What schools should I aim for?

[carlzyy]

Hi all,

 

In May I just finished a B.A. on Mathematics and Statistics (and Russian) at University of Rochester (US new ranking 30+). Now I'm applying for master program in Stats and Biostats for Fall 2015.

 

Here are some facts about me:

 

Type of student: Chinese male, can speak Mandarin Chinese, English and Russian (ranked by proficiency from high to low)

Major: Double major in MST and Russian

GPA: Overall 3.71, MST major 3.55

GRE: Quantitative 170, Verbal 159, Writing unknown yet (estimated 3.5 ~ 4.5)

Research: Almost none, like the pinned topic on top said. I wrote two research papers for STT 212 and STT 226W finals. For the low quality they possess, they should be called "homework" rather than "research".

 

More details on my academic record (copy & pasted from my school's portal):

 

 

* STT 203 is at graduate level, according to my professor.

 

Actually I experienced a slight change of field in my junior year. As you can see, I took my first two Stats courses in spring 2013, after the winter break during which I decided to switch to Stats major (from Math). One is the prerequisite of the other, but I had to take them simultaneously or I won't graduate on time.

 

Based on my GPA and GRE score, what schools should I aim for? I've targeted U Washington (Stats program) as my dream school and UCSB as the safety one, but what are good choices for me in between?

 

Also should I take the GRE Mathematics Subject Test in late October, and how much will GRE subject score compensate my offset in MST GPA?

 

Thank you for your time!

Edited September 9, 2014 by carlzyy

[trigga]

I don't know if I have much to say other than I also just graduated from Rochester last fall and it looks like we took 226W together...lol.  Your math background looks better than mine though.  I'm looking at Harvard, UCLA, Michigan, Pittsburgh and Buffalo, so maybe take a look at those if you haven't already.  Good luck with everything!

[MathToStat]

U of Washington is definitely a competitive school to get into but masters programs are usually a little less competitive than PhD programs and I have also heard that there is usually a better chance at getting into a biostatistics program than a statistics program, for what it's worth.

As far as schools to apply to, there are so many options to choose from it really depends on what you want to go into. Do you have any ideas of potential fields? Or are you thinking biostatistics and applying to both with the idea of working in biostatistics either way? I ask because you mentioned UCSB which is known for having a more financial emphasis.

One approach might be to look for programs that have both biostatistics and statistics programs in the same department, such as NC State.