Profile Evaluation-Statistics PhD Fall 2022

[Riemannsum]

Undergraduate Institution:Top 3 in math/stat in India

Program:Bachelor of Science

Major:Math

Percentage:74%(Major)(Known for grade deflation)

Type :International Asian Male

Math/Stat courses: Analysis 1(100),2(71),3(75),Probability 1,2,Algebra 1,2 ,linear algebra ,topology,optimization,differential geometry,differential equation,complex analysis,stat 1,2,3

Masters Institution:Same above

Major:Math

Percentage:73.6%(At time of application)

Math courses:Measure theory,several variable calculus,algebraic topology,functional analysis...

GRE(general):will appear,expecting good score in quantitative section

GRE(Math)-Cancelled due to covid

Research Project-None

lor :Haven't asked,expecting average

Programs applying: Phd Statistics(Would like to work on interdisciplinary fields with emphasis on probability)

School:Please recommend the range of school I should look for with enough flexibility to do intra departmental work.Any suggestion is welcome.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Most Stat PhD students from India are from Indian Statistical Institute or University of Calcutta, and occasionally some are from IIT (though in that case, they usually do a Masters in Statistics somewhere first). Since your profile is not "typical" for a Statistics PhD student in the U.S. who is from India, it might be hard to gauge your chances.

Does your program have a track record of success in placing its students in PhD programs in the U.S.? Have graduates from your program successfully been admitted to Statistics PhD programs in the U.S. in the past? The GPA may also need some context. At ISI, it is known that anything over 80 is considered very good. Is a 74-ish considered "above average" at your institution? 

[Riemannsum]

8 hours ago, Stat Assistant Professor said:

Most Stat PhD students from India are from Indian Statistical Institute or University of Calcutta, and occasionally some are from IIT (though in that case, they usually do a Masters in Statistics somewhere first). Since your profile is not "typical" for a Statistics PhD student in the U.S. who is from India, it might be hard to gauge your chances.

Does your program have a track record of success in placing its students in PhD programs in the U.S.? Have graduates from your program successfully been admitted to Statistics PhD programs in the U.S. in the past? The GPA may also need some context. At ISI, it is known that anything over 80 is considered very good. Is a 74-ish considered "above average" at your institution? 

Thank you for your reply.New user ,didn't realize people here  know about isi.I am from isi but haven't taken many stat courses except bare essential(Didn't do particularly well in those).Do you think that hurt my chances?

Edited September 17, 2020 by Riemannsum

[Stat Assistant Professor]

6 hours ago, Riemannsum said:

Thank you for your reply.New user ,didn't realize people here  know about isi.I am from isi but haven't taken many stat courses except bare essential(Didn't do particularly well in those).Do you think that hurt my chances?

Oh, I didn't realize you were from ISI. ISI enjoys a very strong global reputation, and adcoms will be familiar with the grading situation there. So pedigree is not an issue in your case.

That said, most Statistics PhD students from ISI have a Masters degree in Statistics from ISI, so it's hard to give advice to a math major from there -- though there are a lot of international students in Statistics PhD programs in the U.S. who studied pure math too, so I don't think that would be a handicap. It's just that I'm not sure how your profile would be compared to other ISI students who have actual BSc and MS degrees in Stat.

I think (?) you might have a chance at schools like schools in the range of University of Florida through Michigan State. MSU in particular has some great probability theory people. But it might make more sense for you to talk with an academic counselor at your institution to see how you stack up against your ISI peers who have BSc and MS in Statistics.

[StatB]

Hi @Riemannsum. If I am not wrong you have done Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath) and presently doing MMath(Master of Math) at the Bangalore center of ISI. @Stat Assistant Professor has already given you some very good advice. You should definitely approach some professors in stat-math unit who are close to you.  I have seen some past students from MMath (whose interest was mainly skewed towards probability) getting accepted at UNC, MSU for their PhD in Statistics. So, perhaps you can check that and can try to contact those seniors.(If you need more help you can message me).