Hello all!
I hope it's all-right to add another 'please help me choose thread' to the forum! I will be going into a Statistics PhD program this fall and have narrowed my choices down to either U Michigan or Yale and just wanted some opinions.
I have searched this board so I have seen what people have said in the past, but still wanted some advice! My research interests tend to the theoretical (probability theory along with stochastic processes) side of things, and I think Yale is a very good fit here. (Michigan, with the larger department, certainly has a wider diversity of subjects though). I was offered funding at both programs; but, Yale's offer was significantly nicer. I visited both departments and would say that I felt that Yale was the overall better fit (but as these were my top two departments, I naturally enjoyed both!) for the actual statistics dept. (my primary concern), though I did enjoy the U Michigan campus and Ann Arbor region more than Yale and New Haven.
With the above in mind, I am leaning towards Yale. However, I know that Michigan is more highly ranked in both the US News and NRC rankings, and naturally want to have good opportunities after I finish the program I choose. (I recognize it is very competitive, but I would like to stay in academia). I've also heard that the US News penalizes for smaller programs (and Yale's program is rather small) and the NRC rankings may be out of date. I'm not sure how accurate these claims really are though, which is another reason why I am having trouble coming to a final decision. (The phds.org rankings for student outcomes for the two programs are very close, at least.)
So, I would say I would be happy at either school, but am definitely leaning towards Yale, but want to make the best possible choice! Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated