Top Biostats PhD prospects for a Canadian undergraduate

[thesebrokenwings]

Hi, I'm a third year undergraduate in Canada studying in a bio/health-related field and doing a minor in mathematics. I'm looking to see how competitive I am (or will be) and what I can do to improve my application for the upcoming year.

 

School: Pretty well-known University in Canada for the Health Sciences; it's ranked within the top 100 on the TIME University rankings. 

GPA: 3.97 in first and second year; 4.0 in math

Math courses taken: Calculus I, II, Advanced Calc I, Linear Algebra I, II, Intro to Stats, and Real Analysis. I'm planning on taking topology and complex analysis next term. 

GRE: I'm planning on writing in the summer of 2014 (is that a good time to write it?) Should I write the math GRE too? 

Research: I have had two research projects so far, my first in mathematical modelling and the second in bioinformatics. No publications so far.

 

How competitive will I be to get into the top Biostats program in the States? (ie, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia, etc.) 

 

Thank you! Any input and constructive comments are appreciated. 

[DMX]

I can see the main factor being how well-known your university is. (i.e. is it one of McGill, Toronto, Waterloo etc., which everyone has heard of, or is it a place lower down on the list)?

Keep taking math classes, though anything beyond analysis is overkill. Instead of topology/complex analysis I would focus on more advanced stats courses (regression, nonparametric stats, inference, and the like).

If you are able to get a publication or two under your belt in the upcoming year, I imagine you will be competitive at all programs.

 

Best of luck!

[thesebrokenwings]

I can see the main factor being how well-known your university is. (i.e. is it one of McGill, Toronto, Waterloo etc., which everyone has heard of, or is it a place lower down on the list)?

Keep taking math classes, though anything beyond analysis is overkill. Instead of topology/complex analysis I would focus on more advanced stats courses (regression, nonparametric stats, inference, and the like).

If you are able to get a publication or two under your belt in the upcoming year, I imagine you will be competitive at all programs.

 

Best of luck!

 

Thank you! I'm at McMaster. How important are these upper-year stats courses for these programs? I only have intro to stats and it doesn't fulfill any of the requirements for the stats courses offered next term. 

[DMX]

if you've taken analysis you should have no problem jumping into upper level probability/inference classes.

[cyberwulf]

You should try and take courses in probability and mathematical statistics. Those are going to be by far the most useful preparation for graduate study in biostatistics.

 

The applicant pool in biostat has strengthened considerably over the past handful of years; I think you might find it tough to crack the top handful of programs (e.g., Harvard, Hopkins) but you will probably be in decent shape at places like UCLA, Columbia, etc.

[thesebrokenwings]

You should try and take courses in probability and mathematical statistics. Those are going to be by far the most useful preparation for graduate study in biostatistics.

 

The applicant pool in biostat has strengthened considerably over the past handful of years; I think you might find it tough to crack the top handful of programs (e.g., Harvard, Hopkins) but you will probably be in decent shape at places like UCLA, Columbia, etc.

 

Then what separates me from those who get into the 'top' schools and those that don't? What do I need to be more competitive?

[cyberwulf]

Then what separates me from those who get into the 'top' schools and those that don't? What do I need to be more competitive?

 

There will be a decent number of students applying who:

1) Have stronger mathematical/statistical preparation, and/or

2) Have similar records to yours, but attended better-known undergraduate institutions

 

You can work on #1. With respect to #2, McMaster is a good school, but it doesn't have great name recognition. Most people know the "big four" in Canada (UBC, Toronto, Waterloo, McGill) but not much beyond that, so admissions committees may find it difficult to put your performance in context. Hence, it would be very helpful for your letter writers to compare you to past students who (say) attended prestigious U.S. graduate programs.

 

The bar for Canadian students is somewhere between the bar for U.S. nationals and for overseas applicants. The bar for overseas applicants is, basically, insane; the only ones who get into top 6-8 places are very good students at a handful of elite institutions. What's really changed recently is the depth of the domestic applicant pool; a couple of years ago, I would have been pretty bullish about your chances at most programs but now there are many more quality applicants. I don't mean to imply that you have no hope of being admitted to a top 5 program. I think your application will be given serious consideration at good places, but I wouldn't bank on all of them admitting you.

[coffeehouse]

if you've taken analysis you should have no problem jumping into upper level probability/inference classes.

I would argue that this is not always true.

In my statistical theory course (graduate level) one of the top undergrad students in mathematics (taken graduate probability, functional analysis etc) struggled in it because he only took one intro course in Statistics.

 

A course in regression and statistical inference(math stats) is essential.