Admissions

The Department of Statistics offers two graduate degree programs: Master of Science, including a Data Science track, and Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics. The department also offers an undergraduate minor and PhD minor.

Applicants applying from outside Stanford must visit Graduate Admissions before beginning the application process for complete application information and instructions. Please see the relevant Application Deadline section for this year's deadlines in the two degree programs.

PhD ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES

It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure he or she meets all eligibility requirements before applying.  All application materials, including supporting documents, must be received by the application deadline.

The Graduate Admissions period is open beginning in September each year for applications to be submitted by the published deadline in December (for matriculation beginning in the following academic year). After April 15th each year, the Graduate Admissions period is closed, and the online application will reopen during the following September.

In general, the M.S. degree in Statistics is intended as a terminal professional degree and does not lead to the Ph.D. degree.

Students in the masters program wishing to complete a Ph.D. receive no special preference when applying to the Ph.D. program, and only very few M.S. students have been admitted to the Ph.D. program in the past. Highly qualified applicants whose goal is to obtain a Ph.D. are encouraged to apply directly to the Ph.D. program at Stanford or elsewhere.

Students cannot earn a Masters's degree in Statistics online. The majority of courses are on-campus only.

Note: The department is unable to provide any admissions counseling, such as advising or assessment, for applicants or prospective applicants and therefore does not respond to such requests. Our M.S. admissions and program pages address all the relevant information, so please take the time to read them thoroughly.