Nontrad profile evaluation quant masters

[the.dude.abides]

Hey everyone- working professional in the financial industry here thinking about returning to school for an applied graduate degree in statistics or an allied field... examples of programs under consideration include Columbia's Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences, Harvard's CSE MS, Harvard AM in Statistics, MIT's MS in OR, etc... if anyone can speak specifically to these particular programs, great.... if not, your feedback on my fitness for a more traditional MS in stats at a great school is also welcome!

Type of Student: not an URM, non-traditional
Undergraduate Institution: top 30 public school, top 10 stats phd program
Major: econ
GPA: 3.6/4.0 overall, last 3 semesters of college 3.9/4.0 with most of the stats/math/quant econ in these semesters
 

Relevant Courses:

the good Multivariate Calc (A-)  first course in programming for science majors (A) econometrics (A), game theory (A) linear algebra (A-) mathematical statistics (A-) grad-level deterministic OR models (A) actuarial models (A) discrete math (B+) the bad: intro to probability (C+) the ugly: differential equations (pass on pass/fail scale)

GRE: 167Q (94%) 170V (99%) 4.5 AW (80%)

 

research exp: none recommenders: not decided yet, but safe to say they're weaker as I've been out of school for a while and haven't kept in touch with professors.. a recommendation for me would probably read something like "I don't remember him, but he got an A in my class, so the dude must be pretty smart."

work exp: my career to date has been wide-ranging but recently involved analyzing large datasets (regression analysis, model building etc) using software like R, a fair amount of programming in "serious" languages like C++, etc

other: some financial industry certifications that probably wouldn't mean much to people reading my application.

Thanks for your time! I am relying on you to be brutally honest with me here, I can take it!

 

[DC1020]

Aside from probability you look to have great, or at least good enough, statistics for top programs. Two recommendations as someone who just went through this:

- LORs: It sounds like you would be on much stronger ground with meaningful recommendations from work rather than from undergrad professors who barely know you. Would your boss be willing to write an enthusiastic letter? A client? Another option is to take a relevant night class (perhaps statistics/probability?) this summer and have that professor write a recommendation. 

- Statement of purpose: This is likely to be what makes or breaks you given how many applications are being sent into these programs nowadays. I'd start writing it now and plan to revise over the next few months. What's unique about your past? What do you want to do with the degree? Why do you stand out? If you have an SOP that could have been written by a couple dozen other applicants (I want to work in big data, data is the future, I'm smart, pick me) then it's hard to imagine they will pluck yours out of the haystack when the others making the same case have 4.0 GPAs and glowing recs from professors. 

[StatMaster2016]

Yeah everything looks really good besides the probability course. I got into Harvard's AM Stat program with similar credentials, minus the work experience, but with a good grade in probability. Probability is an important course, so if there is anyway to demonstrate your capability (online courses, night course, etc), I'd recommend doing so. Besides that, look at what DC1020 has to say. Good luck!