Info on UIdaho for working outside academia

[perpetuavix]

Hi math people, my partner applied to some biostats and stats programs this year, and he's leaning towards UIdaho but has some questions. This is what he wrote: 

 

I would like to work as a statistician in the medical research field, possibly in clinical trials. I need help choosing a statistics MS program from among the schools to which I have been accepted:

 

Oregon State - offered me a TAship

Washington State - the most mathematically rigorous, or so I've heard

Oregon Health Science University (Biostatistics) - focused on applications that interest me - lots of research opportunities

University of Idaho - I'm strongly leaning toward this one. Here's why:

 

I live in Seattle with my wife, who is in her second year of a PhD. UIdaho will let me take classes online so that I can stay here. This also means that I can do an internship with a company in Seattle (Fred Hutchinson and Benaroya Research Institute come to mind, along with some consulting firms that work with pharma companies) and make contacts that I can use to find a job after I graduate. I can finish this program by the end of summer 2017, whereas all the others will take two years starting in September. They don't really have biostat-specific courses for me to take online, but I can take some supplemental courses online at Penn State. Here's what I'm planning to take:

 

Fall 2015 - I took Math 461 Probability Theory @ U of Illinois, equivalent to UIdaho Stat 451 (3 cr)

Summer 2016 

STAT 422 Sample Survey Methods

STAT 452 Mathematical Statistics

@PS - STAT 483 SAS programming

Fall 2016 

STAT 507 Experimental Design

STAT 565 Computer Intensive Statistics

STAT 501 Seminar (1 cr)

@PS - STAT 555 Statistical Analysis of Genomics Data

Spring 2016

STAT 519 Multivariate Analysis

STAT 550 Regression

STAT 597 Consulting Practicum (2 cr)

@PS - STAT 509 Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials (3 cr)

Summer 2017 - Internship (3 cr)

 

Here is some information about the courses I want to take at Penn State:

Statistical Analysis of Genomics Data STAT 555 https://onlinecourses.science.psu.edu/statprogram/stat555

Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials STAT 509 https://onlinecourses.science.psu.edu/statprogram/stat509

Statistical Analysis System Programming STAT 483 syllabus attached

 

I'm also looking into doing an independent project with a local chiropractor in which I would analyze a dataset of patients' pain levels, treatments administered and changes in bone positioning over time which could lead to a publication.

 

Before I make my final decision, I would like to get some input from the GradCafe community. Will going to a relatively unknown school hurt my job prospects? Will my ad-hoc biostatistics program be as good as a real biostat MS? This program seems very applied, but that's probably fine given that I don't intend to seek an academic career. I would especially like to hear from anyone who works in the medical/healthcare/pharma industry, especially those who make hiring decisions, any anyone who attended UIdaho or knows an alumn(a/us).