Applying for Stats MS with Insufficient Math Background

[lynntoujours]

Hello Everyone,

I am a rising senior and double major in econ and politics in a top liberal arts college in New England. I am thinking about applying for MS in stats (hopefully some top programs). I have a 3.9+ GPA, with both math courses and econ major gpa being 4.0. I did research with my econ professor last summer, therefore had some experiences working with really large dataset and developed good Stata and R skills. Right now, I am working as a financial analyst intern at a small investment/research company, accumulating more experiences using linear regression+advanced machine learning methods.

My biggest weakness is that I haven't taken many math courses. I took Calc, multivariable calc, linear algebra, geometry and probability at school. In addition, I did econ stats, econometrics, time series econometrics and the economics of big data (learning machine learning methods), which were all highly quantitative courses. However, I don't have any rigorous "proof" math courses on my transcript, such as real analysis. I was wondering if it will seriously hurt my chances of getting into top MS programs and if I should adjust my program-choosing strategy accordingly. Also, will taking GRE Math Subject test compensate my insufficient math background?

I will take both GRE and math subject test in September.

Thank you so much for your advice!

 

[Residuals]

You have more than enough for an MS in statistics. The need for real analysis and other heavy duty courses is more for PhD admission. Below is a copy and paste from the U of Chicago statistics department when it comes to MS vs. PhD prereqs:

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What are the prerequisites for the M.S. program?

You should take calculus through the Jacobians and multivariate intervals, linear/matrix algebra, and elementary probability or statistics. For your reference, here is an example of an academic history that would satisfy our prerequisites.

MATH 15100-15200-15300: Calculus I-II-III
MATH 19520: Mathematical Methods for the Social Sciences
MATH 19620: Linear Algebra
STAT 23400: Statistical Models and Methods

If you have met some but not all of the prerequisites, you are still welcome to apply, provided you are willing to stay in the program longer in order to take some background courses.

What are the prerequisites for the Ph.D. program?

You should have completed the M.S. prerequisites. Additional course work in mathematics, especially real analysis, and facility with computer programming are helpful. Substantial background, through study or experience, in some area of science or other discipline involving quantitative reasoning and empirical investigation may be considered in lieu of the specific course prerequisites. An applicant’s background in mathematics and in science or another quantitative discipline is more important than his or her background in statistics.

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Stanford has even less requirements for MS applicants than UChicago. Its site simply states:

"Applicants should have successfully completed an equivalent of Linear Algebra and one other statistics courses to be eligible to apply."

[StatMaster2016]

I got into Stanford, U Chicago, Harvard, Duke, and more with a background similar to yours. I went to a strong state school, was an econ major, and did not take any proofs based math courses. I did take a statistics course that taught R and an intro CS course that used Python. I also took a mathematical stats course, which seems to be a pre-req for some of the programs. I did well on the GRE and did not take the math subject test-- I did not have a strong enough background to take it

Good luck!

[lynntoujours]

On 6/5/2016 at 10:21 AM, StatMaster2016 said:

I got into Stanford, U Chicago, Harvard, Duke, and more with a background similar to yours. I went to a strong state school, was an econ major, and did not take any proofs based math courses. I did take a statistics course that taught R and an intro CS course that used Python. I also took a mathematical stats course, which seems to be a pre-req for some of the programs. I did well on the GRE and did not take the math subject test-- I did not have a strong enough background to take it

Good luck!

Thank you so much for your comment! If you have any free time, may I ask you more questions regrading stats MS application? The schools you got into are exactly what I want to apply.