Advice on Prioritizing Undergraduate Opportunities?

[actualhorse]

Howdy everyone! I'm currently a freshman at a large, public top 50 school and I'm determined to go onto graduate school, with the goal of ultimately getting my PhD in statistics. I absolutely adore mathematics and statistics, and while I don't know what branch of statistics I'd like to research or even what sector (academia, industry, government) I'd like to go into, I am certain that I want to do higher-level statistics for the rest of my career. I know it seems incredibly early for me to be discussing/ considering any of this, but please hear me out. 

After reading through this forum fairly extensively, I realized that a very large chunk of the advice that is given in profile evaluations is worded something along the lines of, "Well it's too late now to work on your GPA/ undergraduate research experience/ finding better recommenders, so instead just focus on the GRE/ statement of purpose/ etc." I know that the closer I get to the actual application deadline, the fewer aspects of my application I can change. Because of this, I figured that now's the best time to learn what to prioritize over the next four years. I spent the past couple months figuring out what opportunities I might have over the next couple years, but I've been having a hard time figuring out what to prioritize or which experiences might be the most valuable. The rest of this post will consist of some of the academic and extracurricular activities that I know I have access to. If there is anything you think is worth prioritizing (or might not be worth it), or if there is literally any general advice you have, please say it. Additionally, I'm not sure what 'level' of school I'm interested in (e.g. top 5 vs. top 40), so I'm curious about what I would have to do to have a chance in different levels of graduate programs. 

Academic Options: 
Theses are the statistics and mathematics classes I currently plan on taking over the next four years. Do they seem to be enough for me to be accepted into a PhD program after graduation, or is there some a major section of statistical or mathematical understanding that I might be missing? 

Freshman Year: 
Calculus II, Multivariable Calculus, Intro to Linear Algebra 
Statistical Methods I

Sophomore Year: 
Differential Equations, Intro to Proofs, Calc of Several Variables, Advanced Calculus
Statistical Methods II, Theoretical Statistics I, Methods of Regression Analysis, Experimental Design, Probability and Distributions 

Junior Year: 
Discrete Mathematics, Elementary Real Analysis I, Linear Algebra 
Theoretical Statistics II, Communication in Statistical Collaborations, Data Analytics and Visualizations, Applied Bayesian Statistics, Applied Multivariate Analysis

Senior Year: 
I'm not sure yet, because it's around here that I can no longer understand the fundamental idea of the classes of this level with what I currently know. I'm planning on keeping senior year more math-heavy, but I don't understand what all of my options mean. 

Extracurricular Options: 
Putnam Exam Contestant
Statistics Club Vice President/ President: I was presented with the opportunity to be the Vice President of the undergraduate statistics club, and probably the president of the club for the next 3 years after that. Besides being a fun experience, the only belief that I could see would be that it could make it easier for me to meet notable faculty members, as the VP and president organize guest speakers to come in. 
Undergraduate Research
Math Tutoring
Honors Program 
Summer Internships
Summer REUs
Study-Abroad (Budapest Seminars, Math in Moscow, University of Karlsruhe, etc) 

 

There might have been more, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. Regardless, thank you for your help. 

[Eigen]

Honestly, you should go with things you genuinely enjoy for extra-curriculars. 

Things that will get you leadership experience are a plus, as you can show how that translates into leadership elsewhere. 

Don't jump around just to get a bunch of stuff on your CV, pick things you really like and stick with them. 

Also, don't just design what you do around getting into grad school. Make it things you enjoy that keep you sane.

[TakeruK]

I was going to write similar things as @Eigen did. Do what you enjoy. Undergrad/college is the time for you to explore your interests and try new things.

The only advice I would give is that if you are definitely interested in grad school, then definitely try to get at least one REU or some sort of undergrad research experience. Not only it will help your application but it will also let you try out research to see if you actually like it. The other half of this same advice is that while it's great to have grad school aspirations now, leave yourself room to follow a different path if you decide that you don't like research or find another calling.

I would offer one different perspective though. I agree with Eigen that you shouldn't jump around just to get a bunch of stuff on your CV. But you also don't have to stick with one thing the entire 3-4 years either. It's perfectly okay to move from one research area to another or from one student group to another.

In terms of research, I personally chose to explore a lot of different subfields during undergrad. After my first research summer in planetary astronomy, I knew I wanted to do that. So, my other research experiences were all in different forms of astro/physics. Still in the same department, but different groups/areas completely. I wanted to try other things to know that I really do like planetary astronomy above all others and not just because it was the first thing I enjoyed. I don't think this hurt my application---the school that I went to for my PhD said that they felt that diverse experience was a plus.

Similarly, being president of a club for 3 out of 4 years might be really fun or it might not really let you grow as a leader. It might also stagnate the club since you would have built up so much institutional memory in your 3 years and then suddenly hand it off. Obviously I have no idea what your club is like but based on my own experience in student leadership at undergrad and graduate level, I wouldn't take a role at the VP level or higher for more than 2 years. At both levels, I was involved in executive council/board/leadership for 3-4 years, but I found it better to step back a little bit after a VP or higher role.  That said, I do not think student leadership really plays a large role in graduate school admissions. You should do it because you want to do it and because you are passionate about it, not because you want it for your grad school application CV.

I will temper this advice by saying that you should stay long enough/committed enough to one thing to get something out of it though. It's hard to get to a paper publication as an undergrad but if possible, staying long enough to get a finished product, a conference presentation or something like that would be good. As for leadership, I'd set some realistic goals at the start of my term and aim to finish most of them.

Finally, to mention one major exception: Sometimes research groups are toxic and/or the professor is acting unethically/inappropriately. In these cases, I think it's important to take care of yourself. It might be better to leave a bad situation than to feel like since you made a choice, you must "commit" even when your research boss is making your life hell.

[Eigen]

Great caveats to my advice- I completely agree. 

I was thinking more from a perspective of "don't join 9 clubs in one semester just to have them on your CV"- which I see a lot with my students. 

It's great advice in general to not be afraid to change course in life. That may be leaving a research lab, it may be severing ties with a student group, it may be deciding you do or don't want to go to grad school- or that you want to leave your graduate program. 

They aren't easy decisions, but a lot of times leaving something you're not happy with has to happen before you can find something new that's better.