Duke vs. Michigan MS Statistics

[mstats20]

Hi everyone! I was fortunate enough to have received acceptances from both Duke and Michigan for their master's programs in statistics, and am currently trying to decide between the two (super last minute, I know). My goal in getting my master's is to go straight into industry after graduation. 

I attended a virtual open house for Duke a few weeks ago, and I got the impression that the faculty places a lot of attention and effort into the master's program, and are very close with the master's students. Many of the current students and alumni who attended the open house spoke well about the quality of education from the program, as well as all the career opportunities it has opened up for them. On the other hand, Michigan's program is just as amazing, and it seems like they have great job placements as well. 

To compare the major differences between the programs, for Duke, they've offered to cover 35% of the tuition cost, which would make the annual tuition cost ~$38k. In comparison, Michigan has not offered any funding, and the annual tuition cost is ~$48k. The average incoming cohort size is around 40 compared to Michigan's 70-80, so I assume that at Duke it might be easier to interact and connect with the faculty. Michigan's program has fewer course requirements (30 credits compared to 36), and seems to have a heavy emphasis on application (there's really only one required theory class) whereas Duke has more of a mix between theory and application. Duke is located within Research Triangle, which is a big plus. Unrelated to the program itself, Duke is much farther from home (12-13 hour drive whereas Michigan is only 4 hours away). Duke doesn't offer on-campus grad student housing unlike Michigan, and I would have to find an off-campus apartment. 

As of right now I'm leaning more towards Duke, although my dad really wants me to pick Michigan (though he's biased since that's where he did his master's). I know both programs are similarly great and will likely set me up for plenty of job opportunities, and although it would be much more convenient to go to Michigan, I just can't see it being worth spending an extra $10k per year, especially because $38k/year is already a considerable amount. Any insights/advice would be greatly appreciated!

[bayessays]

Michigan's program is extremely applied at the lower level and I've met people who complained that some of the applied classes were pretty superficial - meaning that you learned how to run things in R, but didn't necessarily get a rigorous understanding of regression and things like you might expect. But I think you can take higher level classes or biostatistics classes if you really want. That being said, it looks like Duke's program has a lot of paths you can take in the theoretical (PhD prep) or applied/data science direction already built in.

I wouldn't worry about housing - almost nobody lives in official grad student housing at most universities, including Michigan, so I wouldn't factor that into your decision. (one exception is maybe in places like NYC where regular apartments are too expensive)

The difference between classes of 40 and 80 people seems pretty huge.

Honestly, it sounds like you want to go to Duke and didn't really list a single reason you would prefer Michigan. I guess the only question is, is being closer to home worth $10k a year to you?  With a 4 hour drive, you probably won't be going back more than once or twice a semester. You can use $1k of the $10k you save and buy a few plane tickets back and forth. And enjoy the nicer winters, too.

[anotherday]

I’ve heard similar things about Michigan’s Applied masters. Also, keep in mind Duke‘s masters explicitly says you can do research and PhD prep, which even in the case you go to industry you can have a thesis and apply for research positions. These are great choices - congrats on your admits. Cheers!