biostats Brown MS or Pittsburgh PhD??

[CassieX]

Can anyone give some suggestions on choosing the offer?

 

Brown gives 1/4 tuition deduction, it is more prestigious and I like the location. The program is thesis based and not terminal.

Pittsburgh has full financial aid and 2000 every month for student researcher working. The location is more Midwest.  

I am just wondering is it worthy to pay for the tuition of Brown? Or I should just save money and go for the PhD?

[ilikecheesecake]

First of all, CONGRATS! Both are amazing offers!! Hmm... I think in terms of prestige in biostatistics programs, Pittsburgh is actually higher ranked than Brown... though don't quote me on that. I know that Brown's biostatistics department is fairly new. 

 

Good luck! It's a really tough choice haha. 

[kgbfan]

All else being equal, if you're sure you want a PhD, I'd save yourself the time and money and go with Pittsburgh.  Besides, the difference in prestige is negligible at best (Brown #42, Score of 3.0 vs. Pittsburgh #47, Score of 2.9).  How important is location to you?  Does Pittsburgh match your research interests?

[bayessays]

1. Regarding prestige, the difference is negligible. Prestige of what, anyways?  Comparing a PhD and and a MS doesn't make any sense.  If you want the PhD, you go to Pitt.

 

2.  Making enough to live on and getting free tuition vs. paying ~$50,000 a year once you take into account living expenses.  Pitt wins here.

 

3. Regarding location, Pittsburgh is not in the Midwest.  I suggest you read more about it.  It's regarded as one of the best college cities in the country.  It's understandable to want to go to Brown if you have family nearby, but I would be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of people would consider Pittsburgh a more enticing place to spend a few years.

Especially if you can get the MS along the way at Pitt, this is a no-brainer unless you have strong personal reasons to be in Rhode Island.