Empowerly

Student profile

Tell us why you decided to apply to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, please include why you are interested in studying the major(s) you have selected. If you selected undecided please describe your areas of possible academic interest. (you may enter up to 650 words).

The major I selected to study at University of Wisconsin-Madison is statistics. From a young age, I have always been interested in numbers. From watching sport recaps on ESPN with my dad to solving math problems, I was fascinated with the ways I could use quantitative information to make decisions. At first, I became involved in fantasy football with my friends, where I had to select different players based on statistics of each player to create a team. With this passion, I began to look into the field of statistics and to expand my knowledge I took some Coursera courses online to learn more in depth. As I entered high school, in order to establish a solid background in statistics, I decided to take the highest level courses in mathematics that my school offered. Knowing the versatility of statistics and wanting to apply my knowledge elsewhere, I engaged in research projects using statistics. 

In high school, I participated in the Synopsys Science and Engineering Fair presenting my research on the analysis of epidemiological factors influencing diabetes and obesity in adults. Even though I did not win any prizes, I was equipped with knowledge and skills learned from my experiences to participate in the International STEM Big Data Challenge for high schoolers. For this competition, I  undertook an independent research project to tackle a real-world problem of climate change in California, gathering and analyzing datasets to examine the relationship between the agricultural industry and climate change. While also learning about digital citizenship, I improved my knowledge in statistics by learning data preparation and transformation and enhanced my analytical skills using R programming. 

During my summers, I participated in internships where I learned other computing skills.  In one internship, I learned and used Python to analyze large amounts of GSR (Galvanic Skin Response) sensor data of 100 participants collected while they watched various videos. Over the past summer, I interned in a robotics lab working on tensegrity legs. I learned C++  and used it for controlling DC motors on the robotic leg and used Matlab for motion capture and to create graphs and gifs to convey the motion of the leg squatting. 

With all these experiences, the Dept. of Statistics at University of Wisconsin-Madison will definitely be a good fit for my interests. Some of the aspects of the program which make it very attractive is the ability to enhance my computing and mathematical skills and take classes that will help me develop and improve my critical thinking and problem solving skills needed for data analysis. What is appealing is the option to study computer programming sequentially, including object oriented programming and linear programming methods. I will also have the ability to choose from a variety of electives ranging from computational statistics to statistical methods for spatial data.  

I can also continue to learn the statistical language of R for exploratory data analysis and also have the option to learn SAS. I would like to continue to do research during my undergraduate degree with the hope to complete a senior project and be part of the honors program with my research efforts.

Another engaging aspect of the statistics program is the need to have a math concentration. The ability to take six credits in this math concentration will give me a solid foundation for my mathematical skills which I can apply to future jobs. 

Learning Statistics at University of Wisconsin-Madison would give me the best academic support to pursue a career as a data scientist. I want to explore different options like examining complex data structures where more elaborate computations are required. Enrolling at the College of Letters and Sciences will give me the the best chance to continue my passion for statistics.