Picking Schools to Apply To (MS)

Graduate School
1

Hey everyone! I’m having a hard time choosing exactly which schools I want to apply to for my MS in Statistics. When I consulted with my parents, friends, mentors, and professors, they advised me to choose a program where I would be comfortable paying for that program and attending if it were the only program I got into.

However, for a variety of personal reasons, there is only 1 program that I am interested in attending and paying for based on this criteria, and it happens to probably be the most difficult school to get into in my field!

As I’m not a stellar candidate (with the major detractor being my major GPA, which is around a 3.45, with cumulative around 3.67), but also not terrible since I went to one of the best public schools in the world, likely have much more coursework than the average applicant, and have great recommendation letters and near perfect GRE scores, I don’t know if I should just risk it and apply to this 1 school? My worry is trying to decide my path forward if I don’t get in.

Also, how do MS programs look on repeat applicants?

Many thanks for all your insight!

2

It is OK to apply to only one place. If you don’t get in, you go get a job and work a while and save money and think about whether you do want to go to grad school at all, in what, and where to apply at that future time. Maybe you apply again to the place where you were rejected, and maybe you have a whole new list by then.

Yes it is OK to apply again in the future. You will be a different candidate then because you will have other experiences to bring to your application and to the classroom.

3

@Extro1230 - Welcome to the Forum! As the other poster mentions, have a backup plan in case you are not admitted. Your GPA is a bit low for a highly selective PhD program but the admission standards are usually lower for a masters.

4

I think you should have an honest discussion with yourself about why you want an MS in statistics if there is only one program out there that you are willing to pay for and attend.

Regarding repeat applications: it depends on what the applicant has done between applications to be more competitive, and how competitive the applicant pool is that cycle.