Duke Stat vs Harvard Stat

[Rob1234]

Hey,

 

I am currently stuck between two PhD offers- Duke Statistics and Harvard Statistics. My preferences are Bayesian analysis, Monte Carlo methods, Spatial Statistics, Machine learning among others. I am not sure if the brand name of Harvard can make a significant difference for academic placements after PhD and if going to Duke will limit my scope of research. However Harvard has a very small department and a problem of tenure track. Can you suggest career-wise and also from the point of view of research, which place would be better to opt and which people would be better to work with?

 

 

[ilovefish]

As far as I'm concerned, I would choose Harvard because of its broad research areas. Duke University and Harvard University are both very strong contenders in Bayesian Statistics, but I think studying in Harvard could enlarge your vision in Statistics during 5 years' study and cooperation with other experts. Besides, Jun S. Liu is an outstanding scholar in Monte Carlo methods. At last, I think Harvard has better academic reputation than Duke. These are my reasons to choose Harvard~

[biostat_prof]

I would say that the primary consideration should be the type of research you want to do, since both of these departments are highly specialized. Duke is heavily Bayesian, whereas Harvard focuses heavily on missing data problems and Monte Carlo methods. Harvard probably has slightly more "big name" faculty members, but there are enough heavyweights at Duke that you shouldn't have any trouble finding a good adviser at either school.

[charmany]

I think Harvard has more "big names" and better atmosphere: there are 3 faculty members having won the Presidents' Award. I visited Harvard last summer: a place giving me passion to work hard. I talked with the faculty members and they were very nice to work with. 

[ilovefish]

hi~ Rob1234, are you considering going to Upenn? it seems that most of the Ph.D. students from Upenn pursued academic life.

[Rob1234]

@ilovefish...I did consider Upenn...but I find they have a very strong focus (in their research areas) towards job market. Also it didn't seem to me that many people work on areas of Bayesian analysis and Monte Carlo....that's why I'm not giving it much of a thought...