thelilypad

Hi y'all, I've narrowed my final decision down to these two Californian schools, and I'm having the worst time making a final choice due to a couple factors. Here's the details on each: USC QCB: - 5 year package @ $36k/yr, combination of 1st year full funding and 2nd year onward TA/RA - Received top up fellowship award of $5k per year for 2 years, bringing first 2 years to $41k - No guaranteed graduate student housing - Friends and family in the area UCSD BISB: - 1st year fully funded @ 33k/yr, later years up to advisor funding - 2 semesters TA required - 2 years max grad student housing, likely I can get it then, but capped at 2 yrs unless I get SHORE (not sure yet, but possibility) - No friends and family in area Some pros and cons of each: USC Pros: - I have a few PIs of interest I've spoken to/contacted, including the director at the Laboratory of Neuroimaging, which is not only well funded but germane to my research area (and very renown in the field) - Friends and family in area - More funding, received top-up award (and probably could get more funding in later years as well) - Can potentially live with friends or family - More entrepreneurial focus - Less concerned about funding gaps since private and guaranteed 5 years funding - Faculty investment in program success seems high on discussion with students in program Cons: - I'm a USC alumna (graduated 2015) so it would be more-of-the-same and might ding me for post-docs/academia jobs in the future - I feel like general consensus is USC < UCSD in terms of bioinformatics research, worried about impact on post-grad career selection - Less research match/relevant faculty in my preferred research area (genetics/epigenetics of neurodevelopmental disorders) - Program on average is longer (6 years avg.) - Internships technically permitted, but discouraged - No guaranteed housing, LA is pricey (but can potentially live with friends) UCSD Pros: - Have faculty in the autism space who are super nice and excited for me to come (including one in particular who focuses on the genetics of neurodevelopmental disorders, exactly my preferred subject area) - La Jolla is safer, potentially nicer to live in (TBD since I've only visited once) - Strong connection to industry biotech (basically a pipeline for Illumina) - Lots of diverse faculty and strong research associations (Salk, UCSD Med, etc) - Center for autism research (arguably the best in California/West Coast, or at least tied for the best) - Different school than undergrad - Potential to visit/exchange with other UCs via the Interchange Program (not sure if can do for my PhD area, but on paper possible) - Internships permitted and often encouraged (depends on PI) - Genetics Training Grant looks really cool - Strong reputation in bioinformatics - Shorter (averages around 5.5 years for all years) - Better health insurance Cons: - Significantly lower stipend amount, especially for first two years - Concerned about finding affordable housing (unless I get the SHORE offer) - Concerned about social reputation of campus (I've heard UCSD as a whole is pretty asocial...) - Away from all friends and family (albeit not super far away, LA is a 2 hour drive and the Bay Area's a 1 hour flight) - La Jolla seems very ritzy with not much nightlife - Dating might be harder - Concerned about impact of COVID-19 on funding (not as likely due to being in the biology space) - Heard from current students that faculty investment in the program is lower So to summate, I feel research-wise UCSD has a bigger draw due to the amount of autism research being performed there, and perhaps also because it has a strong pipeline into industry biotech. However, I'm definitely worried about the social and other lifestyle components of La Jolla life, especially because the stipend is appreciably smaller (although the net income may be larger if I can do a few paid internships). Conversely, USC is a known quantity to me since I spent 4 years there, and I'm very familiar with LA life (and have built in support structures nearby). However, I'm more concerned it's not a great potential research match, even though there are some compelling draws (like better funding, LONI, and the relative strength of the bioinformatics program). That's my exhaustive decision list, would love ideas on how to decide. Thank you!

Hey guys, I've been blessed with a few great offers so far (USC, UCSD, CMU-Pitt) in Biomedical Informatics for this coming fall. I'm still awaiting one more university, but (unfortunately -- Pitt is a great school) my choice (if Stanford doesn't pan out) will either be USC or UCSD. That being said, a sore point for me is UCSD's stipend which is around $33,000 for PhD students. I also was told when I went to campus that on-campus housing/subsidized housing is scarce, and $33,000 is not a great living stipend in an area as expensive as La Jolla. UCSD other than that is my top choice, mostly given my research area (genetics of autism). USC is my alma mater, and they just got back to me today offering me $36,000 a year, but with an award topping it off to $41,000 the first two years. I also believe there's fairly guaranteed funding all four years or more through TA/RA. If it wasn't a matter of finances, I feel despite the generous offer that UCSD may be more aligned with my career direction interest (USC is a very computationally-focused program, vs UCSD which is closer to 50/50 bio/CS depending on your interests). On that note, I have two potential PIs at UCSD, one who has expressed his strong interest in me joining his lab. His research area seems to align really closely to mine (genetics of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders). Given those factors, would it be disrespectful or even possible to ask for a higher stipend to compare to another offer? I come from the industry world of CS where this is not only common but actively encouraged. That being said, this is really my first foray into academia so I'm not sure that's a possibility here.

Anyone know when we can expect to hear the decision post interview? Trying to figure out how long I should wait before engaging other offers/talking to profs there.

In case anyone is waiting, I just received my formal acceptance to CMU-Pitt. Still haven't heard zip from UCLA, and waiting on the final Stanford BMI decision after this weekend.

To clarify I wasn't MCB, I was QCB. Not sure if that makes a difference.

No that isn't normal. From the onsite interview, they said they only had one interview day (last Friday) and will have Skype interviews following. I suggest you call or email them again.

Email!

Just got an offer from USC. Still waiting on CMU-Pitt, never got a response from UCLA (lol) and Stanford's next week so we'll see how that turns out.

Thanks. I'm waiting on Stanford BMI next week, but if that doesn't pan out, UCSD is probably where I'm going to go. Really clicked with several PIs on autism related research.

Just got formally accepted to UCSD post interview. Lovely school! Definitely one of my top choices.

Do you know about the MS? Not really thinking of going at this point but curious anyway

Got one from Pitt.

I'm not international, I'm a US citizen. Do you know if the # are any better?

Gotcha, so thanks to @uncertainty I figured out that I actually got an interview invite to the UPitt side of the program. CMU doesn't do interviews while Pitt does, hence the difference (just in case anyone following this was wondering!).

Just followed up with you via PM, maybe we can figure this out? ?