Statistics/OR M.S options: Duke vs Columbia vs Cornell vs Uchicago

[honguyen94]

Hi everybody,

I just got accepted into some programs, and try to decide to choose one.  Please kindly give me advice on which school should I choose.  My goal is to attend a PhD program in statistics/OR with a research focus on Finance after graduating from the M.S program.  Here is my schools list:

Duke University - M.S in Statistical Science

Columbia University - M.A in Statistics

Cornell University - M.Eng in Operations Research 

The University of Chicago - M.S in Computational and Applied Mathematics

I would be very much appreciated if you could give me some pros/cons of each school! 

Many Thanks!

Edited March 4, 2020 by honguyen94

[umichmydrm]

All good except Columbia University - M.A in Statistics. 

[DanielWarlock]

2 hours ago, umichmydrm said:

All good except Columbia University - M.A in Statistics. 

Columbia is highly prestigious. 

[honguyen94]

2 hours ago, umichmydrm said:

All good except Columbia University - M.A in Statistics. 

Hi, Could you please give me some insight about this program? I heard that they have a huge class size, and the PhD placement is not so good, but I can not figure out the reasons since the curriculum looks pretty good to me. 

9 minutes ago, DanielWarlock said:

Columbia is highly prestigious. 

Yes I agree, but it seems like their PhD placement is not really good...

[likewater]

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.

[umichmydrm]

41 minutes ago, honguyen94 said:

Hi, Could you please give me some insight about this program? I heard that they have a huge class size, and the PhD placement is not so good, but I can not figure out the reasons since the curriculum looks pretty good to me. 

Yes I agree, but it seems like their PhD placement is not really good...

Are you a math or a stat major for undergrad and took some intro stats? If so, the three requirement course provided by Columbia would be very easy to you. A lot of people with 3.2 GPA and 320 or lower GRE accpted by this program. There are serval of good students there, and I believe the facultys are great. But speaking of class size, you will definetly have a hard time getting in a solid PhD program because of the competition and/or the reputation. 

I have one profressor from Michigan and one professor from Columbia Biostats that don't recommend this program. Hope that helps.

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by umichmydrm

[DazedandConfusedd]

Cornell OR MEng is an excellent program, but not designed for pursuing a PhD afterwards. 

[reverieeee]

May I ask where did you go at the end? in a very similar situation rn