Emory biostat phd or UIUC stat phd

[stephenhhh]

Hi all! 

My current research is in biostatistics. But I'm open to conduct future research in both biostat and stat.

Emory: great location; generous funding support; more applications in biomedical/health related fields; most graduates go to pharm/tech, may not be advantage to going to academia

UIUC: large stat department covering most stat research topics; strong faculty; opportunities to work with CS/IE people; may have advantages to go to tech or academia

Some people said stat phd is better than biostat phd at the same level since stat phd will have more options after graduation. Some said biostat is a little easier to learn and publish papers since it focuses more on applications. 

Could someone please help me out here? Which program would you choose? More information is welcome! Thank you

[Nothalfgood]

I personally would choose UIUC for the reason that I am somewhat inclined toward theory.

If you don't know specifically what you want to do for research, then you will probably have more freedom to explore at a bigger department. Many biostatisticians have their PhDs in statistics, so this decision probably wouldn't close you off to opportunities after graduation. I'm sure that you will probably have to work harder on your mathematics at UIUC than Emory.

If you are strongly attracted to the department culture or location of Emory, or if you are not interested in theory or a lot of math, or if you are confident that you want to do work in biostatistics, then you should not listen to my opinion at all.

[calizab]

do you want to do more applied research? don't choose a field just because it is easier to publish in. Statistics definitely would open more doors in terms of types of research you could do, so I️ guess you have to think about how much you want to be able to explore, or if you are okay with being set into biostatistics (in which case a more focused program may be beneficial).

I️ also think location matters quite a bit - you are going to be living there for the next 5 - 6 years, so make sure you can picture yourself in that city. Even if you're going to be spending a large amount of time doing research, you definitely want to like where you are living. Same goes for the people in the program (such as other students) - if you were able to meet the, which people did you vibe with more? That is all very personal, and only something you can answer, but I️ think, given both seem strong programs with cool research (granted I'm not a stats person), choosing somewhere where you can see yourself enjoying your time the most is extremely important.

[TheMeanGene]

As you've said, a stat PhD is much more flexible and does not pigeonhole your future opportunities as much. However, if you've found some professors you feel are a perfect fit for the type of research you'd like to do at Emory, then perhaps this is the better choice. I am not as familiar with Emory's biostat program, but I can speak more about UIUC's stat program. UIUC's program is definitely on the rise due to an amalgamation of changes: admin changes (Shao becoming PhD Director, Bo becoming dept chair), expansion of faculty (quite a few new hires each year), and the reconstruction of the old stat building. As @Nothalfgood mentioned, if you choose to do a stat phd, there will be a heavier theoretical requirement as opposed to a biostat phd; do keep this in mind. Of course there are always other things to consider as well such as stipend, location, hobbies, etc. Sorry I can't answer as much about Emory, but I am free to answer any questions you may have about UIUC as I was there for my master's.