Sitting on Berkeley MA acceptance but looking to do PhD

[pinnumberwrong]

Hi all,

 

The application season is almost over and I only got one acceptance from Berkeley's Statistics master program. Actually i didn't give grad school too much thought until the beginning of my senior year and I didn't really realize how competitive the Statistics PhD application is until recently. Since only Berkeley accepted me, I guess I'm going to accept the admission. But still, I'm hoping that I can get off the waitlists from two other PhD programs that I really want to attend. One of the schools told me that I was placed on a shortlist but my ranking (#5) on the list is low so my chances are not good.

 

So the worst case scenario here is that I go to Berkeley for a year and reapply next year. The only thing that I'm concerned is the quality of their master program. As far as I know, they accept more students this year and they changed the program into a 1 year program since 2012. So I don't really know if a Stat master from Berkeley will enhance my chances of getting into a top PhD program.

 

Here's a little bit about my background:

 

International student studying at a top 20 private university in the United States. The school enjoys reputation for its undergraduate education. However, the school's statistics department is not very well-known. 

 

4.0 Stat major GPA. 3.8 overall GPA. didn't really take any grad level stat classes because they weren't offered last year. My math background is in a post below 

 

GRE: 169V+166Q+4.5 

 

Research: I think this is the part that really hurts my chances. I only had one research experience in statistics. and because I didn't do very well (I didn't know that I wanted to apply for PhDs and I was in pretty bad shape when I was doing it), I didn't really ask the professor to write me an recommendation letter. Also, because of the lack of research experience, I was very vague about research interests in my personal statement.

 

All I was thinking before applying for PhD was to get a job after graduation. Even when last year I was applying for grad schools, I was distracted by on-campus recruiting events and interviews. In summary, I was not a very dedicated applicant. I was uncertain about PhD and I was uncertain about getting a job. So I didn't do well in both. Now the desire to apply for PhD becomes stronger and stronger and I think I know what I want. Sorry this paragraph sounds very emotional

 

I am thinking about doing research in statistics this summer to enhance my research experience, which I consider as the weakest part of my application.

 

Any advice on how to enhance my chances to reapply next year are welcome.

 

Thanks a lot!

Edited March 18, 2013 by pinnumberwrong

[creed_the_third]

What's your math background?

[creed_the_third]

I'm no expert but to me it seems like you have a pretty competitive profile already, did you only apply to top schools? I think Berkeley MA would help especially if you take real analysis and some more probability theory there and maybe get some good reference letters from famous professors.

Edited March 18, 2013 by creed_the_third

[pinnumberwrong]

I'm no expert but to me it seems like you have a pretty competitive profile already, did you only apply to top schools? I think Berkeley MA would help especially if you take real analysis there and maybe get some good reference letters from famous professors.

 

Thank you! Yeah recommendation letters are definitely important. I think only one professor wrote me a strong one. I got reasonably good grades but I'm not exactly the kind of students who always communicate with professors in class or in office hours. So that's a problem too. I think I really need to go to office hours and ask questions when the master program starts.

 

And yes I only applied top programs because I was overly confident about myself. Apparently, there are many strong applicants this year and the competition will only get stiffer next year. so I got a lot of work to do next 

 

I really appreciate your advice!

Edited March 18, 2013 by pinnumberwrong

[pinnumberwrong]

Also, I'm not sure if it's worth it to take the GRE Math Sub. I took a look at the sample test and I think with proper preparation, I should be able to get a reasonably good score. But i'm not sure if I should spend time in the summer to prepare for it. A summer research seems more necessary to me than a decent subject test score.

[JZappa]

I'd say the biggest thing is that the lack of analysis for the very top PhD programs is going to be a big turn off. I would say that an MA from Berkeley should help considerably though. Just make sure that you talk with professors to get a good idea of which classes to take to make you more competitive for PhD programs.

[pinnumberwrong]

I'd say the biggest thing is that the lack of analysis for the very top PhD programs is going to be a big turn off. I would say that an MA from Berkeley should help considerably though. Just make sure that you talk with professors to get a good idea of which classes to take to make you more competitive for PhD programs.

 

can I take GRE subject test to demonstrate that I have some understanding about real analysis?

[creed_the_third]

can I take GRE subject test to demonstrate that I have some understanding about real analysis?

As I understand, the reason programs want to see that an applicant has taken analysis is not only for the sake of the subject matter, but also learned the rigor and demonstrated some proof writing ability. The gre subject test is only multiple choice questions so they won't really test that part. In addition to that, not many questions are on real analysis on the exam - you could probably skip every real analysis question and ace everything else and still end up with a 95%ile. But I see now that you've taken advanced calculus, which seems to sometimes be the same as undergraduate real analysis. What did your advanced calculus course cover?

Edited March 19, 2013 by creed_the_third

[biostat_prof]

In general an MS will only help your chances of being admitted to a PhD program, particularly if you can take some PhD-level theory courses and do well in them.

[student12345]

Since you haven't taken any PhD-level statistics courses nor analysis, the schools you applied to wouldn't know how prepared you would be for the proof-heavy curriculum demanded by any statistics doctorate program. If you decide to attend the MA program you should consider taking analysis. The director of the statistics program at my school even told me that he does not pay much attention to applicants who haven't taken analysis.