<p>Hi everyone. I was recently accepted to Northwestern Univ. Class of 2017.
I know it's kind of too early now, but I am thinking about majoring in statistics.</p>
<p>However, based on what I've seen in CC, I couldn't find any "good" comments about statistics program in Northwestern, nor did I find that Northwestern's statistics program is one of the top programs in the nation. I don't know if my research was not adequate, but so far that's what I have found.</p>
<p>Should I look for other schools that I was accepted (e.g. UC Berkeley, U Michigan, etc.) for a good statistics program, or should I stick with Northwestern?</p>
<p>It depends on how certain you are w.r.t. majoring in Statistics. Most NU students double major, so if you are considering another field of specialization, that might change the odds. Also, a good percentage of students change their major around the sophomore year (goes all over the spectrum), so there is this variable to consider too.</p>
<p>All I can say is that you should not make the decision based solely on one field of interest especially since you have not even started your undergrad studies.</p>
<p>There are very few statistics majors at Northwestern. In the past 4 years, the number of degree conferred is between 2–6 each year. That’s why you don’t hear anything about it from anyone.</p>
<p>I’d email the Director of Undergrad studies, department Chair, and maybe couple professors and ask about the graduate school placement if that’s what you are worrying about and what they think about your other choices.</p>
<p>If it’s about the career opportunities, I don’t think you have anything to worry about since many firms come to NU to recruit. Statistics majors are well-sought after and double-majoring in econ or IEMS (industrial engineering & management sciences) would make you pretty marketable.</p>
<p>At Northwestern, there’s a competing program in MMSS that’s much more popular. It’s probably the main reason why there are very few statistics majors.</p>
<p>Sam, are they really competing majors? I have a picture of Statistics closer to “pure” and MMSS closer to “applied” on the pure/applied math continuum.</p>
<p>Case in point: My son took Psych 201 (statistical methods in psychology) last quarter. A friend claimed that in Super Smash Brothers, one character’s AI won more than another’s when matched up one-on-one. They conducted a 64-trial experiment and analyzed the results in terms of a chi sqare test. A statistics major who was an onlooker remarked, “Oh, that’s what you use that for. I can derive it, but I never knew what it was good for.” :)</p>
<p>Hey, I’m majoring in statistics as well. I invested some time trying to find information on undergraduate statistics programs but couldn’t find much. I’m happy to see someone with the same troubles as I. I’m not really interested in MMSS because I am more interested in applying statistics to genetics or medical studies, but I still think NU is my best option.</p>
<p>Steve,
Statistics is in lot of ways an instrinsicly applied field. I remember how my intro stats course was all about <em>using</em> statistics to help organize and intrepret data. Also, in the absence of MMSS (like in other schools), statistics would be the closest thing.</p>
<p>ykknip321,
The MM learned in MMSS should be transferrable to bio/physical science fields.</p>