<p>No research (hence the M.S. route)
Teaching experience
3.60 GPA Math/Econ Major at a UC School
630V/780Q/4.0AW
Decent Letters of Rec and SOP</p>
<p>I'm kind of embarrassed to list all the schools I'm applying to (13 of them) as I'm probably not qualified for a good number of them, but I figure I might get lucky. Do I even have a shot at a top 10 school for a Masters? I know I wouldn't have a shot in hell for a Phd, but how about for a Masters? How much easier is it?</p>
<p>P.S. Does being an underrepresented minority student help at all?</p>
<p>What the heck, I might as well put the list of schools…</p>
<p>San Diego State
UC Davis
UCLA
Berkeley
University of Washington
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia
Rutgers
University of Connecticut
Johns Hopkins
Yale
Boston University</p>
<p>Which are feasible and which are overly ambitious?</p>
<p>45 views and still nothing? <em>tear</em></p>
<p>“Chancing” grad school is a giant crapshoot. Have you made contact with professors and discussed research interests, do you have a well-defined SOP? Those are all just as important, if not more so, than numbers.</p>
<p>So I just got into UW with full financial support (no loans). Is it even worth applying to Johns Hopkins? Even if I got accepted into Johns Hopkins with full financial support like UW I’d still be much more inclined towards UW based on location alone (plus I’d have a bunch of family nearby) The only thing that JH has over UW is ranking (UW is #4 in the country whereas JH is #1) Is there anything else besides ranking that I’m not aware of that would make JH a more appealing choice?</p>
<p>Yes you would have access to both the Bloomberg School of Public Health which is doing ground breaking research in Biostats from what I’ve heard and JHU Med school which is JHU Med SChool, also the connections you’d make at JHU are incomparable.</p>
<p>Having family nearby is over-rated. Go out of your comfort zone for grad school. </p>
<p>Definitely apply to The Hop, and to Harvard if not too late. Both are phenomenal in Biostats. At worst, you will be rejected. Or, you can visit and decline their offer if you don’t like the vibe. At best, one/both offers you a full ride and the type of education you never knew existed.</p>
<p>Drop SD State.</p>
<p>Already applied to Harvard and SDSU. lol You and several others have suggested to just apply anyway, and I think I will do just that. I figure what’s one more application when I’ve already completed 11?</p>
<p>Results thus far:
San Diego State: In
UC Davis: Waitlisted
UCLA: In
Berkeley: Rejected
University of Washington: In with tuition remission and stipend thru TA/RAship
University of Chicago: ???
University of Pennsylvania: In
Columbia: In
Rutgers: Ended up not applying afterall
University of Connecticut: In
Johns Hopkins: ???
Yale: Probably in based on an informal response I got after emailing for status
Boston University: Waitlisted
Harvard: In with full ride scholarship + stipend</p>
<p>Where should I go?</p>
<p>No-brainer. Harvard. More money than the publics, a LOT more, which means greater opportunities will be and can be offered.</p>
<p>Assuming Yale comes up with same money, the only plus factor for New Haven is much smaller classes, and closer connections with faculty. Quality of life in Cambridge beats Baltimore by a mile, and Philly by a lot. Columbia is another big, grad-focused school, but unless you are pining for NYC…</p>
<p>Thanks for the response.</p>
<p>And yes, that’s what I figured. I would love to live in New York at some point but it’s not an absolute necessity. From what I hear, Boston is great as well. Yale would be great, too although they’re not as recognized for biostatistics among academic circles. I haven’t heard too many positive things about Baltimore, so I don’t think I’ll end up there.</p>
<p>I wanted to wait for all the schools’ decisions before making my own, but now I’m considering just going with Harvard since I know it’s the probably the best choice anyway. I’m also paranoid they’re going to rescind my acceptance if I sit on it for too long.</p>
<p>on pure academics, I’d probably put Hopkins ahead of Harvard. Plus, Baltimore is not that bad – plenty of nice areas in which to live north of the main campus, but you’d have to take the shuttle. But Bawlamer ain’t no Cambridge. And with name-brand prestige and a full ride, is there even a question here? hahahahaha</p>
<p>I recently accepted Harvard’s offer.</p>
<p>I am currently applying to MS programs in Biostats. I was wondering if you had any advice on the SOP? How defined were your research interests?</p>
<p>Hello wanthony86 and other posters,</p>
<p>I see this is an old post but I see someone has revived it and it has raised an interest on my part.</p>
<p>I have a B.S. in Math and currently finishing a M.S. in Mathematical Sciences. My question for wanthony86 is what kind of statistical background did you have since you did a BS in Math/Econ? For others, what kind of statistical background is required for M.S. in Biostatistics at an Ivy? Assuming my current background in math in general.</p>