<p>My professors seem to have full faith in me and my ability to get into pretty much any graduate program in my field that I want to...not only that, but they believe I'm also a strong candidate for full funding. While I'd love to share their enthusiasm, as a student I'm a little more skeptical of my accolades and not quite ready to believe I have a full ride waiting for me at a prestigious school.</p>
<p>A little bit about me:
Undergrad: St. Olaf College
Major: Mathematics and Statistics
GPA: 3.67 (Magna Cum Laude), last two academic years: 3.82, Major: Math - 3.71, Statistics 4.0
GRE: 570 V, 790 M, 5.5 A
Achievements: 2 Semesters on Dean's List, Departmental Distinction in Statistics</p>
<p>Research Experience
-VIGRE Undergrad Research Fellow at Iowa State University (2 months)
*Research Topic: Statistical Significance of Climate on Frog Calling Behavior</p>
<p>-Research Intern at WHO, Geneva, Switzerland (1 month)
*Research Topic: Multivariate Model Building for DTP Vaccine Coverages of Third World Countries</p>
<ul>
<li>NSF Funded Center for Interdisciplinary Research Fellow (Full Academic Year)
*Research Topic: Bayesian Methods of Phylogenetic Inference and Advanced Tree Building Technique</li>
</ul>
<p>Relevant Work Experience:
TA in Calculus I and II: 3 years</p>
<p>Graduate Plans:
Pursuing a Ph.D. in either biostatistics or applied statistics with an emphasis on statistical genetics, focusing on applications for AIDS/Cancer</p>
<p>Current Schools of Interest:
Harvard
Iowa State University
Stanford
North Carolina State University
Washington State University
Berkeley
UCLA</p>
<p>So...should I be as confident as my prof's? Are there other schools that I should be focusing on? I'm leaving the country in 4 months to work abroad, so I would like to have a firm grasp on what I should focus on for my further education. Thank you for comments and advice, I wholeheartedly appreciate them!</p>
<p>Forgot to mention that 2 of my recommendations are coming from respected statisticians with ties to the NIH, WHO, CDC, and major pharmaceutical companies. Also, should I consider retaking the GRE? I know the verbal is a little low, and I should've gotten an 800 on the M but I ran out of time. Worth another 115 bucks? Thanks again!</p>
<p>Trust your profs. Most Ph.D. students, particularly those in math and science, receive full funding in grad school. full funding means tuition waiver and stipend. To determine how much of a stipend you will need to check the websites of the various schools you are applying to. While not extravagant you can probably do basic expenses on what they pay you with loans or family help for the rest. Would think that the verbal score would not hurt you very much given your area. Check with your profs at St. Olaf's for who they might know at the schools you listed or other schools they might recommend. This prof to prof contact can be very valuable not only in terms of admission but in terms of funding and other opportunities. I hear Iowa State is top notch in this area and it would be cheaper to live there than Cambridge.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. Yeah, Iowa State is pretty high up in statistics, being an Ag school, but I also grew up in Ames and kinda wanna get away from Iowa :). However a friend of mine with comparable credentials got full waiver and a 23,500/year stipend...which would be quite tempting to pick up. Also, I just received my official scores on the GRE from ETS (I just made a reasonable guess on my A score) and actually got a 6.0, think that'll pick up the slack of the verbal? Here's hoping!</p>
<p>Hi your background does seem very substantial for a PhD program in biostats/applied stats. It's hard for me to comment on your GRE verbal score but from personal experience (I also got a similar score) it shouldn't hurt your application, given that you are appyling for a quantative field. </p>
<p>I've currently just finished my 1st year in PhD biostats and did apply to many of the schools that you mentioned and i also share an interest in statistical genetics. Are you looking for schools that are particularly strong in stat gen. or AIDS research? I'll be happy to answer any question. Just some other schools you might want to check out that are also ranked high in biostats:</p>
<p>U of Washington
Johns Hopkins
Michigan, Ann Arbor
UNC, Chapel Hill</p>
<p>And regarding funding, most biostats schools do provide full funding for their PhD program simply because the students are in such high demand that a lack of funding most likely results in top students rejecting an admission.</p>
<p>Yeah, that "washington state" was a typo, couldn't get the "edit" function to work after I posted. I am applying to U of Washington and have looked at Johns Hopkins as well. Glad to see someone that has nearly the exact same interests as me! I do have a strong interest in statistical genetics, it was the basis of my senior project and aim to focus this on cancer and/or AIDS applications, and so while a strong stat/biostat department in general is top priority, a strength in statistical genetics is very desired. What school did you end up choosing and why? How has your first year gone? Did you have a lot of statistics experience prior to your grad studies and how have they affected your preparedness for graduate classes? Ah, so many questions, I'm very eager to see how the graduate route in my field feels for a current student :).</p>