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Rankings ISU 20 vs. Purdue 27 (from US News) But to my acknowledge Purdue is very strong in Machine Learning and Deep Learning, far stronger than its ranking suggests. I think Purdue strictly dominates ISU in your field of interest and you should go there.

I'm assuming you're also from China LOL. I was also admitted to ISU's Stat program and has accepted. Due to personal reasons I've been staying in Ames for a few months and might be able to tell you a little bit. Iowa has never been a state of good weather. It's April now and it still goes under 0 degree occasionally. I think Columbus do dominate in this part. Talking about living your friend is right, it's really a quiet small college town. I'm a boring person and I won't find it hard staying here, but I can for sure imagine that many people couldn't stand this kind of life. I also have friend in OSU Stat. Those 2 programs are both very good, I think they shouldn't be compared only based on rankings. But you said you haven't decided your research interest, in this way it's wise for you to choose a BIG PROGRAM, which insures that their faculties cover all the popular and mainstream tracks. The Stat Department in ISU is really big, one of the biggest in US. I'm not sure about OSU's, you may check for yourself.