econ major hoping to switch to stat, what should be my target schools?

[Vokram]

Hey guys,

I'm a student in the economics department of a university in hong kong. It's one the top schools in Asia, but I'm not sure whether people in the States have heard about it. I am thinking about doing stat phd in the future in the U.S., but I'm not sure whether I'll be competitive due to the change of major. Can anybody give me some advice?

GPA: 3.96/4.00

GRE: V:790; Q:800; W: 4.5 (great scores, but I heard they are not so relevant once your scores pass a line)

Math courses taken:

Linear Algebra: A

Introduction to Analysis: A-

ODE: A+

Functional Analysis: A

Real Analysis: A

I went to UC Berkeley on exchange last semester, where I took one of their grad course in stochastic process in the Statistics department and got an A. Also got onto their Dean's Honor List.

Other courses are mainly econ and lower divison stat.

I'm also doing a research with a statistics professor in my university this semester

What schools should I target? Is it advisable that I do a master in Stat before applying for Ph.D?

Edited February 8, 2012 by Vokram

[cyberwulf]

Apply to PhD programs directly. Your profile is extremely strong, and it doesn't seem like language is an issue (which many adcoms worry about with students from Asia). You should aim high; the top stat departments (Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Chicago, etc.) will certainly give you a look, and I would expect that a fair number will admit you. I wouldn't bother applying anywhere ranked lower than about 15-20, and even that might be conservative.

[Vokram]

Thanks for the words of encouragement cyberwulf, I hope things can turn out as you predicted this fall.

But one thing that still concerns me is my (really) insufficient amount of courses in statistics. I got one grad course in Berkeley (which is a good thing), but no course in advanced level statistical inference, regression, and those computational stuff (can't even name them...). I heard they are quite essential when you apply but I really have no time left for them before the application deadlines. So exactly how much do they matter?

[Fortinbras]

Start taking stat classes, then. They're important, especially mathematical statistics. The grad schools won't want to have to teach you how to find limiting distributions or point estimators or whatever. I don't think you'll have any trouble picking it up, considering how you did in the analysis courses. I recommend you pick up wackerly mathematical statistics or something like it and get started yourself, especially if you're doing research.

[cyberwulf]

Statistics departments generally want to teach you most statistics themselves; it will probably help to have done some math stat at the level of Casella & Berger, but beyond that I wouldn't worry about taking a bunch of other stat courses before you apply.