21andstressed

I have had the privilege of being accepted to UMich (MS), Brown (ScM), and Emory (MSPH) for a Master's in Biostatistics, and am trying to make a decision on which school to attend. While UMich did not offer me any funding, Emory gave me $25,000 for the two years, as well as the Rollins Earn and Learn (REAL) award, which would help me get a job that would pay me $3000 for each of the 4 semesters that I will be there, and Brown gave me the 25% tuition scholarship (~$20,000 total for the two years). I want to work as a research biostatistician in a hospital or university (think Weill Cornell Medicine, Harvard's CBAR, UNC Chapel Hill, etc.) upon receiving my Masters, but I have also not completely ruled out a PhD, or working in pharma or biotech. I'm currently leaning towards Brown because of the small cohort size and increased access to faculty, the Ivy prestige, thesis component, research opportunities for Master's students, and the proximity to Boston. However, I'm also conflicted about Michigan and Emory because Michigan is the highest ranked in Biostatistics among all 3, and the cost of attendance is the lowest for Emory, not to mention the fact that I could possibly have a confirmed RA position for the first semester (will be confirmed by April 1st) at Emory, and they have amazing professional development resources. My main qualms about Michigan is that they do not offer the option to complete a thesis (which I want to do), nor do they have a sizeable number of RA/TAships for Master's students, from what I've heard. Their main research opportunities seem to be volunteer, and not academic. As for Emory, my main qualms are their emphasis on Public Health courses (~8 credits out of the 48 required credits), a relatively less rigorous curriculum as compared to Michigan or Brown, and the location (they're not close to any biotech or pharma hubs for potential internships). The estimated CoA for the three programs for two years after taking scholarships into consideration: UMich = ~$158k (tuition = ~$102k) Brown = ~$134k (tuition = ~$60k) Emory = ~$105k counting the REAL award, and ~$117k not counting the REAL award (tuition = ~$60k) Although I would not need to take loans, I would still very much like to not pay any more than I absolutely have to in order to get an MS that would guarantee me a good job. Any advice is much appreciated!!

Hello everyone! I'm applying to M.S. in Biostatistics programs in the United States for Fall 2022. I was wondering how strong my profile is to be admitted to these programs. This is my first post on Grad Cafe so I apologize if I'm doing something wrong. Student Type: International South Asian Female Undergrad: Public University (University of Cincinnati) Major: Neuroscience and Statistics double major GPA: 3.96, Mathematics GPA: 3.962 Relevant courses: Probability and Statistics 1 and 2 (As), Introduction to Data Science (A), Ordinary Differential Equations (A), Multivariable Calculus (A), Linear Algebra(A), Introduction to Abstract Math (A-), Calculus II (A) In Progress: Mathematical Statistics I, Applied Regression Analysis Planned: Time Series, Design and Analysis of Experiments, Partial Differential Equations and Fourier Analysis GRE: Did not take Research: 1 summer at Singapore working on fMRI data collection for a study on the neural correlates of recursive thinking May 2021-present working in a lab at UC on a project about mating preferences in jumping spiders; collected and analyzed spectral data; I will be listed on the published paper. Skills: Proficient in R, use it in a lot in my Stats courses and my current research Letters of Recommendation: One from mathematics professor, one from PI at my research lab, and one from the undergraduate program director for neuroscience at UC. PI's recommendation expected to be strong, the other two will be good at the very least. Schools I'm considering applying to: University of Michigan, Columbia, Brown, UC Davis, University of Minnesota, Case Western, Emory, UMass Amherst, GWU, BU and USC.