UChicago MS Stat vs Duke MSS (for industry)

[stat-ds]

Seeking help in deciding between these two programs.  I'm coming straight out of undergrad (domestic student) as a stats major with no relevant internship experience (covid) and seeking to break into data science. Both of these programs seem to value their master's students much more than other schools (I've already decided against Columbia), while Duke might have a slight edge here due to the smaller class size. I'm fairly indifferent between the two locations, but I feel like Chicago would have more attractive job/internship opportunities locally, and a similar or better reputation nationwide. My main concern with Chicago is that so many of the students end up pursuing PhDs (about half) and I worry that the coursework may be too theoretical for someone trying to exit into industry with almost no prior work experience and limited technical skills outside of R. Duke's program is four semesters and about $110,000 in tuition, whereas Chicago is shorter but somewhat variable in length. I would probably do at least four quarters to have room for a summer internship which would result in total tuition at Chicago being roughly half of Duke's as long as I maintain the GPA required for the 25% scholarship. Chicago has a thesis requirement and Duke has a thesis option if that matters. If costs were equal, I might lean toward Duke as there seem to be more industry-relevant electives, but currently leaning toward UChicago as I will be taking out loans for this degree. Is there any way you could justify the Duke price tag? Thanks for any input. PS also considering in-state biostats with thesis at ~75 ranked program for ~30k. 

[bayessays]

I think Chicago and the state school are both reasonable options.  Duke is not.  Chicago is an elite statistics program with a known master's program.  Going to Duke doesn't seem to have any advantages. If you want industry specific skills for data science, you can learn it all online.  I'd get the quick and prestigious credential, spend some spare time learning python and SQL and you'll be in great shape out of Chicago.

[fujigala]

I am in the same position as you (OP). I chose Chicago over Duke. I had similar concerns to yours, with Duke MSS grads making ~100-110k and the majority of Chicago grads going on to PhDs. But Chicago was ~20k less per year, more prestigious, better PhD ranking, seemingly better overall school culture, and also much closer to where I live.

I recall reading the Chicago statistics course catalog, and I think some of the core courses do involve more applied projects involving data analysis, etc. (not completely sure that they were core courses, but I think I saw this for some courses). You may want to check the core course descriptions in the course catalog yourself. Chicago does offer a really good variety of courses though, and I think you should be able to find some that will be more useful and applied than others (just a hunch, since there are so many courses, not 100% sure though).

Also, worth noting that the thesis option at Duke is one of two required options, meaning you MUST do one in order to get the degree. The other is like doing two projects or something, which I would assume is significant in terms of time and effort.

Keep in mind that at Chicago, your thesis, plus the required year and one project of consulting experience, could be potentially appealing to employers, to some degree, maybe (or not). At Duke, I do not believe any consulting experience outside of your thesis option is required.

I also read on reddit some bad things about the overall school culture at Duke. About 25-50% of the people on there had really negative things to say about it, such as the culture being really cliquey, superficial, having some really unpleasant and rigid social hierarchy, difficult to make friends/date if you're not an athlete or frat/sorority member, etc. Just look up "Duke culture" or "Duke social hierarchy" or something on reddit. The remainder of the posters, ~50-75% said their experience was either mostly manageable and fine, or great, and such negative reviewers were probably people whose own problems were preventing them from enjoying their experience there. But there were enough complaints to be concerning to me, at least. On the other hand, I literally did not see any such complaints about Chicago on reddit, and most people rave about the culture there being great, not competitive, really stimulating, and the two students at Chicago (whom I've never met before) that I reached out to recently were extremely friendly. Most of this is from reddit, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

What helped me make my final decision was just listing out all of the pros and cons of Chicago and Duke. Chicago really seems to me to have a lot more points in its favor. Even if you live near Duke and not near Chicago, I would still probably choose Chicago.