Vera

Hi, I think I am lucky to be accepted by the two programs (stat@Harvard, stat@UChicago). But at the same time, I feel it difficult for me to make the final decision. 1) Harvard. The name is so appealing to me! The night I got the news that I was accepted by that program, I simply couldn't fall asleep. I do have a very strong Harvard complex. The program is ranked 3rd or 4th. And MIT is just next to Harvard, so I may have great opportunities meeting people of great potential. But the size of faculty is so small (only 5 professors) and they mainly focus on Bayes and MCMC. (Of course, the 5 professors are all stars!) And I've heard from some other professors that they feel the reputation of this program is vastly overrated and they seldom consider PhD graduates from that program as their assistant professors. I am really sad to hear that because I really like the name of Harvard. I would really need a lot of courage to turn it down. 2) Chicago. The faculty size is large and there are several excellent professors whose interest is in stochastic processes, as well as other fields. Although the name of the university of less appealing and the program is ranked 6th, I feel the program is better (I got the idea just by comparing what is posted in the webpages of the two programs). The program seems to be a better match for me. I know that the program emphasizes theory very much and many PhD graduates find positions in universities. The placement is good! But, I personally prefer to live in Boston. I am not sure about the research direction I am mostly interested in, since I major in math and lack deep understanding of all the branches of statistics. Currently, I feel that I am interested in stochastic processes and MCMC. On the one hand, Professor Kou at Harvard is good match, but he seems to be the only professor at Harvard who are interested in stochastic processes. Of course, Harvard is very strong in regard to MCMC. On the other hand, there are many professors at Chicago interested in stochastic processes, and the research in Chicago is broader and deeper (some professors said that to me). I really can't decide which one to go. I might feel regretful to turn down Harvard, but I might have a better future if I attended University of Chicago. What should I do? Can someone share some opinions? Thanks!

Hi, I think I am lucky to be accepted by the two programs (stat@Harvard, stat@UChicago). But at the same time, I feel it difficult for me to make the final decision. 1) Harvard. The name is so appealing to me! The night I got the news that I was accepted by that program, I simply couldn't fall asleep. I do have a very strong Harvard complex. The program is ranked 3rd or 4th. And MIT is just next to Harvard, so I may have great opportunities meeting people of great potential. But the size of faculty is so small (only 5 professors) and they mainly focus on Bayes and MCMC. (Of course, the 5 professors are all stars!) And I've heard from some other professors that they feel the reputation of this program is vastly overrated and they seldom consider PhD graduates from that program as their assistant professors. I am really sad to hear that because I really like the name of Harvard. I would really need a lot of courage to turn it down. 2) Chicago. The faculty size is large and there are several excellent professors whose interest is in stochastic processes, as well as other fields. Although the name of the university of less appealing and the program is ranked 6th, I feel the program is better (I got the idea just by comparing what is posted in the webpages of the two programs). The program seems to be a better match for me. I know that the program emphasizes theory very much and many PhD graduates find positions in universities. The placement is good! But, I personally prefer to live in Boston. I am not sure about the research direction I am mostly interested in, since I major in math and lack deep understanding of all the branches of statistics. Currently, I feel that I am interested in stochastic processes and MCMC. On the one hand, Professor Kou at Harvard is good match, but he seems to be the only professor at Harvard who are interested in stochastic processes. Of course, Harvard is very strong in regard to MCMC. On the other hand, there are many professors at Chicago interested in stochastic processes, and the research in Chicago is broader and deeper (some professors said that to me). I really can't decide which one to go. I might feel regretful to turn down Harvard, but I might have a better future if I attended University of Chicago. What should I do? Can someone share some opinions? Thanks!