Hi friends,
I've been extremely lucky to be accepted by both programs. UW is my dream program since I seriously considered pursuing a Ph.D. and my focus area is big data. I visited campus and POI last October before apply and I was accepted by the professor. I was very excited and determined to move to Seattle when I was offered admission last week.
However, Princeton is very kind to accept me for masters and provided full funding and stipend which means money is out of the consideration. Plus the program is research oriented and I will have a thesis advisor and do good research. So if I decide to continue to do a Ph.D after masters I might be able to get into the top four. But UW is not that far from the top four anyway...
Doing a master also gives me more flexibility I guess, if I have a change of mind (I do that a lot) and want to switch to other career paths.... but UW is so perfect in terms of environment, city, weather (I mean it)...
I am really having a hard time deciding...
Best to all,
VB