Profile Eval: Biochem Major apply to Biostat MS? (Canadian schools)

[donttouch17]

Hi, I'm a fifth-year undergraduate major in Biochemistry and going to apply for biostatistics masters in Canada. I stayed for one extra year to fill in the course requirement but I'm not sure if my curriculum is enough as I'm aware that many students with math/stats background are also applying. I would also like to get some advice on my applying school list. U of T would be the top 1 school I want to go, would my chances be high? Thank you in advance!

 

Undergrad Institution:  McMaster University
Major(s): Biochemistry

Minor(s): Statistics
GPA: 11.1/12 (5 years) 11.4/12 (last year with most of the stats/math courses) (not sure about the 4.0 scale sorry!)

Type of Student: 
Domestic Asian Female

GRE General Test: 

Waived

Relevant Courses :

- Calculus I, II, II (all A+)

- Intro to probability (A+)

- Intro to statistics (A+)

- Statistical methods & application (A+)

- Linear algebra I (A)

- Applied regression analysis with SAS (ongoing, possibly A+)

-  Mathematical statistics (ongoing, possibly A)

- Intro to modelling (ongoing, possibly A)

- Time series (Next term)

Programs Applying:  MS Biostat or MS Stat with concentration in biostat

Research Experience:  

A bioinformatics thesis involving some statistical learning methods. No publications.

Programming Languages: SAS, Python, R, UNIX

Letters of Recommendation: 

- Thesis supervisor

- Program coordinator

- Instructor of the regression analysis course (Postdoctoral fellow)

School applied:

- University of Toronto (MS Biostat))

- University of British Columbia (MS Statistics with concentration in biostatistics)

- University of Waterloo (MMath in biostatistics)

- Queen's University (MS Biostat)

- Western University (MS Biostat)

- McMaster University (MS statistics coursework)

[Casorati]

I am not sure why you say that U of T is the top 1 school you want to go, but for biostatistics, U of T is not at the same level as Waterloo/UBC/McGill. Also it is an unfunded program so it wouldn't be hard to get in. I imagine that the admissions at UBC and Waterloo would be more competitive since they are fully funded and have better reputations. 

[donttouch17]

2 hours ago, Casorati said:

I am not sure why you say that U of T is the top 1 school you want to go, but for biostatistics, U of T is not at the same level as Waterloo/UBC/McGill. Also it is an unfunded program so it wouldn't be hard to get in. I imagine that the admissions at UBC and Waterloo would be more competitive since they are fully funded and have better reputations. 

Thanks for the input! I don’t really know about the schools for the program a lot. I’m just more familiar with U of T and like the campus and city in general as I’ve been living near Toronto. I’m also not sure about my competitiveness because of the background.