Harvard biostat more competitive than harvard stat?

[DMX]

I'm compiling a list of schools to apply to (PhD in stat/biostat), and obviously both Harvard biostat/stat programs are reaches for anybody.

- Admission rates for the Stat PhD program is apparently around 10% (http://www.stat.harvard.edu/degrees_page.php?mode=Admissions&page=faq.html) which seems surprisingly high given the fact that the stat department is quite small and taking into account the inflated number of people applying just for the harvard name.

- I couldn't really get a handle on size / admission rate for the biostatistics program - anybody have a clue?

I was initially going to apply to the biostatistics program because they are typically easier to get into, but not sure if this is the case for harvard...

Anyone have any insights?

[cyberwulf]

I believe that Harvard gets something on the order of 300-500 applications, and they admit around 20. The admissions bar is crazy-high for students from outside the U.S., but it's not a total longshot if you're a domestic student with a good (eg. >3.8) GPA from a "name" school. Historically they have admitted a small group of "elite" students early, and quite a few very late (eg. beginning to middle of April).

[DMX]

thanks cyberwulf, from looking at the forums it seems like you are the biostatics guru around here

I am an international student but with a BS/MS in physics/statistics from a top 10 "name" school in the US - would I be competing against applicants from Peking University/Indian Institute of Tech/Indian Statistical Institute etc? Or would I be compared against domestic students from US schools? My gpa was decent (3.7 for undergrad, 3.9 for grad), but no real research experience aside from a few group projects

Also, given the above stats, do you think I have a better shot at the stats program versus the biostats program?

Edited September 20, 2012 by DMX