Duke Biostatistics VS. UMN Biostatistics

[ilovethaitea]

Hi all! I am having a hard time choosing between two Master's programs, the MS biostats at Duke U School of Medicine and the MS biostats at U of Minnesota School of Public Health.

I know that UMN's biostats program has a high ranking (currently No.7 according to amstat) , very good faculty and good reputations within the field of biostats. The Duke Biostatistics Department is very very new, but the School of Medicine is very well-known. And Duke has an excellent Stats Department, so I believe that the new Duke Biostats Program should be good also.

Also, as I am an international student, the fame of the school is a quite important criterion for me becuase the employers from my country might not care about the quality of the program as much as the reputation of the school.

So, I am choosing between a program that has good reputation in the field of biostats, good student outcomes but not so well-known internationally, very cold weather VS. a program that is new, the student outcomes are currently unknown but the school is very well-known for both biomed and stats.

Any suggestions please?? Thank you very much!!!

[biostatPhD2012]

I didn't even know Duke had a biostats program. Do you know how connected it is with the actual stats dept.? If you work with those professors, then it might be something to look into. That being said, I know UMN is ranked very well in biostats, but obviously the name isn't quite up to par with Duke overall.

I'm facing a similar problem. I've been admitted to my top two schools for a PhD in biostats: Harvard and UW-Seattle. But I too am facing the ranking crisis too because I'm international also (Chinese). While Washington is very good in biostats, it's obviously not the same name as Harvard in China. Though the research at UW fits me better overall. So I'm a bit stuck as far as choosing, not to mention possibly being swayed to other programs too because of the nice funding they've given me.

Actually I'm not much help. I'd be curious to hear other input about this issue!

Edited March 2, 2012 by biostatPhD2012

[lost518]

Congratulations to both of you! I am thinking of applying for Biostatistics PhD programs in Fall 2013, and the schools you mentioned above are all in my list. Could you please tell me what kind of background you have, like GPA, GRE, having a master degree or not, so that I can have a better sense of positioning myself when I am applying this year.

Sorry I cannot help you make any decisions, but definitely your reply will help me a lot! Thank you!

[candywu]

Hi !! I am also having a hard time choosing between the MS biostats at Duke U School of Medicine and the MS statistics at Purdue.

I am also an international student.

So, have you decided yet ?

[ilovethaitea]

Hi !! I am also having a hard time choosing between the MS biostats at Duke U School of Medicine and the MS statistics at Purdue.

I am also an international student.

So, have you decided yet ?

Hi! I am currently choosing between biostats at Michigan and biostats at Duke... But my heart leans towards Duke... How about you? Only 10 days from the deadline now...

[candywu]

Hi! I am currently choosing between biostats at Michigan and biostats at Duke... But my heart leans towards Duke... How about you? Only 10 days from the deadline now...

Hi~I have decided to go to Duke!!

How about you?!

[ilovethaitea]

Hi~I have decided to go to Duke!!

How about you?!

Wonderful! We will be classmates! I've sent you a personal message with my contact infomation.