MS Statistics or Biostatistics programs to apply to

hashbrowns34
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 04:02:41 +0000

I’m having trouble figuring out what MS stats or biostats programs to apply to.

I’m a 4th year statistics at one of the mid-tier UCs (UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis). I started off as a bio major, but wasn’t too great at memorization. I had some personal issues the first two years of undergrad, so my GPA was in the low 3.0 and sometimes 2.9x. I managed to get my act together and get the help I needed, and changed my major to BS in stats, and my GPA started rising. From junior year until now, my GPA improved a lot, and I’ve finished the past 2 quarters with 4.0s, taking all technicals and research. I also managed to land a summer internship related to biostatistics at a big pharma company. My upperdiv major GPA is now >3.5.

I was wondering what masters programs I would have a decent shot at? I read a lot online that most masters programs really only consider you if you have over a 3.7. From what ranking range on the U.S. News rankings for stats grad programs would I have a reasonable chance to get in? (https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/statistics-rankings) I already know it is probably near impossible for me to get into top 10. Grad school applications are expensive, so I’m trying to get a good idea of what schools to apply to.

Some classes I’ve taken: several machine learning classes, sampling methods, design of experiments, nonparametric regression courses, etc.