Student Spotlight: Yuanyuan Gao, MA Statistics, Class of 2025
November 13, 2024 By: David Apilado, Jr.
Growing up in China and later moving to Florida for high school, Yuanyuan brought her diverse experiences and ambitions to California, where she completed her undergraduate studies at UC Davis in Winter 2023. With a major in statistics and a minor in mathematics, her passion for data science truly ignited in Professor Emanuela Furfaro’s Stat 141A class during her sophomore year, where she first encountered the thrill of working with large datasets and applying statistical theorems to real-world challenges.
Drawn to UC Berkeley’s exceptional faculty, she chose Berkeley’s MA Statistics program as the ideal place to advance her expertise. Here, she is particularly inspired by Professor Bin Yu, whose Stat 215A course she describes as both challenging and incredibly rewarding. Currently, Yuanyuan is working on a thesis project, appreciating the program's flexibility to dive into a more academic path, even in a program largely designed to prepare students for industry roles.
Looking ahead, her goal is to pursue a PhD, either in statistics or computational biology — a lifelong ambition she’s excited to achieve. Her journey at Berkeley has even added a favorite quote to her repertoire: "Statistics means never having to say you're certain," a saying she noticed on a SGSA T-shirt in the hallway. For her, it’s a valuable reminder about the importance of precision and careful judgment in the field.
Outside her studies, Yuanyuan finds balance through photography and painting, creative pursuits that complement the intensity and excitement of her academic work. Her journey from China to Florida, then to UC Davis, and now Berkeley, reflects her adventurous spirit and commitment to growth.
We’re proud to have Yuanyuan in the UC Berkeley Statistics community and can’t wait to see the impact she’ll make in the field!