A Guide for Applicants to Graduate Study in Statistics

Last update: 12/30/08

• 1.0 General Information
• 2.0 Which degree: M.S. or Ph.D.?
• 3.0 The Application
• 3.1 The Transcript
• 3.2 Letters of Recommendation
• 3.3 Graduate Record Examinations
• 3.4 Test of English as a Foreign Language and the International English Language Testing System
• 3.5 Personal Statement
• 3.6 Fee
• 4.0 Financial Aid
• 5.0 Timetables
• 5.1 The Council of Graduate Schools Agreement about April 15th
• 6.0 For More Information

1.0 General Information

If you are applying for admission to a graduate program, you are likely doing so for the first time, and consequently you may not know quite how to go about finding the right graduate school and applying to it. This information sheet is intended to give you some guidance in preparing an application, so that you will know what our admissions committee looks for in an application, which items are of importance, when to start, when to expect replies, and the like. Whether or not you decide to apply to the University of Chicago, we hope that these notes will assist you wherever you apply.

Not every graduate program in statistics will be well suited to you, nor will you be well suited to every graduate program. Before you apply, learn as much as you can about the programs you are considering: browse their web pages, leaf through their course catalogues, read the fine print about their degree requirements, and talk to your undergraduate instructors and advisors about their relative strengths and weaknesses. Make sure that your background in mathematics and statistics is appropriate for the programs you are considering. Some departments expect strong preparation in mathematics, while others prefer candidates with experience in statistical data analysis and computing, and others, such as ours, expect both.

Just as you attempt to find departments that are suited to your background and interests, our department tries to find students whose preparation and interests match the requirements and strengths of our own program. Our admissions committee bases its judgment on information about you supplied in your application and supporting documents

2.0 Which degree: M.S. or Ph.D.?

Which degree should you pursue -- the Master's degree or the Ph. D.? Here are some guidelines:

• If your career goal is to conduct independent statistical research in an academic, government, or industrial setting, you should probably pursue a Ph. D. degree. For many jobs not involving independent research, a M.S. suffices.
• It is not necessary to have a M.S. degree before entering our or other Ph.D. programs. In fact, most of our entering Ph.D. students do not have a M.S. degree when they arrive.
• If you are fairly certain but not positive you want to obtain a Ph.D., you should probably still apply to the Ph.D. program. Entering a Ph.D. program is not a prison sentence. Should you enroll in our Ph.D. program and then later decide that independent research is not for you, you may leave the program and receive the M.S. degree if you have fulfilled all of the requirements for that degree.
• Our Ph.D. program is more selective than our M.S. program. Applicants to the Ph.D. program are expected to have strong undergraduate records and high scores on the Graduate Record Exams. Applicants to the M.S. program are also expected to have strong undergraduate records, but are not required to take the Graduate Record Exams. If you are not sure which program you are best qualified for, you may apply to both programs simultaneously -- check the third option of the "Create an application Account" page of the online Application. We will then consider you for the Ph.D. program, and if we do not deem you to be ready for the Ph.D. program, we will consider you for the M.S. program.
• While there are no specific minimum course requirements for admission to our program, applicants should normally have taken two years of calculus, a course in linear algebra and a year of probability and statistics. Courses in real and complex analysis are helpful for applicants to the Ph.D. program.
• Most students admitted to the Ph.D. program are awarded an assistantship, which pays full tuition and a stipend for living expenses. Assistantships are not given to M.S. students, but partial tuition remissions are awarded to the most highly qualified M.S. students. Higher levels of support may occasionally be available for M.S. students who wish or need to spend a second year at Chicago.
• Our PhD program has about 6 or so students per year. Our small class sizes mean that PhD students here can easily establish a close working relationship with the professors, and that no particular faculty member is likely to be overloaded with advisees.
• Around 15 students join our MS program annually. MS students include a mix of people who come to the University just for an MS in statistics and doctoral students from other departments within the University who are augmenting their education with a degree in statistics.

3.0 The Application

When the admissions committee reads your application it attempts to assess your preparation in mathematics, statistics, and computing, your interests within statistics, and your potential for original research. The committee tries to answer for itself questions such as:

1. Is the Department suited to the applicant's interests?
2. Is the applicant sufficiently well-prepared mathematically?
3. How likely is it that the applicant will complete the degree?

The various parts of your application shed light on these questions.

How to Apply:

It is recommended that you apply electronically for the timely process of your application. To do so, you will need access to a web browser. Please visit our web page

http://www.stat.uchicago.edu/admissions

and click the link marked "Apply Online" to begin. Send all supporting materials directly to:

Admissions Committee
The Department of Statistics
The University of Chicago
5734 South University Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60637

We advise that, with a few exceptions, all supporting materials be sent together in one package to avoid delays in processing; the exceptions are your final transcripts TOEFL and GRE scores that may be sent by ETS and Letters of Recommendation which will be sent directly to us by your recommenders if they choose this option.

3.1 The Transcript

We require an official copy of your transcript from each undergraduate or graduate institution that you have attended. Your transcript and grades indicate the depth and breadth of your interests, as well as your performance in each of your courses. We have no minimum grade average for admission to our programs, but we do not view poor grades favorably, especially in Statistics and Mathematics courses.

Important Note to Foreign Applicants:   If the original language of your transcripts is not English, then we must receive both official transcripts in the original language and official translations. This requirement is strictly enforced by the Office of International Affairs, which will not issue the documents you need to get a visa without them. If the schools that you attended are no longer in existence, or if it is impossible to obtain official documents from any schools, please ask the Ministry of Education of your country to furnish an official statement testifying to the impossibility of obtaining records and include this with your supplemental materials.

3.2 Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation give us insight into abilities, strengths, and weaknesses that cannot be reflected in grades and test scores alone. You should select recommenders who know your work well and will write a frank and detailed letter of appraisal of you and of your likely success in our graduate Statistics program. Letters that speak to your mathematical or statistical abilities, any special experience that you might have (in statistical applications, for example), or your potential for research are particularly welcome.

There is a new feature in place that will allow for electronic letters of recommendation. You will find full instructions as you fill out your online application. Think about who could write the best recommendations for you. Please let them know that you will submit them as recommenders and that they will receive instructions via email from the department.

Once you have submitted your recommenders on your online application they will automatically receive an email informing them that you have applied to the Department of Statistics at The University of Chicago and that you are requesting a letter of recommendation. Included in the email will be the recommendation deadline date, information pertaining to your right of access to view their recommendation and a link that will lead your recommender to their personal online evaluation for you. Your recommenders will have the following options:

• Complete their recommendations online
• Choose to send their recommendations directly to us by mail.

Letters completed online or uploaded will be printed out in the department. If your recommender decides to send it in by mail, instructions on how and where to send the recommendation will be provided once this option has been chosen.

There will be a minimum of three letters of recommendation required. You can include up to two additional letters if you think the circumstances warrant it.

If you have any questions regarding this new feature, feel free to contact the department.

3.3 Graduate Record Examinations

We normally require both the GRE General Tests and the Mathematics Subject Test for Ph.D. applicants, and if you have not already done so, you should make arrangements as soon as possible to take them. We occasionally admit students with otherwise exceptional records to the Ph.D. program who have not taken these exams, but this is unusual. The GREs are offered several times a year by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Arrangements with ETS must be made several weeks in advance of the date of the examination, and it takes another six to eight weeks after the exam for the scores to reach us. Consequently, we encourage applicants to take the GREs no later than December, and to take them earlier if possible. It is now possible to take computerized forms of the GRE in some locations. Scores on these exams reach us more quickly than those from traditional GREs.

The ETS code for the University of Chicago is 1832. The code for the Department of Statistics is 0704.

There is no minimum score on the GREs for admission to the Ph.D. program. However, GRE scores are the only measure common to all of our candidates, and so low GRE scores not offset by evidence of strength in other areas will make admission to the Ph.D. program unlikely.

M.S. applicants are not required to take GREs, but we encourage those M.S. applicants who have taken any part of them to send us their scores.

To be official, GRE scores must be sent to us directly from ETS. However, before those scores reach us it is helpful for us to have self-reported scores. State your scores separately for each part of the exam, and say when and where you took the exam.

Officially GRE scores are valid for up to 5 years past the test date. As a practical matter, if your scores are more than 3 years old we would encourage you to retake the exam(s) to provide a more up-to-date assessment of your abilities.

3.4 Test of English as a Foreign Language and the International English Language Testing System

NOTE: This section was revised on 12/30/08 to take into account the University of Chicago's recently revised English proficiency requirements for international applicants stated at https://internationalaffairs.uchicago.edu/students/prospective/toefl.shtml.

International applicants to the Statistics Department must demonstrate an adequate command of both spoken and written English.

We will consider that you have an adequate command of English if you grew up in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or the United States, OR IF, in the last five years, you completed one academic year of full-time study at an English-medium institution in one of those seven countries.

Otherwise, you are required to take the internet-based test (iBT) version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). It is necessary to take all parts of the TOEFL/IELTS. Poor TOEFL/IELTS scores are grounds for denial of admission, regardless of the strength of other parts of your record.

Applicants whose total score on the four-part iBT TOEFL falls below 90, or below 7 on the IELTS, will not normally be admitted unless other demonstrable evidence of proficiency in English is available.

Even if you meet the minimum totals above, we may at some later stage in the admission process require you to provide additional evidence of your English proficiency.

If you are a foreign student who is excused from the TOEFL by virtue of the "full-time academic study" clause in the first paragraph, we nonetheless ask you to provide us with a TOEFL/IELTS score or other evidence of ability in English, such as recommendations from faculty members for whom you have served as a teaching assistant.

For the TOEFL, our University's Institution Code is 1832, and our Department Code is 59. If you are taking the IELTS, request the scores to be sent to the University of Chicago, Office of International Affairs, Attn: Admissions, 1414 E. 59th Street, Room 291, Chicago, IL 60637.

The University's Office of International Affairs requires official score reports sent directly to the UofC by the testing agency. They will not accept photocopies.

However, before the official score reports reach us it is helpful for us to have self-reported scores. State your scores separately for each part of the exam, and say when and where you took the exam.

TOEFL/IELTS reports are considered to be expired if the test was taken more than two years prior to our application deadline of February 1.

3.5 Personal Statement

The short essay provides you an opportunity to tell us what interests you about Statistics, what your goals are, and what you hope to accomplish in your graduate studies. There is no need to tell us more about your grades, test scores, and course work in your essay -- your transcript and other support material will already have given us this information. Instead, you should use it to provide information about you that is not apparent from your transcript, such as extracurricular projects you may have done, work experience you may have had, and so on. If you have done graduate work elsewhere, your statement should include your reasons for wanting to change institutions or degree programs. We consider this part of your statement essential if you have completed more than two years of graduate study at other institutions.

3.6 Fee

The application fee is $55 nonrefundable for domestic and foreign applicants. A waiver of the fee can be considered for domestic applicants only; see "Instructions for Applicants to the Graduate Divisions" for further information. University regulations forbid us from admitting students who have not paid the fee or obtained a waiver. We recognize that this rule may make it difficult for some people to apply to our program, but the University does not allow exceptions. If you cannot pay the application fee at the time you apply but may be able to pay it at a later date, we urge you to apply and then to pay the fee when you can.

If you are applying both to Statistics and some other UC program, please note that you need to provide a complete application and set of supporting documents to each program. The only exceptions are official score reports of standard exams such as the GRE and TOEFL. In addition, you need to pay the $55.00 application fee for each application submitted.

4.0 Financial Aid

In recent years our department has been able to provide full support (tuition plus a stipend) for most of its Ph.D. students, and we expect to do so for the foreseeable future. Ordinarily, students are supported for at least four years. At present, most fifth year students receive full support. Also, presently, most Ph.D. students are provided with summer support.

Decisions on financial aid are made by the Departmental admissions committee, not by the University. Assistantships are awarded on the basis of our assessment of your scholarly promise, subject to the availability of funds.

We occasionally admit students to the Ph.D. program before we make decisions on financial assistance. Should another institution offer you admission with financial assistance before you have heard from us concerning financial support, please contact us immediately.

We adhere to the policy of the Council of Graduate Schools concerning offers of financial assistance. Under that policy, acceptance of an offer from any institution does not become binding until April 15. More complete details are given in the CGS resolution, a copy of which will accompany any offer of a scholarship, assistantship, fellowship, or traineeship.

You should also investigate other possibilities for financial support for graduate study. In particular, the National Science Foundation (Write: The Fellowship Office, National Research Council, 2101 Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C., 20418) offers several Fellowship programs for graduate study. We strongly encourage all of our applicants who are eligible to apply to these programs to do so. Since the application deadlines are quite early in the Fall, we suggest that you contact NSF http://www.nsf.gov as early as possible.

5.0 Timetables

We only admit students for the Fall Quarter.

We have a nominal deadline of February 1 for applicants requesting financial aid. The recommendation forms in your UofC application packet may say that the deadline is the preceding December 28th. That date does not apply to us. If you can get your application to us before our deadline, please do so.

Please note: Although our department application deadline is June 15th, in the recent past it has been our experience that both the M.S. and Ph.D. program positions can become filled by mid May. We do encourage you to apply as early as possible for your application to be reviewed.

We do accept applications after February 1, and we also continue to consider applications not yet complete by then. However, if you apply for admission to the Ph.D. program after February 1, your chances of receiving financial support will be reduced, so we strongly encourage you to send in your application form before February 1. If some of the supporting documents, such as GRE scores, arrive a few weeks late, there should be no adverse impact on your prospects of receiving financial support. If you do not wish to be considered for financial support, you may apply to either of our programs as late as June 15th.  

An application is complete when we have received the application form and fee, and when all letters of recommendation, transcripts, and GRE scores (and TOEFL scores if required) have arrived. Applications are considered as soon as they are complete. One of the most common causes for delay is the reporting of GRE (or TOEFL) scores. Those from the December examination usually arrive in mid-February, and January exam reports may not arrive until mid-March. Consequently, it is important to take the GREs early, preferably in December or before.

You should expect to hear from us at the following times:

1. Shortly after we receive your application we send you an email or a letter indicating that it has been received.
2. If we do not receive all supporting materials within a reasonable amount of time, we may contact you indicating what item(s) are missing. If you provide us with an email address, we will notify via email.
3. When the admissions committee has reviewed your application, you will be notified of their decision by mail. The selection process usually begins in early February. If your application is complete on February 1, you will probably hear from us by mid-March. If you apply after February 1, or if your application is incomplete on that date, you will probably hear from us about four to six weeks after your complete application is received.
4. If you apply for financial aid and our financial aid decision was not included in our letter of admission, you should receive a letter informing you of any offer of financial support by early April.

If any of the letters listed above fails to reach you within a reasonable amount of time, be sure to contact us right away. Occasionally things do go astray. As soon as we both know that there may be a problem we can take remedial action.

Section 5.1 The Council of Graduate Schools Agreement about April 15th

Please note that by the terms of the Council of Graduate Schools agreement, to which the University of Chicago and many other universities in the US are signatories, you are not required to make a final decision about which graduate school you will attend until April 15th, nor is any commitment on your part binding until then. For more information about the agreement, visit the Council of Graduate Schools website and select "Resources for Students" on the navigation bar to the left, then click on "April 15th: Resolution Regarding Graduate Scholars.

6.0 For More Information

If you have any questions about the application process, you may contact Professor Michael Wichura, Chairman of the Admissions Committee, by fax at 773.702.9810, or by mail.