Any insight into Biostatistics PhD at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Vilcek Institute?

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Does anyone have insights into the Biostatistics PhD at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Vilcek Institute? (https://med.nyu.edu/research/vilcek-institute-graduate-biomedical-sciences/phd-program/phd-training-programs/biostatistics). Note this program is different from the Biostatistics PhD offered at NYU School of Global Public Health (https://publichealth.nyu.edu/department/biostatistics).

I'm quite interested in applying to this program, but their website contains barely any information and the curriculum seems pretty minimal. I'm wondering what graduates end up doing after this program.

Thanks!

[bayessays]

I would be surprised if you are able to find any first-hand information on the program, seems small - do they even have any graduates or is it new?  I agree that the curriculum seems extremely basic, so I'd be pretty worried about the preparation provided.  They have a few professors who went to good programs and seem to publish in decent (but not top-tier) journals like Biometrics, Stats in Medicine, etc, but maybe not as strong as the NYU Public Health faculty, so I think it'd probably be below them.  I'd probably look at other programs ranked below #41 in biostatistics and see what their graduates are doing.

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13 hours ago, bayessays said:

I would be surprised if you are able to find any first-hand information on the program, seems small - do they even have any graduates or is it new?  I agree that the curriculum seems extremely basic, so I'd be pretty worried about the preparation provided.  They have a few professors who went to good programs and seem to publish in decent (but not top-tier) journals like Biometrics, Stats in Medicine, etc, but maybe not as strong as the NYU Public Health faculty, so I think it'd probably be below them.  I'd probably look at other programs ranked below #41 in biostatistics and see what their graduates are doing.

My reason for doing a Biostatistics PhD is to receive a more formal and theoretical training in statistics so that I can apply to Research Scientist positions at universities/academic hospitals. I'm not interested in becoming a TT faculty, so I don't think the ranking/reputation of the PhD program really matters to me. However, I do want to do research, and I think having a PhD will open up more opportunities in research.

And I would like to live in NYC and make connections with biostatisticians, computer scientists, and more within the city.

Given these assumptions, would you think this program is a good fit?

[bayessays]

Makes sense - my guess was that most of these people probably end up in some type of academic research setting on a non-tenure track.  So yes, I think it probably makes sense given your goals, as I know a lot of people who continued in similar roles after getting their PhDs, continuing to research with the same people.  I don't really know much about that job market though.  

 

Do you have an MS in Statistics/Biostatistics already?  I'd feel even more comfortable about someone jumping into a program like this if they already had a solid master's level foundation.  There's not a lot of information on what these courses teach, so I'd just want to make sure you end a PhD at least having a solid Casella/Berger-level foundation as well as decent knowledge of linear models/GLMs.

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5 hours ago, bayessays said:

Makes sense - my guess was that most of these people probably end up in some type of academic research setting on a non-tenure track.  So yes, I think it probably makes sense given your goals, as I know a lot of people who continued in similar roles after getting their PhDs, continuing to research with the same people.  I don't really know much about that job market though.  

 

Do you have an MS in Statistics/Biostatistics already?  I'd feel even more comfortable about someone jumping into a program like this if they already had a solid master's level foundation.  There's not a lot of information on what these courses teach, so I'd just want to make sure you end a PhD at least having a solid Casella/Berger-level foundation as well as decent knowledge of linear models/GLMs.

I have a MS in Biostatistics, but it was a very applied flavor with no Casella/Berger and no linear models/GLMs. Do you think this lack of foundation will hinder my application to this NYU Biostat program? By the time I apply, I will have 3-4 years of significant research experience at an academic lab.

[bayessays]

No, I'm not saying anything at all about your admissions chances.  I'm just extremely unfamiliar with programs that are so heavily applied, so I don't know anyone who has done something similar.  I don't feel qualified to comment.