Need Help! Yale or Waterloo or UBC

[Calisi]

Hi everyone,

Recently I have received

1. MS in Biostatistics at Yale
2. MS in Statistics at Waterloo
3. MS in Statistics t UBC

For Yale, the advantage is the university has strong reputation, the degree may prove one's ability and be helpful when seeking a job. It will be a great platform to meet decent people and it is kind of my dream when I was a child. However, the disadvantage is the biostatistics program at yale seems not have enough reputation. It is a low-rank program. The other disadvantage is that it is very expensive (though my family agree to support me, it could be a great burden for my family). Since the program is in small scale, I could not find enough information about it. Especially, how was the program? Whether is it recognized in the industry? Is it easy to find a decent job? (Since I heard that one of the possible direction for biostatistics program is data science, but need to compete with graduates of CS) Or is it easier to apply for a PhD degree in Yale? Or is it easy to apply for a decent PhD program in statistics/biostatistics after graduation?

For Waterloo, I think the program is quite ideal. It does not need any tuition fees and even offer some scholarship. In addition, I prefer statistics program than biostatistics one. After consulting with my professors in statistics, they all suggests me to go to Waterloo. They said that it is one of the top statistics program and has strong reputation in whole north american. Moreover, it seems comparatively easier to find a decent job in banks or continuously study in PhD. My prospective supervisor seems also very good at research. However, my family and I prefer US as it has larger market and more opportunities.

For UBC, the situation is quite similar to Waterloo.

If anyone or any seniors have any suggestions or advice, I will be very grateful! Thank you so much.

[iloveOM]

I think you should choose Waterloo, as your professors suggest. They know better than us which program is strong or not.

From my knowledge, my professor had a master in statistics at Waterloo and got into Cornell for PhD, if you want to go for PhD road.

[Calisi]

9 hours ago, iloveOM said:

I think you should choose Waterloo, as your professors suggest. They know better than us which program is strong or not.

From my knowledge, my professor had a master in statistics at Waterloo and got into Cornell for PhD, if you want to go for PhD road.

Thank you so much for your advice! 

[missleung]

I personally think you should go to Waterloo if you'd like a reputable degree. I went to Waterloo for my undergrad first year in Mathematics major, but I couldn't stand the lifestyle AND the weather there (I'm a Vancouverite). I ended up returning to Vancouver getting my Stats Bachelor's at SFU. 

I was waitlisted for UBC's MSc Statistics until last week when I was offered an extra spot for Biostatistics concentration. So if you decide to join UBC, feel free to connect with me!

[eternallyephemeral]

On 3/7/2016 at 8:30 AM, Calisi said:

For Waterloo, I think the program is quite ideal. It does not need any tuition fees and even offer some scholarship. In addition, I prefer statistics program than biostatistics one. After consulting with my professors in statistics, they all suggests me to go to Waterloo. They said that it is one of the top statistics program and has strong reputation in whole north american. Moreover, it seems comparatively easier to find a decent job in banks or continuously study in PhD. My prospective supervisor seems also very good at research. However, my family and I prefer US as it has larger market and more opportunities.

For UBC, the situation is quite similar to Waterloo.

If anyone or any seniors have any suggestions or advice, I will be very grateful! Thank you so much.

Masters programs at private universities (and especially at highly ranked ones, where there is no funding) are a cash grab.

If you've been accepted to a better program, at a very reputable school for statistics, and everyone is saying you should go there, then I would not turn that down for the allure of a fancy-sounding program that can't back up it's reputation with hard facts.

I understand why you and your family might prefer the US, but it's a myth that you can't access the larger market and the opportunities of the US with a degree from Canada. The US and Canada are very intertwined, and Waterloo especially has an international reputation. Startups and large companies from Silicon Valley are moving to Waterloo to capture talent, and they frequently hire people from Waterloo to work in the US. If you're interested in Data Science, it would be better for you to be at Waterloo than to be at Yale, as Yale is known for it's liberal arts/law and not it's STEM programs, as Waterloo is.

Sorry, I get frustrated about the lack of knowledge a lot of people have about Canada and Canadian programs. It's understandable, but frankly when you're making these decisions, it's best to trust the opinions of the people informed in this field, and not necessarily our friends and families. They mean well, but they don't always understand the specific program rankings or why we would choose a 'lesser' program if it appears to have a worse record.

[puddle]

Not in your field but I got my MA at UBC & am now getting my PhD at Yale

IMO it's best not to bankrupt yourself getting an expensive masters degree when a less expensive option is available. If you want to go on in your area, your PhD should be paid for so you can take a chance on a pricey uni then.