I actually didn't apply to the MBA/MPH program at Berkeley. In all honesty I'm not 100 percent sure if I need/want an MBA yet, JHU's MPH/MBA appealed to me because it was only a 2 year program and I didn't have to take the GMATS to apply. However since I don't have that much work experience I decided in the end to do only one degree and if I feel like I still want the other degree I'll go back to school for my MBA in a couple of years (nothing like taking a break from working for a few years! lol 😀)
As for the UCLA vs. Berkeley issue, I actually got into UCLA as well but decided on Berkeley instead because of the vast Alumni connections and how the school treated me as a prospective student. Of all the schools I got into (UCLA, JHU, Columbia, Berkeley, Yale) Berkeley was the school that made me feel not only the most welcomed, but also they made me feel that their program was best administration wise. During Berkeley's prospective student orientation I met all the heads of the different departments (epi, Health policy & management, etc.), my future professors, and met with current MPH students. UCB was just so well prepared compared to UCLA's Health Services department, which didn't even have an ‘Admitted Students' day. Berkeley also offered to pay half the airfare for those who flew in from far away. I tried to set up an individual tour with UCLA's Health Serivce's department (through Roxanna the department liaison) and was brushed off and told that I could ask whatever questions I wanted on the phone and then drive down to UCLA and just walk around UCLA's SPH by myself if I wished. It just didn't seem like UCLA cared… but of course I am specifically talking about the Health Services department, I have no clue how the other departments are at UCLA, they could be absolutely lovely. However I think you're interested in the Health Services department, so then this would apply for you.
Aside from personal feelings of welcomed-ness, I liked Berkeley's program better because you can take elective courses from ANY of the other graduate departments (which meant I could take courses from the Sociology department, when I'm really interested in as well), you have the option of doing 2 internships instead of 1 (since I don't' have that much work experience I really like this), they have great connections with the World Health Organization (when I spoke to UCLA they said that they don't have much of an international connection), You can "minor" in either Global Health or Multicultural Health along with your chosen concentration, and the HPM department has employed an advisor whose sole responsibility is to help find you a job after you graduate, where as when I asked Roxanna about how UCLA helps in finding students employment she said "We have a catalog of alumni contact info and where they work and you're free to contact them on your own". 👎
I know this posting sounds like I'm hating on UCLA, but I don't mean for it to come off as such. I went to UCLA Undergrad and absolutely loved it! It really is an amazing institution; I was just really disappointed in their Health Services Department. I've had friends who have gone to UCLA's SPH and concentrated in their Health Services department and although most of them have had an overall good experience, complaints about the Health Service department's administration staff seem to be a constant factor. Again I love UCLA and can't add any input about the other departments at the SPH, but this is just how I feel about UCLA's health Service department based on my own interactions with their staff. 🙂
