Biostatistics PhD Profile Evaluation

[statcrazy]

Undergrad

Large state public school in the Midwest 

Double majored in statistics & genetics 

GPA 3.95

Honors in research

 

Grad MS

Wisconsin

Statistics

GPA 3.79

Courses: the usual math stat, regression, design; electives in clinical trials, epidemiology, bioinformatics, machine learning; got a B in ML but A and A- in the others

 

GRE Q 161, V 150, W 4.0

 

Work/research experience

Worked part time during masters at analytics firm

Worked 3 years full time after MS for research center in genetic epidemiology; several publications

 

Letters from previous professors, current research manager - all pretty good

 

Other Planning on taking a real analysis course the coming semester part time while I work

 

Applying To

I'm interested in statistical genetics and genetic epidemiology. I'm thinking of applying to these schools for Biostatistics 

U Michigan, Harvard, Hopkins, Washington, Berkeley, U Penn

 

What are your thoughts? Would I be competitive at any/all of these? Are there any that I should add or remove based on my interests in stat genetics?

 

I've also considered applying to programs in epidemiology and doing research on the genetics side as a backup plan. Harvard and Hopkins both have specializations in that area.

 

Thanks!

[StatsG0d]

I think your list of schools is very, very top heavy. I don't necessarily think it will be impossible to get into one of those schools, but it will be pretty difficult. You will certainly need to get an A in real analysis and hopefully your math background is filled with A's. The competition pool for those schools is very competitive, with students having much more math breadth (e.g., not only real analysis but also complex analysis, real analysis II, etc.) 

I also think if you want to get into these schools, you'll need to get that GRE score up to at least a 165+ and preferably 167+. Good luck to you, but I highly recommend you add some more realistic schools to your list. Biostats has great job prospects, so I don't think you need to be set on only top-10 schools.