Graduate

Our past 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 Ph.D. students have made their own marks in the academic world of statistics through development of fundamental statistical methodology.

Courses we offer

The department offers a wide range of courses that provide graduate students with strong foundations in theoretical and applied statistics. Also offered is an array of 300-level seminar courses which are considered stepping stones to literature review and research in specific fields.

Excellence of our Graduate program

As a direct result of the aforementioned pedagogical and related efforts, our department was the recipient from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) of the $25,000 GSAS Dean's Prize for Innovations in Graduate Education. Furthermore, seven years in a row our teaching fellows have won the Derek Bok Award of Excellence in Teaching Undergraduates Students by Graduate Students, in its first seven years of existence (no other department has won more than twice in a row).

The environment

Students often find the department to be a home away from home, with frequent lunches, seminars, and meals with visiting speakers, workshop-style research seminars, and other events. Indeed, we take special pride in being perhaps the only department that has an endowed massage chair for graduate students (the first requested use of the Innovations Prize). The Department also has a big sister/big brother program to help new students get acclimated, especially international students.

For further information about these programs, you can explore this website. If you have general questions about the application process or the status of your application, the online application tool, submitting forms, GSAS deadlines, or applying to other programs, please contact the GSAS Admissions Office.

If you have additional questions specifically about admission to the Statistics PhD program you can email our Student Programs Administrator, Kathleen Cloutier (cloutier@fas.harvard.edu).