First off, congratulations! That's an amazing set of schools to choose from, and no matter which one you pick, I'm sure you'll be very successful. I think it would help if you clarified what you hoped to do after your master's degree. I imagine you're going to industry (hence data science over pure statistics?), but I'd like to just quickly plug Stanford. As a disclaimer, I'm not familiar with the master's in data science as I think that was created after I graduated. Glancing at the requirements for various departments, it does seem true that Stanford's program is more rigorous than other data science programs out there. I wouldn't shy away from that though. If you're excited to be challenged academically, Stanford might be a really great fit for you! You'll also be surrounded by really strong students that can help connect you to exciting jobs and opportunities that you might have a harder time finding at schools not in the Bay Area. And for what it's worth, I think having a really great fundamental understanding of statistics can differentiate you from the larger pool of data scientists tech companies hire from. I hope that's helpful and good luck!