School recommendations for masters in statistics

[StatMaster2016]

Hi all,

 

I've been looking over the results of last year's applicants to masters in statistics programs, and am more confused than ever about where I would be competitive. From the looks of it, many applicants with very high GPAs and GREs were rejected from programs ranging from Stanford (ranked 1st) to Yale (ranked 34th). I am applying to programs this coming fall, and am trying to get an idea about what range of masters programs I should apply to. I was hoping to get some help on this forum. Thank you in advance! Here is my profile:

 

About me

Domestic, Caucasian male

School: Top 10 public university

Majors: B.S., Psychology and Economics

Minors: Math and Business

Other: Completed basic pre-med courses

Cumulative GPA: 3.78

Last 60 credits: 4.00

 

GRE scores

 

167 Q

160 V

5.0 W

 

Quant courses/grades

 

Calc I (AP)

Calc II (A)

Calc III (A)

Probability and Math Stats I (A)

Probability and Math Stats II (A)

Matrix and Linear Algebra (A)

Theory of Single Variable Calculus (essentially an intro to analysis and proof-writing) (A)

Acc. Intro to Stats (A)

Econometrics (A)

Intermediate Microeconomics (A)

Intermediate Macroeconomics (A)

Game Theory (A)

Psychology Stats ( B )-- fluke grade

Experimental Psychology (A)

Intro to programming in R (A)

Intermediate programming in R (A)

Intro to Data Programming (Python) (A)

 

Work experience

-2 summer internships, one being in market research

-Lifeguard

 

Academic research experience

-Research assistant in psychology lab; this was not very statistical in nature though

 

Other things

-Played club baseball

-On the board of Psi Chi (psychology honor society) for a year

-Served as treasurer in an investment club

 

Suggestions for the range of schools I should apply would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again!

Edited July 10, 2015 by chase130101

[StatMaster2016]

Bump; just retook the GRE today and scored 167 Q, 166 V, if that changes anything. Thank you.

[MarcusSolarz]

Hi,

 

What are your goals? What do you wish to do with your MS (go onto a PhD, industry, etc). What areas are you interested in?

 

Cheers,

Marcus

Edited July 24, 2015 by MarcusSolarz

[StatMaster2016]

Hi Marcus,

 

Thank you for your response. I will likely go work in industry after my masters degree. I am interested in economics/behavioral economics, public policy, or finance. 

 

My worry is that my courses may lack rigor in comparison to other candidates. I have not taken real analysis yet, not because I have avoided it, but because of my late developed interest in statistics.

[efh0888]

I think you'd be fine in terms of GRE (sorry, no the better V won't help but you're Q is fine) and courses since you have all the math and programming reqs. I'm sure it'll be helpful that you've had exposure to writing proofs (via the Theory of Single Variable Calculus course). Real Analysis would probably be overkill for the MS level, especially if you have no plans to do a PhD afterwards. Anyone disagree?

For schools, I'd say pick 1-2 schools in each tier, which makes 4-8 total. I believe they've been broken down by tier in various threads on here before. A special note on rankings: it's important to rank stats separate from biostats, which you did not do when saying Yale is 34th. They're probably more like 20-25 when removing biostats depts.

Also I'd recommend you throw in a super safety school that you would have like 95% confidence you'd get an acceptance but make sure it's somewhere you'd actually be willing to attend if it was your only acceptance. That's obviously a personal choice.

Edited July 28, 2015 by efh0888

[StatMaster2016]

Thank you efh, this is helpful.

 

I imagine tier I may still be a bit of a reach given the credentials of other applicants, but might as well try and see what happens.