Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics

In the Department of Statistics graduate program, we aim to develop statisticians not only for academia, but also ones who will become leaders in endeavors such as medicine, law, finance, technology, government, and industry. Our graduate program is a stepping stone to a successful career in statistics. Our graduates have an outstanding placement record, having had their choice of careers in academia, banking and financial services, information technology, medical research, economic research and public policy. Several of our past PhD students have made their own marks in the academic world of statistics through development of fundamental statistical methodology. A unique aspect of our PhD program is our integrated and balanced training, covering research, teaching, and career development. The department encourages research in both theoretical and applied statistics. Faculty members of the department lead the field in research on a multitude of topics that include statistical inference, statistical computing and Monte-Carlo methods, analysis of missing data, causal inference, stochastic processes, multilevel models, experimental design, network models and the interface of statistics, and the social, physical, and biological sciences. A unique feature of the department lies in the fact that apart from methodological research, all the faculty members are also heavily involved in applied research, developing novel methodology that can be applied to a wide array of fields like astrophysics, biology, chemistry, economics, engineering, public policy, sociology, education, and many others. Two carefully designed special courses offered to PhD students form a unique feature of our program. Among these, Stat 303 equips students with the basic skills necessary to teach statistics, as well as to be better overall statistics communicators. Stat 366 equips them with skills necessary for research and scientific communication. Our PhD students often receive substantial guidance from several faculty members, not just from their primary advisors, and in several settings. For example, every PhD candidate who passes the qualifying exam gives a 30-minute presentation each semester (in Stat 300), in which the faculty ask questions and make comments.

GSAS welcomes applications for admission from individuals who have or will have by the time of matriculation a BA, BS, or equivalent undergraduate degree (for prospective international students, a three- or four-year undergraduate degree from an institution of recognized standing) and actively seeks applicants from groups historically underrepresented in graduate schools.
Applicants are required to upload transcript copies from each college/university they attended into our online application system: official hard copy/paper transcripts are not required at the time of application.
Applicants who are non-native English speakers and who received their undergraduate degree from an academic institution where English is not the primary language of instruction must prove their English proficiency by earning either a minimum score of 80 on the Internet based test (iBT) of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or a minimum score of 6.5 on the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic test.