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I completely agree with bayessays (as per usual), but just wanted to add that UW's PhD program is very theoretical and has some pretty brutal qual's iirc; however, I'm not sure if that extends to their masters as well.

FWIW the communication woes also extended to UCLA biostat, at least based off my experience last year. Otherwise good luck to everybody here, can't believe it's already been a year since I went through this pain. You'll all make it :)

If you're (potentially) interested in causal I don't think UNC seems like a great fit anyway? Off the top of my head only Michael Hudgens really does causal work. Somebody who is more familiar with the actual research done by people at UNC biostat might be able to comment more on this though (my knowledge is relatively limited to what people put under "faculty research interests"). But yeah, unless you are quite wealthy and have money to burn I would advise against taking the unfunded offer especially when you have good alternatives.

Linear algebra is the big thing. These are the topics on the Linear Algebra bootcamp for UNC biostat: 1. Vector Spaces 2. Subspaces 3. Matrices 4. Matrix Properties 5. Matrix Decompositions 6. Projections 7. Vector/Matrix Differentiation Also this is definitely opinionated but I don't think Rudin is that great for self study, obviously YMMV but we used it in my Real Analysis class this year and without the help of my prof. some of the proofs are rather...obtuse and the intuition is not super clear at times.

This subforum has more or less become statistics/biostatistics only, I think you would have more luck on the math gre forum iirc. FWIW though turning down a program that gives you a thesis option, is ranked higher, and has opportunities for funding when you want to move on to PhD programs just to go to one that has more lay prestige seems unwise to me personally.

Undergrad Institution: Top 10 USNWR (not known for grade deflation) Major(s): Cognitive Science Minor(s): Math GPA: 3.96 Type of Student: Domestic, not getting any diversity points Relevant Courses: (H) Linear Algebra(A-), (H) Multivariable Calculus (A-). Fall Term: (H) Real Analysis (A), (H) Probability (A) Less Relevant Courses: Intro to programming (A), Data Structures (A), Social Network Analysis (A), Human-Computer Interaction (A) GRE General Test: Q: 169 V: 157 W: 5.0 Programs Applying: Biostatistics PhD programs Research Experience: About a year's worth of research on sentence processing, no publications Awards/Honors/Recognitions: None outside of GPA related stuff. Pertinent Activities or Jobs: TA for calculus sequence Letters of Recommendation: Cog Sci prof I'm doing research with (Allegedly strong), linear algebra prof (Strong but not glowing), SIBS professor (Allegedly strong) Any Miscellaneous Points that Might Help: Attended SIBS Applying to Where:Harvard - Rejected University of Washington - RejectedJohns Hopkins - Rejected UNC - Accepted, ~25k fundingMichigan - Rejected from PhD / Accepted into Masters, ~25k fundingMinnesota - Accepted, ~26.5k funding + 5k for the first yearUCLA - Accepted, ~24k fundingBrown - Rejected from PhD / Accepted into Masters, 50% tuition scholarship Berkeley - RejectedDuke - RejectedColumbia - RejectedUPenn - RejectedEmory - RejectedRutgers - RejectedBoston University - Waitlisted / Rejected Thoughts: All in all pretty happy with how applications went, given that I took my first math course last year. Only one school ended up asking for my fall grades explicitly (Michigan) despite me taking pretty important courses during the fall, although I did send updated transcripts to schools that had ways of doing so. The sentiment about there being no such thing as safeties and rankings/ease of admissions not being 1-1 seems to be accurate. My only tip for future applicants is to get the hell off this website lol, it is super bad for the mental. Excited for the fall :).

It should be noted that Michigan qual's have been changed within the last year; the material is now on the 600-level required courses (i.e. the Master's courses) at the level of Casella-Berger, not the 800 levels. Theoretically this should make them easier. By contrast, UNC qual's have a bit of a reputation of being difficult and test the more advanced inference courses. Michigan has a pretty big data science focus on all levels of the school and recently introduced a health data science concentration for the MS/PhD in biostat. However, for data science jobs I think Ann Arbor as a location probably pales in comparison to the Research Triangle and Colorado. Really I think it depends on whether or not you want a Masters vs. PhD; I think if your career goals do not absolutely necessitate a PhD, Michigan would be the best choice because of the opportunity cost and the ability to move on to the PhD program (although this may not be guaranteed) if you change your mind later. Otherwise I think it makes sense to go to the program in the location where you'd want to work in the future.

@StatsG0d well now you have to tell us what program you bump out of the top 3 ;). But yeah, to @hebpo or anybody else curious about the UNC visit day feel free to PM me and I can relay my thoughts on it.

I agree, if nothing else it is incredibly awkward.

FWIW I was guaranteed funding for 5 years at UNC, and I haven't talked to anybody who has an in-between situation, either 5 years guaranteed or no funding guaranteed. Of course, if any program doesn't guarantee you any funding I would be extremely wary (unless you have the finances), so I don't think that's really UNC specific. I imagine the comments on the results page are more about them sending out unfunded offers, less so about sending sketchy funding promises.

@hebpo Visit day was in early Feb for UNC biostat. There might be other visit days for the school of public health in general though, I'm not too sure about that.

I actually find myself to be in a good position to add to 3! So the main living expenses as a grad student will probably be housing and then transportation/groceries as I'm sure you know. Groceries will probably be slightly more expensive in Seattle, but not by much and it's sort of hard to calculate how much the difference amounts to yearly. Transportation costs are more or less the same, public transit exists in both places and I haven't heard horror stories from either. If you have a car though, parking kind of seriously sucks in both places unless you get lucky (or want to play the game of illegal street parking...) At JHU, most people whose departments are in East Baltimore (where the School of Public Health is) live in the Fells/Upper Fells/Butcher's Hill area. Area is relatively nice (given that it's Baltimore) and the campus is within walking distance if you wanted. There are also shuttles if you don't feel like walking. In recent years though the rent in the "nice" areas of Baltimore though has been rising. I think you could probably squeeze a nice 1 bedroom for $1000 in Fells/Butcher's Hill relatively easily, and if you're deal savvy a bit lower is probably doable. In Seattle, most grad students live either within University District or nearby such as in Ravenna. A 1 bedroom will probably run you around $1300-1800, an (admittedly) large range. So it is definitely still more expensive to live in Seattle, but not as much as it used to be and if you get roommates the difference between the schools diminishes a bit. Overall, I would say that without the ARCS fellowship the monetary situation at JHU looks better, but with it I think you'll actually have more funding at UW. Regarding the ARCS fellowship itself, I can't speak much about the specifics of how the funding works, but I can say that the fellowship itself is rather prestigious and even noting that you received the fellowship at all is worth something. Beyond cost of living, I will say that whether or not you prefer Seattle or Baltimore should also factor into your decision, especially since you're deciding between such elite institutions so there's no real wrong answer. Here I'll just be straight up about it: I greatly prefer Seattle. I think it's a great city with a lot of things to do, in particular the food is fantastic. Baltimore, especially certain parts of it, has been on the come up recently though. Violent crime still gives the city a bad reputation, but if you're city-savvy and don't live in the particularly bad areas I don't think it'll ever affect you. Of course it is still something to think about, after all peace of mind is worth a lot. If you're more outdoorsy, Washington state is absolutely beautiful, the forests, mountains, and lakes are probably some of the best in the country, and here I really don't think Baltimore or Maryland can really compare. Baltimore does have relatively close proximity to DC if that is important to you though, and DC can be pretty exciting. Weather is also subjective, but I can say that Baltimore/DC summers are absolutely brutal and I would definitely take the misty, temperate climate of Seattle over the summer humidity any day. Regarding 4., UW and UNC have historically been the two biostat departments with a more heavy theoretical focus. Hopkins is definitely no slouch in this area though, so I definitely would not go to Hopkins thinking that you'll get very little theoretical training if you happen to despise it. I know UW has a pretty grueling set of qual's at the end of your second year (sort of like UNC in that respect also actually), while Hopkins only seems to have a set of exams after your first year. I am not sure about the difficulty of those Hopkins' exams. Hopkins biostat has had a huge push in data science related stuff in their department recently, integrating a large part of it into their curriculum, so if you're interested in data science that's a plus for Hopkins. Of course, UW still excels in topics such as machine learning (think Daniela Witten). I can't comment on student culture, so hopefully a current student could chime in. I agree with the point you made in 2, and that seems to be the general consensus at any graduate program really (large departments allow for more varied research which is better for undecided people), but especially for stat/biostat where the culture seems to be that most incoming students are not 100% set on their research interests compared to something like CS. Adding on to it, it seems that Washington biostat has a closer relationship to their stats department compared to Hopkins biostat and Hopkins applied math/stat. This might expand your pool of potential co-advisors/advisors. On 1., I think post graduation the proximity to NGO's will be a plus for Washington. During your PhD years I'm not quite as sure though. I'm sure opportunities to be a collaborating biostatistician on a global health issue will present itself at both institutions, but whether or not you can make it something like your dissertation work is probably a different question entirely. This seems like another question for the department's themselves (although I probably expect a generic, vague, positive answer from them). At the end of the day though, there's no real incorrect choice here. So I wouldn't worry too much or have any regrets. Best of luck to you on your decision, and congrats on your amazing admissions!

The Columbia program is kind of infamous for being a cash cow for the department (enormous class size, classes taught by lecturers and not any of the well-known faculty, etc.). Not sure if it still holds up in recent years though.

FWIW when I talked to somebody from Michigan faculty, they said that something like 95%+ of funded MS students who wanted to move on to the PhD could do so while something lower (70-80%?) of the unfunded MS students moved on to the PhD. I would like to believe that they would not outright lie about the numbers, but who knows. If you don't mind saying, were your friends funded as MS students?

Not as knowledgeable as some of the other people on this subforum regarding the academics, but I can say that you absolutely need roommates if you want to live in Berkeley off that stipend (a single 1br runs $1850+ per month if you're lucky). Parking is also a nightmare if you have a car, but I wouldn't recommend it anyway in that area because the public transit is probably good enough for grad student needs. Honestly that stipend seems pretty ridiculous to me, do most Berkeley students get a fellowship or something along those lines? Have they stated that that will be your set stipend for the 4-5 years you'll be there? Because as is living off of that wage for 4 years does not seem doable without loans like @bayessays mentioned, but if they will readjust after you formally enter the PhD program that would be much more palatable. Edit: I will say though that big city prices at least come with big city perks. Ann Arbor is nice but it is very clearly a college town. There are also other things to consider, especially weather. Winters are not as brutal in Ann Arbor compared to somewhere like Minnesota, but it is definitely a far cry from either of the UC schools.