sherby77

Thank you all very much for your responses and input on this difficult decision! I have weighed my options and accepted Berkeley's offer of admission mostly because of funding and similar research interests with faculty members. If anybody else will be attending Berkeley in the fall of 2013, please let me know! Best of luck to everybody else! It is now April 16th so I wish everyone luck in their future endeavors.

Hello all, I hope that everybody has heard back from their desired schools and that everyone got into their dream school! I am having a dilemma choosing between Univ of Washington, UC Berkeley, and Harvard for MS in Biostatistics. In the latest rankings, Harvard and UW are tied for number 1 and Berkeley is a bit behind at number 6. How important should these rankings be in my decision? Do they really make a difference if I am planning on working outside academia post-graduate school? Also, a big factor for me is funding. Berkeley has offered a position as a TA to cover all my tuition as well as a $1,500 stipend. On top of that, I have received a scholarship contributing $10,000 more for the first academic year. Harvard and UW offer no guaranteed funding for the first year and both schools would cost about $60,000 a year. Is it a no-brainer to choose Berkeley for the funding? I have heard mixed opinions from people. Some say "how can you not choose Harvard?" and some say "how can you turn down free graduate school education?" I am not sure what to think in this situation. I personally love all three cities and would prefer to get out of the Bay Area (I grew up near Berkeley), but that is just a soft factor. As a side note, I also got accepted into BU, Columbia, and Michigan, but I will most likely not choose any of those programs. Thank you very much for the help!!

I recently got accepted to the University of Washington, University of Michigan, and UC Berkeley for their Master's program in Biostatistics. I am having a hard time deciding between the three schools. I still haven't heard back from some of the other schools yet but I'd like to start assessing which school would be a better decision to go to. Funding & Intangibles For UWashington, they said I would most likely acquire funding after my first year of the program. I have some family in Seattle so that is a great option as well. For UMichigan, they said they would make a decision on funding sometime in March. As for Ann Arbor, I have heard great things about their SPH and the amazing faculty. For UC Berkeley, they guarantee funding for the two year program (working as a GSI/TA or GSR/RA). I was born in Berkeley, CA and grew up in the Bay Area my entire life, so I would like to try something new. However, UC Berkeley is paying for all my school which is a big plus. Does anybody have any suggestions? Thank you all for your help. Also, if anybody else is deciding between these schools, I'd love to know where you decide on going and your rationale behind the decision. Thank you!

Cyberwulf, thank you once again for your input. It seems that Duke will gain the prominence of a top 10 biostatistics school rather soon. The fact that its statistics program and school of medicine are so strong will help its reputation in the near future. Outliers1, of all the schools I have looked at, Duke is the only one that mention that they favor students with a background in biological science rather than statistics/mathematics. Of course, I've only looked at Washington, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Columbia, UCLA, Berkeley, UNC, Michigan, Minnesota, and Boston University. All of those programs more or less favor a computational background.

Thank you cyberwulf for the input. All your comments are very helpful. I have another question if that is ok. I understand that Duke has a very new biostatistics program so it is not very well known. It is however through the School of Medicine which is very well known. Although Duke isn't ranked too high in biostatistics, would it be equivalent to the likes of Columbia, UCLA, and other schools ranked from about 4-10 (excluding Johns Hopkins, UW, and Harvard)? Thank you.

I have a question for cyberwulf: I am applying for an MS in Biostatistics at pretty much the top 10 ranked schools in the country. In terms of the different schools that I am applying to, do some look more at certain Math/Stats courses than others? For example, does UW look more at linear algebra experience than let's say Columbia? Or does taking real analysis help my chances more at one school versus another? Thank you.