MS Biostats with weak math background

[hopeful_app]

Hi all,

I'm a former biology major from a decent (US) public university who graduated within the past few years. During undergrad, I was heavily focused on medical research (3 publications in lesser-known journals) but unfortunately did not fully realize my interest in biostats until near graduation, when I took a course on probability and statistics in the context of phylogenetics. I did well and enjoyed the class immensely.

Throughout undergrad, I did work with statistical software, learned some basic programming, and analyzed experimental data, but nothing too serious. Because of this, my academic math background is limited to 2 semesters of calculus taken at a community college and 3 semesters (including multivariate calc) taken at my university as a refresher. I received A's in the community college courses but to my dismay, barely scraped by at my university. I am certain I could have performed better, but there isn't much I can do now besides own up to my mistakes. I waived the university requirement for stats through a 5 in AP Stats in high school, a decision I am now regretting deeply as I have no letter grade for the subject on my transcript.

 

I tried to redeem myself and studied 2 months for the GRE while working. Received a 169V/167Q/5.5W.

 

I'm already mid-app for some MS Biostats programs now, but I'm realizing how bad my quantitative background must look to adcoms. Should I withdraw my applications, take some linear algebra/real analysis and come back next year? I had difficulty getting ahold of some of my professors and the thought of hassling them for recs again seems painful. (Is it possible to keep my letters on record?)

 

Appreciate any insight!

[zzzboy]

No I think you should go for it.  You can probably get a conditional acceptance in which they will make you take necessary undergrad courses in your first semester/quarter.

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

Depending on your GPA, you probably may have a shot at MS Biostat programs. You say you barely scraped by in the university calc courses, so that may be cause for concern because of how important calculus is to understanding theory. As a current first year in a PhD Biostat program finishing up my first semester, I can say with certainty you will absolutely need to have a very solid understanding of derivatives, multiple integrals, series/sequences, basic linear, etc. from semester one, and it will only build on it from there. If you don't get calculus, you may have a hard time with required theory courses

[Funkoverload]

For master's degree, your background is very good, but for PhD, I would recommend epidemiology programs more.