Just a random question. But I recently learned a lot about the Bio-statistics field and it interested me a lot. If you’ve read any of my other forums, you most likely know that I’ve been interested in Data Science as well. Well, my main goal was to use Data Science or Statistics in the healthcare field, I was not aware of the Bio-statistics field at the time. After learning about this in a Statistics seminar at my school, I felt like I FINALLY found something I really wanted to do. So if I were applying to some of the top grad schools for Bio-Stats in the future, would it be best that I have less coding experience and more bio, or more bio and less coding? (I really want to do Undergraduate Research so I don’t think I’ll have a lot of wiggle room for both.) My current plan was to just take a Intro to Python class, a Data Analysis and Visualization class, and a SAS programming class along with a few bio courses, maybe even enough for the minor. What do you guys suggest?
I’m a Statistics major right now debating minoring in math, economics, bio, and computer science right now.
Thanks!
Statistics is not my field, but I do know enough about biology to say that, as a general rule, more coding and programming is always better than more biology. Programming is a hard skill (“hard” as in solidly technical, not referring to difficulty) that is necessary and invaluable not just in statistics but in many fields. Biology is a soft skill/topic, and while knowledge of biological experimental design and methods may be important, it can be easily learned after the fact. The programming (and its application to statistics) should come first.
Thanks. Any particular programming in mind? Is SAS or another statistical programming platform sufficient or do I need to learn more languages like Java and Python?
no real need for a Bio minor, but a couple of bio-sci classes (for example, bio, physio, intro to genetics) would provide a good background for the field.
More coding, less bio. SAS is an excellent program to learn for a budding biostatistician, as it’s probably the program used most often in the field right now. R is also good to learn. It could be useful to learn Python or Java.
How about math modeling classes? Are those required as well?
What do you mean by math modeling classes? There are some intro level math modeling classes that are really designed for non-majors who need to take a math class, and those won’t help you. But if you are talking about advanced mathematical classes that teach applied modeling…they can be helpful, especially if they have some overlap with statistics. But they’re generally not required.
Here are the course descriptions for my school’s math modeling courses:
CMDA 3605: Mathematical modeling with ordinary differential equations and difference equations. Numerical solution and analysis of ordinary differential equations and difference equations. Stochastic modeling, and numerical solution of stochastic differential equations. Pre: CMDA 2006 (3H,3C).
CMDA 3606: Concepts and techniques from numerical linear algebra, including iterative methods for solving linear systems and least squares problems, and numerical approaches for solving eigenvalue problems. Ill-posed inverse problems such as parameter estimation, and numerical methods of computing solutions to inverse problems. Numerical optimization. Emphasis on large-scale problems. Pre: CMDA 3605 (3H,3C).