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Unfortunately I do not have the time to visit either program. But I have contacted several faculty members of both programs and talked about my situation. They have very helpful in explaining their own program in great detail.

Thanks a lot for your useful suggestions! I can't agree more with you. I also think it's up to whether I have a target faculty member or research direction in mind.

Dear all, I've been accepted by both UW and UCB into their biostatistics Ph.D. program. While I'm lucky to be in the position of making a choice, I'm also in a dilemma. Both schools cover tuition, insurance and offer RA/TA scholarship. While UW ranks higher in biostat program, I think both programs are prestigious enough. UW biostat department has lots of connections with public health institutions, and has a large group in statistical genetics. Their collaboration with the stat department is also strong. In UCB, the biostat department is actually a group with faculty from stat, cs, public health departments, etc. Their connection with IT industry in bay area is tight. The placement of Ph.D. students in both programs are promising, both in academia and industry. It appears to me that UW has a much larger biostat department with more faculty and research groups (more funding also), and focus more on public health issues. But the faculty in UCB are all very strong in their own field of research, and focus more on statistics methodologies. And they say bay area is a more exciting place to stay than Seattle if I am open to work in industry. Anyway, though I still have time before making decision on 4/15, I would like to learn more from you guys! Thanks very much for your help!