MS in Biostatistics Decision: UNC vs Duke

[matchachoco]

Hi! I have received admissions to a few MS in Biostat programs, and I narrowed down to UNC and Duke. I am an international student and hope to find a job in the bioindustry in the US after graduation, and I currently have almost no intention of pursuing a PhD in Biostat. In college, I majored in biomed and took an interdisciplinary program on Biostat, which covered the math prerequisites and also Intro to Stat, Intermediate Stat, and some programming courses in R and SAS. 

The pros and cons of the 2 programs for me are as follows:

• UNC
   Pro
   - Better program reputation
   - Solid training
   - Leaves the door open for PhD opportunities
   - Chapel Hill is a safer area
   Con
   - Courses are very rigorous, not sure if a non-stats background like me can handle
   - Funding is limited so RA positions are competitive, some people end up as volunteers
   - Most students continue to a PhD degree so not much assistance in finding a job
   - Unsure of employment rate for non-PhD pursuing people
• Duke (w/ 2.5k scholarship)
  Pro
  - Better school reputation 
  - Many faculties to do paid RA for master's project
  - Career coaching sessions, heard that employment rate for non-PhD pursuing was nearly 100%
  - More alumni connection in the industry
  Con
  - Unsure of course quality
  - The discrimination incident

What concerns me most about UNC is the course load, I'm afraid I can handle it. Surely, going to Duke would cause less academic pressure, but I still hope to learn useful things to prepare me well for my future career. I wonder whether the program reputation will affect landing a job significantly? 
Please give me some advice, I'm currently torn between the two, and Duke wants us to reply earlier. I appreciate any reply!

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by matchachoco