Those who decided to apply to PhD late in undergrad, how to boost your application?

[sesame_cat]

Hi! I am a rising senior (undergrad) at a top 5 university Statistics PhD (and top 20 for undergrad Statistics). My major is Statistics with Mathematical Sciences concentration. I've taken the canonical undergraduate math courses plus a few other "more difficult" math courses.

I got A's in all statistics department courses. However, I've only gotten B's in these "more difficult" classes and a C in Real Analysis I (my school is notorious for not inflating grades :') and my professor for Real I was a postdoc from Germany so the class was quite a bit more difficult that the same course taught by the old professor who doesn't care about grades....yes, I failed to play the course selection game that semester). 

The major problem for me (besides the lackluster grades, although my GPA is still 3.8) is that I decided to be serious about PhD in Statistics later in my undergrad than what would have been ideal. Basically, I only decided the spring of my junior year that I want to apply to PhD programs. All my experiences from freshman through summer going into my junior year was not geared towards boosting my PhD application (i.e. I don't have any big, Statistics research projects or published any papers). 

Since I decided that I will be applying to PhD programs, I've been pretty much doing anything I can to "make-up" for the lost time. This summer I will be doing 6 weeks of biostatistics research and training at a top 5 public university, and doing undergraduate research in the Statistics department at my school, TA-ing a upperclassman Statistics course (Modern Regression), and taking a PhD level MathStats course this fall. 

My main concern: The admissions committee will think that I lack solid Statistics research experience and my grades don't demonstrate superior mathematical ability (even though my school is really hard and don't inflate grades but they probably don't care given the competitiveness of Stats PhD applicants). Of course, I'll also apply to a good number of safety schools but for someone who did their undergrad at my school,, it would almost be a shame if I went to a program ranked much lower (please forgive me, it's just how I feel after paying the magnificent 50K/year tuition for undergrad). 

My question: How do those who decided to apply to PhD programs later in their undergrad "boost" their application if they don't have a lot of research experience, any publications, and < 4.0 GPA? Any advice on making your case about why you are qualified and committed to Stats PhD when writing Personal Statements and soliciting strong LOR?

Reading most of the posts in this forum make me think that I am just a hopeless case so I really appreciate any insight.

Thanks so much! 

 

[BL4CKxP3NGU1N]

3 hours ago, sesame_cat said:

My main concern: The admissions committee will think that I lack solid Statistics research experience and my grades don't demonstrate superior mathematical ability (even though my school is really hard and don't inflate grades but they probably don't care given the competitiveness of Stats PhD applicants).

If you're at strong university known for grade deflation, I wouldn't be too concerned about the B's. A C in Real Analysis I might raise some eyebrows though, but I could be wrong. What are these "more difficult" classes you mentioned?

3 hours ago, sesame_cat said:

Of course, I'll also apply to a good number of safety schools but for someone who did their undergrad at my school,, it would almost be a shame if I went to a program ranked much lower (please forgive me, it's just how I feel after paying the magnificent 50K/year tuition for undergrad).

I hope ranking isn't your #1 factor when choosing which program to attend. Keep in mind you'll be in that department working with those people for 4-5+ years, so you need to make sure you also weigh other factors that affect your day-to-day life and happiness. On another note, I can't even fathom paying 50k/year for an undergraduate degree. There are a lot of solid programs outside of the top 5 though, so you definitely shouldn't feel bad if you end up finding a lower ranked program that is a much better fit in other aspects (people, research areas, location, funding, etc.)

It sounds like you're doing a lot this summer and in the fall that will greatly strengthen your application. In addition to those things, I would really focus on building solid relationships with your professors. Go to office hours, show genuine interest in their research, ask good questions. I didn't decide that I wanted to do a PhD until around the same time as you (around spring of my junior year), and I think one of the things that really strengthened my application even though I didn't have a super deep math background or any publications was that I had great relationships with some professors who wrote me very solid letters of recommendation.

If you want more specific feedback about which programs may fit your profile, I suggest posting some more details (like specific courses and grades, relevant previous research or other experience, research and location preferences, etc.)