epidem35

That's awesome! Congratulations! I'm sure you will have an amazing experience there.

Thank you! Have you made a decision?

Sure! I chose the University of Toronto. They cover tuition and provide a stipend to all accepted students for up to five years. I believe all Canadian universities do this, if I'm not mistaken. It would have been great to go to Columbia, however, with the funding situation there and living in NYC (I lived there before), I just didn't want to take the financial risk to go there. It was a similar situation with other U.S. universities I got accepted to.

Sorry to go counter the previous poster, but I would go with the first school. Personally, my number one concern is funding followed up closely by research alignment. I believe I read somewhere that only 50% of those who start a PhD finish it, and a lot of that has to do with the financial constraints, especially later in life. Also, I have heard that many people prolong their PhD due to other activities (TA, RA, etc.) that they need to complete that take time away from focusing on their thesis work. I think if your goal is to work outside of academia and you have professors at the first school who align with your research interests and seem to take an interest in you, go with them. Having a stipend, you are not forced to do an RA/TA ship and you can go all in on your thesis. If you want to go into academia, then the second decision might be better. Additionally, being far from your homebase is something to consider. A PhD is a long journey and perhaps being closer to friends and family for emotional support may be helpful. For the second option, make sure that your quality of life will be good in this city because that can certainly affect your overall experience. Just FYI, I am biased in my opinion because I was in a similar dilemma and chose the first option.

I would like to second this. I was not able to go to the admitted student day. I have spoken to both students and faculty and it seems that funding is one of the biggest weaknesses of the school. Also, I have reached out to admin regarding funding but they seem to be generally unresponsive.

By any chance, is anyone here attending the breakfast for admitted students in the PhD program in Epi on Monday, March 25th at Columbia?

Hi there. I also got accepted to Columbia Epi, no word on funding. My only hesitation with this school is their funding opportunities, especially for international students.

I received an email from a professor for an interview. It happened over the phone. It was very informal.

No word yet...

Agreed. I guess it depends on what your career prospects are. I imagine if you want to have a career in academia, this is an invaluable skill set to have. However, I would prefer to learn this skill in a context that is not so stress-inducing (scrambling to find funding year to year). Very good question. I would recommend to reach out to the financial office of U of M to find out more information. I remember reading the following on the Yale website, which may be helpful. But perhaps it is different in Michigan. https://oiss.yale.edu/taxes-legal/us-taxes

Hello there. Long time lurker here. I have been accepted to a few PhD Epi programs and now assessing some of my options. Although on paper, UW is probably the best option given their focus in global health and all of their connections around the world - the funding does worry me. I also applied for the RA position at the START Center, however, it is only guaranteed for one year, renewable for two years. After that, students need to look for TA or RA positions or funding on their own in order to avoid paying tuition out of pocket and cover living expenses. I was told that most UW PhD students manage to get enough funding, but for me it seems much too high of a risk to take. I find it a bit ridiculous to be conducting research for the university which ultimately may result in 3 publications under their name and not being guaranteed that you will never have to pay tuition out of pocket. Finally, I think may go with a lower ranked university that guaranteed me full tuition coverage and a stipend, which I can supplement with a TA-ship if I want to.