Statistics/Biostatistics recommendations

[KMC]

Undergrad Institution: Grand Valley State University (public school in Michigan)
Major(s): Double Major in Statistics and Pure mathematics
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.99/4.00

Type of Student: White male

GRE General Test:
Not planning on taking as many schools that I am looking at no longer accept these scores. Though I absolutely will consider.

TOEFL Score: N/A
 

Programs Applying: Statistics and Biostatistics PhD's

 

Research Experience: One funded summer research internship in environmental statistics (no publications), next fall I am doing combinatoric research with the math department at my school (hopefully a publication!), the following winter I am hoping to do research into mathematical biology also with the math department (not entirely sure if I will actually be able to do this), and in that same winter semester I will be doing a statistical consulting project.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Math dept scholar, Honors college, Mu Sigma Rho member, and Pi Mu Epsilon member.
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Tutor since the winter of 2022 in both mathematics and statistics and TA for statistics next year.

Letters of Recommendation: Planning on having a letter of recommendation from two math professors, one being my research mentor and the other being a professor I have had as my advisor and for a few classes (Linear algebra 1 and 2), and a letter of recommendation from a statistics professor I had for probability and statistical theory (2 semester sequence). Additionally, I have started a bayesian statistics independent study with this statistics professor.

Math/Statistics Grades:  Note: my school does not give out A+'s : Calc 1-3 (A's), Real analysis 1 (A), Linear algebra Intro (A), Linear algebra applications (A), Linear Algebra theory (A-), Probability theory (A), Mathematical Statistics (stats theory) (A), Intro to Proofs (A), Nonparametric statistics (A), 2 courses in statistical computing (R/SAS) (A's), 4 applied statistics courses (A's), and I am going to take diffeq, numerical analysis, mathematical modeling, real analysis 2, and abstract algebra next year (hopefully A's!).
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: I am studying abroad and taking diffeq. I have been teaching myself python for ML and statistics. 

Applying to Where: I still have yet to apply, as I will be a Fall 2025 applicant. However, the schools I am currently looking at for stats and biostats are: UNC, JHU, UW-Madison, UCB, UCSB, UCR, Duke, NCSU, Cornell, University of New Hampshire, Michigan, and Northwestern. I would love to hear feedback on how to refine my application further to increase my chances for these schools or on anything else.

 

Questions: 

1. Is it recommended to take the GRE? I know a lot of schools have moved away from it but is it expected to come back or will more schools continue to not require it?

2. Which of the schools listed above are reasonable for me to get into or more of reaches?

3. I am interested in non-parametric statistics and survival analysis, are there any schools that are known for either of these?

 

Thank you!

[hopeful__undergrad]

I can't speak to the other questions, but Northwestern Stats is not known for any of your listed interests. In fact I do not think they have anyone doing any work in those areas.

I was a graduate student in that department and dropped out due to how uninterested the faculty were, in working with students, and how toxic some faculty members are to their students.

Unless major changes happen, I would not recommend anyone to apply to that department.

Anyone is welcome to DM me if they have questions regarding Northwestern's program.

Edited May 16 by hopeful__undergrad
privatizing some information

[bayessays]

Not to derail this thread, but I agree with @hopeful__undergrad and would highly recommend against applying to the incredibly unprofessional department at Northwestern.  I'm also not sure why New Hampshire is on your list.  It sticks out among the other highly-ranked departments; I didn't even know they have a statistics department.

For survival analysis, you'll definitely want to apply to biostatistics programs.  I think you'll have better success there anyways, so honestly I would just look at US News top 20 biostatistics programs and apply to any that look appealing to you.

Your profile is good - you might have trouble at top departments, because they won't quite know if you're able to handle the math because your undergrad is not from an elite school.  (I've seen people with 4.0 from directional state schools fail out of first year master's classes, so I'd personally be a little hesitant, but I think your research experience helps alleviate some of these concerns.  Still, I think your profile plays better at biostats programs.)

[KMC]

@bayessays and @hopeful__undergrad

Thank you both for your feedback, it is much appreciated. I mostly liked Northwestern due to its proximity to Chicago and historical prestige. I did recently discover that they have a biostatistics emphasis under their Health Sciences Integrated Program (HSIP), do the same issues with NU's statistics department relate to their biostats? Additionally, I included New Hampshire as a safety school that is in a location that I liked, but I will look into other possible safety schools if this program is relatively unheard of. I also have one more question, I know that there are a lot of schools that are saying that GRE scores are "not required," does this mean that they won't consider any scores when submitted? Or could a high GRE score help my chances of getting into the top universities on my list? I recently toured Northwestern's campus and really enjoyed it, it was the only school on my list that required the GRE (their biostats emphasis does not require it), so I am wondering if studying/taking the test is worth my time and money. 

 

Thanks again!