Fall 2023 Biostatistics PhD Profile Evaluation

[nmc22]

Undergrad Institution: R2 Institution (> #50 US News Rankings) 
Majors: Applied Mathematics and International Studies (Dual Degree) 
GPA:  3.84/4.0 (CGPA); 3.91/4.0 (Applied Mathematics); 3.84/4.0 (International Studies) 

Type of Student: Domestic Asian Male 
GRE General Test: Not taking it (eliminated as a requirement in most programs) 

GRE Subject Test: Not taking it
 

Program Applying: Biostatistics PhD

Courses:
Measure Theory (A-), Point-Set Topology (A), Real Analysis (A-), Stochastic Modeling (A), Advanced Linear Algebra (A), Complex Analysis (A), Probability (B), Mathematical Statistics (A), Multivariate Calculus (A), Differential Equations (A), Statistical Machine Learning (A), Regression (A), and Statistical Programming in R (A-). 

 

Research Experience:

• Machine learning for political science (2 years)
• Statistical genetics and genomics lab (5 months)
• 2 x National security projects (Qualitative; 8 months and 1 year)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

Departmental honors in both majors, honors thesis, magna cum laude, academic excellence award in international studies, research fellowship ($3,000), and academic merit scholarship ($24,000)

Pertinent Activities or Jobs:

• DoD Internships x 2 (one qualitative other data science) 
• Currently working in economic consulting, mostly biomedical IP cases (graduated may 2022) 

 

Letters of Recommendation:

• ML for political science research supervisor 
• Genomics lab supervisor
• Professor I took calc III, diff eq, advanced linear algebra, and stochastic processes with 

 

Programs Applying:

Mostly T20 schools.

 

I know there is a very strong chance of getting rejected everywhere (given how insanely competitive the T20 programs have gotten). But, I'm very keen on going into academia and I worry that a > T20 school would not be feasible for that goal. I am also ok with continuing my job for another year and taking another shot. Hence, the risky decision to only do T20. 

 

Concerns:

I'm generally happy with where I stand, except: 

• B in Probability (made up with an A in math stat, but still...) 
• A- in Real Analysis and Measure Theory
• And the math department of my alma mater is pretty much unranked (the professors are super accomplished though)