Cornell Stats PhD

[stat2015]

What do you think of Cornell's Stats PhD program? I am interested in computational stats and machine learning... They seem to have recently hired quite a few young faculties in the field. Also Cornell has a good computer science departments, and Stats PhDs can pick up a special Masters along the way... So I am seriously thinking of attending.

 

Other offers I am considering are from Chicago and Columbia. But Cornell offered a pretty good fellowship so there's no teaching requirement. It seems that Cornell's Statistics PhD isn't a high-profile program (rarely discussed on this forum)... Looking at the US News ranking, Chicago is high up there, whereas Cornell and Columbia are less so.

 

At present I want to work in the industry, preferably high-tech companies, after PhD... 

 

Any comments will be appreciated! 

[MLHopeful]

Working with David Blei at Columbia would set you up very well.

[Poisson]

I'm a current PhD student at Cornell, happy to answer any questions.  I wouldn't base any decisions off of US News rankings; they have fairly subjective methodology and Cornell is penalized for being a small department.  Statistics doesn't necessarily have the same pedigree bias that exists in other fields (in academia at least), so what really matters when seeking a job is the quality of your research and your relationship with your adviser.     

[stat2015]

I'm a current PhD student at Cornell, happy to answer any questions.  I wouldn't base any decisions off of US News rankings; they have fairly subjective methodology and Cornell is penalized for being a small department.  Statistics doesn't necessarily have the same pedigree bias that exists in other fields (in academia at least), so what really matters when seeking a job is the quality of your research and your relationship with your adviser.     

 

Hey thanks for your message. I'll be visiting Cornell on March 6. See you there!