Advice on Biostats Programs for Fall 2015

[viksa90]

Hello I realize it might be a bit early to start positing stats, but I am extremely interested in pursuing an education in biostatistics- so I am hoping someone can give me an advice as to what I need to do before the cycle starts to make myself more competitive. I have not taken the GRE yet. My main concern is my bad undergraduate math record- not only are there few Bs (including a B-!), I also feel like I did not really challenge myself. My undergraduate institution really encourages pursuing more of an applied math path, and I’ve taken a lot of biology, chemistry, physics and programming classes in addition to the math classes listed bellow.

 

I am currently registered for a class in Regression Analysis over the summer, and plan on taking Mathematical Statistics and Analysis of Variance in the Fall for starters. I would really appreciate any insight here as well- perhaps taking more proof based classes and doing well would be a better idea.

 

I think a PhD is probably unrealistic at the moment, even though I have some relevant research experience (my capstone project was ~ statistical genomics, Bayesian model for allele specific expression). Would you advice applying solely for masters programs first?  

 

Thank you!

 

Type of Student: Domestic White Female

 

Undergrad Institution: Big Public research school
Majors: Mathematics
GPA: 3.74 overall

Courses: Calc 1-3 (A,B,A), DiffEq (A+), Real Analysis ( B ), Mathematical Structures (A), Numerical Analysis (A), Applied Computational Methods (A), Theory of Probability (A+), Advanced Linear Algebra (B-), Cryptography (A), Linear Algebra (A), Applied Stats I (A).

 

Research Experience: 3 years in a mathematical biology lab, mostly PDEs and rule-based modeling (2 poster presentations), 2 years in a pure biology lab, but did all the statistical analysis (1 poster presentation), 3 years in a bioinformatics/genomics lab (>5 poster presentations, 2 second author papers and 1 first author paper).

 

Relevant Jobs: Currently working as a bioinformatician for a research institute; Math tutor for various lower level math courses

Letters of Rec: I'll have to work on this. Currently I can have really good LOR from my current mentors (1: BME background; 2: Neuroscience background; 3: Mathematics background) but I guess I'll need more people with relevant math of stats background.

Research Interests: Statistical Genomics

 

Other: Proficient in Java, Perl, Python, R, Matlab, bash scripting. High school math enthusiast with few awards at the country level; competed up to the Olympiad.

Edited April 16, 2014 by viksa90

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

I wouldn't say a Ph.D program is out of the question by any stretch of the imagination. The B's in math courses may keep you from the top programs, but you have a stronger background than many (most?) applicants applying to Ph.D programs in the country, except for maybe those that get into Hopkins and Harvard. 

[cyberwulf]

With your record, it would be perfectly reasonable to apply to a handful of biostat PhD programs ranked in the top 10, along with some ranked a bit lower. For the higher-ranked places, even if you are not admitted to the PhD you will almost certainly get into their Masters programs. Feel free to PM if you want more detailed advice.

[viksa90]

Thank you for the advice!