GW vs. Imperial vs. LSHTM

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isabelle_mph

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Hi everyone! I'm new here and wanted to post my dilemma to see if anyone has any advice or is going through something similar.

I've recently been accepted to 3 public health programs that I'm having difficulty deciding between. 1 of them is in the US and 2 are in the UK (I'm from the US):

- MPH (Epidemiology concentration) at George Washington University
-MPH at Imperial College London
-MSc Epidemiology at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

I would be really excited to go to any of these schools. However, they're all really different and it's difficult to know what to do. I need to make a decision by next Thursday. Here are some things that I'm concerned about/ interested to hear different opinions on:

-While both of the UK schools are better ranked in the field than GW, they are not accredited by CEPH. Does anyone have an idea if this is something that would significantly impact my future if I want to get a job in the US later on?
-The UK programs are only 1 year vs. 2 years at GW. I would really like this because it will be cheaper and will give me more time to pursue another degree later on if I decide to do so (I'm not yet sure what that would be, but I want to keep my options open.
-Imperial is much more well-known than LSHTM. Imperial also offers an MPH rather than an MSc, which I think would be helpful back in the US (less confusing to potential employers and more comparable to a US degree). However, LSHTM is ranked better in public health overall and is also much cheaper. I'm not sure how I should weigh these pros and cons.
-I would prefer to be in London rather than Washington D.C. if at all possible. That said, I'm trying not to factor in location too heavily when making my decision.

I would really appreciate any thoughts anyone has. Thank you in advance :)

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I think CEPH accreditation is very important for jobs if you want to work in the US. However, if you want to do academic work, UK schools would be fine. I love London, but maybe going to conferences and building networks in DC would be more helpful to jobs in the US. GW recently got lots of donations, so its ranking should go up quite a bit. I wouldn't doubt that in 10-20 years, it's where NYU is at today.
 
I don't know much about GW university or the need for CEPH accreditation, but I have been accepted for an MSc in Epidemiology at both LSHTM and Imperial, to start in Sep/Oct so I can only tell you what I know about the two Universities.

You need to decide what kind of area you want to focus on and what you want to get out of the degree.
Do you want to go somewhere more specific or more general?
LSHTM is the world leader in tropical medicine and ranks above Imperial for Public Health related degrees but Imperial has more a more globally known name, so while LSHTM is looks better to employers within health related professions, Imperial looks better to most other employers.
They are both leaders in research with LSHTM being better for tropical medicine (of course). LSHTM also prides itself on being very international but being at a London University, that will be the case everywhere.

What kind of university experience you want?
Imperial would offer a more traditional uni experience, where LSHTM is postgrad only.

Also think about which course syllabus you prefer, and which location you prefer, the are both in central London, but LSHTM is near Russel Square and is surrounded by other Unis (SOAS, UCL, LSBM, IOE, etc.)

Hope this helps! :D
 
I think the question of the living and settling in the UK vs the US should be the first bit to answer. Then citizenship. Everything else is really secondary to that. Those two pieces of information will really probably dictate where you end up.
 
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