MSc Stats Fall'22 Profile Evaluation and Advice

[toastedtofu]

Hello everyone, I am applying to MSc Stats programs in 2022 Fall, and I have heard people saying that MSc Stats is current very hot and competitive, so I am extremely worried... I am not aiming at US but European grad schools because I cannot afford the masters programs in US.

I would genuinely appreciate it if anyone can do a profile evaluation for me, and any advice will be extremely helpful to me!

 

Undergrad Institution: QS200 overall / QS100 subject / Japan
Major(s): Economics (the program is taught in english)
Minor(s):
GPA: 3.97 (subject to changes because I finish my Junior year in July 2021)

Type of Student: International asian male

GRE General Test: (I haven't taken it yet but throughout the practices, the following are my worst possible scores)
Q: 167
V: 150
W: (idk)
I am not planning to take GRE subject test in math. Please let me know if this subject test is very valuable.

TOEFL Score: 113
 

Programs Applying: MSc Statistics/Financial Math

 

Research Experience:

1 independent research on Bayesian methods in forecasting in a research seminar supervised by the Dean of grad school of econ in my uni. This research seminar is focused on statistics and members study together for 2 years, but my independent research is 2 months, and my undergrad thesis will be supervised by the same professor.

1 research assistanceship on Psychometrics for a guy affiliated with a QS top10 uni. He is not a professor but he does certain things for this uni. Lasted for about 3 months, but I haven't had any contact with him for 2 months already.

1 research assistanceship on Brownian motion for a young associate professor with a phd stats from a QS top10 uni (responsible for math modeling and programming, still ongoing). Not sure if hes well-known in the field but he has been active in research and published papers in top journals. 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 1 goldman sachs scholarship, 2 uni scholarships, and 3 other scholarships. participated in some local contests on data scienceheld by uni and big companies in Japan and won some prize, but I don't think they worth much for grad application.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: I do have around 2 years of work experiences, all in Python, but the companies are not well-known at all.

 

Letters of Recommendation: 

Almost guaranteed:

1 letter from the Dean of grad school of econ (may not be strong enough since he knows little about me so far)

1 letter from the associate professor (should be strong because I've been helping him a lot)

Uncertain:

1 letter from the psychometrics guy (but he has been extremely busy and I am scared to ask)

1 letter from a professor with a phd econ from a QS top30 uni (he did academic researches before in a well-known European institute, and he has a great impression of me from a class this semester. However, this is literally the only contact I have with him.)

 

Math/Statistics Grades:  I have a complicated academic background because I restarted my undergrad studies from majoring math in Europe to majoring econ in Japan, so I am not sure if all courses I took can be counted. 

Guaranteed:

basic calculus, statistics, linear algebra

econometrics (intro+intermediate)

advanced linear algebra

numerical analysis

probability and statistics

mathematics for machine learning

limited depedent variable models

estimating volatility in high frequency data

quantitative analysis of financial markets

Uncertain:

physics (classical mechanics, electromagnetism)

mathematical analysis

differential equations

programming (introductory+basic)

The score is A+ for all of the above.

 

Courses I might attempt to take in 4th year: (subject to change)

multivariate analysis

introduction to AI II

advanced econometrics

graphical models and algebraic methods

advanced mathematics of machine learning

statistical theory of multivariate probability distributions

Applying to Where: 

Lottery: ETH, Oxford, Cambridge, EPFL, Imperial college london

Moderate: UCL, LSE

Safe (I think): University of Warwick, University of Munich, University of Amsterdam, University of Zurich

 

Any comment is appreciated!! Thank you very much in advance!!