Prepping for Grad School

1. Prepping for Grad School Kelley M Kidwell, PhD July 22, 2019 University of Michigan BDSI

2. Outline • About me • Degree options • Application requirements • Biostatistics at University of Michigan • Things to remember if you go to grad school

3. About ME

4. Where it all began

5. Introduction to my love of math Mrs. Roberson Mrs. Gottschalk

6. MATH + Science = Engineering? • No, MATH+SCIENCE = MATH • Logic, sets and What? Where did the numbers go? • Another Teacher- Professor Gorkin

7. Homework If any teacher has had an impact on your path, let them know!

8. Summer Opportunities • Actuary Internships • Math Camp for Girls: Summer Program for Women in Mathematics, 2006 • Mathematical Biology • Graduate School

9. Graduate School Decision • Applied in Fall of my senior year in college to several graduate programs for a PhD • Research programs online • Email students currently in program • Visit open house or accepted students day

10. My Graduate School Decision • I applied right out of undergrad • acceptances to masters programs, but only 2 directly into PhD • Visit programs • Current students • Research opportunities • Stipend • Geographic location

11. Graduate School • University of Pittsburgh, PhD in Biostatistics • Enrolled: 2007 • Graduated: 2012 • No official masters • Decision: funding, feel of program, research opportunities, proximity to family • Research Opportunities: teaching assistant, graduate student researcher

12. Job • Applied nationwide to academic and pharmaceutical jobs • Went to many interviews • Ultimately decided to come to University of Michigan in Fall of 2012 • Excellent Biostat Department • Ann Arbor • Husband had a great offer in Psychology

13. Degree options

14. Programs you may consider • Statistics- theory, testing, estimation • Biostatistics- develops and applies statistics to design and analysis of studies in public health and biomedical research • ComputerScience- artificial intelligence, chip design, databases and data mining, computation theory, large scale and parallel systems, algorithms, machine learning • Bioinformatics (Computational Medicine)- computer science, algorithms, databases and structures, data storage- added biology and statistics knowledge • Data Science- “dealing with data”, algorithms, machine learning, large databases, visualizing data

15. Good degrees • Fortune Magazine and Payscale reported that • a doctorate in statistics leads to a career with lower stress • List of Best Graduate Degrees • PhD in Statistics is #1 • Master’s in Biostatistics is #2 • Master’s in Applied Math is #8 • Master’s in Statistics is #9

16. Degrees lead to Jobs • According to Glassdoor (number of openings, salary and overall satisfaction rating) • #1: Data Scientist • #3 Data Engineer • #5 Analytics Manager • #33 Professor Forbes 2016: With the explosion of big data and the need to track it, employers keep on hiring data scientists. But qualified candidates are in short supply. The field is so new, the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t even track it as a profession. Yet thousands of companies, from startups that analyze credit card data in order to target marketing and advertising campaigns, to giant corporations like Ford Motor and Price WaterhouseCoopers, are bringing on scores of people who can take gigantic data sets and wrestle them into usable information. As an April report from technology market research firm Forrester put it, “Businesses are drowning in data but starving for insights.”

17. Multitude of career options Wealth of opportunities • Academia • Hospitals • Research centers • Government • Pharmaceutical companies • Tech companies • Other industry

18. Jobs: Work in Business • Organizations focus on finding 2 sport “data athletes” that bridge areas: combinations of computer programming, statistics, psychology, economics, finance, etc http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/big-data-help-wanted-badly-how-to-win-the-war-for-talent

19. Schools with Biostatistics PhD • University of Michigan • Harvard • University of Washington • University of North Carolina • Johns Hopkins University • University of Pennsylvania • University of Pittsburgh • Columbia • Emory • UC Berkeley • University of Minnesota • University of Wisconsin • Medical College of Wisconsin • Vanderbilt • Iowa University • Medical University of South Carolina • Virginia Commonwealth University • Tulane • Boston University • University of Texas Health Sciences Center • University of Buffalo • University of Cincinnati

20. Schools with other programs • Statistics: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/statistics-rankings • Data Science: http://datascience.community/colleges • Computer Science: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings • Bioinformatics: https://www.iscb.org/iscb-degree-certificate-programs

21. Biostatisticians • Develop and apply novel statistical designs and methods for answering scientific questions • Participate in cutting-edge biomedical research • Apply mathematical skills and logical thinking to important problems in many areas of research • Varied and stimulating career • Clear quantitative thinkers are in high demand

22. What are we doing at UM? • Design life-saving systems to prioritize who gets organ transplants • Unravel genetic basis of human health and disease • Design and analyze data from clinical trials for new drugs • Build models that predict cancer recurrence • Test effectiveness of behavioral interventions for smoking cessation and obesity

23. Admission requirements

24. Graduate Degrees • MS • MPH • PhD • Funding: not all programs offer funding for students, especially masters programs

25. Admission to Program • Math background and grades • GPA • GREs • Recommendation letters • Statement of purpose • Course Pre-reqs • Useful courses: advanced calculus, other math and statistics, computer science

26. Graduate School Applications • Online • Start looking early and organize • Statement of purpose • Letters of recommendation • Fees • Due date • Apply to many programs/schools if possible • Application fee • Contact administration/professors/students at programs of interest

27. Classes and Grades • Good undergraduate GPA • More important for related courses to be high than overall high • If you have low grades in statistics, mathematics, or computer science courses, you may want to explain circumstances in your cover letter • Take mathematics and statistics courses • Take a few related graduate courses if available • Courses related to your field and related programs are more important than many extra-curriculars

28. GRE • General GRE required for most programs, occasionally subject specific GRE also required • Use of these is complex and varies across programs • e.g.: UNC: average incoming students 72nd %ile verbal and 89th %ile quantitative • Aim as high as possible in all areas: Quantitative, Verbal and Writing • Study/prepare • Take more than once if needed • Schedule with enough time to take again

29. Letters of Recommendation • Usually 3 letters required • Choose wisely • More than you attended their class and did well • Visible and senior people in field • At least 2 in related field • Meet with a handful of professors and discuss the potential of graduate school with them • Do you think I’m well suited for grad school? • Do you think I’ll be admitted and successful to these programs? • Provide these professors with your personal statement and transcript

30. Statement of purpose • a concise, well-written statement about your academic and research background, your career goals, and how this graduate program will help you meet your career and educational objectives • Often students write about how they fell in love with math/stat • How are you unique? • Effective to write in a concrete way about what you want to be doing in 10 years- are your goals aligned with the program? • Reflect on what is most pertinent to how you developed these goals- research experience, coursework, internships

31. Statement of purpose • Avoid generic sentences: I love statistics, I am interested in research • Every sentence contain specifics about you • If multiple tracks in a program, delineate your interests • Why this particular school/program? • Have many people read and give feedback

32. During and After Application • Research online • Email faculty and students currently in program • Visit open house or accepted students day • Ask about funding for this

33. Biostatistics Program University of Michigan

34. Degrees: Masters: 2 years • MS: Masters in Science • 2 years, 48 credits • 22 credits (6 courses) core biostat courses • 12 elective credits in biostat or stat • Open electives • Epidemiology requirement • 1 credit Public Health course • MS Health Data Science Concentration: additional core courses • MPH: Masters in Public Health • Similar to MS • Breadth and integration of knowledge- 3 PH related courses at least 2 credits each (one in epi and other from other depts., not biostat, stat or math) • Internship- 8 weeks during summer after first year

35. Masters requirements • https://sph.umich.edu/biostat/programs/masters.html • Bachelor’s degree • General GRE exam within last 5 years • Competency in English if not native language (TOEFL or MELAB) • 3 semesters calculus, matrix or linear algebra, intro statistics or biostat course • Less prep may be conditionally admitted

36. Masters coursework • Probability theory, statistical inference • Applied sequence • linear regression • generalized linear models • longitudinal analysis • Capstone course: Analysis of biostatistical investigations

37. Degrees: PhD: 5-6 years • https://sph.umich.edu/biostat/programs/phd.html • With Masters • 13-19 additional credit hours of core biostatistics courses (6 courses) • 15 credit hours electives in biostat/stat • Epi requirement • 1 credit Public Health requirement • 7-10 credits: Open elective requirement • Without Masters • 34 credit hours of core biostat course (12 courses) • Elective, Epi, PH, and open electives same as above • Qualifying Exams: ~after year 2 • 6 hour theory exam • 6 hour applied exam

38. PhD Requirements • https://sph.umich.edu/biostat/programs/phd.html • Previous masters degree or strong candidates with bachelor’s degree • General GRE exam within last 5 years • Competency in English if not native language (TOEFL or MELAB) • 3 semesters calculus, matrix or linear algebra, intro statistics or biostat course • Less prep may be conditionally admitted

39. PhD Coursework • Same as masters • Advanced inference • Stochastic Processes • Other courses • Survival analysis • Clinical trials • Time series • High throughput analysis • Bayesian inference • Nonparametric statistics • Categorical data • Population genetics • Spatial statistics • Missing Data • Special topics courses

40. PhD Dissertation • Work with one or more faculty mentors • Creative and significant original contribution to the field of biostatistics • Development and evaluation of biostat methodology • 3 loosely related papers to be of publishable quality or one in-depth look at a topic • Dissertation committee of faculty • Propose dissertation with a presentation within 2 years of becoming a PhD candidate • Defend dissertation with a presentation open to the public

41. Things to remember in Grad School

42. Choosing an Advisor • Challenging, intelligent, passionate, helpful • Worked in novel and interesting area

43. Graduate school • Work ethic • Work hard, engage with faculty & other students • Take advantage of opportunities • Go to conferences • Have fun, seek balance

44. Graduate School- other interests

45. In Review • Start preparing now if you are interested in graduate school- do your research • Remember you’ve chosen the path, so enjoy it and find balance • Seek out mentors and let them influence you • Thank your mentors • Exciting, marketable field

46. Thank you kidwell@umich.edu

47. My research

48. Motivation Setting: Treatment of Chronic Diseases Problem: Discrepancy between how treatment is practiced and how treatment is studied

49. How treatment is practiced

50. How treatment is practiced