titan32

Hmm, why do you think it is unranked? I was looking here: http://www.amstat.org/asa/files/pdfs/OGRP-USNews_BioStatisticsRankings.pdf And I've seen similar rankings being mentioned a few times on threads before. Also, on USnews, UT SPH is ranked 21 (Pitt SPH is ranked 15).

You're first consideration should be whether or not you have multiple labs you are interested in at each of these schools. If you only like one lab a certain university, it's probably a bad idea to go there. You'd be screwed if you couldn't get into his/her lab. Otherwise, the curriculum is important too. Some schools have more flexible curriculum than others that may allow you to pursue certain interests. Or maybe one school's curriculum more directly aligns with what you want to learn. Your'e work/life balance matters as well. Do you have a preference of where you want to live? Do you despise cold weather? If so, Chicago and Michigan might not be for you. That being said, if you love labs at these schools, don't let weather turn you off. But all else being equal, I would take this into account.

Not having funding certainly isn't a black mark on him his entire career. No one would know he doesn't have funding except for himself, and you wouldnt put that on your resume once you graduate. It'd say PhD from XXXX, funding or no funding. So that is certainly a strange line of thinking. That being said, he doesn't have to give up his dream. I would highly recommend he apply again next year and get more research experience this year. It's not worth it to fund your own PhD when you should be getting paid.

I've been accepted to both Pitt and UTHealth for a PhD in biostatistics. The difference in program ranking is negligible, and I received funding at both (guaranteed for the first year). UTHealth awarded me the NIH T32 training grant (8 hours a week working on research projects, monthly meetings for the grant), and said funding could continue. On the UTHealth website it says the grant covers all PhD coursework, which would be for 2 years. Pitt awarded me an RA for 20 hours per week, and said they've never had a student not be funded for the second year. Pitt seems to more or less fund all of it's PhD students which is reassuring. UTHealth, does not seem to really offer funding. They say you can apply for an RA (some cover tuition costs) or TA once you accept admissions, and they have a few lower value scholarships for tuition. I'd like to go with UTHealth over Pitt because I like Houston over Pittsburgh and because I want to work on clinical trial design, being in the largest medical center in the world would be great. However, it worries me that they seem to mass admit people and not offer funding. I'm worried once my training grant is gone, I'll end up being screwed. Moreover, I've emailed about a week ago asking extra information about the grant and they haven't responded. And their admitted students day is April 6th, which is extremely late when people are trying to make decisions by April 15th. Basically I want to take UTHealth, but they're giving me a lot of red flags. Does anyone have any experience with or knowledge about these 2 programs that could push me one way or another?