Need HELP for Decision, CU-Boulder(MCDB), UFL(Microbiology&Cell Science), Texas A&M(Meidical Science)

[Ureso]

Hi everyone, I think I need some help for making the decision.

I'm an international student in the US, and I applied for 12 schools (all PhD programs) mainly in microbiology, biomedical science and molecular biology. 

I was really hoping I could get in one of the schools on the west coast that I applied (UCLA, UCD, USC & UW). I interviewed USC, CU-Boulder, UFL and Texas A&M. UnfortunateIy, I was somehow rejected by USC. I was extremely upset about the rejection since my California dreaming is over. For now, I have offers from the rest three schools: CU-Boulder(MCDB), UFL(Microbiology & Cell Science), Texas A&M(Medical Science). I thought about taking a gap year after USC's rejection and reapplying for California schools next year, but ginving up all my offers, taking a gap year and reapplying is just pure gamble. Thus, I eventruly gave up this idea. It's just too risky. 

I've had conversations with my professors, and they suggest me go to CU-Boulder. I have to say I like the place Boulder much more compared to College Station and Gainesville. I also care a lot about the reputation and overall ranking of the school, and of course the academic strength of the school.  According to the global university ranking on US News, CU-Boulder is #32, UFL is  #82, and Texas A&M is #105. 

Currently, I rank them as CU-Boulder>UFL>Texas A&M. 

I'd like to hear some advice/ideas from you all about these schools' reputation, location, academic strength, post-grad job opportunity etc.

Thank you! 

 

[a little-stitious]

I can't really help because I don't know anything about your field. I just wanted to say that I could not be more in love with the city of Boulder so location wise, hands down CU-Boulder wins. And if your professors are suggesting CU-Boulder and it's ranked the highest out of the three, it sounds like they also win in the categories of reputation and academic strength, as long as you thought they were a good fit for your research interests. 

[Ureso]

3 hours ago, a little-stitious said:

I can't really help because I don't know anything about your field. I just wanted to say that I could not be more in love with the city of Boulder so location wise, hands down CU-Boulder wins. And if your professors are suggesting CU-Boulder and it's ranked the highest out of the three, it sounds like they also win in the categories of reputation and academic strength, as long as you thought they were a good fit for your research interests. 

Thank you. What are people's general impression of these schools? Do you know?

[a little-stitious]

On 3/16/2017 at 0:32 PM, Ureso said:

Thank you. What are people's general impression of these schools? Do you know?

I'm really not sure. Coming from a university that has a pretty big football rivalry with UFL, my impression of them is going to be quite biased haha. Hopefully someone else will have some more knowledge about their reputations and impressions for you. Good luck with your decision!