Profile Evaluation for Biostats/Stats

[abstract_art]

Hey everyone, so I just finished my sophomore year of undergrad and I'm planning on applying to biostatistics/statistics PhD programs next year (Fall 2016). I was hoping I could get feedback on the following:

-What could I do to strengthen my profile?

-I was a bit worried about my B+ in the first semester of my Analysis class, but the A in the second semester should make it fine, correct?

-Where I stand in terms of competitiveness for the schools I want to apply to?

-Are there any schools that I didn't list that I should apply to (or schools that I did list that I shouldn't)?

-What schools should I apply to that would be "safeties" (as much as a school can be a safety when applying to grad school)?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Undergrad Institution: Top 35 undergrad (no statistics department, not well known for its math department)
Majors: Math, Computer Science
GPA: 3.93 (overall), 3.857 (Math), 4.0 (CS)

Type of Student: Domestic White Male

Courses/ Background: Honors Multivariable Calc (A), Honors Linear Algebra (A-), Differential Equations (A-), Probability (A), Mathematical Statistics (A), Analysis I (B+), Analysis II (A)

 

I've received all A's in my CS classes (data structures, computer organization, computer systems, etc.) so far and am proficient in Java, Python, and C. I have some experience with R and Mathematica.

 

I'm planning on taking Graduate Real Analysis next year, complex analysis (not sure about undergrad or grad yet), stochastic processes, and maybe topology in the math department. I'm planning on taking artificial intelligence and machine learning classes in the CS department (along with some other classes that don't have relevance to math or stats).

GRE: Taking this coming year, hoping for 90+ percentile in quantitative

Research Experience: None so far, attending a SIBS program this summer, hopefully doing some sort of REU next summer
Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, Sophomore Award for being in top 5% of class
Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Grader for math department for last two semesters, TA for CS department last two semesters

Letters of Recommendation: Not sure who I'm going to ask yet

Thinking of applying to:

Stats: NCSU, UC Davis, Rice, UC Santa Barbara

Biostats: Washington, UNC, Michigan, Minnesota, Penn, UCLA, Columbia, Emory, Brown, Yale, BU, Pitt

 

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

I can only speak for Biostats, but I'd say your competitive everywhere you just mentioned (and actually everywhere in general). Honestly, I'd drop BU and Pitt from your list and replace them with Harvard and Hopkins...and I'd be very surprised if you don't get an offer from at least one of the top 3 schools!

 

On another note, Columbia doesn't accept PhD students straight from undergrad... the best you can do at Columbia is go into their accelerated MS track for pre-doctoral students... The funding won't be competitive compared to the other offers you'll get, especially in NYC. Nothing against the program, you'll definitely get in, but I wouldn't even waste the application money to apply there if I were you because it wouldn't be worth it compared to the other places your applying. 

[Stat Assistant Professor]

I think you would be very competitive for Statistics as well... you could certainly crack the top 10 with this profile, assuming you have decent to stellar letters of recommendation.

[cyberwulf]

I saw/heard about some pretty crazy results this year, so I'm not going to say you're a lock for a top biostat department, but if you apply to the top 6-8 places, I can't imagine that you wouldn't get into at least a couple.

[cyberwulf]

I'd be very surprised if you don't get an offer from at least one of the top 3 schools!

 

This is exactly what I would have said before this year's cycle. But this year there were some really exceptional students with records quite comparable to the OP's who got shut out of the top 3 programs. One of the main drivers of this phenomenon is that over the past couple of years Washington has cut in half the number of students they admit; this year, they only took about 20.

Edited May 15, 2015 by cyberwulf

[StatsG0d]

I would be pretty surprised if you got rejected to any of the statistics programs you mentioned. NCSU is very good, and about tied in rank with Michigan and Texas A&M. While I was rejected from the former, I was accepted to the latter. Your profile looks much better than mine, so I would say maybe apply to a couple in the top-5 and 3-4 in the top-10. I would wipe UCSB and Rice off of your list unless you are interested in financial time series.

[wine in coffee cups]

Keep the grades up, try to get to know a few faculty in the next year and a half (work on research or a thesis with them, do reading credits under someone, go to office hours, ask for advice about your plans), you'll be fine. I think you have a good chance at more selective departments than the ones you've listed, so I'd apply based more on your research interests and location preferences when the time comes. Realistically, many of those are going to be safeties for you if you remain around the top 5% of your class at a good undergrad, so maybe prune some of them out and add some more reaches.

I would wipe UCSB and Rice off of your list unless you are interested in financial time series.

Rice is a small department, but I think it's a actually good match for someone who is interested in biostatistics. They have a few faculty there working on statistical genetics and genomics (off the top of my head, Vannucci and Allen), and they have lots of affiliate faculty from MD Anderson, which is a major cancer research center with a biostatistics department.

[abstract_art]

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

On another note, Columbia doesn't accept PhD students straight from undergrad... the best you can do at Columbia is go into their accelerated MS track for pre-doctoral students... The funding won't be competitive compared to the other offers you'll get, especially in NYC. Nothing against the program, you'll definitely get in, but I wouldn't even waste the application money to apply there if I were you because it wouldn't be worth it compared to the other places your applying. 

Doesn't Michigan biostats do something similar, or is it more direct than Columbia? Would the funding be less because of it being for the MS instead of PhD, or just funding in general for Columbia since it's in NYC?

 

I would be pretty surprised if you got rejected to any of the statistics programs you mentioned. NCSU is very good, and about tied in rank with Michigan and Texas A&M. While I was rejected from the former, I was accepted to the latter. Your profile looks much better than mine, so I would say maybe apply to a couple in the top-5 and 3-4 in the top-10. I would wipe UCSB and Rice off of your list unless you are interested in financial time series.

So stats programs in the 6-10 range like CMU or Duke would be possible?

 

Keep the grades up, try to get to know a few faculty in the next year and a half (work on research or a thesis with them, do reading credits under someone, go to office hours, ask for advice about your plans), you'll be fine. I think you have a good chance at more selective departments than the ones you've listed, so I'd apply based more on your research interests and location preferences when the time comes. Realistically, many of those are going to be safeties for you if you remain around the top 5% of your class at a good undergrad, so maybe prune some of them out and add some more reaches.

What would be the best way to determine the research strengths of each school? I can get a general sense from the departments' websites, but I don't know what to look into past that, in terms of publications, journals, etc.

[Biostat_Assistant_Prof]

To answer a few of these...

Doesn't Michigan biostats do something similar, or is it more direct than Columbia? Would the funding be less because of it being for the MS instead of PhD, or just funding in general for Columbia since it's in NYC?

 

Michigan does this for most students without an MS, but I've heard they make exceptions for very strong students (and I think you may qualify as such). However, Michigan funds quite a few MS students at a pretty good stipend (~$27k if remember right, and having gotten that offer myself back when I applied, I can't imagine you won't get it). 

 

I'm not exactly sure how much Columbia funds the PhD track MS students, but given cost of living in NYC, I guarantee it's no where near as good as what $27k will get you in Ann Arbor. I will say though, I have it on good word that the students in this certain MS program at Columbia will almost always be accepted to continue on in the PhD program...  This next part I'm am far from certain on, but for some reason I want to say the PhD students at Columbia get something like ~$35k/year (idk where I heard this or why this number stands out in my head, so definitely take this with a grain of salt).

 

 

What would be the best way to determine the research strengths of each school? I can get a general sense from the departments' websites, but I don't know what to look into past that, in terms of publications, journals, etc.

 

Look at where the faculty are publishing and the topics they're publishing on. If you see a certain faculty member (or group of faculty) at an institution publishing in journals like JASA, JRSS-B, Biometrika, Annals of Stats, Biostatistics, Biometrics, Stats in Med (those first 4 journals being what I think are generally considered the best) - then whatever the topic they're publishing on is pretty indicative of that departments strength in that area. 

[wine in coffee cups]

So stats programs in the 6-10 range like CMU or Duke would be possible?

 

What would be the best way to determine the research strengths of each school? I can get a general sense from the departments' websites, but I don't know what to look into past that, in terms of publications, journals, etc.

Nothing should stop you from applying to places like CMU or Duke unless you wouldn't actually be interested in going there if admitted. (CMU might not be a great choice if you're interested in biostatistics though.)

 

You could spend a bunch of time mucking around department website hell (and eventually you will when you apply), but I think talking to faculty at the SIBS you're doing this summer is the best way for you to learn about research areas and program/faculty strengths. That's pretty much what SIBS is for.