2025 Applicant Profiles and Admission Results for Statistics/Biostatistics

[sballs9]

I found the applicant profiles and admission results over previous years to be helpful while selecting the schools I chose to apply to and now seems like a good time to start the thread for this year. Copy the template below and fill in as much info as you would like. Keep in mind that you can't edit your post for very long after posting, so it may be good to wait until you have most of your results before posting.

 

Below is the template:

Undergrad Institution: (School or type of school (such as Big state/Lib Arts/Ivy/Technical/Foreign (Country?))
Major(s):
Minor(s):
GPA:

Type of Student: (Domestic/International (Country?), Male/Female?, Minority?)

GRE General Test:
Q: xxx (xx%)
V: xxx (xx%)
W: x.x (xx%)
GRE Subject Test in Mathematics:
M: xxx (xx%)

TOEFL Score: (xx = Rxx/Lxx/Sxx/Wxx) (if applicable)

Grad Institution: (school or type of school?) (if applicable)

Concentration: 
GPA:
 

Programs Applying: (Statistics/Operation Research/Biostatistics/Financial Math/etc.)

 

Research Experience: (At your school or elsewhere? What field? How much time? Any publications or conference talks etc...)
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: (Within your school or outside?)
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: (Such as tutor, TA, etc...)

Letters of Recommendation: (what kinds of professors? "well-known" in field? etc.)

Math/Statistics Grades:  (calculus sequence,  mathematical statistics, probability,  real analysis etc.) 
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: (Such as connections, grad classes, etc...)

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
School - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
School - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined
School - Program / Admitted/Rejected/Waitlisted/Pending on (date) / Accepted/Declined

[sballs9]

Undergrad Institution: Private University in West (Ranked 100 nationally)
Major(s): Statistics 
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.94

Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE General Test:
Q: 165
V: 155

(I only submitted the GRE where necessary)
 

Programs Applying: Statistics PhD / Operations Research PhD

 

Research Experience: 1 year at my school, presented at conference, attempting to publish paper but no publications as of submission
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 4-time Dean's List
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA, Analytics Internship at company in S&P500

Letters of Recommendation: Research Advisor and 2 Statistics Professors who knew me well

Math/Statistics Grades: Two A- (Calc II and R Programming) and A in the rest (Calc III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis I, etc.)

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
School - UT Austin / Admitted / Attending!
School - Texas A&M / Admitted* / Declined  (* Invited to interview after I had accepted other offer)
School - George Mason University / Admitted / Declined

School - Pittsburgh / Waitlisted / Withdrew

School - Ohio State / Ghosted

School - NC State / Ghosted

School - UMBC / Ghosted

School - Cincinnati / Ghosted

School - MIT Operations Research / Rejected

School - Wisconsin / Rejected

School - Carnegie Mellon / Rejected

School - Johns Hopkins / Rejected

I am very happy with how the cycle went. I expected rejections from the schools that rejected me, but I just wanted to shoot my shot, so I have no regrets. Of the remaining schools, UT Austin was my undisputed top choice. One of my letter writers went there and I also spoke to a final year PhD student in the program that had gone to my institution for undergrad. As I spoke to them, it became my clear favorite. Additionally, it was the best fit in terms of my research interests. There were more potential advisors that I identified there than at any other school. Looking back at the whole process, I see just how important fit is. It feels like all the dominos fell into place for me to end up where I did. I was very happy with the other acceptances as well, and I really would've been happy at either of the other two schools. I was surprised to have been ghosted by so many schools, as I expected to get into between 4 and 6 schools going into this whole process. However, in what has been a seemingly crazy year for graduate admissions, I am happy with the acceptances that I was fortunate enough to receive.

Edited April 1 by sballs9

[open_ball]

Undergrad Institution: Private school
Major(s): Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Minor(s): None
GPA: 3.96
Type of Student: Domestic female

I got admitted into 4 PhD programs, but keep in mind I applied to 15. Honestly, I’m really excited to be pursuing a PhD! This application cycle was just brutally competitive, and it's only going to get worse. 

I started out as an English major, but I completely turned things around and dedicated myself to math. I have a good math background at this point; have taken some grad classes. I used 3 math profs as recommenders, which is probably why I didn’t fare that well with stats programs, even though my academics and research experience are decent considering my circumstances.

Also, I was a total idiot and forgot to take the GRE, which meant I couldn’t apply to some programs. And I wish I’d applied to Cornell and Michigan, but ah, here we are.

It's discouraging sometimes, knowing that previous years were easier thanks to the pandemic. Some programs struggled to attract quality applicants in those years, which meant admissions were way more favorable for weaker applicants due to less competition. For example, I know someone from my school who got into an excellent PhD program during one of those lucky years, despite having low grades in core courses, very little advanced coursework, and no publications. 

But comparing myself to those years isn’t productive or fair. The landscape has shifted, and I applied in a much tougher, more competitive environment. I basically got what I deserved -- and I can see I didn't have the preparation to get into a top stats PhD program. I feel truly sorry for the strong applicants this cycle who were rejected across the board but would have been accepted had they applied in previous years. 

GRE General Test: Completely forgot to take it—my mistake, smh.

Programs Applying To: Statistics / Operations Research / Applied Mathematics / Wild Card Program

Research Experience:

• Home institution REU (paper published in an undergrad journal)

• REU in applied math at another institution (presented at JMM)

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Phi Beta Kappa, completed an honors thesis.

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: None.

Letters of Recommendation: Three math professors (oops / jeez).

Math/Statistics Grades: A’s in everything. 2 semesters of undergrad real analysis. Honestly, my stats background is weak, even having taken the probability and math stats sequence. 

Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Took several graduate-level math classes. Taking measure theory (grad) right now. 

Applying to Where:

• Rice Stats: Ghosted

• UCLA Stats: Ghosted

• UMD Applied Math and Stats: Ghosted

• NCSU Stats: Accepted

• UNC Stats / Operations Research: Accepted 

• CU Boulder (Applied Math): Accepted

• Home Institution (Applied Math): Rejected

• CMU Stats: Rejected

• Berkeley Stats: Rejected

• Harvard Stats: Rejected

• Columbia Stats: Rejected -> accepted to MA (can't afford. Nominated for MA2PhD scholarship, which I assume they offer to everyone because it's not very much money -- covers under half of the very expensive tuition). 

• UChicago Stats: Rejected

• UW Stats: Rejected

• Yale Stats: Rejected

• Wild Card Program (Institution and field withheld): Accepted—I'm attending this one. I'm really really excited. This was a direct admit program. I'm SO HAPPY I got into this program. I'm really really excited. I got SO lucky. I actually applied after the deadline because I spoke to the prof who said that I ought to apply, and the application fee was waived.

[choleskydecomp]

Undergrad Institution: Top public
Major(s): Math/Stats
GPA: 3.4

Type of Student: American

GRE General Test:
Q: (58%)
V: (93%)

Never sent unless required
 

Programs Applying: (Statistics/Biostatistics)

 

Research Experience: First author biostats paper, okay journal.
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Smattering of small scholarships/awards, ~$2.5k total.

Letters of Recommendation: Research advisor, stat prof, math prof

Math/Statistics Grades:  Same as GPA. High variance with upward trend.
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Lots of grad courses in math and stats with A+.

Applying to Where:

• Yale Biostat: Rejected
• Brown Biostat: Rejected
• UMichigan Biostat: Rejected->Admitted to Masters
• UMN Biostat: Rejected->Admitted to Masters
• UW Biostat: Rejected
• UW Stat: Rejected
• Columbia Stat: Rejected
• Cornell Stat: Rejected
• UWisconsin Stat: Rejected
• BU Stat: Rejected
• UF Stat: Admitted - Accepted!
• Amherst Biostat: Pending
• Vanderbilt Biostat: Unofficially Rejected
• Columbia Biostat: Ghosted
• UCLA Biostat: Ghosted

 

Tough cycle... I think I would have struggled to get an offer even in a normal year, and so these results were fortunate. For a while I was certain that all my screw-ups had finally caught up to me, and I was seriously planning how I would course-correct. But everything worked out and I couldn't be more grateful. It only takes one yes! 

 

Edited April 6 by choleskydecomp

[broadsword03]

Undergrad Institution: Large State School
Major(s): Statistics and Data Science
Minor(s): Geoscience
GPA: 3.99

Type of Student: Domestic Female

GRE General Test:
Didn't submit
 

Programs Applying: Biostatistics

 

Research Experience: 2 small research projects in geoscience and business, Boston SIBS, one year long independent research project my senior year, no publications
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Some small school scholarships nothing outstanding
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Statistics tutor and undergraduate TA for upper division stats course

Letters of Recommendation: Current research advisor, BU SIBS PI, one very well known stats professor, and one professor that knows me very well

Math/Statistics Grades:  Straight A's in calc sequence, linear algebra 1 and 2, intro stats course, theory of probability and theory of statistics, 2 linear modelling courses, 3 programming courses in R and Python
Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Very involved in extracurriculars in which I gained a lot of leadership and public speaking experience. 

Applying to Where: 
Yale: Rejected
Duke: Rejected

UPenn: Rejected
JHU: Interview -> Rejected

USC: Rejected

BU: Admitted + Funding / Accepted!

Georgetown: Rejected

UNC: Rejected -> Accepted to Masters / Declined

Colorado: Admitted + no funding / Declined

George Washington: Admitted / Declined before funding info

Iowa: Admitted + Funding / Declined

Indiana: Interview -> Declined before decision

UI Chicago: Admitted/ Declined before funding info

Brown: Rejected

 

This year was really rough and very uncertain at times. Super excited for how it all turned out and I am excited for the future!

Edited April 22 by broadsword03

[sballs9]

On 3/31/2025 at 7:50 PM, sballs9 said:

Undergrad Institution: Private University in West (Ranked 100 nationally)
Major(s): Statistics 
Minor(s): Mathematics
GPA: 3.94

Type of Student: Domestic White Male

GRE General Test:
Q: 165
V: 155

(I only submitted the GRE where necessary)
 

Programs Applying: Statistics PhD / Operations Research PhD

 

Research Experience: 1 year at my school, presented at conference, attempting to publish paper but no publications as of submission
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: 4-time Dean's List
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA, Analytics Internship at company in S&P500

Letters of Recommendation: Research Advisor and 2 Statistics Professors who knew me well

Math/Statistics Grades: Two A- (Calc II and R Programming) and A in the rest (Calc III, Linear Algebra, Real Analysis I, etc.)

Applying to Where: (Color use here is welcome)
School - UT Austin / Admitted / Attending!
School - Texas A&M / Admitted* / Declined  (* Invited to interview after I had accepted other offer)

School - **Ohio State / Admitted / Declined
School - George Mason University / Admitted / Declined

School - **UMBC / Admitted / Declined

School - Pittsburgh / Waitlisted / Withdrew

School - NC State / Ghosted

School - Cincinnati / Ghosted

School - MIT Operations Research / Rejected

School - Wisconsin / Rejected

School - Carnegie Mellon / Rejected

School - Johns Hopkins / Rejected

I am very happy with how the cycle went. I expected rejections from the schools that rejected me, but I just wanted to shoot my shot, so I have no regrets. Of the remaining schools, UT Austin was my undisputed top choice. One of my letter writers went there and I also spoke to a final year PhD student in the program that had gone to my institution for undergrad. As I spoke to them, it became my clear favorite. Additionally, it was the best fit in terms of my research interests. There were more potential advisors that I identified there than at any other school. Looking back at the whole process, I see just how important fit is. It feels like all the dominos fell into place for me to end up where I did. I was very happy with the other acceptances as well, and I really would've been happy at either of the other two schools. I was surprised to have been ghosted by so many schools, as I expected to get into between 4 and 6 schools going into this whole process. However, in what has been a seemingly crazy year for graduate admissions, I am happy with the acceptances that I was fortunate enough to receive.

EDIT - A few days after I posted, I was accepted to Ohio State and UMBC. This means I ended up being accepted to 5 programs, which is what I kinda hoped for going in. In the end, I had some great options and I am very grateful for how things turned out.

Edited Thursday at 01:31 AM by sballs9