PhD Application 2024 Advice

[AGNSNDN]

Hi all, I know I would be getting "ask your advisors/professors" or "don't trust strangers on the internet" type of answers, but I would really appreciate your honest thoughts and advice. So I am going to be applying to statistics PhD programs in the upcoming fall, and I feel like I am not competitive enough for the top programs due to my GPA. Here is my profile:

Undergrad: T20 Math, GPA 3.86

Math and stats courses: single and multivariable calculus (A, A), linear algebra 1 and 2 (A-, A), diff eq (A), numerical analysis (planned), mathematical signal processing (A), real analysis (A), abstract algebra (A), commutative algebra (A-), measure theory (B, I did not take the final exam and got zero on it due to family emergency, not sure if I can/should mention this in SOP though), statistical computing (A), probability theory (A), mathematical statistics (A), measure-theoretic probability (A), empirical process theory (A)

Other courses: econometrics (A), advanced microeconometrics (A), advanced econometric theory (covering asymptotic theory–LLN/CLT/Empirical Processes, A), time series econometrics (A), two intro CS courses (A, A)

Research experience:

(1) Did two empirical RAships for four months each at a finance department (empirical IO) and private think tank (data cleaning and other tedious data wrangling), but I am not getting letters from the advisors there.

(2) Did one summer REU in computational math where I developed an iterative algorithm for numerical linear algebra, found probabilistic bounds for the errors and proved convergence under the bounds, and did empirical testing of the algorithm via simulations.

(3) Doing two projects under an econometrics professor at my school, one in high-dimensional econometrics relaxing some assumptions on Lasso and another one in staggered Diff-in-Diffs. We are aiming to finish up the first project and submit it to peer-reviewed econometrics/statistics journals over the summer ideally, before October at the latest, and I will be the first author.

(4) Writing an honors thesis in nonparametric statistics, coming up with a new estimator and proving its statistical properties just like any other mathematical statistics paper.

I know PhD admissions are very noisy especially these days. Do you think I have a shot at top stats phd programs? How wide should I cast a net and what can I do to improve my profile? Thank you so much for your time in advance!

[AGNSNDN]

Anyone..?

[Guest]

Not sure if you're trolling about your GPA.  Maybe you won't get into Stanford, but you'll get into plenty of top 20 programs and probably quite a few top 10.

[AGNSNDN]

Thanks for the reply. I am not trolling, I am genuinely worried due to my measure theory grade. As far as I know measure theory is a very important and relevant course for the stats PhD admission, so I thought not doing well in it naturally disqualifies me for the top programs.

[Guest]

There isn't a single PhD program in statistics that requires measure theory, as far as I know.  A few top ones will require measure-theoretic probability, which you got an A in.  I can't image any scenario in which somebody looks at your math grades and even thinks twice about whether you're going to be able to complete the coursework and exams.

[AGNSNDN]

That's such a great reassurance. Thank you so much!

[AGNSNDN]

@bayessays Sorry for bothering you once again. Do you think I stand better chance at getting into biostatistics PhD programs than statistics PhD programs? I am not sure if I will enjoy the heavy theoretical taste of statistics PhD and I like bio applications.

[BL4CKxP3NGU1N]

15 hours ago, AGNSNDN said:

@bayessays Sorry for bothering you once again. Do you think I stand better chance at getting into biostatistics PhD programs than statistics PhD programs? I am not sure if I will enjoy the heavy theoretical taste of statistics PhD and I like bio applications.

I think you'll get into many top 10 stats PhD programs and probably any biostats PhD program. I seriously wouldn't be worried about getting in to a good program if I were you.

Since you'll probably get in pretty much anywhere, try to focus more on program fit. Location, potential advisors, research areas, funding, curriculum, etc. are all important. Not all statistics PhD programs will be extremely theoretical, although most will require a similar degree of theoretical core coursework. If you like bio applications, a biostats program may be a good place for you, but many stats programs have heavy research in bio applications as well. Just depends on the program.

[AGNSNDN]

Thank you so much. If it is the case, I was definitely underestimating my profile.

[agn3ktg]

OP here, lost my account and created a new one. Shotgunned at all top 20 statistics departments in the US, rejected from almost all of them with three/four pending apps. Guess I gotta try again next cycle with more papers. Better luck next time!

Edited February 15 by agn3ktg

[MidnightMoon]

22 hours ago, agn3ktg said:

OP here, lost my account and created a new one. Shotgunned at all top 20 statistics departments in the US, rejected from almost all of them with three/four pending apps. Guess I gotta try again next cycle with more papers. Better luck next time!

It's looking like a very rough year in the US, I'm in a similar situation and many people I know with much better "perfect" profiles than mine ( 2+ publications, courses in very advanced statistics, stochastic and functional analysis etc) in my well regarded school (top UK) are experiencing blanket rejections from the US too. Have you considered applying to other places?

[agn3ktg]

5 hours ago, MidnightMoon said:

It's looking like a very rough year in the US, I'm in a similar situation and many people I know with much better "perfect" profiles than mine ( 2+ publications, courses in very advanced statistics, stochastic and functional analysis etc) in my well regarded school (top UK) are experiencing blanket rejections from the US too. Have you considered applying to other places?

It is reassuring(?) to hear that there are people in the same boat. It is indeed a very brutal season, and I wasn't expecting cold, straight rejections–my letter writers were pretty confident that I would get in somewhere within top 20! I haven't considered applying to non-top 20 programs, so it's my fault for not diversifying my portfolio. I got no regrets other than ~$2500 I spent on apps, though. I'm definitely learning humility throughout this season, so I paid for life lessons lol.

Edited February 17 by agn3ktg

[name_random]

hey OP, similar situation here. You are not alone. Very tough season and years ahead it seems like.

QQ though, did you only apply to top 20 programs in statistics or top 20 programs ranked by schools? Wondering if should emphasize more on school reputation or program reputation

[agn3ktg]

16 minutes ago, name_random said:

hey OP, similar situation here. You are not alone. Very tough season and years ahead it seems like.

QQ though, did you only apply to top 20 programs in statistics or top 20 programs ranked by schools? Wondering if should emphasize more on school reputation or program reputation

Hey, fellow sufferer! I only applied to top 20 schools in statistics {Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, ..., UCLA}. I think school reputation matters more for industry and program reputation matters more for academia in general because you will have access to more opportunities and leading researchers at higher-ranked programs (thus helps you get an academic job) and people in industry tend to have no idea about program-specific rankings. For example, UW is ranked 7 and Northwestern is ranked 37 in statistics, but the public recognition would be NU > UW since NU is considered a better school overall.

[name_random]

7 minutes ago, agn3ktg said:

Hey, fellow sufferer! I only applied to top 20 schools in statistics {Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard, ..., UCLA}. I think school reputation matters more for industry and program reputation matters more for academia in general because you will have access to more opportunities and leading researchers at higher-ranked programs (thus helps you get an academic job) and people in industry tend to have no idea about program-specific rankings. For example, UW is ranked 7 and Northwestern is ranked 37 in statistics, but the public recognition would be NU > UW since NU is considered a better school overall.

Thanks OP. Seems like people who want to go into industry should emphasize more on general school brands, and for those wanted to go to academia should follow the subject ranking. No wonder why NU/Rice/WUSTL/ND statistics programs are more and more popular these days

[MidnightMoon]

19 hours ago, agn3ktg said:

It is reassuring(?) to hear that there are people in the same boat. It is indeed a very brutal season, and I wasn't expecting cold, straight rejections–my letter writers were pretty confident that I would get in somewhere within top 20! I haven't considered applying to non-top 20 programs, so it's my fault for not diversifying my portfolio. I got no regrets other than ~$2500 I spent on apps, though. I'm definitely learning humility throughout this season, so I paid for life lessons lol.

Sorry to hear that, I spent about $1000 and that's with the GRE and as many waivers as they'd grant me.

I don't think it's an issue with humility or hubris from your end, but just reflective of how many people want to get into the US and how their selection process in.

I ended up having some more luck from European institutes (~top20 worldwide) that are normally considered harder to get in than a lot of the places I applied to in America and got rejected from, so it seems like a problem with the US or their expectations for international PhD applicants to me. I had much better research alignment with a lot of the US places I applied to (I built on some of their faculty's recent work for my MSc thesis), so getting 10+ rejections with no interview/explanation is pretty disappointing. Maybe it isn't the best time to go to US anyway 😅

Best of luck in your next cycle

[open_ball]

Hello guys, I'm in a similar boat, but I am a domestic applicant. I got into 2 public schools in the 11-20 range, and some PhD programs in other fields, but I'm not very interested in the research at the stats programs I was accepted to. I feel better knowing others are struggling and maybe it's not my fault, but I can't afford to reapply, so I figure I'll just take one of the offers I got. 

[agn3ktg]

Update: I'm on an officially short waitlist at CMU. I am not trying to get my hopes up, but we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!!

[name_random]

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Edited February 20 by name_random
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