BiostatGoldie

@cyberwulf Thank you so much for the help and information! How would one go about determining the if a potential advisor is a "name" advisor? By simply looking at the number of publications in top journals or are there other methods to help determine the prestige of a potential advisor?

So here is my dilemma: I have been accepted for Biostatistics PhD programs with funding at MUSC and FSU. I’m waitlisted at Vanderbilt and have received an unfunded (as of right now) offer from UNC. I come from a small liberal arts college with no stat/biostat department, so I have no faculty to give me advice on how to choose a program. Also, I am torn between going into academia and industry after graduate school, so ideally I would like a program that would set me up for either career path. Further, I am very interested in research in clinical trials. Specifically, cancer related clinical trials. I know MUSC, UNC, and Vanderbilt all have research in cancer and clinical trials being produced. Currently, MUSC is my preferred choice but I am open to FSU's program as well (UNC has given no timeline as to when funding offers might be distributed and I’m still on the waitlist at Vanderbilt). So, if anyone could discuss MUSC’s reputation in either academia or industry it would be a huge help. I’m not too hung up on rankings (although information on how MUSC has been ranked recently would be helpful), I’m placing more weight on the research being produced at the university, student placement upon graduation and how theoretical or applied is the program (I’m biased towards a more applied program, but have a healthy respect for theory). Also, I know Vanderbilt’s program is very new (I think they should graduate their first PhD student this year), and would like some opinions on the program. Where I live, Vanderbilt has one of the best academic reputations; however, I know this doesn’t necessarily apply to all of their programs. So if anyone could speak about the program and how it is viewed in academia/industry, it would be helpful. I’m really interested in the program and (pending I get in off the waitlist) it would be one of my top choices. Overall, I’m simply curious as to how attending MUSC or Vanderbilt would affect my ability to enter into academia or industry as compared to UNC.