Fall 2022 PhD Biostatistics Profile Evaluation - "Safety" and Targets

[Oatsey]

Hello. I am seeking honest opinions about my profile. If you have to be blunt, then feel free to send a private message if you are not comfortable posting it here. I would really appreciate even the toughest criticism. I had a previous post, but some circumstances changed so I changed some information accordingly. Some deadlines have passed already, but I am still trying to get one last read for what is or is not achievable. I simply do not want to overestimate or underestimate myself. 

 

Undergrad Institution: California public university (Cal. State)
Major(s): Math with statistics emphasis
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.4 (3.1 without grade forgiveness)

 

Master's Institution: The same as undergrad

Program: Pure math

GPA: 3.9

 

Type of Student: Domestic Hispanic/Latino Male

GRE General Test: 

Q: 169

V: 161

W: 5

 

Relevant* coursework and grades(Math/Stat/Comp Sci):

• Undergraduate Lower Division: Calculus 1(C), Calculus 2/3(A), Linear Algebra and Differential Equations(B), Discrete Math 1(B), Discrete Math 2(A), Introduction to Programming in C++(B), Introduction to Statistics(A), Pure/Applied Math Seminar(A)
• Undergraduate Upper Division: Undergraduate Analysis 1/2(A), Introduction to Probability Theory(A), Introductory Numerical Analysis(A), Intermediate Numerical Analysis/Numerical Linear Algebra(A), Survey Sampling(A), SAS Programming(A), Mathematical Statistics(A), Multivariable Real Analysis(A), Advanced Linear Algebra(A), Regression Analysis(A), Multivariate Statistical Analysis(A), Data Structures and Algorithms(B), Mathematical/Convex Optimization(A)
• Master's:  Real Analysis/Measure Theory 1/2(A), Stochastic Calculus(A), Introduction to Functional Analysis(A),  Theory of Computation(A), Analysis of Algorithms(A), Partial Differential Equations(A), Random Matrix Theory Seminar(Officially Audited)

*Various pure and applied math courses left out, but As in all but one.

Research Experience:  No undergraduate research experience. 1 full-time paid summer graduate RA position for an operator theory project. 1 reading course in modal logic to understand a logic used to describe a supervised learning game.

 

Research Interests:   

Methodological interests: Precision medicine and causal inference, clinical trials, missing data analysis, high-dimensional data analysis, computational statistics. 

Collaborative interests: Animal science/medicine, environmental science, infectious diseases, cancer, aging, and diabetes.

 

Future Coursework(Spring 2022): Spanish and C++ courses for practical reasons. Algebraic geometry for fun and potential background knowledge for algebraic statistics. 

Letters of Recommendation: 

1.  One good one from a pure math professor who was my research mentor.
2.  One good one from a pure math professor who I took two courses with, one of which involved a research-lite course project.
3.  One strong one from a computer science professor ( math PhD ) who I took several courses and a reading class with, and graded for.

 

Teaching experience: 6 semester of calculus.

 

How much of a reach would the following institutions be? I have labelled what I think the achievability is. What do you think they actually are? 

• UC Davis - Target
• Ohio State University - Target
• University of Alabama - Birmingham - "Safety"
• University of Florida - Target
• UC San Diego - Target
• Drexel - Reach

Also, how would you describe a W a senior thesis class that wasn't required to begin with? Is it even worth addressing? With the possibility that I do not get in anywhere this cycle, what do you suggest I do in my off time to prepare for the next one? I appreciate your thoughts. Have a great day, everyone. Sorry for the blank post a few weeks ago. 

Best wishes,

Oatsey

Edited December 8, 2021 by Oatsey
A small addition to the first sentences.

[bayessays]

I think your targets are reasonable but not guaranteed, and agreed about Alabama-Birmingham being at the safety level (though I hesitate to call any program safe).  Drexel is closer to UAB than the other programs, though, so not sure why you have it in the "reach" category.

[bob loblaw]

I think UC's are more competitive than the rankings suggest. If you are interested in Biostats because you're more drawn to applied research, UCSC and UCSB are also great choices.  I also believe UC Davis allows you to apply to both Stats & Biostats. Since the departments share professors & the courses, I'd suggest applying to both if you really want to go to Davis.  

On 12/7/2021 at 6:20 PM, Oatsey said:

Also, how would you describe a W a senior thesis class that wasn't required to begin with? Is it even worth addressing? With the possibility that I do not get in anywhere this cycle, what do you suggest I do in my off time to prepare for the next one? I appreciate your thoughts. Have a great day, everyone. Sorry for the blank post a few weeks ago. 

 

Given your mathematical background, I really think you will have somewhere to go to.  My mathbackground is much inferior and I got into 3 places last year.