关于UCLA生统硕转博一位prof的回应

今天给UCLA一个prof发了邮件问这个问题本来都不期待人家会鸟我结果竟然回复了而且特别耐心认真地读了每个问题并逐一解答，连我修过的没修过的课程都记得，真的有点感动，于是纠结度又上升了。。。把教授回复贴上来分享一下：

Hi XX,
    Discussions interspersed below. If I don't fully answer something, please ask again!
Rob Weiss

On 3/31/2014 11:06 AM, XX wrote:

Dear Professor Weiss,
I am a student newly admitted to UCLA's biostatistics masters program and the admissions FAQ prepared by you really helped me a lot during the process of application. You mentioned in the FAQ that it is possible for masters students to proceed to the PhD program through the "blue petition".  

Yes! We admitted two people for next year's PhD class through this mechanism.

If I decide to attend UCLA's biostatistics masters program and later decide to apply for the PhD program, how will my masters GPA VS undergrad GPA factor into the admission decision at that time?

How faculty react to having had you in class matters a lot. Thus we naturally weight the MS GPA very very heavily, but we would look at the undergrad for some purposes. For example, if I remember right, you haven't had anything beyond Linear Algebra, and we like to see some real analysis type mathematics so we know you'll be able to handle the mathematical challenges of the PhD program. Your undergrad generally looks pretty strong from a strong university so I'd think you'd want us to weight the undergrad as well!   

Is a decent amount of research needed for a masters student to to be considered competitive,

Not really, though if you had a research project, how faculty react to working with you would matter. Some folks have more opportunities than others to work on research, and sometimes the projects are with biostat faculty, but sometimes not, thus we'd consider it when we can. By the way, by research, I'm thinking collaborative projects, not Biostatistical research. Biostat type research is rare, though hardly impossible for MS students; actually getting biostat type research under your belt as an MS student would be a strong positive.

and lastly does attending our own masters program give an edge in terms of applying to the PhD program?

I'd have to say so. Quite a lot. That goes both ways. We know you well, so we're generally quite comfortable with the decision either way! Also, you know us well, so it goes both ways from your viewpoint too!  

Thank you so much for your time!

Happy to talk with you.




现在在UMich(专排4)和UCLA(专排9)的生统master之间纠结着。。。UMich是两年的full financial support而且素来有收本校硕读PhD的传统，UCLA无奖而且LA生活费应该不低吧，然后从教授的话来看转本校博不是那么乐观。朋友家人什么的都觉得明显应该选前者不知道我有什么好纠结的，可是身为加州控当然要狠狠纠结一番啊，生平一大愿望就是每天在大加州的灿烂阳光中醒来啊。。。再就是不知道如果在UMich读了PhD出来想要到加州工作是不是难度会很大。。。唉UCLA "turn down offer of admission"那个选项始终没勇气点下去啊真难过

La_Lune 发表于 2014-3-31 23:28
谢谢大神的回应，这个时候我实在是需要多听一点这样理智的声音

我一定程度上能理解你现在这种外人看起来好像没什么好纠结的纠结心情（好绕口~~）。不过你如果真有心想要读PhD的话，这是一笔很重要的投资，需要投入很大的精力跟时间，所以必须冷静理智地做出决定。读PhD的城市不一定是你未来长久居住的，所以即使读PhD的时候地理位置差很远，只要你毕业的时候够优秀，到时候想去自己喜欢的地方还是没问题的。
不过每个人情况不同，在乎的东西不同，所以最后的选择也会不同。不一定大家都说好的就一定好。不管你最后选择哪儿，只要记住以后无论如何都不要为之前的选择后悔就行啦~

在Biostats这个方向的话，我可能会投UM一票。据我所知，不少在UMich拿到full financial support 的master最后都成功转成PhD了（当然前提条件是表现优异，这个在哪儿都是一样的）。既然给你Full financial support，那应该来说UM也对你转PhD有一定信心吧。关于工作的话，UMich PhD出来当Faculty的我在别的系里见到比较多。但一般来说像药厂类的工作，UMich的Biostats PhD竞争力应该是不会逊于UCLA的PhD。

tommy0724 发表于 2014-4-1 12:16
在Biostats这个方向的话，我可能会投UM一票。据我所知，不少在UMich拿到full financial support 的master最 ...

谢谢大神的回应，这个时候我实在是需要多听一点这样理智的声音

有什么好纠结的...............

果断Umich啊 有什么可纠结的 去读书的又不是去享受生活的

tommy0724 发表于 2014-4-1 12:40
我一定程度上能理解你现在这种外人看起来好像没什么好纠结的纠结心情（好绕口~~）。不过你如果真有心想要 ...

嗯，实在是太谢谢你这段诚恳的话啦！

La_Lune 发表于 2014-3-31 23:56
嗯，实在是太谢谢你这段诚恳的话啦！

没事~留学在外都不容易，祝你好运啦！

haobotao000 发表于 2014-4-1 12:56
果断Umich啊 有什么可纠结的 去读书的又不是去享受生活的

谢谢版主，正在反省，请原谅我一生放荡不羁爱纠结（于难以理解的事情上汗）

commanders2005 发表于 2014-4-1 13:55
加油！生统现在学术界很火爆， funding充足， faculty position众多。

您好~想请教一下生统现在industry的情况怎么样？是否除了药厂，其他行业例如bloomberg，amazon招聘的时候会优先考虑统计呢？非常感谢~我是14fall的申请者，目前拿到UNC的统计和生统ms，还在犹豫要选哪个，希望能听到您的建议，非常感谢