Michigan vs. NCSU vs. Waitlist [Statistics PhD]

[Spycrab]

Hello! 

Like the title says, I am currently trying to choose between Michigan Stats and NCSU stats. 

The difficulty for me is that I know much more about NCSU then Michigan. I was able to attend NCSU's visit day so I know that I like the location / current students / atmosphere. My research interests are still very open so I rather like the large faculty that NCSU has. Additionally, I am currently more industry leaning with regards to my end goal, so academic placings aren't my main concern (although still relevant as plans change). 

Michigan's visit day was unfortunately cancelled so my only real exposure to the school was through an online visit day, which while good, doesn't really instill the same confidence that in person visits gave me. I.e although I liked what I saw of the school via the online visit, I still feel like those opinions are "risky". 

So with this post I am just hoping to gather:

• General opinions on NCSU vs. Michigan
  • Differences in academic rigor, placement potential, etc
• Opinions on Michigan's Environment

Additionally, I have been wait listed from some schools that I would seriously consider as well [CMU, Cornell]. How often do students get off wait lists last minute? My concern is that I might not really have enough time to learn more about the schools if I get in crazy late. Or is this a question that changes from school to school and so I should be asking the coordinators?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[statsday]

I've been waitlisted by Michigan and it is last chance not to have to move to College Station, so please choose NCSU lol. In all seriousness congrats on your admissions and I hope you choose the program that matches you best. Good luck!

Edited March 17, 2020 by statsday

[ephemeral]

Spycrab, with your previous posts, I thought you were applying to an Econ PhD and getting into a top-ranked school.

[Spycrab]

Hi Ephemeral. I assume you are referring to my post regarding evaluating my profile for Economics PhDs. Since two of my letter writers are economists by training and I did have interest in econometrics I applied to a mix of statistics and economics PhD programs, but mainly statistics. Although I did manage to get into UPenn economics, I would not be financially supported for my first year there which would make it an unappealing choice even if I weren't already leaning towards statistics interests wise.