Effect of low grades in Biology on Biostat Master's Admissions

[adach1]

I am a Biology major / Statistics minor applying to programs in Statistics and Biostatistics.  I received (flat) C's in both Cell Biology and Genetics (and the rest of the Bio grades were not all A's lol)...so I've been concerned lately about how admissions committees will view these.

I've heard people say you're wasting your time to apply if you have C's in the undergrad courses directly related to your prospective graduate study. I guess what I'm wondering is... Is Biology considered DIRECTLY related to Biostat in this way?

From my perspective, I consider these as somewhat irrelevant to my future interests.  I've spoken with many graduate students in Biostatistics who told me their experiences have had far stronger focus on Statistics than on Biology course material (and the most Bio they took was Epidemiology). In my statement I emphasize that my specific interests are in clinical and pharmaceutical applications of statistics.  I know maybe I'm just being silly... But I can't help but wonder constantly how admission committees will look upon my less-than-stellar Bio grades.

Sorry for rambling, but thank you for reading this  I know it's not fair to ask for judgments on my strength as an applicant on the whole with only this tiny bit of information, so I'm not asking for that--just about the strength of connection adcoms draw between bio and biostat in general >< I can tell that the C's certainly aren't helping my application, but how much do you suppose they'll hurt? Any brief input / insight at all would really be greatly appreciated!!!!

Edited December 30, 2016 by adach1

[StatsG0d]

I think for master's programs you will be fine. A lot of applicants have little or no biology background whatsoever. I think your math grades, especially multivariate calculus and linear algebra, will matter much more than your bio grades. So provided that the rest of your background like GRE scores, math GPA, etc. are good, I would say it's not a huge detriment.