mittensmitten895

Biostatistics requires more collaboration with non-statisticians than pure statistics and so it tends to value diversity in background. I can't really speak to what it takes for non-traditional candidates to break into stats, but feel free to PM me if you're interested in the biostat side. I'm not sure about this year's crop. The faculty and staff are good about not pressuring us to make a decision early (sorry about that!). Last year, nearly everyone pursuing a PhD stayed at Michigan, but that was maybe 10/40 (?). Students get involved in research as part of the funding plan, so it's easy to get a handle on who could be a good mentor, where projects are going, etc. Even if you're not personally working with a faculty member, you have a friend that is and you can ask them about their PI to assess personality fit. Everything is just more of a known quantity (in both directions, actually), and the MS to PhD transition is smooth in that it takes little planning to be able to take quals immediately after graduating with the MS. There aren't many places you could go to "trade up" in rankings, so most people submit few external applications (if any), but these are reasonably successful. At this point, I suspect no one knows how many additional admits will go out since the people debating between offers will need more time to consider their options. Most will likely accept the offer, but it changes from year to year and capacity may increase due to a new cancer training grant. Basically, there is still hope!

There's probably no way to explain without outing myself, but I will try. I'm a current Michigan biostat MS student (that alone pretty much does it), so I know the resources they have here and I like what I see. The department is very supportive, and I love Ann Arbor. I think the quality of theoretical statistical training is better at Michigan by a tiny bit, and part of the reason I want more than an MS is to gain a better theoretical grounding. However, I have pretty specific longstanding research interests, and Harvard is the undisputed leader in this little sub-area. I would probably have an amazing big-name advisor there, while I'm not sure who I would have at Michigan (I do have some reasonably good options, though, just not many in that sub-field). There are some people working in that area at Michigan, but there is a very strong core at Harvard of <my intended subfield> superstars. Harvard sets me up better for a career in academia, but my specific specialization there may preclude me from some of the better non-academic biostatistics job options, and I might feel more pressured to pursue an academic career even if it looks like it will be an awful, soul-sucking slog for me to get tenure. (I also have family considerations that might entice me to stay at Michigan, but it would still be difficult decision even without that.)

Accepted at Harvard biostat! The decision will come down to Michigan vs. Harvard (both biostatistics). Either way, it's a win for the non-traditional PhD route!

Anyone heard from Berkeley biostatistics (PhD)? I got a few "UC Berkeley professor" LinkedIn hits in the last week, so I know they reviewed apps.

If gushing is allowed here, I'd like to make the case for Michigan biostatistics. It has friendly people, lots of varied and cutting-edge research, a collaborative atmosphere, and very strong teaching. I entered their MS program as a non-traditional student (non math/stat) and I now have all the theory and applied experience I need to either pursue a PhD in biostat or get a sweet job. My "unfunded" offer ended up being mostly funded, and the stipend is more than enough for the cost of living in Ann Arbor (in fact, between summer internship earnings and my stipend, my spouse needed exactly $0 in loans to complete a mostly-unfunded master's in another department). It's a small city, but Ann Arbor is walkable, livable, and packed with intellectual people doing cool things. My spouse and I were looking at NYC prior to choosing Ann Arbor, and I especially liked all of the cultural events that NYC has to offer. Then we realized we'd be too poor to ever actually get to attend any of them. Here, we've been to a few ballets, a couple concerts, and we go out to fancy dinners semi-regularly. We live without roommates in a spacious 2-bedroom roughly 10 minutes from campus for $900/month. The quality of life really can’t be beat. It you're definitely on the PhD track, I can see how getting offered the fast-track master's might seem like a bad deal compared to PhD admits elsewhere. It’s really not. At Michigan the internal MS-to-PhD applicants get dibs on PhD slots, and everyone I knew that applied to the PhD program from my MS cohort got in, except for maybe two or three people who I don't think were PhD material at all (they were accepted elsewhere, though). It also gives you a chance to think more carefully about if you want/need a PhD. If you choose a PhD, you won't be behind since the MS coursework is the same as the first two years of the PhD, and you can take the quals right after MS graduation. (The qualifying exam is harder than in some departments, but it is definitely not designed to weed people out. If they let you in, they’re going to do everything they can to help you make it through the program. Furthermore, there is a good departmental support system to help students prepare adequately. I don’t know anyone who failed twice.) By structuring admissions this way, the department allows you to explore MS-level industry jobs without fear of burning bridges. There is also have a fantastic SPH-wide career center that understands how to prepare you for whatever career path you want. The Michigan MS is well-respected because of its rigor (it’s the first two years of a doctoral program, after all), and there are tons of ways to get involved in applied research so you have some job experience. I ultimately decided on the PhD route, and everyone was more than happy to support my application at Michigan and anywhere else I wanted to apply. In terms of research, the department has enough variety that you can change specialties if you find your interests changing. If you're interested in survival analysis, statistical genetics, cancer research, computational biology/bioinformatics, missing data methods, machine learning, Bayesian statistics, clinical trials, environmental/spatial statistics, or anything else, we've got a research group (or two or five) that does it.