PhD Biostatistics Profile Evaluation - any help is tremendously appreciated

[PessimisticStudent]

Thanks in advance.

I am a senior in college and intend to apply to graduate programs in biostatistics, I am applying both MS and PhDs, however I am more interested in entering PhD programs

Undergrad Institution: Liberal Arts College (top 20)
Major: Double in Biochemistry & Mathematics
GPA: 3.56 overall, around 3.7 in Mathematics and 3.5 in Biochemistry

Honor & Awards: Summer Research Grant (I do competitive debate and is pretty successful)

Type of student: International male
GRE: Q: 165, V: 160, W: 5
TOEFL: not applicable 

Courses: 
Undergrad: Mathematical Probability, Abstract Algebra, Graph Algorithms, Computability Theory, Calculus 1-3, Linear Algebra, Mathematical Models in Biology, Organic Chemistry I/II, Biological Chemistry I/II, Statistical Thermodynamics, Medicinal Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Advanced Genetics, Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry, Advanced Inorganic Chemistry  
Programming: R, elementary proficiency in Python
On-Going: Real Analysis, Senior Thesis, Biostatistics

Plan to take: Differential Equations, Chaotic Dynamical Systems (grad level), Mathematical Statistics, finishing up a year long thesis 
 

(Research) Experience: 

-Undergraduate research assistant at a developmental toxicology lab in the department of biology. Analyzed RNA-Seq data using mainly R to infer the role of a transcription factor during zebrafish development. Data is time series.  - I participated in a poster presentation however it is only for homecoming weekend at my institution

-Research Assistant at a clinical study of "storytelling" as an intervention method to reduce lag time in patients entering hospitals for hypertension - I also took part in drafting the manuscript and will be a co-author (The paper is under review)

Letters of recommendation: 
- P.I. in undergraduate research
- Rhetoric Professor - Director of Debate - works with me a lot and knows me for my work ethic and commitment 
- Math professor who worked with me throughout my mathematical career. 

Concerns: 

I have an abysmal GPA due to not doing too hot on the intermediate bio courses and also since I come from a liberal arts institution, I take some courses outside my discipline that really takes a toll on my GPA (not boosting it at all).  I also do not have to many research experience, mostly I did 3 different things for 3 summers. However, my undergraduate thesis/research project is really shaping up and I realized I do want to pursue biostatistics/informatics in the future. I am very interested in analyzing high-throughput sequencing data and apply statistical methods to integrative genomics. 

List:

Harvard (reach)
University of Michigan (reach)
Southern Methodist
Tulane
Dartmouth (their new QBS program)
North Carolina State (Bioinformatics)
University of Iowa
University of Pittsburgh
Boston University
Rutgers
UMass Amherst
Emory

I know my reach schools, but unfortunately cannot identify where I land on the rest.

Thanks for all the help!!

 

 

 
 

[cyberwulf]

Harvard's a reach for you, yes, but I'm not sure I'd say the same thing about Michigan. I would suggest that you apply to more places in the 5-15 ranking range (UNC, Minnesota, Penn, Berkeley, etc.) and fewer low-ranked places (SMU, Tulane, Rutgers). While you likely won't get into all the top 10-15 programs, your profile should at least put you "in the discussion" at some of them.

[PessimisticStudent]

Hi!
Thank you for your response! I removed UMass Amherst and University of Iowa and replaced it with Brown, U Penn, UNC-Chapel Hill and U Rochester (from my scavenging it seems to be these programs are of the middle of the road to slightly more top). My only problem with regards to application is that I have no idea where my profile lies amongst applicants. I assume mine is somewhere along the lower end of mid-range applicants and would adjust schools according. 

Thank you so much for your reply (again)

[cyberwulf]

Where you fall in the applicant pool varies depending on the school you're applying to. Yes, you're probably around the median or below among the people applying to Harvard, but as you go down the rankings the pools weaken so that outside of the top handful of places you'll be above average.