Graduate School Feasibility

[TheDaezy]

Hey All,

I've stalked this site anonymously for some time to get a feel of graduate life and the admissions process, but never reflected on my own ability to get into graduate school because 1) I didn't have a subject I was particularly passionate about and 2) I honestly just couldn't imagine myself doing graduate work. But I recently had a summer research experience that changed my mind about that so I want to see if I have what it takes to get into a competitive PHD Statistics program. Here's the run down:

Major: Mathematics and Anthropology

GPA: 3.65 (first semester freshman year I was dealing with depression and it affected my grades, which have been fine since then)

Major GPA: 3.95 (4.0 in anthropology)

Demographic: African-American (Female)

Awards: President's List, George W. Jenkins Scholar

Courses: Intro to Abstract Math (A-), A's in Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra, Intro to Probability & Statistics. Will be taking Real Analysis, Probability Theory, Statistical Analysis, & Mathematical Statistics this coming year.

Involvements: Policy Debate Director of Public Debates, Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG) Vice Chair & Mentor, Math Club, Russian student in the Directed Independent Language Study (DILS) program, Ethics Bowl participant, Active Minds Secretary

Work Experience: Intern at County Public Defender's Office~ Juvenile Division, Intern with City Manager (Spring 2013)

Research Experience: REU in Mind, Brain, Behavior, REU in Statistics

Research Interests: Statistical applications to social sciences, public policy and environmental issues

Skills: Have experience with C++ and Matlab. Spent past summer learning R.

I plan on taking the GRE in September and the Math Subject Test in October.

I plan on getting one letter of recommendation from my Abstract Algebra professor who knows me fairly well since I went to his office at least 2X/week and who I will have all next year as a professor. I'm not sure who to get the other letters from and since I'm not terribly outgoing I'm expecting average letters at best. I could possibly ask my Intro to Abstract Math professor who commended me on my work ethic as I was always in his office and wrote my letter for the REU in Statistics I did. I know I can get a great one from my SWSG professional mentor, but she has no knowledge of my academic work so I don't know if that'd be appropriate. My summer research director really liked me and encouraged me to apply to Rice, but I honestly didn't interact with him that often (he taught a statistics class for 3 weeks & then met with me 3X/week for 6 weeks for 30min to discuss my research) so I'm not sure how good that letter would be. My Russian instructor through DILS would write me a good one I believe, but I'm not sure if that'd be a wise choice. What's the verdict on getting letters from professors in other departments such as my anthropology professors? Would it be bad to get a letter from a professor I'll meet in the fall?

My dream school is UW where I would do the PHD with the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences track! I will probably apply to Rice (since my director suggested it) and UF (since it's instate & strong), but I'm having trouble choosing other schools because I don't want to aim too high and don't know much about how to find graduate programs. My game plan is to apply to 6-8 PHD programs and 4 MS programs and see where I end up.

Feedback please!

[victor.s.andrei]

Where did you do your REUs? Get some LORs from your REU advisors and apply to their schools.

[cyberwulf]

Your profile is very competitive. I wouldn't worry about aiming too high; I would wager that you will at least be "in the discussion" at pretty much any school you apply to. I would suggest supplementing your current list (UW/Rice/UF) with some elite programs like Stanford, Berkeley, Chicago, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, NC State, Duke, etc. Basically, check out the US News rankings and pick from schools in the Top 15-20 located in places you would consider living.

[TakeruK]

I would second the suggestion of using your two REU supervisors as 2 of your LORs. If you are planning to do any more research in this coming year, then that supervisor should be your 3rd LOR. Otherwise, it's okay to get a letter from a prof that didn't supervise research for a 3rd LOR -- it sounds like your abstract algebra or abstract math.

I also think you have a really strong application and should not worry about aiming too high. Like the others said, find the schools that match both your research interests and where you want to live and apply there! Good luck!

[TheDaezy]

Thank you guys! I appreciate the responses as I wasn't sure where I stood or who to ask for LOR. I did my REUs at CSU and Rice. I will apply to Rice, but not CSU.

[emmm]

The summer research director who was encouraging you to apply would probably write you a really good letter. These people have better things to do than encourage people they feel lukewarm about.