Undergraduate GPA in unrelated area, PhD in statistics

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Hello all,

 

I am hoping you can offer some insight into this.

 

I majored in a social science at an Ivy League institution and graduated with a 3.5 overall GPA (~3.7 major) over six years ago. The only math courses that I took in undergrad were Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra and I got A-'s in them. Then two years after graduating, while working in financial services, I became more interested in mathematics and decided to go to graduate school in applied mathematics. To better position myself for grad school, I took several upper divison math courses (ODEs, number theory, abstract algebra) as a non-degree student at nearby colleges and then successfully got into an Applied Math MS program at a large state school. Since graduating from that program, I have been working as an engineer for the past 1.5 years, but now I have decided to go back to school for a PhD in stats.

 

All the grades I have earned in math and stat classes have been A- or A (including an A in real analysis and A-'s in the graduate level probability/statistical inference sequence -- I took these classes in my MS program).  So I believe that based on my performance in these classes, I would be able to hack it in a stat PhD program.

 

But I am just curious as to how much weight will be given to my good but not stellar undergrad GPA, especially if it is not really related to math or stats at all. Will this reflect badly on me? Or will adcoms be more impressed by the fact that I took the initiative to take math classes after graduating and did well in them?

 

FWIW, my Master's GPA was a 3.9. Additionally, I believe that my letters of recommendation (all from math and statistics professors) will be strong, since they will each give specific details about projects and work I've done for them, and my GRE scores are 166 V (96%), 164 Q (89%), and 6.0 W (99%).

 

Any feedback about my competitiveness would be greatly appreciated.

Edited December 18, 2013 by Stat Applicant

[qqyyzz]

I think as long as your lower GPA is in non-math classes it's fine.  I was in the same boat as you except I had a much worse record coming out of undergrad.  I was undergrad 3.3 GPA in economics from a liberal arts school.  I worked at a bank for awhile, went back as a non-degree student and had close to a 4.0 in all math courses including many upper division and proof based courses and also worked as an RA in the economics department.  I applied to a lot of schools and even with my abysmal undergrad record I was actually only rejected from a few schools (got into a lot and was waitlisted at even more).  You can probably look at my post history and find out more details about where applied and where I got in.

Edited December 18, 2013 by qqyyzz

[dasgut]

For what it's worth, I can tell you that my undergrad GPA (3.5) in unrelated classes from a top 25 school did negatively affect my application. I hope you have a better go of it than I did!

[qqyyzz]

dasgut,

 

I read one of your earlier posts and I think I remember you posting sometime in 2011 when I was also applying.  Where did you apply the first time around?  Your record looks better than mine when I applied.

[dasgut]

dasgut,

 

I read one of your earlier posts and I think I remember you posting sometime in 2011 when I was also applying.  Where did you apply the first time around?  Your record looks better than mine when I applied.

Indeed. I applied for Fall 2012 and for Fall 2010 when I first finished my MS. My profile for 2012 is here: http://www.mathematicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=685

 

I didn't apply to that many places in Fall 2010.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

dasgut,

 

Are you sure that it was the undergrad GPA that was the cause of these rejections? I noticed that you applied to a lot of statistics programs.... had you taken any classes on probability and statistical inference prior to applying? Also, do you have any sense of your letters of recommendation?

[dasgut]

dasgut,

 

Are you sure that it was the undergrad GPA that was the cause of these rejections? I noticed that you applied to a lot of statistics programs.... had you taken any classes on probability and statistical inference prior to applying? Also, do you have any sense of your letters of recommendation?

 

Hi statapplicant.

 

There were essentially two problems with my application: my GPA and my lack of stat coursework. I'd taken the undergrad mathematical statistics sequence during college, but that wasn't enough. I learned from some private research that I did have good to very good recs.

[Stat Assistant Professor]

Ah, that is too bad. If you are applying again, I wish you the best of luck. It seems to be unusually competitive these past few years.

 

FWIW, I applied to Harvard, CMU, Berkeley, Washington, Michigan, Duke, Minnesota, UNC, UCLA, and Rice. The first several are definitely reaches and I am not expecting much (but you never know...), but hopefully the last few are within decent reach.

[dasgut]

Ah, that is too bad. If you are applying again, I wish you the best of luck. It seems to be unusually competitive these past few years.

 

FWIW, I applied to Harvard, CMU, Berkeley, Washington, Michigan, Duke, Minnesota, UNC, UCLA, and Rice. The first several are definitely reaches and I am not expecting much (but you never know...), but hopefully the last few are within decent reach.

 

I know one guy who had similar stats and the fact that his LOR writer was a rockstar statistician got him in everywhere he applied. I wouldn't be surprised if, for you, it ultimately depends on the quality of your recs and who writes them.

 

I wish you the best of luck!