Profile Evaluation for Operations Research PhD Programs + Some Questions

[aeiou12345]

Hi everyone. I am struggling a lot with figuring out a list of schools to apply to in the fall and could use some input. I am really interested in Operations Research, but have a primarily mathematical background.

I have three questions:
(1) do I stand a better chance at applied math PhD programs or operations research PhD programs?
(2) what “level” of OR program should I look at?
(3) What are some examples of some programs I should consider?

Here is my background:
Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts College
Major(s): Mathematics (NOTE: I will be graduating with both masters and bachelors degrees)
GPA: 3.8+ (my grades junior year were straight 4.0’s), major GPA of 3.9+
Type of Student: Domestic Asian Female

GRE Revised General Test: N/A (will take in fall)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics: N/A (will take in fall)

Program Applying: Operations Research PhD

Courses:
Analysis 1/2, Algebra 1/2, Graduate Analysis 1/2, Graduate Topology, Graduate Complex Analysis, Math Modeling, Numerical Methods, Scientific Computing, Linear Optimization, Probability, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calc, Linear Algebra, Discrete Math

Research Experience:
Freshman summer, did research with prof. at school plus local gov’t office in integer programming applied to budget planning. Presented work at poster presentation at school in fall.
Sophomore summer, did an internship in which I developed a customizable program through linear optimization for scheduling employees based on preferences and staffing requirements.
Junior summer, attended a brief research program in applied math, presented on work to faculty and students at program.
Junior summer, will be attending top 3 pure math REU. Hope to present at a conference, and would be great if I could have work published but we’ll see, of course.
Senior year, will be working on masters thesis, topic to be on specific application of optimization to a sustainability issue (cannot give more details for privacy, but I’m sure anyone who knows me in real life recognizes this profile).
Awards/Honors/Recognitions:
Received several-thousand-dollar grant from school freshman summer to conduct research.
Received schoolwide award for fostering sense of community on campus.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs:
TA for multivariable calculus (held tutoring sessions, assisted in labs, graded student work, and took notes for student use).
TA for linear optimization (held tutoring hours, graded student work, assisted in labs)
Organizing weekly mathematical talks in math dept.
Have major organizational role in math dept.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help:
One of my recommenders has a PhD in Applied Math from Cornell, and I’d like to apply to Cornell (not sure if CAM or ORIE)
I’m a woman
To clarify, I will be working on a masters thesis in the fall and will be graduating with both a bachelors and a masters.

Programs I am Interested In:
Cornell (QUESTION: is my application more competitive in applied math or operations research here?)
Georgia Tech OR
Northwestern OR
U Mich OR
MIT OR (long shot but like I might as well try, their program is incredible)
U Wisconsin Math
U Washington Applied Math

Again, my main questions are:
(1) do I stand a better chance at applied math PhD programs or operations research PhD programs?
(2) what “level” of OR program should I look at?
(3) What are some examples of some programs I should consider?

Any other constructive comments would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks to those of you who took the time to read through and respond to this!

[aeiou12345]

Apologies for bumping this, but I come from a really small school and have absolutely no clue what I'm doing -- I don't have any alums or professors familiar with OR, and really don't know what I look like as an applicant. Truly any help would be appreciated.

[Econometrician]

Might be worth trying here, too: https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/48-mathematics-and-statistics/

[trynagetby]

Check out my profile from way back which I think is similar to yours but less OR focused. I also applied having no idea what OR was like and I got into Northwestern and GaTech ML (ISYE) with special fellowships for both. I only applied to the two because my main interests was Statistics PhDs. I think you have a good shot at all of them except MIT because, well, MIT (still worth applying IMO tho)

Edited June 12, 2021 by trynagetby

[aeiou12345]

On 6/12/2021 at 8:36 AM, Econometrician said:

Might be worth trying here, too: https://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/48-mathematics-and-statistics/

Ah, thank you, I will repost there! I was (perhaps mistakenly) under the impression that OR fit squarely into engineering.

[aeiou12345]

On 6/12/2021 at 11:03 AM, trynagetby said:

Check out my profile from way back which I think is similar to yours but less OR focused. I also applied having no idea what OR was like and I got into Northwestern and GaTech ML (ISYE) with special fellowships for both. I only applied to the two because my main interests was Statistics PhDs. I think you have a good shot at all of them except MIT because, well, MIT (still worth applying IMO tho)

I apologize, I am somewhat new to this forum -- how can I see your application profile? I can, like, see your previous posts but can't seem to see your stats anywhere. Thank you very much for your help, by the way!

[trynagetby]

6 minutes ago, aeiou12345 said:

I apologize, I am somewhat new to this forum -- how can I see your application profile? I can, like, see your previous posts but can't seem to see your stats anywhere. Thank you very much for your help, by the way!

No worries, you can scroll down to my post in this thread:

Good Luck!

[aeiou12345]

I don’t know what hapless potential OR PhD student may stumble upon this in the future, but I thought if someone does it might be useful to know where I got in (and once I decide, where I ended up, maybe!). All applications were to PhD programs.

Accepted:

GTech ISyE

Cornell ORIE

Berkeley IEOR

Columbia IEOR

Waitlisted:

Stanford GSB OIT

Rejected:

CMU ACO (through math dept.)

MIT ORC

Princeton ORFE

Stanford MSE OR

Interviewed:

UMich IOE (withdrew)