gainer19

In my opinion, these are both strong programs but are quite different. Florida is more theoretical and geared towards academic positions (at least relative to what I've seen from other schools), and is located in a small college town. NC State, in a mid-sized city, is more applied and places heavily in industry, especially with their ties to so many research firms in the area (including SAS, currently the #1 place in the country to work). So, I think it really depends on where your interests are & where you think you're a better fit. Have you had a chance to visit either program? For what it's worth, I also had offers from both schools, and I picked NC State after I visited the program and fell in love with it. So for me, the campus visit was very important. Best of luck and perhaps I'll see you in Raleigh.

I'm headed to NC State for Statistics. Anyone else?

I'm really glad you are. Some people think that stuff really shouldn't matter, but it does a lot for me. Grad school is going to be a lot of work, so I want to make sure I'm at a place where I'm going to be happy so then I'm more likely to make it through. This advice probably applies more to PhD programs, but it still would matter to me. I'm currently deciding between Ohio State & NC State (both for PhD programs in Statistics). A huge plus for NC State is being down in Raleigh and in the Research Triangle, which again, to me is like the complete opposite of West Lafayette. Good luck!

Whatever you do, I would make sure to visit West Lafayette before you decide. The town, the campus, and the coeds are ugly and it's depressing there. There is no way I could live there.

Why do you think their ranking isn't that great? I thought they placed pretty well in both the US News rankings (I think 8th when you exclude biostat) and the NRC rankings?

I visited OSU last year, and here are some of my thoughts from my visit (for what it's worth): At that time, US News only ranked the top 10 stats programs, so I really had no clue how good OSU was (they weren't in the top 10). However, I took some comfort when talking to some of the current students, because the ones I talked to, for what it's worth, turned down some good programs (Texas A&M, Florida, & Michigan for example) to attend OSU. I feel like their recent placements are decent. Not stellar, in my opinion, but still decent. Outside of faculty compatibility and program reputation, I place a lot of weight on placements, because I want to go to a program that will help me get to where I want to go. I really liked the vibe I got from the current students and the faculty. Everyone seemed pretty down to earth to me. It was perfectly fine if you don't know exactly what you want to do with your life right now, but if you're good at math, like stats, and want a career in research, you can figure it out along the way. Also, they said if you aren't sure if you want a masters or PhD, it's easier to just enroll as PhD student and just leave with a masters, and plus the stipend is higher that way. I thought that was pretty cool, because a lot of other programs I've dealt with want to know your dissertation topic at this moment. Sure, I have a good idea of what my research interests are, but I also realize that a lot can happen in two years. Related to the previous point, their department is pretty big, so there's a good chance you'll be able to do what you want, whatever it is. They have the #1 basketball team in the country, and their football team can perform well in a shitty conference. Oh, and for what it's worth, I was told they are planning on building a new stats building. Anyway, probably not that helpful, but let me know what you decide, because OSU is probably my top choice right now.

I heard from NC State back in early Feb. They requested a decision by 3/11 (yesterday), so perhaps they've received some rejections and can make some more offers (2 more acceptances showed up on the results yesterday too). I have not heard back from Georgia, Kentucky, Iowa State, or Michigan. Has anyone heard from any of those??

Anyone have any initial thoughts or impressions on the new U.S. News rankings for statistics programs (no longer a math specialty) released this morning? I know rankings are just one of many things to take into consideration, but I still find them informational. I was kind of surprised to see that UNC's stats department (#22) was ranked noticeably lower than their biostats department (#10) [schools with separate departments were ranked separately]. I was also kinda surprised to see Florida's stats program ranked 27th, since they were just ranked in the top 10 in the previous rankings. Your thoughts?

kman: are you going to IU right now or living in another part of Indiana? I agree that most of Indiana does not have natural beauty, but I think the exception is near Bloomington with Lake Monroe & Brown County. nalineback: I would vote for IU. IU's campus is beatiful, it's located in a nice college town (so if you want a big city, don't go there) but Indianapolis only an hour away. As I alluded to, Lake Monroe & Brown County are nearby areas that are nice for camping/hiking/canoeing/etc. However, if you're into snow sports Colorado obviously gets the edge.