Student Spotlight: Ruiwen Liu, MA Statistics, Class of 2025
April 25, 2025 By: David Apilado, Jr.
Originally from Shandong, Jingnan, China, Ruiwen Liu completed her undergraduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University, majoring in Economics and Statistics. Although she initially considered pursuing psychology, her strong performance in AP Economics during high school encouraged her to shift toward economics during her sophomore year of college. She decided to add what she describes as more practical applications to her studies by combining economics with statistics.
Looking to expand her opportunities in the fields of statistics and data science, Ruiwen chose to pursue graduate school. She found that UC Berkeley’s MA Statistics program was the perfect fit because of its strong academic reputation and its location near many of the world's leading tech companies. After graduation, she hopes to work as a data scientist in the tech industry. This summer, she will gain valuable experience through an internship with eBay.
In her free time, Ruiwen likes watching movies, drawing, and hanging out with friends. She laughs that while hiking seems to be everyone's favorite Bay Area hobby, she’s perfectly happy keeping her adventures closer to sea level.
Reflecting on her experience at Berkeley, Ruiwen highlights the value of the cohort model. She appreciates the supportive environment, where students challenge themselves, work on career searches together, get food together, and build lasting connections — a sense of community she found even stronger than during her undergraduate years.
As she looks ahead, Ruiwen feels confident that the friendships, skills, and experiences she has gained at Berkeley will stay with her long after graduation, shaping both her career and the person she continues to become.