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School selection advice for stat/biostat PhD


DMX

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All, I am in the process of finalizing my school selection for the upcoming application season. Would love some advice regarding realistic chances and if I should add any schools

Undergrad GPA: 3.7 (Physics/Econ from top 10 Ivy) - from math side have taken analysis/number theory/upper level linear algebra, and of course calc I-III. Mostly A/A-'s in the math courses.

Grad GPA: 3.9 (master's in statistics from Columbia) - courses include the usual probability/inference/regression/stochastic courses, as well as a machine learning course and a few 'applied' courses

GRE: 800/580/5.0 (Q/V/W)

Letter of Recs: 2 will be very good/stellar (prof/employer), 1 will be ok (prof)

Research Experience: None, aside from a few semester-long class projects - some interesting results that I will talk about in my essay but none are publication-worthy. (I know you don't necessarily need research experience to get into stat/biostat problems, but I am a little worried)

Other: have been working at a consulting firm for the past 3 years.

Demographic: International applicant

My school selection is as follows

Reach/unrealistic:

Harvard (biostats)

Johns Hopkins (biostats)

Wharton (stats)

Duke (stats)

Realistic:

Columbia (biostats)

Yale (stats) - I know this department is small but several professors seem to be working on problems I find interesting (MCMC methods)

Brown (biostats)

WashU (stats)

I know my list is a bit top-heavy so I am looking to add a couple of safety schools, particularly in the California area. My admissions chances are further hindered by the fact that I am an international applicant.

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I think you're actually underselling yourself; places like Brown and Columbia are likely "safeties" for you. If you want to add some Cali schools, I would include Stanford (stat), Berkeley (biostat) and possibly UCLA (biostat). If you're interested in MCMC, I would also consider throwing an app at Carnegie Mellon (stat) since as a Bayesian-oriented place I assume they have some people working on that stuff.

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Thanks for the encouragement cyberwulf, but from doing some research I think being a non-domestic student will really kill me. Stanford I KNOW is out of my reach (I know several people who were denied and they had far far better profiles than I), but I am going to add Berekely/UCLA to the list.

Thanks again

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