biostat at UNC Chapel Hill in the middle of January, 2008. And one
month later on Valentines' Day I got admissions offer with very
attractive financial support from Emory biostatistics. It took me a
long time to agonize the choice between Emory and UNC (Here I
intentionally forget biostatistics at Ann Arbor, which did not gave me
financial support until April 15).
The bios department of the state university at North Carolina seems to
have higher rank, broader alumni network, and huger size compared with
Emory biostat, a mid-size department in a private university at
Atlanta. However, while my resume was competent enough even among
master students to receive admission from both institutions, the PIs
of the poor state university seemed quite reluctant to provide any
form of financial support to me, an international student who was
about to get his bachelor's degree. I wrote passionate letters to the
professors at Chapel Hill in search of any forms of financial support.
But the replies, if any, where nothing more than cold. "I have no
funding for you" (and that's all) was one of the replies. And the
staff in charge of admission never replied my email or picked up the
phone. Emory, in contrast, gave me responsive replies whenever I shot
an email. I could clearly see from the interviews that both faculty
members and staff of the Atlanta based private school showed very
strong consideration for their students.
Finally I made up the idea that I should be going to a place where
people care about each other. And then here I am, happy, active, and
passionate at Emory. I fulfilled my dream of owning a car just a
couple of weeks ago, when my public school friends at UNC bios are
wondering how they are going to pay the state tuition at their forth
year of graduate study. It surprised me a lot when I discovered today
that a current classmate of mine had similar experience. We both came
to Emory, sound and happy.
In retrospect I recalled how aggressive I used to be as an undergrad.
I was determined to go to the top universities and publish on the most
influential journals. However, I've changed during the whole process.
I realized my need for care, respect, and interaction with community.
We the graduate students, finally, are human. We deserve the
attention, respect, and enjoyment of life as ordinary people.
