Target schools for Stats 2026 PhD

[badapplemonster]

Hi everyone,

I will be applying to PhD programs this fall. I am mainly interested in statistical learning theory and probability theory. I am an international asian male entering my final year of undergrad. I am thinking of applying to programs in the US (PhD), Canada (Masters, and PhD if possible), and Europe (Masters). It would be really helpful if you guys could recommend me some schools (or even suggesting the level of schools I should target would be helpful) based on my profile and interests.

School: Top school in APAC (Top 30 QS)

Major: Mathematics, Minor in Economics

GPA: 4.0/4.0 

Research

- Worked for one year under a professor in statistical learning theory. Expository article containing stuff like manifold learning and kernel methods. I also attend several reading groups that he organizes.

- Summer research on inverse problems under a well known professor at a top European school. 1 preprint (and hopefully a publication soon) as a first author; working on preparing another one based on the work done during the summer.

- Working on my bachelor's thesis on topics related to functional analysis and PDEs.

- Worked for a year under an Econ prof (can probably count under applied stats). Started off doing just the data work and the capacity of my contributions increased over time. 

- Miscellaneous: wrote some code for an OR prof, worked as a quant intern at a not so well-known firm.

Courses:

Pure Math: Measure Theory and Probability (A+), Functional Analysis (A+), Advanced Topics in Analysis (currently taking), Advanced Probability Theory (covering topics like Brownian motion and large deviation theory) (A), Lie Groups and Lie Algebra (currently taking), Fourier Analysis (A), PDEs (A+), Dynamical Systems (A+), Topology (A), Algebra I and II (A+), and other usual classes.

Applied Math/Stats:  Grad Numerical Linear Algebra (A), Numerical PDEs (A+), Convex Optimization (A+), Statistical Computing (A), Mathematical statistics (A+), Numerical Analysis (A+), Econometrics I and II (A+), Data Structures and Algorithms (A).

 

GRE: 170 Quant, 165 Verbal

Math GRE: Will take in September
 

LORs: One each from the supervisors of my first 2 research experiences. For the third, I am banking on my thesis going well and so I can get one from my thesis supervisor (I also took a class under him). Otherwise, I can get them from professors who have taught me multiple classes in which I have done well (I believe they will be strong, but I am a bit skeptical about teaching LORs). Also wanted to ask whether the letter from the econ prof (likely to be strong) would be beneficial just for the sake of some variety (in the sense that if I can portray myself as a more well-rounded candidate instead of just being purely theory focused).