Berkeley visit day

[healthwolf]

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For those who were able to make it out to Berkeley, anybody care to share their thoughts on the visit today (Faculty, students, etc.)??? I'd be very curious to know if the school actually has their act together after they gave all of us such absurdly short notice between the acceptance and visit...

 

[glas]

Yes! Please share.

 

[Angelic21]

I was incredibly impressed, especially by the current students who gave presentations and those I met during the luncheon. And it became very clear that UCB is strongly connected to just about every public health-related organization/firm/company in the bay area. Very great internship and post-grad employment stats. The super organized summer internship process for the MPH program is what has always had me sold on UCB, and hearing from the students about how great their positions were and how everyone (esp. those in env health or epi internships) tends to make good $$$ for the internship, this feeling was reaffirmed. Apparently over half the students are offered a full-time position at the organization they intern with for after graduation and many also receive part-time positions for the school year...very cool.

 

[littlethings]

I was accepted into Berkeley's 2-year MPH program in Health and Social Behavior. I attended both the school-wide diversity day for graduate students and the public health visit day. Berkeley as an institution seems very committed to diversity and service to the neighboring communities which is something that was really important to me.

I also just want to echo what angelic21 said. I was very impressed by the Berkeley visit day. It was really organized and there were many opportunities to interact with faculty in the HSB department and current students in and out of the department. They seem to have a lot of support for summer internship through the center for public health practice which was another strong selling point for me.

I was actually debating between UCLA's CHS program and UCB HSB program One of the biggest differences is the size. The cohort for the HSB program will likely be between 15-30 students, while at UCLA the cohort for CHS will be between 80-10. The students in HSB really seemed to know each other, the faculty, and the staff for the dept. I met several staff members who were very nice and helpful and very willing and open to answer any questions.

Visit day definitely felt like a great fit for me and I found it very helpful.

I hope this helps.

 

[citrusguy2010]

I was accepted into the 2 year MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. I attended both days (the Diversity and SPH day) and was overall pleased with everything. It was all very well prepared and informational with the first day really showing off their diversity on the campus and getting to meet the other PhD and masters students in different departments. I mean overall, I learned a lot about the campus which was really good.

The second day was the SPH admit day which helped me ascertain a lot more about the campus and the program. It was well organized again, however, I felt there was a lot of under representation of the Epi/Biostat program as we only had one grad student and one professor (I'm not even sure if she was a professor) come and talk to us. Problem was, the grad student was a social epi concentration so she only knew about that area. And at our break out session we only spoke to the administrative assistant of the Epi/Biostat program (Roberta Myers) who was good and all, but it would have been nice to speak with students.

On the plus side though, there were a lot of other very qualified potential students that I met at this thing. What was most surprising was that everyone was older (like 25-27) and wasn't going straight from undergrad (like what I had thought). But I mean theyre all really smart and have the experience and I think a few of them have committed already so if you decide to go to Berkeley, then you are definitely going to have some very smart and experienced classmates. I talked toa few of the people going and they are definitely grade A. The Epi department is very small with 25 1st year MPH and 25 second year MPH students. They somehow managed to spin the fact that they weren't attached to a medical school into a good thing, but in my mind is a negative.

I think the Associate Dean was severely downplaying the budget cuts because as a UC undergrad, I think that the budget cuts will affect grad students in terms of TA or RA positions, but they said it's not THAT bad. I think it might be worse.

Overall, Berkeley was 3rd on my list and I was hoping this day would solidify it there, but it definitely hasn't. It's left it unranked because I see the potential for me to go there, but after my other visits. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'd be more than happy to help out! Hope this helps!

 

[healthwolf]

Thanks for all the posts so far, they've really clarified some questions I had!

 

[cutie20]

Do they have only one visit day for the students? How about those of us who havent heard anything acceptance wise from ucberkeley? Does it mean we've been waitlisted??

 

[HealthEdu]

Does anyone who attended this year's Visit Day have anything to add to this thread? (I plan to visit before making a decision, but flights from the east coast were just too pricey to go this week.) In particular, if anyone has input on the HSB program and/or financial aid, I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

 

[may3545]

I visited and thought it was a very organized and informative day. I was accepted into the Health Policy and Management track.

The main things I got from this visit was that UC Berkeley will provide you with the practical skills and bay area network to land you a position immediately upon graduation. The HPM professors boasted that 100% of their graduating students are employed after graduation and in great bay area institutions, such as Kaiser, Sutter Health, Catholic Healthcare West, Blue Shield, etc. There are definitely out of state networks, but they really emphasized the Berkeley connections in the bay area.

Further, they also stated that financial assistance is possible even after courses have started. You can do graduate student instructor/research positions, grants come in sporadically, and more funds may come later to ease the financial burden. Currently, estimated total costs for both years for attending (tuition, board, etc) is $86k for in-state, and $110k for out of state.

I was impressed overall. If you want to live in the Bay Area and eventually work in Northern California, I truly guarantee that you cannot go wrong with UC Berkeley. All the current students at UCB HPM I talked with have had no regrets, though some did say their career goals/focus have changed since coming here and seeing the wide variety of options for career opportunities. The four professors in HPM that I spoke with were really passionate about what they teach and are focused on preparing students for positions in public health. Very practical skills oriented.

Hope this helped. It just made my decision that much harder😀

 

[symphonyinc11]

I also left the visit day with a very positive impression (of the day itself and of the school, staff, faculty, students etc). I thought it was efficiently run and generally very well-organized, and everyone with whom I interacted seemed very friendly and supportive.

As far as financial aid goes, I echo what may3545 said. Also, it was nice to hear that GSI and GSR positions etc could become available throughout the year, although a little unnerving that you sort of have to commit without knowing whether or not you may get such a position. By the same token, it seems like there are a lot of opportunities to find some sort of job, GSI or GSR position (teaching/research assistant), etc and the Center for Public Health Practice seems like an excellent resource for internships and networking. There is also a lot of collaboration with other departments and centers on campus, so you could be a teaching assistant for, say, a psych class if that is your background, or find a research position with the Human Rights Center (just an example) if not a professor.

As for Health and Social Behavior......I got a really, really positive impression of the faculty and the program. Ghada, the program coordinator, is extremely knowledgeable and really sweet. There are 19 students in next year's "cohort" as they call it (I think the year above us has 22 or 23? somewhere in there), and current students were saying that in general it's really great because people get to know each other very well and it's a really supportive environment. You also get to know the faculty quite well. The faculty seemed awesome....really brilliant and accomplished but also very chill and accessible and not at all pompous (same with current students). They seemed to really know who we were and remember details from our applications, which solidified my impression that you wouldn't just be a number there. Particularly within HSB, there is a LOT of flexibility in terms of the curriculum, research and practice interests and opportunities, etc, and it is very multi/inter-disciplinary. The other admitted students there also seemed very accomplished, and like people I would generally enjoy having as classmates and colleagues. It also seemed like a really flexible program for exploring different interests and bridging research and practice, and sorting out which of the two you want to emphasize...I definitely got the impression that there are numerous opportunities for people interested in both ends of the spectrum, and everything in between, if you aren't shy about looking for them/pursuing them, talking to faculty, etc.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask or PM me!

 

[alicecalifornia]

I was accepted into the 2 year MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. I attended both days (the Diversity and SPH day) and was overall pleased with everything. It was all very well prepared and informational with the first day really showing off their diversity on the campus and getting to meet the other PhD and masters students in different departments. I mean overall, I learned a lot about the campus which was really good.

The second day was the SPH admit day which helped me ascertain a lot more about the campus and the program. It was well organized again, however, I felt there was a lot of under representation of the Epi/Biostat program as we only had one grad student and one professor (I'm not even sure if she was a professor) come and talk to us. Problem was, the grad student was a social epi concentration so she only knew about that area. And at our break out session we only spoke to the administrative assistant of the Epi/Biostat program (Roberta Myers) who was good and all, but it would have been nice to speak with students.

On the plus side though, there were a lot of other very qualified potential students that I met at this thing. What was most surprising was that everyone was older (like 25-27) and wasn't going straight from undergrad (like what I had thought). But I mean theyre all really smart and have the experience and I think a few of them have committed already so if you decide to go to Berkeley, then you are definitely going to have some very smart and experienced classmates. I talked toa few of the people going and they are definitely grade A. The Epi department is very small with 25 1st year MPH and 25 second year MPH students. They somehow managed to spin the fact that they weren't attached to a medical school into a good thing, but in my mind is a negative.

I think the Associate Dean was severely downplaying the budget cuts because as a UC undergrad, I think that the budget cuts will affect grad students in terms of TA or RA positions, but they said it's not THAT bad. I think it might be worse.

Overall, Berkeley was 3rd on my list and I was hoping this day would solidify it there, but it definitely hasn't. It's left it unranked because I see the potential for me to go there, but after my other visits. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'd be more than happy to help out! Hope this helps!

Hey Citrusguy2010!
I was at the visit day for the Epi/Biostats also. I was probably one of those "older" students you were referring to, although I'm not 27! I'm 33. I think a few of the other ladies I spoke to were also right around my age. It looks like it would be a mature cohort which I think is a good thing as many of us are serious about getting good jobs after the program. When you go to other visit days, will you update this thread on how they compared? I didn't cast my net that wide and will likely attend the Berkeley program but it will be interesting to know what I might be missing out on. Where else will you be visiting do you think?
Alice

 

[alicecalifornia]

Does anyone who attended this year's Visit Day have anything to add to this thread? (I plan to visit before making a decision, but flights from the east coast were just too pricey to go this week.) In particular, if anyone has input on the HSB program and/or financial aid, I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

HealthEdu,
I won't be attending any other visit days but one thing I wanted to emphasize about UCB which impressed me is the faculty to student ratio. The cohorts are very small, which is why they don't admit many students into the program! I was an undergrad at Cal and gravitated towards a department with fewer students because I wanted that intimate feel. It looks like I'd get that same experience at Berkeley. The thing to remember about Cal, also, is that because of its reputation (whether or not this is deserved), they attract some of the leading researchers in the country. So, this fact combined with the large ratio of faculty to students could result in a really intellectually expansive experience. It's how I felt about my undergrad days there and I'm hoping this will happen for me also as a grad student. It's hard to describe the quality of education at Berkeley without sounding cliche, but the diversity coordinator emphasized one aspect about a Berkeley education which stood out to some of her previous employers--the critical thinking skills which she acquired while earning her degree. That said, it seems as if the school of public health is particularly interested in also giving practical, career skills to its graduates so you won't emerge with an ivory-tower education unless you chose to take courses that were highly theoretical.
Just my 2 cents as a biased Berkeley grad.
Alice

 

[HealthEdu]

Thanks may, symphony, and alice for all the info above! It's all very helpful. Funding is a huge concern for me, but so is getting applicable experience and making the connections needed to get on a good career path at the end of the day. I definitely have a lot to think about, but each bit of input helps! 🙂

 

[ddsindamaking]

Congratulations to all the future berkeley grads... Iam sure the visit day must be a fab experience for you all!!!

Did any one of you apply for 11 months Health Policy and Management Program? I applied for it and i see that you guys already had an acceptance and visit days but i never heard a word from them atall... Its been a while now since I submitted my application through Sophas but NOTHING so far from berkeley yet! No word.. no rejection!!! What should i make of it? Did you guys meet applicants for 11 month HPM or Epi programs too?
PLZ reply as the slience and the wait is killing me. 😕
What do you think i should do? I dont like to make those annoying phone calls and i havnt gotten a reply for my emails from Kim Macpherson too!

 

[may3545]

^At the visit day, one admitted student was doing the 11 month health management track.

 

[sch86]

Currently, estimated total costs for both years for attending (tuition, board, etc) is $86k for in-state, and $110k for out of state.


Do you guys think paying this much for tuition is wise since we're all probably going to be relatively poor for many years? I'm trying to decide between out-of-state Berkeley ($110,000) versus in-state U of Minnesota, which would cost a fraction of that. I hate the idea of turning down Berkeley...but I feel like it would be irresponsible to build up that much debt on top of my undergrad debt.

Does having the Berkeley name allow you to pull in a higher salary? That's the only way it could make sense in this situation.

I'd like to do my PhD at Berkeley...think having the MPH from Berkeley (as opposed to an ouside school) gives you a higher chance of getting in to one of their PhD programs? Another big factor, ugh.