Phd and Master profile evaluation

[Twooooooo]

I am a senior student now. I did my first two years in China and then transferred to the University of Toronto. Thus, I have no idea how strong my profile is. Any comments/suggestions/help would be appreciated. My profile is as follows. Thanks in advance!

 

Undergrad Institution 2:  University of Toronto (2015-2017)
Major: Applied Math in Statistics
GPA: 3.98/4.0(overall)

Undergrad Institution 1:  Top 15th Chinese University(2013-2015)
Major: Statistics
GPA: 86.23/100(Rank 1/29 )

Type of Student:  International Assian Male

Courses/ Background:

Courses took in China: Analysis 1 A, Analysis 2 A, Analysis 3 A-, Algebra 1 A, Algebra 2 A+, Ordinary Differential Equation A+, Complex Analysis A+, Numerical Methods A+, Combinatorics A+, Mathmatical Modeling A+

Course took in the University of Toronto: Partial Differential Equation A+, Abstract Algebra A+, Probability and Statistics 1 A+, Probability and Statistics 2 A-, Method of Data Analysis A, Probability A+, Time-Series Analysis A+, Math and Statistics 1 A+ (Except partial differential equation, I got more than 95 in all other A+ courses.)

 

I'm proficient in R and competent in Java and Python.

 

GRE: 170Q(97%), 150V(47%), 3.0(17%)

Math GRE Subject: 80% (I do not plan to submit it since it is very low.) 

 

Research Experience: Have been doing Conceft Algorithm(Which optimize Multitapering) with an assistant professor. Expected to publish a paper next year. 
 

Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Dean's List, TAship for first year calculus course.
 

Pertinent Activities or Jobs: research assistant, Tutor, leader of multiple student orgs in China

 

Letters of Recommendation:

-One Statistics Associate Professor, I took his Math and statistics course and get the highest score in my class(Almost all students in that class are grad student.)  He will write about my Real Analysis knowledge since I did not offcially take real analysis course.

-One Statistics Professor in my statistical computation class.

-One Math Assistant Professor I did research with. 

Already Applied:

Harvard Applied Math (Master) 

Harvard Statistics (Master)

UC Berkeley Statistics (Master)

 

Thinking of applying to:

University of Chicago Statistics (Master)

Duke University Statistics(Master)

Stanford ICME or Statistics (Master)

Waterloo Statistics (Master)

North Western University Statistics (Phd)

Yale University Statistics (Phd)

New York University Statistics (Phd)

New York University Data Science (Phd)

Cornell University Statistics (Phd)

I have several questions.

1. In the last semester in China, I took Real Variable courses. It is very different from real analysis and I hated it. Thus, I planned to not care that course and take a real analysis course in the University of Toronto. However, they give a very low score in my transcript. Is that necessary to order another transcript without that course? I took real analysis in the University of Toronto. I did well in the midterm, but I dropped it because it has conflicts with another course. Should I mention this fact?

2. I did very bad on my GRE writing and verbal section. Do I have to redo it? I think I can do better if I have enought time.

3.I did very bad on my mGRE. Should I submit my score? I am afraid it will lower my chance to get into those universities.

4. What is my chance to get into those schools I listed? I wonder should I apply more safe schools? I planned to read one more year if I get all rejected. 

Thanks in Advance.

[Residuals]

_{Your math course work is good and expected for the better programs in statistics. I wouldn't worry about the verbal GRE, most schools don't focus on it. The problem with the Math Subject GRE is that there is an expectation of very high scores from international applicants. I think you can rely on the general GRE quant score. Might think about U of Wisconsin and Penn State.}

Edited December 20, 2016 by arima

[Twooooooo]

Thank you so much @arima. I checked those two universities. I am thinking of applying to Penn State statistics phd program.

Is there any school in my list that is too top heavy? I am afraid some schools I listed are too hard for me to get in.

 

[Residuals]

I think with your math courses/GPA/General GRE Quant and from a good school in U of Toronto, you have a good shot at all the schools. Only Stanford's PhD requires Math Subject Test; no other school explicitly requires it. So, if you feel that your Math Subject Test score is not on par with other international students, you don't have to submit it to any of these schools (note: no MS program asks for the subject test, so if you go to an MS program then you have a second chance at the math subject test in the future). I think you have good chance at many of the programs you are applying to. Good luck.

[MLHopeful]

Top students from University of Toronto should be able to get into top-notch PhD programs (I say this having come from Waterloo, which I presume has comparable, perhaps slightly better, outcomes). Your courses/GPA look strong - hard to judge your research. You should have a shot at everywhere on your list, if anything you're not aiming high enough. I would, sincerely, suggest you work to improve your english, and your GRE score by extension. You're unlikely to be successful in grad school if you can't easily communicate with your english-speaking peers.

[Twooooooo]

On 2016/12/22 at 4:35 AM, arima said:

I think with your math courses/GPA/General GRE Quant and from a good school in U of Toronto, you have a good shot at all the schools. Only Stanford's PhD requires Math Subject Test; no other school explicitly requires it. So, if you feel that your Math Subject Test score is not on par with other international students, you don't have to submit it to any of these schools (note: no MS program asks for the subject test, so if you go to an MS program then you have a second chance at the math subject test in the future). I think you have good chance at many of the programs you are applying to. Good luck.

 

Hi aria! Thanks for your reply! You really give me confidence.

On 2016/12/28 at 2:58 AM, MLHopeful said:

Top students from University of Toronto should be able to get into top-notch PhD programs (I say this having come from Waterloo, which I presume has comparable, perhaps slightly better, outcomes). Your courses/GPA look strong - hard to judge your research. You should have a shot at everywhere on your list, if anything you're not aiming high enough. I would, sincerely, suggest you work to improve your english, and your GRE score by extension. You're unlikely to be successful in grad school if you can't easily communicate with your english-speaking peers.

 

Thanks you MLHopeful for ur reply! I definitely agree with about the importance of English. I am working on improving my English now. But do I have to take GRE General test one more time recently? I am sure I can improve my writing if I have enough time to prepare.