Recent content by StatsGuy

This is not at all practical. If you want to be a quant, get the correct training (in Finance, Mathematics, Statistics etc...) and study physics as a hobby. You can always take some Physics courses on the side during graduate school. Also, if you want to go into academia, your attitude will NOT...

Because we had to take fewer incoming first year students for Fall 2010, we will actually have a slight TA shortage for next year. Our pay increase for next year is approximately 1.5%.

You'd probably be better off getting a PhD in Statistics or Applied Mathematics if you eventually want to work in finance/Wall street. About 1/3 the of people in my PhD program, from the moment they start grad school, intend on getting a job in industry. Graduates have gotten great positions...

Mine was 1 page and one paragraph (so a little less that 1.25 pages), size 12, single spaced and I did just fine. Keep it 1.5 pages or less. Trust me, at this stage in your career, there is no reason you need more than that. And do NOT, under any circumstances, go over the limit.

I've never heard of "undergrad institution quotas" i.e., taking at most X students from a certain school. I'm pretty sure that in grad school, where the department pays up to 50k/year per student (tuition waiver, stipend, insurance etc...), the top __ applications are chosen. Going to a school...

I went to a not very well known liberal arts school and got into some top-10 Statistics PhD programs. Don't know how competitive these are compared to Physics programs, but I've always been told that school reputations isn't very important, especially with a strong subject test score. Also...

If you're going to be taking a "real" Real Analysis course, not some watered down version, then you will most definitely be spending more than 5 hours per week on homework. With Rudin, I spent at least 10 hour/week, most of the time around 15. Same thing with Algebra. Closer to 10 hours/week...

I would caution against this workload. Not only will it be harder to get good grades, but your attention will be divided between so many classes that your understanding of the material will suffer as a consequence. There's a good reason why you only take three courses/semester in grad school...

What is you Math/Comp Sci GPA? Second, I would try to change the whole "I'm probably not going to get all As" attitude. It will be tough, but with a low GPA and small chances of getting into grad school, shouldn't you be thinking more along the lines of "I NEED to get all As my last two...

This fall I will begin working towards a PhD in Statistics at a very highly "ranked" school. During my undergraduate years I always figured I wanted to work as a Statistician (high pay, 9-5 low stress job). After doing some research and reflecting, I realized that academia would be a much better...

I'd start looking around for research opportunities for the Fall (or sooner). Go to your department's web page and see which professors you might like to do research for. Read some of their publications to get a better sense of what they do. Then email a bunch of them, but remember to...