u/Emotional-Rhubarb502

In 2027 I plan to apply for PhD programs in Biostatistics but haven’t taken real analysis and think it would be preferable to take to be a stronger candidate. I think if I’m going to take it I’d prefer to do so either this summer or next summer as I don’t want to do it alongside my MS in Biostatistics coursework. I was thinking of getting it done with this summer but the NetMath online program from UIUC doesn’t offer the course until August. Does anyone know of other good places where I could I take the course through? It looks like Real Analysis is rarely offered in CCs.

I’m planning on applying to PhD programs during the second year of my masters but am slightly conflicted. My first choice would be to do a PhD in Biostats but I haven’t taken real analysis and my understanding is that most top PhD programs either require or strongly recommend it. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to take real analysis by then unless I could do it online, but would that look less good on applications? I was wondering if there was an online real analysis course people would recommend.

I noticed Brown and Emory don’t really care about real analysis from looking at their programs and UMich lets you take real analysis after being admitted, but other than those programs I was thinking of applying to Epidemiology PhDs as a second option since I’m interested in clinical trials, study design and the overall application of statistics in public health. It may be less mathematically rigorous but it still aligns well with my interests and I’d really like to get a PhD and become a professor one day.

I was hoping to ask about people’s thoughts and whether taking real analysis in the next year and a half is particularly important? I’m just reluctant to take real analysis during the school year as I want to focus on doing well in my program, doing research, etc and real analysis would prob be more difficult for me having not taken discrete math.

These are the current programs I’m planning to apply to as a Biostats/Epi balance (I plan to add more but not sure if I should add more Biostats or more Epi):

UMich - Biostats
UMich - Survey and Data Science
Brown - Biostats
Brown - Epidemiology
Stanford - Epidemiology & Clinical Research
Pitt - Biostats
Emory - Biostats
UNC Chapel Hill - Epidemiology

I love Laura Dern and she’s an amazing actress, but out of all the performances you could give her an Oscar for why is it Marriage Story? It looked like the equivalent to a phone in role and not even something you’d consider for awards ceremonies - her only real big moment is the monologue which even looked overacted. It feels almost as if people just wanted a random 2019 movie with Laura Dern to latch onto so they could give her an Oscar after Season 2 of Big Little Lies came out.

Even more perplexing to me is how she swept the whole awards ceremony. It was one thing for Jamie Lee Curtis to win for EEAAO, the fact that her only precursor win was SAG further proves that it was a Hollywood career award. But people acted like Laura Dern had no competition. I’m stunned that people just totally ignored how ridiculous the win was, if it weren’t for how much people like Laura Dern so many people would have been openly annoyed and upset like they were about Jamie Lee Curtis in 2023 (mind you I think Laura Dern’s win is worse).

Honestly, you might as well have given Taylor Swift a career Oscar for her 5-10 minute performance on Amsterdam.

I can’t really tell if Zendaya’s performance is supposed to be one of the best this year of if she’s just being carried by the fact that she won for the previous two seasons. Overall I have found the lead actress lineups for Drama series to be rather disappointing in the past few years and not a reflection of who actually should’ve been nominated. Kathy Bates for instance is clearly riding off of career recognition considering Matlock has otherwise not received any buzz, and I’ve heard it’s unwatchable. I also thought Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon both getting in for The Morning Show S3 in 2024 was ridiculous. And I still don’t get how Sharon Horgan somehow snuck her way in last year when Bad Sisters S2 wasn’t remotely being talked about and Gold Derby didn’t even have in the top 15? I feel like there are too many instances where Emmy voters prioritize repeat nominations over who actually deserves it.

This year the only Drama lead actress performance I’m very excited about is Rhea Seehorn in Pluribus, she really carried that show on her back and was amazing. Keri Russell is also a strong contender and won at SAG but was her performance in The Diplomat S3 really a standout compared to previous seasons or did people finally decide it was her year? Either way those are the main two actresses in contention while it looks like everything else is just filler spots that Emmy voters are going to pick lazily, including Zendaya and Kathy Bates. I’m still disappointed that four White Lotus actresses got in for supporting actress over Genevieve O’Reilly in Andor.

Even though most Americans as a whole oppose the war with Iran, it seems like lots of Iranian Americans as a whole still do, especially in SoCal. I have friends that used to consider themselves on the left that became largely unhappy with Democrats for not supporting the war, with many being convinced it’s a “rescue mission.” Historically most Iranian Americans tend to vote Democratic, is it possible we’re going to see a mass movement?

The MS program in biostatistics I’m enrolling in this fall generally has 60-70 students per cohort but last year it dramatically declined to 30 students in large part because many international students were driven away by the shift in immigration policies in the US. Another biostats MS program I spoke with said they had a similar issue with enrollment last year. I asked our program coordinator how large our cohort is expected to be this fall since the commitment deadline has passed but she didn’t respond. Is it possible that even more people are being driven away from studying in the US due to everything going on? Or could we see a regression-to-the-mean style situation where last year was an outlier for many programs and there’s at least a slight rebound?

It’s already dissapointing enough how many people can’t get into PhD programs due to how funding has dried up space and there hasn’t been any reason to think things will improve in the next two years. It seems that graduate enrollment in the US is just collectively being crushed.