Statistics Ph.D. - Please help evaluate chances

[ghost681]

Hi everyone, I am in urgent need of a profile evaluation to decide what to do next.

 

I was just awarded a Fulbright scholarship for Ph.D. studies in the U.S. and the IIE (Institute of International Education) will apply to departments on my behalf. I could indicate up to five preferred institutions for a Ph.D. in Statistics. I chose (in order) UC Berkeley, Harvard, Columbia, UCLA, Yale.

 

First of all, do you agree with theses choices for straight statistics (no biostatistics)? I decided not to include Stanford and Chicago because they require the GRE subject test, which I do not intend to take. I might still be able to change those preferences at this stage. I also wish to know if I should apply to more departments on my own to increase my chances or because the above choices are too ambitious given by profile below..

 

I am an international white male from Europe where I double majored in Economics and Mathematics (earning two B.S. degrees, with approx. 3.7 and 4.0 GPA's respectively). I did a master's degree at a very top UK university (Oxbridge) with approx. 70% average (this is considered to be quite high in the UK, but not absolutely top). My math undergrad covered real and complex analysis, measure theory, functional analysis, abstract algebra, topology, number theory, etc. (all A's). At master's level I took coursework exclusively in statistics (stat. theory, nonparametrics, time series, applied statistics, etc.)

 

As far as research experience goes I only have an undergraduate thesis and a master's thesis. The latter resulted in a strong recommendation (that probably got me the Fulbright, and that will be reused by the IIE for Ph.D. as well). A should have another good recommendation from a famous professor (but he doesn't know me well, I just did well in his course). Finally the third letter from my undergraduate institution should be very strong and enthusiastic.

 

I have scheduled TOEFL and GRE tests. I am confident that I can get about 110/120 for the TOEFL and at least 80-th percentile for the quantitative part of the GRE. I expect to do quite poorly in the other sections of the GRE. Are these tests important at all?

 

Should I worry that the IIE will not be able to place me at any of my preferences? Any input on what to further do is immensely appreciated!

Edited September 28, 2013 by ghost681

[ghost681]

Anyone, please?

[cyberwulf]

Assessing chances for international students is always tough. With your record, I *think* you'll be in decent shape, though your list of schools is short and includes two programs which are quite small (Harvard and Yale). Does the Fulbright mean that your tuition/expenses will be paid for? This could be an important factor, since if you come "free" to a school they may be more willing to give you a shot.

Edited September 30, 2013 by cyberwulf

[ghost681]

Assessing chances for international students is always tough. With your record, I *think* you'll be in decent shape, though your list of schools is short and includes two programs which are quite small (Harvard and Yale). Does the Fulbright mean that your tuition/expenses will be paid for? This could be an important factor, since if you come "free" to a school they may be more willing to give you a shot.

 

Thank you for your answer. The scholarship itself is quite small and only covers part of the expenses for one year (roughly half of the fees charged by top universities). But yes, I should cost significantly less to the host university than a student who doesn't bring his "own" money in the form of scholarships/grants/etc. Though, I have read that, allegedly, a Fulbright scholarship helps most as a signal of being one the best x students from a given country from all study areas, where x is the number of scholarships awarded to the nationals of that country. Does this agree with your experience as faculty?

 

Also, I am curious as to why you say that it is difficult to assess the chances of international students? Are these students treated differently in the admission process, e.g. they are competing for a fixed number of spots independently of U.S. nationals who only compete against each other?

Edited September 30, 2013 by ghost681

[cyberwulf]

Thank you for your answer. The scholarship itself is quite small and only covers part of the expenses for one year (roughly half of the fees charged by top universities). But yes, I should cost significantly less to the host university than a student who doesn't bring his "own" money in the form of scholarships/grants/etc. Though, I have read that, allegedly, a Fulbright scholarship helps most as a signal of being one the best x students from a given country from all study areas, where x is the number of scholarships awarded to the nationals of that country. Does this agree with your experience as faculty?

 

Also, I am curious as to why you say that it is difficult to assess the chances of international students? Are these students treated differently in the admission process, e.g. they are competing for a fixed number of spots independently of U.S. nationals who only compete against each other?

 

I can't give you too much insight on the impact of the Fulbright, unfortunately. It's certainly a positive, and should help your chances of admission.

 

And yes, the bar for international students is higher than for U.S. citizens and permanent residents. In biostat, spots funded via NIH training grants are only available to domestic students; in stat, there are fewer restricted spots, but there still seems to be a preference for domestic students. That being said, the main factor in preferring U.S. over international students is language skills. It seems like that won't be an issue for you, so you will be at less of a disadvantage than, say, a student coming from China.

[ssk08]

Have you thought about applying for Machine Learning research in Electrical  Engineering / Comp Sci Departments? 

 

Your skills set will be highly valuable to the people you apply to, since a lot of Machine Learning / Signal Processing people come from pure EECS backgrounds. Consequently, a lot of professors treat students from a slightly different field as being exotic --> Gives you a competitive advantage 

[ghost681]

Have you thought about applying for Machine Learning research in Electrical  Engineering / Comp Sci Departments? 

 

Your skills set will be highly valuable to the people you apply to, since a lot of Machine Learning / Signal Processing people come from pure EECS backgrounds. Consequently, a lot of professors treat students from a slightly different field as being exotic --> Gives you a competitive advantage 

Thank you for your input. I have never seriously considered EE or computer science so far... That being said I would have a hard time justifying a sudden change of interests... so far I have been focusing on statistics (with economic/financial applications) mainly.

[ghost681]

Another question: in the experience of the people on this forum (in particular faculty and current students), how much do GRE scores matter in the admission process (in the context of stats Ph.D. only)? There seems to be a lot of conflicting information about this.

[Funkoverload]

Add some UK universities