moving_up

Can someone knowledgeable in biostatistics departments help me out? Right now I'm trying to decide between U Penn and U Minnesota for a Biostatistics MS. Neither of them gave me funding (my advisor told me to email around and see if I can get anything from either of them though), but Penn is close to where I'm at school now and would keep me close to my significant other. However, Minnesota seems to be higher ranked everywhere I look. Would it be foolish to turn down Minnesota for Penn? Is Minnesota much better? My ultimate goal is industry right now, but I don't want to rule out a PhD in the future. Has anybody had success with finding funding by emailing people?

I'm currently a second semester senior in my undergraduate math program. Last semester I applied to 5 biostats masters programs and Ohio State's MMS program. During last semester, I only took 3 classes (4 is considered a normal full-time load but 3 is not uncommon) because I have extra credits. I want to do the same this semester, but my dean says that having a lighter senior year will look bad to the grad programs. I also hold a leadership position in the school's student government, as well as a few part-time on-campus jobs. My GPA last semester was also better than its ever been. My question is: will the grad schools really care if I have 3 classes instead of 4? Most of them won't want an official transcript unless they accept me, so is this something they would rescind admittance over?

Undergrad Institution: Top 30 Liberal Arts college Major: Mathematics GPA: 3.4, major: 3.1 Type of Student: DWF GRE General Test: haven’t taken yet, but shouldn't be a problem Math Classes: 3 semesters of calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, real analysis I, abstract algebra I and II, transition to higher math, mathematical statistics next semester: planning to take intro to chaos theory, topology I, maybe another stats class Research Experience: None. Considering a thesis, but it's not likely Pertinent Activities or Jobs: Dorm President for two years, job as Quantitative Mentor 3 years (I help people with more basic math stuff like algebra and calc I and II), job as Calc I and II homework grader, another job that's not relevant (in the library) Letters of Recommendation: I can get a few decent letters, but probably nothing spectacular I'm currently a junior, so I'm planning on entering a graduate program in Fall 2015. So I know my GPA is pretty low compared to most of the posts I've seen on this board, so I probably won't be reaching very high, but if anybody has any advice for programs that I could possibly be accepted into, that would be lovely. I'm also looking for programs that might provide some kind of funding for their masters students. I know this is not very common in the US.