Prof won't let me take Grad Mathematical Stats

[yenhcz1995]

Hello,

I'm a junior who plans to apply to stats phd programs next fall. I took the undergrad mathematical stats at my school and wanted to take the grad version (since there is only 1 semester of undergrad math stats) in the fall, but the professor refuses to allow me to take it.

The only thing he asked for was my GPA (~3.75) and coursework and, in my humble opinion, his decision makes very little sense. I got an A in the undergrad math stats course and have also taken grad real analysis, complex analysis, topology this year, all with A's. I mentioned all of this to him and he said my grades in calc III/IV (got B+'s freshman year) are a concern and that I should instead take "easier" courses to get a better GPA if I want to apply to grad school.

It's also not the case that the grad math stats course is somehow significantly harder than the undergrad version. They both use the same book (Casella & Berger), so it's overall a bit strange that the prof believes I am totally unprepared for it. In any case, I don't want to argue with him, so I decided to just not take the course.

How bad do you think this will affect my application? It looks like I'll only be applying with 1 semester of mathematical stats now. Is it fine if I just stick to pure math/CS courses for the fall? My school doesn't really have a dedicated stats dept so there aren't really many options among stats courses.

 

[Innominate]

1 hour ago, yenhcz1995 said:

Is it fine if I just stick to pure math/CS courses for the fall?

I'm a student, but having just gone through the application process and speaking to lots of admissions people I'd say this is unlikely to hurt you.  Mathematical preparation, and evidence of ability, is very important to departments, but they don't seem to really care if you have a ton of stats under your belt.  One department head flat out told me he doesn't care if applicants have taken even an intro class.  Some would rather just teach that stuff to you themselves and others are understanding of the fact that access to advanced stats can vary even among elite undergrad institutions.  

I also wouldn't encourage you to take "easy" classes to "boost your GPA", even though it is a bit lower than the average at the best programs.  Adcoms aren't stupid, they'll notice if you take basket weaving and pottery, but you can definitely take something like data structures or numerical linear algebra, etc. which aren't technically stats but will boost your breadth.

If you really took graduate real analysis your junior year and got an A your class choices are unlikely to be limiting.  

 

Edited April 9, 2017 by Innominate

[yenhcz1995]

Thanks for the response Innominate. I guess it isn't as big of a deal as I thought. 

On 4/9/2017 at 3:32 AM, Innominate said:

you can definitely take something like data structures or numerical linear algebra, etc. which aren't technically stats but will boost your breadth.

Yeah, I am a pure math major and CS minor who has mostly taken classes in pure math. I actually don't have a lot of programming experience (only 2-3 classes) since I am more interested in applying to grad schools on the theory side. I have like no background in R or the similar applied stats languages. I'm hoping this isn't that big of a deal, but I think I'll take a class or two on programming-related things if I can.

[Innominate]

Regarding programming:  At the programs I visited I usually asked what I could do to improve before I started, and learning more R was the most common response.  But this isn't a big factor for admissions, it's because you'll need to those skills to work in most RA positions.  So for that reason I think more programming (especially R) is worth your time - you'll likely have to learn it now or later.

[TakeruK]

Another thing you can do is have one of your letter writers say something like you've taken all of mathematical stats courses available to you at your department. Different schools have different course availabilities so the absolute number of courses taken isn't as important sometimes. If you have an undergrad research advisor, you could ask this person to add some evaluation of your coursework (i.e. you took all the classes you could take) to their letter. 

At my undergrad school, there were a lot of restrictions on undergrads taking grad classes. You were basically limited to 1 and only if you have already completed > 75% of your upper level undergrad requirements. This is silly, because it basically means you can only take grad classes in your very last semester and grad classes sometimes are offered only once per year or once per two years, so if the schedule doesn't line up, then you are out of luck. I was able to get into one class with special permission that required me to get signatures from three different authority figures in the department and campus-wide! Argh. At my current school, anyone can take a graduate class, and sometimes freshmen/first year undergrads are in my classes.

I am sure that the admissions committees at the schools you will eventually apply to have seen the large range of possibilities and they won't hold this against you.