Hello, this is my first post. I need some advise.

I applied to Brown and Harvard for a Biostatistics PhD program. At first I though both of them were a LONG shot. I was first contacted by Brown and went for a campus visit. I met with some faculty and students, all of them seemed to be really friendly. At that point, I thought that Brown would be the place to go. Today I was told over the phone that got in. But with no funding, I have to apply for an outside fellowship to attend Brown.

Then, unexpectedly I received a letter of admission from Harvard last week. I have not visited the campus and I don't know anybody at Harvard. On the bright side, they offered me a fellowship.

Here's my dilemma, at Brown everybody was really kind and friendly, but even if I get the fellowship that they recommended me, I would get less money that at Harvard. Well, I don't know anybody at Harvard, so I don't have a 'feel' of how is the program over there. What would you do?

Wow! Congratulations on these fantastic achievements!!!

For me a fellowship is a good thing to have, it allows us to concentrate on our phd and not worry about how we're going to pay rent, how much money we have left in our wallet etc. I would take that as a HIGH priority.

"Kind and friendly" is everywhere, I think you might also find this in Harvard.

Satchi's answer for now: Harvard.

I'm afraid I have no experience of either, but I'd agree that a fellowship is not to be given up lightly. I take it it's not possible for you to visit Harvard before making a decision?
Aside from how friendly the place is, what were the supervisors like? This is so important in the course of your phd so I would really make it a priority. As Satchi says, most departments are pretty friendly and both these universities should be well set up for postgrads.

I wouldn't worry too much about getting less money (unless its so much less than it's going to seriously impact on your work or standard of living) but I would worry about the certainty of you getting the fellowship. It would be terrible if it fell through and you'd turned down Harvard.