Student Spotlight: Ryann Alvarez, MA Statistics, Class of 2026
September 25, 2025 By: David Apilado, Jr.
When Ryann Alvarez first started her undergraduate degree at Cal State Fullerton, psychology felt like the perfect fit. She had taken an AP Psychology class in high school that sparked her curiosity. Ryann’s goal at the time was to grow into a career as a marriage and family therapist. However, as she went deeper into her major, something else kept pulling her in. Research led her toward quantitative psychology, and suddenly she was surrounded by numbers, statistics, and data. Ryann found herself TAing for research methods and statistics courses, realizing that she actually loved the numerical side of her field. Even though she graduated in the Spring of 2023 with a BA in Psychology, she had uncovered a whole new passion towards the end of her undergraduate journey.
After graduation, she stayed on as a post-baccalaureate TA, which only further fueled her interest in statistics and data. By Fall 2023, she had applied to graduate school, targeting four psychology programs and one statistics program at Berkeley. She was accepted into the psychology programs, but not into Berkeley Statistics. For many people, that might have been the end of the story. For her, it became motivation.
Ryann decided to double down because she knew what she wanted. She declined the psychology offers and focused on developing the skills she needed. She took math, statistics, and data science courses at Mt. San Antonio College while continuing to push herself forward. In the Spring of 2024, she began working as a Research Associate in the Office of Assessment & Institutional Research at Scripps College. That work kept her close to statistics and data science, where she analyzed student enrollment data, graduation and retention rates, and discovered how numbers can tell the story of students. That fall, she applied again, this time to four statistics programs. She got into all four.
Her decision was easy because Berkeley was where she saw herself. “It’s the #1 public school,” she said proudly. However, it was not just about rankings that led her to her decision to attend. She expressed that Berkeley reached out to her regularly and ensured she felt supported throughout the admissions process. Ryann knew then that she would feel valued and seen if she were to attend Berkeley. She also stated that the alumni network and opportunities here in the Bay Area would help her build the future she envisioned.
Receiving the Opportunity Award from the Department of Statistics and UC Berkeley Graduate Division's Graduate Opportunity Program (GOP) Master's Fellowship Award was another milestone that made her feel both proud and grateful. She is the first in her family to pursue graduate education, and she views this as an opportunity to carry forward her mother’s legacy. Her mom earned her bachelor’s degree in her 30s while raising Ryann and always emphasized the importance of higher education. “In my household, there wasn’t another option; college was what I needed to do,” she explained. “But being the first to go to graduate school makes me proud to take it further and make my family proud.”
Now in the MA Statistics program, she is already making an impact as a Peer Ambassador. Ryann supports her cohort, connects with prospective students, and shows what is possible when you refuse to give up. Her journey speaks especially to those who may not immediately know what they want from grad school. She proves that it is okay to take time to figure it out and that once you find your path, you can chase it with everything you have.
Outside of the classroom, she is a cat person who befriends strays whenever she can. In her free time, Ryann enjoys crocheting, attending yoga classes, and playing a game or two of Fortnite in between tackling her problem sets. Her journey to Berkeley was not straightforward, which makes it all the more inspiring. Ryann’s journey is a reminder that pursuing higher education does not always follow a direct path. Her persistence, family support, and having the courage to try again shows that anyone who holds these values can open doors that once seemed closed.