Statistics PhD Profile Evaluation / Fall '21

[Nothalfgood]

I'm in the process of finding a good list of statistics PhD programs to which I will apply in the coming months. My main plug for my application materials and essays is that I'm a strong expository writer with an interest in science communication (beyond just the usual things relevant to statistics). I consider my resume pretty strong overall, but my school does not have a big department with graduate course offerings in analysis or algebra or probability, etc. (Anything beyond the most vanilla upper level math courses I've had are through independent studies.)

I would appreciate any thoughts on the sort of program that would be a good fit for me. I care about program rank and prestige to some extent, but I am more fixated on studying somewhere in the Midwest or on the East Coast and ideally in a department that is large enough to have more than one research focus. Currently the schools which I am most excited about are Duke and Carnegie Mellon, but I am concerned that I am shooting too high with these. My naïve assumption is that schools like Penn State and Ohio State are more like my match.

Additionally, I would appreciate additional thoughts on my choices for recommenders. I am fortunate to have a number of professors in different places who I could ask for recommendations which I expect would be very strong, among them an applied statistics professor with whom I had an introductory sequence, a philosophy professor with whom I had a few intense upper-level philosophy courses, and an English professor with whom I have spent a lot of time through the Honors Program. At this point I have chosen to just ask three math professors for recommendations.

Thanks for your time!

 

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Type of Student: Domestic male

Undergrad Institution: Low-ranked, medium-sized public university known for engineering

Major: Mathematics, Applied Statistics, Philosophy

Minor: None; certificates in Writing and Financial Math; completion of the general Honors Program

GPA: 4.00

GREs:

• General GRE (169 Quantitative / 166 Verbal / 6 Analytical Writing)
• Mathematics GRE (NA due to cancellations)

Research Experience:

• One Summer in Biostatistics (SIBS) program in data science at a very top school 
• One Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) program in coding theory at my home institution
• One year of data science work for the campus writing center

Upper Level Coursework (Mathematics and Statistics only):

• Completed
  • Introduction to Abstract Algebra (A+)
  • Advanced Calculus I (A+)
  • Mathematical Statistics (A+)
  • Design and Analysis of Experiments (A+)
  • Regression Analysis (A+)
  • Introduction to Applied Statistics I / II (A+ / A+)
  • Introduction to Topology (A)
  • Introduction to Probability (A)
  • Financial Mathematics (A)
  • Dynamical Systems (A)
  • Commutative Algebra (A)
• In Progress / Anticipated
  • Advanced Calculus II
  • Advanced Linear Algebra
  • Measure Theory
  • Partial Differential Equations
  • Complex Analysis
  • Algebraic Geometry

References:

• One from my REU advisor who I expect to strongly speak of my research and writing skills
  • Also my professor for Introduction to Abstract Algebra, Commutative Algebra, and Algebraic Geometry
• One from a professor who I expect to very strongly speak of my competition and leadership experience
  • Also my professor for Financial Mathematics, Dynamical Systems, and Partial Differential Equations
• One from a professor who I expect to strongly speak of my presentation and coursework-relevant abilities
  • Also my professor for Introduction to Topology, Advanced Calculus I / II, and Measure Theory

Other:

• I received a department award for excellence in math that basically says I was #2 in the department last year
• I have 13 A+ grades total, many outside of math
• I have won a handful of writing awards for fiction and nonfiction
• I helped organize a lot of department activities through Math Club leadership including colloquia and math competitions and have pretty much led our department at a bunch of competitions since sophomore year

[bayessays]

I think you can definitely apply to schools like Duke and CMU and be in the conversation, and I think OSU would be very safe.  I'd say in addition to the top schools apply to a good range of schools like NCSU, PSU, etc.

[trynagetby]

I actually have a friend who went to a usnews top 60 state flagship school with a slightly weaker profile (less research) than you who go into UNC phd Stats last year. Just wanted to add a datapoint.