Profile evaluation: Stat/Biostat PhD Fall 2021

[SeekDirection]

Type of Student: International south asian

Undergrad and grad Institution: Top public university in Bangladesh 

Major: Applied Statistics 
GPA: 3.97 , class topper (BSc)

GPA: 4.00 , class topper (MSc)

GRE General Test: 152 V/ 163 Q/ 4.0 AWA

IELTS: 8.0 overall
 

Programs Applying: Statistics/ Biostatistics PhD 

 

Research Experience: 

1. One project on structural equation modeling with application in econometrics ( published)

2. Thesis on bias reduction with penalized likelihood approach for small or rare event data in AFT models (under review)

 

Teaching experience: Lecturer at a university
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 

Dean's award, CASc (ISCB41), CFDC (ISCB40), other departmental awards

 

Letters of Recommendation: 

Two from my project and thesis supervisors, one from one of my professors 

 

Math/Statistics Grades:  Calculus (A+), Real Analysis (A+), Mathematical Analysis (A+), Basic and Linear Algebra (A+),  Statistics (A+), Probability (A+),  Statistical Inference I (A+),  Statistical Inference II (A+), Regression (A+), Multivariate analysis (A+), Design of Experiments (A+), Econometrics (A+), Generalised Linear models (A+), Bayesian Statistics (A+), Survival Analysis (A+),  Longitudinal data analysis (A+), Machine Learning (A+)

 

Programming/ Software skills: R, STATA, MATLAB, Python (basic)
 

Research Interest: Mixed effect models, Survival analysis, Statistical Learning, High dimensional data analysis

 

Note: Weak points: GRE scores (though not planning to retake), limited research experience 

Schools: 

I am confused about the competitiveness of my profile for stat/biostat PhD as an international student. Any suggestion about the range of schools I might have a good shot at would be very helpful. Here are some schools I am planning to apply,

1. JHU (Biostat)

2. Upitt (Biostat)

3. Uflorida (Stat)

4. Purdue (Stat)

5. TAMU (Stat)

6. UCI (Stat)

7. UCSB (Stat)

8. UMass amherst (Stat)

Edited September 12, 2020 by SeekDirection

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Your list seems very reasonable (though JHU may be a reach). I think you will be able to get into University of Florida, as well as other schools in the range of 37-50 (i.e. Ohio State through Michigan State). Purdue and TAMU are possibilities but may be tough because they also get a lot of applications from ISI, Peking, Fudan, SNU, Yonsei, etc., and they could easily fill their incoming class with just students from those elite schools in India, China, South Korea. However, you do have a publication and another paper under review which is a very good indicator of research potential. So that might make it possible for you to compete with these other international students.

In addition to Purdue and TAMU, I think it might be worthwhile to try one or two of the following "reach" schools too: NCSU, University of Minnesota, UC Davis. You may also have luck with Biostat PhD programs ranked at or below MD Anderson. I know there was a PhD student in Biostats from my PhD institution who was from the top university in Bangladesh. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Stat Assistant Professor

[StatsG0d]

I would maybe retake the GRE if I were you. A 163 from an international student is relatively weak. As your institution as not as well-known as the ones @Stat Assistant Professor mentioned, you don't want to leave any doubts to the admissions committees. You should aim for a 167+.