my Econometrics research paper. I also have a Senior project, which dealt with testing Efficient Market Hypothesis by feeding daily stock returns into LSTM model, that I thought was quite lacking from quantitative/modelling perspective. 

Work Experience: Risk and Compliance summer intern at a fintech company. It was essentially a data analyst/BI engineer work (SQL and data visualization). I had to quit halfway and take a semester off due to health issues.

Letters of Recommendation:  I haven't asked, but my plan is: one from my Econometrics professor, which I expect to be decent since she first offered me to write one based on my paper and mentioned that I would do well in grad school. One from my CS advisor who oversaw my Senior Project. One from a Math professor that I took Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra with. Unfortunately, I don't know any of them very well so my LORs are probably going to be a weak part of my application.

Applications: Reach - Berkeley, U Chicago, Cornell / Upper end - UM Ann Arbor, UW Madison / Target - Texas A&M, Iowa State, UC Davis, University of Pittsburgh

Cornell and Pittsburgh are for Applied Stats and UM-AA is for data science. Also plan to pursue Statistics: Data Science for applicable programs. I have a hard time gauging how competitive my application is. I do have a major in quantitative field, a good major GPA, and expecting a high Q in the GRE, but my math/stats coursework and grades are rather weak. The fact that I haven't cultivated much relationships with professors and that I don't really have anything special to boost my app don't seem to help.

Do I have a good idea of where I fall or am I overshooting? I am planning on applying to Georgia Tech OMSA program as my safety, but I am hoping to get into at least one program from my list.

[StatsG0d]

I think your list of schools is fine. You'll probably get into most of them.

[Casorati]

Master's admissions are not super competitive and I think you could aim higher by adding more top schools such as Duke/Washington. I think Michigan is pretty safe for you.

[ND2troll]

Thanks! I think I'll probably drop a couple schools from the lower end and add a couple for reach schools.