minhnhat131289

Dear ilovethaitea, Congratulate on these two spectacular results. These two universities are really fantastic and you will not go wrong with either. In term of ranking, the Department of biostatistics of Umich seems to hold a little advantage( from NRC's ranking, it ranks in first position, and from USnews' ranking, it ranks top 5). However, with the internship provided from Duke, participating in Duke's master program is an attractive opportunity for you. I attach one link( Alumni's newsletter of Umich biostatistics):http://www.sph.umich.edu/biostat/pdf/July2003.pdf. They have a number of students going to famous universities like Harvard, John Hopkins, Washington Seatle( academic) or working at prestigious companies like Abott, Merck & Co., Inc,.... Therefore, you should not worry about the jobs after graduating from Umich. One big advantage of Umich over Duke is that it has long-term reputation in biostatistics program. This is my two cents. As i say before, these two universities are incredible. You will get a huge number of job opportunities after graduating from their top-notched master biostatistics programs. Good lucks with your decision. Best regards.

Dear Almagest, Honestly, you will not go wrong with these two fantastic universities. Therefore, you can choose based on your preference. If you really pay attention to statistical learning, Umich is a really good choice for you( its strength is only behind UC Berkeley, Stanford, CMU( someone says on par with)). I will be a graduate student in Umich this year( hoping that i can see you in Ann Arbor this year); therefore, i may be a little bit biased towards Umich. However, the strength of Umich's statistical program is really incredible. You will have a lot of choices to pick out your advisors( it is difficult to tell whether their research interests are fitted to you or not; you'd better work with them for one or two years to find out. Thus, a large number of faculties will give you many options). Additionally, the quality of faculties of Umich is worth taking into account. If you have more free time, i recommend that you make deep investigation of them. Their connections to both the academia and the industry are huge. You will have no trouble finding suitable positions after graduating from Umich. Last but not least, from my advisor's story, Umich is trying to improve their statistics program a lot( its final goal will be top 8 as its Mathematics program. At this time, its biostatistics program is in top 5). Therefore, you can expect a lot of opportunities in academia in the future. You cited that Brown has a strong connection among different departments. It is clear that Umich has that too. If you look at their website, it has a really strong connection among Engineering, Computer Science, Social Science(Psychology, Political Science), Biostat, Economics, and Life Science. My advisor's mainly research interest is in Statistical Learning. However, he also works in Engineering, Biostat, and Life Science. I find that someone mentions money as the main drawback of Umich. However, i strongly recommend that you need to pay attention to living expenses. Those of Ann Arbor are really cheap in comparison to those of other locations. For example, with 24000USD/ year from Umich, you may need an equivalent amount around 30000USD/ year in other locations. As a consequence, if you really weight Umich, i hope that difference in living expenses is in your account too. If you choose Umich, i really look forward to seeing you soon in Ann Arbor.^^. Sincere, Nhat

Dear Levy, Take a look at this website: http://www.stat.lsa.umich.edu/research.html. Hoping it can give you more information. About the differences in funding, you must note that the living expenses in New Haven is much more expensive than Ann Arbor. I received a really generous funding from Umich( which is around 28000 USD/ year) plus 1000USD Departmental Fellowship. It is really strange that Yale can give you around 38000USD/ year. It is must be a very rich university.( Umich is among the sixth weathiest universities in US, not far behind Yale) Believing me, from one Distinguished Professor of Wisconsin Madison, Umich belongs to top 10 Department in Statistics( There are some narrow fields that Umich really stands in top 3). It should be taken into account. Please making a deep investigation of Umich's faculties before claiming anything. One shortcoming of Umich is that it does not post its alumni's placements after graduation. However, i happen to know some of Umich's alumni in Stat. Their jobs at this time are incredible. The reason that Yale is really competitive is because it only admits a few students/ year, not because the program is very strong. If you think Us News penalizes Department with small size, you are incorrect. Taking a look at Caltech's Mathematics Department. Its size is incredibly small for the top 10( but it is still ranked top 7) From your post, i suppose that you really favor Yale. Therefore, i think you should go to Yale for your preference. We will learn best in our most preferable environment. These two universities will provide us with excellent opportunities after graduation.

Dear Levy, As a future PHD student in Michigan, i definitely recommend you to pursue your PHD in UMich. It is clear that a top Department like Umich will give you many opportunities, both in academia and in industry. I do not think that Usnews and NRC rankings are entirely wrong. You can make a deep investigation of Michigan's faculties, which all considered to be the prominent experts in their fields. Simultaneously, my advisor in Michigan also told me that at this time, Michigan invested very heavily on its statistics program. It is definite that in the future, its status in statistics will improved a lot. If you are interested in Biostatistics, i think your question is no brainer. You should go to Umich. By far, the strength of Umich's biostatistics only behind Harvard, John Hopkins, and UW Seatle( someone says it is on par with Umich) and has been considered on par with other top notch departments such as UNC, Minnesota,...I do not hear the reputation of Yale's biostatistics program. Also, one of the shortcomings of Yale's department is its really small size. It does not have many fields that you can experiment. Umich is one of the only few universities that offers its students with broad range of fields, predominantly Engineering and Social Sciences, two pillars of its Statistics Department. Overall, if you pay attention to brand name, you may go to Yale. However, for the purpose of other things(academia, for instance), i think Umich is no brainer. You can take a look at Umich's newsletter in 2008. Two of their students did their postdoc in Yale. Other students found themselves at other Ivy Leagues universities such as Columbia, UPenn,... For the industry purpose, Umich is also superior. Many prestigious banks really favor students from UMich. It is only my two cents.

I agree with rockrs over his point. We should choose university basing on our preference and future adviser. I am sure that Umich is strong at both theory and practice. Each year, about 4-5 students get the internship at famous companies. Other students choose to continue their research assistant or teach summer courses. Last year, Umich's department also welcome Professor Xuming He, previous distinguished Statistics Professor of UIUC. He has really strong connection with the industry. There are other three to four distinguished Professors in Umich that also have really strong connection with industry as well, predominantly Professor Vijay Nair, president of International Statistical Institute or Professor Alfred Hero, mainly worked on Electrial Engineering,... @bas_b: So far, I have only heard that University of Wisconsin Madison had a very strong preference towards Biostatistics. Most of their faculties( in Department of Statistics) worked on Biological Problems or Medical Problems. Therefore, if you are interested in other fields, such as Engineering, Social Science,.., you'd better consider other departments. If you are interested in the applications of Statistics to Finance, Upenn is really a good choice.

Dear TrynnaDoStat, I am a Vietnamese applicant. I am also being admitted to Umich on 16/2. Hoping that you can go to Umich. Hehehe. Regarding your question, i have some information which may be useful for your cases. I am lucky to receive also RA funding from 1 Professor in Umich's faculty( Obviously, GSI funding is the main fund for all successful candidates; however, i may choose RA funding for sake of more free time to do research) and he told me many interesting facts about what you concern. --- Regarding academic factor: If you consider the reputation of universities: I think that Duke,Umich and Wisconsin Madison are slightly better than others. My professor did his post-doc in Duke( he did his PHD in UC Berkeley) and he said that if we are considering about Statistics in Engineering or Social Science( if you are working in Biostat, you definitely should go to Umich. Its reputation in Biostat is undeniable), we should go to Umich. At this time, Umich invested heavily into these programs. There are numerous students finishing their PHD and did their postdoc or even became assistant Professor in top-notch universities. --- Regarding industrial factor: I suppose that cyberwulf gave you a very accurate answer. Both students in Umich and Duke got a really decent job in industry( do not pay so much attention to the percentages). In 2008, there are two students working in prestigious companies, one of them is Abott. Others worked or did their postdoc in Academic Institutions, including Columbia, Armhest College, Upenn, Yale,.... Recently, i heard that Bank of America really prefers students graduating from the Statistics program in Umich. Each year, we have a decent number of students working there. The only drawback of Umich was that it did not post the jobs of its alumni on the website. Luckily, after accepting the offer, we can access to the Alumni Network in Umich( that is what i heard) and we can know all the jobs of Statistics Alumni( Umich has a very strong Alumni Network). I can give you a definite answer that the reasons that more students in Umich pursued their careers in Academic Institution is not because they cannot find jobs in industry after graduation. Most of them would like to pursue their Academic career( if you prefer industry, it is easy for you because the Alumni in Umich have a very strong connection) Overall, i suppose that you should choose these universities based on your preference, such as weather, campus,... All of these universities in general are almost equivalent( i do not know much about Florida and NCSU). I heard from some of my friends that Department of Wisconsin Madison had more biostatistics orientation. Therefore, if you do not intend to work in this field, you should not choose Wisconsin Madison. The department of Umich gives you many options in many fields: Engineering( Electrical Engineering and Industrial Engineering, very strong), Social Science(very strong), Life Science, Biostatistics(very strong), Finance(strong),... Therefore, for your case, i think Umich is better option for you. It is only my two cent. Hoping that my advice can give you more options when you choose your most preferable university.