Statistics PhD: Penn State vs. UCLA

[fireflybright]

I applied to mostly math programs, so I was a little surprised to get better offers from the two stats programs I applied to. Now I have to decide between Penn State and UCLA, without knowing much of anything about statistics. In your opinion, which department is stronger? What are some of their strengths and weaknesses? Both offers are fully funded, so money isn't a consideration.

Edited March 27, 2010 by fireflybright

[Takoyaki7]

Have you had a chance to visit both departments? That always helps.

Also, I know it's probably pretty bad form, but I straight up asked professors to compare their program to some of the other programs I had been accepted at. Obviously they all said that their program would be the best place to go, but I still found it helpful. I'll be visiting Penn State in a week so I can tell you more about the department then. I don't really know much about UCLA but it seems like a fairly strong program and the location is AMAZING (I love LA).

Visit if you can, and if you can't try e-mailing professors and students at each program. Do you have any idea what it is you want to do?

[statsguy]

I applied to mostly math programs, so I was a little surprised to get better offers from the two stats programs I applied to. Now I have to decide between Penn State and UCLA, without knowing much of anything about statistics. In your opinion, which department is stronger? What are some of their strengths and weaknesses? Both offers are fully funded, so money isn't a consideration.

Hands down Penn State.

UCLA, despite their name, does not have a strong Statistics PhD program (their Biostatistics program, on the other hand, is excellent.) Additionally, I have heard quite a bit about how poorly it is managed/run. The graduate students I spoke to that go there seem to be fairly frustrated and unhappy. And judging by how they handle admissions (which is when programs are usually on their A game), I don't have a reason to believe these rumors are untrue. Also keep in mind that the cost of living at UCLA is much higher than in University Park, but I think UCLA's stipend is only slightly higher (maybe $1k more, but I don't remember exactly.)

[Takoyaki7]

Again, if you haven't visited the departments you really should.

I finally got a chance to visit Penn State earlier this week and the department is awesome. Everyone was incredibly friendly and easy to talk to (obviously they weren't going to put a disgruntled faculty member or grad student in front of me, but still). My chats with the former department chair, Prof. Rosenberger and the head of their consulting center, Prof. Shumway were easily the highlights of my day. All the grad students that I had a chance to meet with were also really cool people. None of them really had any complaints about the program or the area. The department sounds like they do a lot of work in both theory and applications. They also work with other departments but from what I could gather, there was a strong focus and lean towards agriculture and ecology. This makes sense given the location of the school (rural Pennsylvania).

Which brings me to my main issue with the school: it's in RURAL PENNSYLVANIA. Everyone tried to tell me that it's ONLY a 3 or 4 hour drive from places like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, DC, Baltimore and NYC. This has to be the first time I've ever heard anyone refer to a 3 or 4 hour drive as "ONLY" a 3 or 4 hour drive. 3 or 4 hours will take you half way up from LA to SF. But if you like hunting, fishing, or hiking, apparently "it doesn't get much better than this." Also, it's a big party and football school. I was told that this really doesn't matter for grad students that want to get away from the noise but I'm pretty sure the presence of 40,000 undergrads is pretty hard to miss.

Department: amazing

Location: not my cup of tea

In the end, I'm personally still stuck between Davis, Penn State and UNC so I can't really tell you anything about UCLA vs. Penn State (Davis is also rural but ONLY 1 or 2 hours from SF and San Jose). Note the appropriate use of "ONLY."

I say go to Penn State if you don't mind the location. You definitely won't be disappointed with the department (at least I wasn't).

[fireflybright]

Department: amazing

Location: not my cup of tea

Thanks for actually following up after your visit! I decided to go with UCLA, because their research is more geared toward the stuff I want to do, and I'm a city gal. That being said, I had some great interactions with professors from Penn State and I think it might be an objectively "better" department. Either way, things are what you make of them, and I am really excited about UCLA.