How's UW seattle?

[momocat]

I got into the master's program in Statistics in UW Seattle and PhD program in Statistics in UC Davis.

Where should I go? I know that UW is a better school, but is it worth it?

Thanks a lot for your advice!

[cyberwulf]

UW Stats is clearly the stronger department. Were you offered funding at both/one/neither? That should play an important part in your decision process; UW is good, but probably not good enough to be worth paying 20k+/year for...

[sparkplug]

Did you apply for UW Seattle's PhD program and get offered the MS instead? Or did you just apply for the MS?

I think Davis is a pretty decent school but it's possible to do well in UW's Masters program for 2 years, which will in turn boost your GPA and CV, which makes you a better candidate for PhD programs if you decide to apply again. If that's something you'd be interested in, and money isn't an issue, then it's also a pretty great option. Especially if you applied to both MS and PhD, and are not sure if you'd want to actually do a PhD/

I also got an email acceptance for Davis but, have you heard anything about an open house/visiting days?

[qqyyzz]

If you're interested in a PhD, I think you should probably go for a PhD directly. Professors I've talked to have advised against going to terminal masters then PhD if you're just interested in PhD from the start. With that said, I applied to davis and haven't heard anything yet

[sparkplug]

qqyyzz, if you know, could you elaborate on the rationale behind the MA -> PhD versus straight PhD paths? I guess I didn't know this, but why would professors advise against the former?

[qqyyzz]

Well from what I understand it's a number of reasons. First, suppose you go to one school for a terminal masters then a different school for PhD. A lot of schools don't let you transfer course work and you'll end up being forced to take a lot of overlap courses when you enroll in your PhD program. Second, if you decide to do masters but you really want a PhD keep in mind that PhD programs are likely funded whereas masters programs are likely not funded. Third, a lot of schools mention that their master and PhD programs are separate; finishing masters somewhere doesn't mean they're more likely to accept you into their PhD.

I can't decide whether it's better to go for a master's at a higher ranked school or a PhD from a lower ranked program. But that's just a few things to keep in mind.

Btw, I was wondering if you guys that were accepted could provide your profiles seeing as how you were in one of the first waves of acceptances for UC Davis and I'm still waiting here sitting on my hands

[sparkplug]

What you are saying makes sense, but in the earlier post I took "advise against" as "a masters hurts your chance of being admitted to a PhD program." I'm was naturally a little puzzled but I'm glad that's not the case. For me, money isn't a huge issue, but if I was admitted to a masters in one of the top schools (I applied to a few) I might take it and work hard to get a better GPA/letters, then try again for better PhD programs.

My profile is here on this site ,same username. (and check it out if you haven't been there before): http://www.mathematicsgre.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=685&start=50

While my profile is pretty average, my research interests were a perfect fit with the faculty there so I think they liked me on that basis.

I wouldn't worry about rejections yet. Their open house day is in late March, so it sounds like they're still working on the admit process.