Northwestern or USC? Biostatistics MS

[mediumdouble2]

Hi all,

I am admitted by the MS program in biostatistics/epidemiology at Northwestern University, and also admitted by the MS program in biostatistics at USC. I cannot decide which school I should go to. The former one is a one-year program and the later one is two-year. Aside for the cost, how good are these two programs for clinical study design? Which would you pick for a master’s degree in biostatistics? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[mediumdouble2]

Anyone?

[Igotnothin]

Hi there, 

 

First of all you might want to re-post this in the Math & Stats section: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/48-mathematics-and-statistics/ . There are a lot of helpful people over there that I'm sure will give you their opinion.

 

I'm in a PhD program in biostats at a mid-ranked program, but don't have any experience with USC or Northwestern. If you're set on biostats you might be better off getting a degree in biostats rather than biostats/epi... Although personally I really like epi so I wouldn't necessarily advise you against the biostats/epi degree. 

 

It's a tough decision. If both are unfunded and job placement is similar you might want to save the $30k and go to the 1-year. Then again you might get a better education and have a more substantial experience in the 2-year program. I guess my advice is to consider the degree (biostats vs. biostats/epi), finances, department reputation, and apparent research fit, i.e. whether one place has faculty members doing research that you're more interested than the other. The last one is a little tricky because you don't want to be too narrow-focused and pick a program just because of a particular research project. Chances are once you start the program you will gain exposure to a lot of different areas, and your eventual area of research for your thesis might be one that you really didn't expect coming in. 

 

Good luck!

[mediumdouble2]

Thank you so much, Igotnothin!

[Merlos]

Hi mediumdouble2,

 

I've been browsing the forums because I'm actually in a similar position as you were last year and I was wondering which program did you choose and why? I'm currently debating whether I should start the Northwestern program this summer or wait until next fall and apply to more recognized Biostats programs (despite the two-year degree). I've spoken with professors at the NU dept, and they have said that it's possible to use the electives to take the more theory stats classes I would have taken through a two-year program...What decision did you make and why??

 

Thanks!