Profile Evaluation Request (Statistics Masters)

[IdahoGrad14]

Hello,

I will be applying to some Statistics Masters programs for Fall 2016 admission. I was hoping to get a profile evaluation to see if I am on the right track with school selection, or if I need to expand my search. My Profile summary is:

Education: B.S. Applied Mathematics w/ minor is statistics      3.4 GPA       Unranked state school

GRE: 170Q 162V

Work Experience: 2 years as a data analyst for a large/well-known company

Letters of Rec: Decent

Relevant coursework: Calc 1-2 (AP), Calc 3 (A), Linear Algebra (A), Diff EQ (C), Econometrics (A), Statistical Analysis (A), SAS Programming (A), Probability Theory (A), Mathematical Statistics (B), Stochastic Models (A)

Goals: I eventually would like to attain a Ph.D. and remain in academia, but I plan to use a masters degree to bolster my resume

Applying to: University of Washington, Colorado State, University of Chicago, Columbia

 

I appreciate any responses!

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2015 by IdahoGrad14

[littlemoondragon]

Hi,

Well, guessing by your name, you graduated from Idaho (I did too). This hurts your chances in some cases since the Idaho universities are all unranked and considered tier 4 for research. I was told by a friend who went to University of Washington and Harvard (both are ranked #3 in statistics) that despite my academic record, research history, and STEM outreach the fact I graduated from Idaho would almost disqualify me to attend Harvard.

On that note, you should expand your selection. Your GPA is low for some of the universities you picked. Two of the universities (Washington and Chicago) are the top five ranked, Columbia is top 20, and Colorado is also ranked. I think at least R2. This makes the selection process for applicants more competitive, and these universities will have a higher pool of people with GPA of 3.7 or higher.

Also, if you are going for the top programs, you want your letters of recommendation to be very strong. What supports your claims in your personal statement, describes how you are in the classroom more than your transcript can, and reflect on your performance while you worked as a data analyst are those letters.

In the end, unless you are a golden child, package yourself well on applications gets you into top programs. However, with your GPA being lower, graduating from a unranked undergraduate, and your letters only being decent, you will have a very hard time getting into some of the places you listed such as Washington and Chicago.