Master's (PhD?) of Statistics Profile Eval. (History Major Undergrad)

[HistoryStat]

Undergrad Institution: Large state school.
Major: History
GPA: 3.85

 

Non-degree Graduate Student: Mid-size state school with good (top 40) math program.

GPA: 4.0

Type of Student: Domestic White Male

 

Courses/ Background: I took Calc BC in high school, and didn't return to math until after undergrad. I'm self-taught in Calc 3 from free, online sources, e.g. MIT OCW's course. I got my BA about 5 years ago, but I recently went back to school as a non-degree grad student and took the following courses, receiving all A's:

 

Applied Linear Algebra, Intro to Probability, Analysis I, Computer Algorithms I, Statistical Theory, Computational Statistics, Independent Study with math prof. on elliptic curves.

 

Competent in R and Java.

 

GRE: 164 Q, 167 V, 4 W

 

History Awards / Recognition: Honors in the history major in undergrad, grant to do thesis research, award for thesis writing. Not sure if these help at all, since all history related.

 

Letters of Recommendation (all from non-degree grad):

• Professor in Mathematical Computer Science.
• Two Associate Professors in Statistics, regularly frequented office hours.

 

Programs I'm Considering: 

• Carnegie Mellon Masters of Statistical Practice
• NC State
• University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
• UCLA
• UC Davis
• UC - Berkeley
• Cornell
• Columbia

 

Can I hope to be competitive for these master's programs? Would I have a chance at the PhD anywhere?

 

As an aside, is CMU's MSP program too professional-oriented to be helpful if I chose to apply to PhD programs down the line?

 

If these aren't realistic for me, any recommendations for alternate programs would be much appreciate. Thanks!

 

[windwhispered]

As a CMU undergrad majoring statistics, my understanding from a talk with my advisor is that CMU's statistics graduate program is extremely prone to admitting student with relatively little background in statistics, but rather has done a lot in other field and/or is willing to work in the intersections of his previous area and statistics. Hence I'm pretty positive that you have a shot at MSP.

Meanwhile, the program is very professional-oriented and a lot of the materials and courses are covered in our undergraduate data analysis curriculum. You can of course opt to take some PhD level stats courses, but the program in general may not be as valuable as other "theoretical" programs at other institutions.

[HistoryStat]

Thanks for your reply, @windwhispered. Glad to hear that my History undergrad could be an asset in this process!

[StatsG0d]

I think you have a pretty good shot at the MS programs, but I think your mathematical breadth will bar you from most PhD programs. You could try to target schools that will automatically consider you for masters if you get rejected. 

[znw]

Chiming in a bit late here, but as a former history undergrad (now 6 years out) who started an MS program with funding this fall:

My math background was probably a little lighter than yours--besides Calc I-III and linear algebra, I took the intro probability/math stat sequence, a proof-based linear algebra course, and a number of undergrad-level applied stat courses before applying to MS programs only. I got into most of the schools I applied to, and with funding from ~half of them (I applied to Davis but was rejected; I ended up accepting at a similarly-ranked school). Since you have taken analysis, I don't think you're necessarily reaching too high to apply to PhD programs. If you haven't done so already, it couldn't hurt emailing stat grad chairs at the schools you're interested in to probe this further, though the timing probably means you won't hear back from anyone right away.

[BrownianEmotion]

 

3 hours ago, znw said:

Chiming in a bit late here, but as a former history undergrad (now 6 years out) who started an MS program with funding this fall:

My math background was probably a little lighter than yours--besides Calc I-III and linear algebra, I took the intro probability/math stat sequence, a proof-based linear algebra course, and a number of undergrad-level applied stat courses before applying to MS programs only. I got into most of the schools I applied to, and with funding from ~half of them (I applied to Davis but was rejected; I ended up accepting at a similarly-ranked school). Since you have taken analysis, I don't think you're necessarily reaching too high to apply to PhD programs. If you haven't done so already, it couldn't hurt emailing stat grad chairs at the schools you're interested in to probe this further, though the timing probably means you won't hear back from anyone right away.

@znw Where did you apply for MS programs to get funding?  I might be able to catch a couple MS deadlines... I am primarily interested in PhD programs but would like to have a backup if possible, and ideally with funding so that I'm not swimming in debt (part of the reason I haven't found a good backup MS program yet).

[znw]

@BrownianEmotion pm'd you!

[StatsG0d]

I just want to clarify that I do not think you're not a competitive candidate for PhD programs. But master's admissions are much, much easier to get into than PhD programs. So while I think that particular list of schools is fine for master's, I think it's too top-heavy for PhD programs. If you're interested in the PhD, then apply for the PhD, but target schools you have at least a decent shot of getting into. From your list of schools, I'd say that's UC Davis, Minnesota, NC State, and maybe UCLA.