Statistics PhD Profile Evaluation

[pnpack]

Undergrad Institution: NC State
Major: Statistics, Math Minor
GPA: 3.6, 3.7 major GPA

Type of Student: White Male

Upper Division Courses:

Math: Calc II (B-) Calc III (A-) Intro Advanced Math (pretty much a watered down analysis class) (A-) Linear Algebra (B-) Real Analysis (enrolled)

 

 Statistics/Statistics: All typical ugrad stat classes, B+ or better in all of them

 

GRE: Will take this summer

Undergraduate Research:

One project fall of junior year and I plan to do something else in the fall of my senior year 

Jobs:

Two summer "data science" internships with a pretty big software company.  Used R for a variety of data tasks.

 

Plan to apply to:

My understanding is that these would be a bit of a reach

NCSU

UNC

UC-Davis

 

And these would be more of a match

UF

FSU

 

 

Any information helps!

[edward130603]

I agree that NCSU would probably be a bit of a reach. Low grade in linear algebra does not look good, since that is probably the first real proof-based math class you have. I think you definitely need to get a good grade in real analysis. Early January, NCSU asked me to send my fall grades (even though their website does says they don't want you to update them with fall grades). I'm guessing they really wanted to see how well I did in real analysis (other classes I was taking were pretty irrelevant), and apparently an A- was good enough. 

Would you mind sharing where you interned? Currently looking for some data/stat related internship for the summer and not having too much luck.

Edited February 12, 2017 by edward130603

[StatsG0d]

I don't necessarily think NCSU is a reach. You come from there, so they are familiar with your courses, etc. I would think that you would not want to go to UNC unless you are interested in probability, as that is what they're known for (based on the fact that you weren't a math major, I'll say it's a safe assumption that you don't want to attend there). In my experience, the California schools are pretty competitive, mainly because of the location.

I'm not familiar with FSU's program but UF's is highly international (admitting on average 2-5 American students per year, compared to 8-10 international students). This makes UF not so much a safety school (in addition, it's highly theoretical and Bayesian MCMC oriented. If you're into more applied work, you should research the other departments).

I'd say it's a good idea to apply to the very large departments (A&M, NCSU, Purdue, etc.). It might also be a good idea to take some kind of advanced linear algebra class to show that you can do that sort of stuff.

[pnpack]

@footballman2399 Thanks for the information!

[milka49]

Take a second and maybe even third semester of Analysis. You look fine but could stand some more math. Maybe some probability theory could help too.

Don't stress the linear grade too much. I got a B- in it too, and it was the single biggest stress factor for me. My GPA (inside major and out) was a 3.5. Nothing amazing, though it was from a very very solid undergrad institution.

Just try to push yourself and get a good math background, and get good letters of rec! Those help more than anybody realizes. I figured I'd not get into any place I applied and was pleasantly surprised when I got my first acceptance. My transcript is full of Bs.