Please take what I say with a grain of salt as I have spent only a few hours there and I am at a different point in my career than many on this board. Mailman is undoubtedly an excellent public health school and deserves its reputation in the public health world. However, based on my conversations and observations, it felt a little like an MPH mill. Too many master's students, too little mentorship, and a blase attitude towards making public health education accessible. I did not have the impression I would want to spend much time there beyond class meetings or that there would be many opportunities for collaboration with cohorts or faculty.
It is entirely possible that this impression will be corrected during admitted students day and it is likely that my expectations are different from your average admitted student because I already have many years of research experience in a different field.
I'm interested in hearing others' experiences at MSPH... Other than reputation, what sets it apart to you?
Ooh that's really interesting, thanks for that! These are definitely things I want to look out for at admitted students day.
And I'm not sure if you're asking me personally or just generally but either way I'll answer. I like Columbia for a couple of reasons:
1. Reputation- which you've mentioned so I won't rehash (also going to assume this includes Name/Ivy League status)
2. Location- from my research into public health schools, most of what I've seen recommends that you go where you want to work. I don't know that I want to work in NYC but I do think that most companies have offices in NYC and that I can find whatever I'm looking for in terms of jobs and internships in NYC.
3. Core- I've only spoken to two students so I don't know if this is the case for all or even if this is common amongst other schools, but both students said they really enjoyed the Core aspect of the curriculum and the ability to explore other options.
4. Professors- There was one professor in the HPM department (the one I was accepted into) who's work matched my research interests exactly. Unfortunately she has now moved to Harvard (which sidenote, if I get into Harvard puts points in their category). However, when I looked at professors backgrounds and connections, they seem really really well connected. I know it's one of the largest MPH programs, and that you might really need to put in the work to get facetime and work with professors, but I come from a large university so I'm used to doing that. And the professors seem to have the connections that can work for students in a major way.
Of the four things I listed above, the biggest reasons Columbia stands out to me over other schools are 1) Reputation followed by 2) Professors, and 3) Location. Although for me Reputation and Professors sort of go hand in hand although obviously that's not always the case.
I'm hoping that admitted students day will really help me decide and give me a feel for the school.
