Confused about the paths to studying biostatistics. Please help!

[epete25]

First off, I guess it will be helpful to say a little about me. I'm graduating a year early with an undergrad degree in psych. I have credit up to calc 2 and I took 2 stat courses. my plan is to brush up on my math over the summer and take courses for calc 3, linear algebra, some stat in fall 2012 and continue taking classes in spring 2013 (would they take this into account if I let them know about this as I apply?).

I want to start as soon as possible, which seems to be fall 2013 for me. as far as graduate school, where am I supposed to start off? It seems from looking over the forum that people applying to phd programs already finished a master's program. So should I be looking into a master's for biostatistics and/or epidemeology? I happened to stumble on the berkeley website that has something about a 2 year mph biostat/epidemiology program. Is it something like that that I should be aiming for in my current state?

And a somewhat unrelated question, if anyone has an answer. I've looked into so called 'distance learning' programs to see if that might be something I can do to take my math classes. there seems to be one offered by u of wisconsin madison and a few in the england. If I took such classes, do graduate schools treat them the same as any class I would have taken as an undergrad? what are their stances on overseas courses in general?

Sorry for such a long list of questions and thank you in advance for your help.

[mathgeek282]

If I were you I would not graduate early and take an extra year of math classes... That will strengthen your app. It is well known that masters classes are notorious for being grade inflated so I don't think it's entirely equal. If u do well in your last year you might be able to bipass the masters and actually save money...

I don't know what kind of program you are looking to get into, but you are going to need more math to get into most programs

[epete25]

The graduating early part is pretty much decided for me, so that's not the part I can really change....Would there be a huge difference taking undergrad math classes after I graduate?

Edited April 23, 2012 by epete25

[cyberwulf]

You can apply directly to PhD programs in biostatistics out of undergrad; typical minimum requirements are Calc 3 and Linear Algebra, and some exposure to probability/mathematical statistics. More math is generally better (you'll be relying heavily on the strength of the rest of your application without it), so see what you can pick up.

Re: where/how to take classes, we frequently see students who have taken math pre-reqs at places like community colleges or random local universities while they were home for summer break. I don't think a distance education course would be treated any differently than that (i.e. we're totally fine with it, though the bar for acceptable performance has to be adjusted for class strength/rigor).