Statistics Grad School Application Guidance

[Taheel]

Hi,

I graduated in May 2016 and have been working for a software company for the past year. I'm about to start a job managing data for clinical trials at a university hospital (just data management, no statistics). My background during undergrad was mostly in chemistry, but I have decided that I would like to go back to school for a Masters (potentially PhD) in statistics. However, I don't have much knowledge of statistics graduate school so I'm feeling rather unprepared for the application process. Basically, I'm looking for some guidance on what the highest tier of schools I should apply to is, and ways of improving my application. I appreciate any advice, thank you!

Undergrad institution: Top 5 public university
Major: BS Chemistry, BA Math

Grad: Completed some coursework in applied statistics (online) from a top 25 statistics school
Undergrad GPA: 3.71/4.0

Grad GPA: 4.0/4.0

Relevant courses: 

Calculus I, II, III –  A
Differential Equations – B+
Discrete Math – A-
Real Analysis –  A-
Linear Algebra – A
Probability – A
Combinatorics – A
Mathematical Modeling –  A-
(grad) Statistics  I –  A+
(grad) Statistics II - A+
(grad) Statistical Programming I – A
(grad) Statistical Programming II – A

GRE: 

V165 Q160 W4.5 (I am planning on retaking this soon but I'm beginning to doubt my score will improve much)

 

Research experience: Chemistry research in undergrad for 2 years (soon to be published)

 

Awards/Honors:  

Award for summer undergraduate research

Award for "excellent" undergraduate research

Graduated with honors in chemistry

 

Letters of recommendation: I'm not expecting these to be stellar as they will be mostly from chemistry folks. I'm going to try to get one from a math professor.

 

Computing skills: SAS (proficient), SQL (proficient), R (working knowledge)

 

Schools of Interest:

This is where I'm really looking for help. Would I be competitive for PhD programs? Right now, I am thinking I would not want to go for the PhD and would like to stop at a masters, but I would like funding if possible. What is the top tier of schools I could hope to get into (top 5-10?), I plan on applying to a wide range of schools but I would like to go to the best place I could get into. I know that as of now, my quantitative GRE score will really hold me back, but I hate preparing for standardized tests (it just feels like a huge waste of time to me).

 

Once again, thanks for any advice/help you all might provide!

Edited August 8, 2017 by Taheel

[edward130603]

I think your chances will not be very high at top 10 schools without improvement to the GRE score.

[Taheel]

23 minutes ago, edward130603 said:

I think your chances will not be very high at top 10 schools without improvement to the GRE score.

What do you think I would need to get it up to? 165? 90th percentile?

[edward130603]

think 90th percentile+ scores will make you start to be competitive at schools like NC State, but would definitely also look at schools ranked below that

[Taheel]

4 hours ago, edward130603 said:

think 90th percentile+ scores will make you start to be competitive at schools like NC State, but would definitely also look at schools ranked below that

Alright, thanks for the help. What about for masters? 

[edward130603]

probably competitive for any master's program

[Taheel]

Just wanted to update that I retook the GRE and got V165 Q166 W5.0. Also, I now have coauthored chemistry publication.

 

Would I be competitive for PhD programs in the 10-20 range? Trying to decide between applying to masters programs or PhD programs. Thanks!

[cyberwulf]

What might keep you out of a top 10 program is your relative lack of math courses. Is there a reason you aren't looking at biostat as an alternative? I think your profile would play a little better there.

[Taheel]

On 9/30/2017 at 6:53 PM, cyberwulf said:

What might keep you out of a top 10 program is your relative lack of math courses. Is there a reason you aren't looking at biostat as an alternative? I think your profile would play a little better there.

Oh I should have mentioned that I'm also looking into (and maybe starting to prefer?) biostats programs now. What initially turned me away from biostats was that I didn't want to get pigeon holed into the biomedical field and instead wanted a more general statistics background. However, I'm finding that I really like the applied nature of biostats that I'm getting exposed at work and I think there's going to be a higher chance of getting funding for a masters in biostats versus statistics (which is pretty vital to me).

That being said, do you think I'd be competitive for PhD programs in the 10-20 range and if I'm on the fence about the PhD would you recommend applying to masters or PhD programs?

[cyberwulf]

On 10/2/2017 at 9:06 PM, Taheel said:

That being said, do you think I'd be competitive for PhD programs in the 10-20 range and if I'm on the fence about the PhD would you recommend applying to masters or PhD programs?

You should be applying to PhD programs. Most schools will automatically consider you for the Masters if you aren't admitted to the PhD, and once admitted, most also allow you to transfer out of the PhD into the Masters if it's not to your liking.

[StatsG0d]

On 9/27/2017 at 6:24 PM, Taheel said:

Just wanted to update that I retook the GRE and got V165 Q166 W5.0. Also, I now have coauthored chemistry publication.

 

Would I be competitive for PhD programs in the 10-20 range? Trying to decide between applying to masters programs or PhD programs. Thanks!

I've seen people with less backgrounds get admitted to 10-20 schools, so I definitely think you have a decent shot. I would target the larger programs.

[kingduck]

On 9/30/2017 at 3:53 PM, cyberwulf said:

your relative lack of math courses

Looking at Taheel's math courses listed, what other math courses should be taken in order to have a good math level for a PhD program? The core math undergraduate curriculum at my university is 4 courses of calculus, linear algebra, diff eq, real and complex analysis, and abstract algebra.

Would these courses then be considered enough math to be considered for a PhD?

[cyberwulf]

11 hours ago, kingduck said:

The core math undergraduate curriculum at my university is 4 courses of calculus, linear algebra, diff eq, real and complex analysis, and abstract algebra.

Would these courses then be considered enough math to be considered for a PhD?

Combined with courses in probability and mathematical statistics, yes.