Comparison: Michigan or Yale MPH??? (epidemiology)

[HannahX1]

Hello all,

I am really glad to see this message board! I haven't found any other gathering of MPH students on the web! 🙂

Well, I've been accepted to the Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology program at Michigan-Ann Arbor.

I've also been accepted to the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases program at Yale.

I am having difficulty deciding between the two. As the USNews&World rankings show, Michigan is #5 while Yale is #13... I wonder why? Also, is it a problem that Yale does not have its own school of public health (the public health program is a dept. of the medical school).

I would love people's opinions and experiences with these two schools, because it is very hard to decide. Yale has a great name, but I suspect that Michigan has a stronger MPH program... whether that pertains specifically to their epidemiology programs, I don't know.

Thanks! This message board is the best! (I am also curious AspiringDoctor9 if you chose Michigan or Yale and why since it seems you got accepted to both too.)

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[AspiringDoctor9]

Hello all,

I am really glad to see this message board! I haven't found any other gathering of MPH students on the web! 🙂

Well, I've been accepted to the Hospital and Molecular Epidemiology program at Michigan-Ann Arbor.

I've also been accepted to the Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases program at Yale.

I am having difficulty deciding between the two. As the USNews&World rankings show, Michigan is #5 while Yale is #13... I wonder why? Also, is it a problem that Yale does not have its own school of public health (the public health program is a dept. of the medical school).

I would love people's opinions and experiences with these two schools, because it is very hard to decide. Yale has a great name, but I suspect that Michigan has a stronger MPH program... whether that pertains specifically to their epidemiology programs, I don't know.

Thanks! This message board is the best! (I am also curious AspiringDoctor9 if you chose Michigan or Yale and why since it seems you got accepted to both too.)

Hihi Hannah,

Well, let's see... there are many reasons why I picked Michigan, and let me start with them. Yes, you are correct - Michigan is ranked much higher than Yale. This is no fluke of nature in that I think this is very justified. The reasons why I picked Michigan are the following:

1) It is ranked higher - #5 overall, but #1 in Health Services Administration (my department). In my field rankings really do matter in terms of what opportunities it gives you.

2) The people - are extremely nice and helpful. I visited many schools of public health this past year (applied to 8, got accepted to 7)... and nobody impressed me like Michigan did. They really went the extra mile to try and get me to come, and have been very responsive to my needs whenever I had questions. Some other schools (who shall remain nameless... PM me if you'd like to know... weren't responsive at all - they basically treated you like a number and just tried to push you through the program as quickly and generically as possible.)

3) The connections - again, very important if you're serious about public health. Michigan has a vast alumni network known as the "Michigan Mafia", which seems to be a very closeknit family. When I was there, I talked to 4 different current students who were offered jobs from other Michigan alumni by the sheer fact that they were Michigan students. The employer barely knew them, but trusted in Michigan's quality enough to offer these people a job.

4) The employment ratio - I'm not sure how it is in other departments in Michigan's SPH, but mine has a 100% employment ratio. Every single person has a job upon completion of the program.

5) The students - all seemed very happy. I had a required interview, and while I was there, not one bad thing was said by anyone at all. When I visited other schools (especially the ivy league ones), a lot of people didn't seem too happy to be there and it was very noticable.

6) The faculty - are really nice and friendly. They are also very laid back, which is nice. Other schools I went to were very uptight, but here we had faculty poking jokes at each other (like how the epidemiology students were afraid to go into the dorm on campus when it was quarantined as a class project... lol). They give students a lot of free time and flexibility which is nice.

7) The flexibility - Michigan's SPH allows you to do multiple degrees (if you're interested in it like I was), both within the SPH and elsewhere on campus. They also have interdepartmental concentrations if you're interested in things such as global health, etc.

I really liked Michigan and thought there was no contest. However, you should think seriously about why you're doing this. If you want to go to medical school after (which is what I a lot of epidemiology students want), how you do in the program is more important than where you go. However, if you have a sincere interest in public health and/or might want to actually go into the field, I'd say you should pick Michigan. If you have any other questions, please write back or send me a PM!

 

[LizzyM]

Yale is a school of public health in everything but name. It is a department within the medical school because of its development 90 years ago.

Yale graduates a large class every year and there is an "old boy network" just as there is at Michigan. What's more, you are also a "Yalie" with invitations to Yale alumni events in any big city you may settle in. (It becomes more impressive the further you move from New Haven. )

You can actually get tickets to the football games at Yale Bowl (unlike Michigan).

Yale has great lab space.

The public health school at Michigan is better integrated with the rest of the campus in Ann Arbor whereas Yale seems a little more isolated with the medical school and campus a highway overpass away from the rest of the University.

Yale is just a short train ride from New York.
Michigan is just a short drive from Detroit.

 

[HannahX1]

Thanks for the input, both of you. 🙂 I am planning on either getting an MD or PhD (or both) after the MPH. In terms of availability of research opportunities, do you know which school is better?

 

[Homer101]

Hi,
I got accepted to 4 schools out of the 5 I applied to. I ended up picking Yale because I wanted to do International health. They have a fantasic Global Health and Development program. I really didnt like the international health program at Hopkins, which is ranked #1. So sometimes you need to look beyond the rankings. Here are the reasons why I picked Yale:

1) The job and internship prospects are great. Specially in the Global Health department where they can place you with WHO, Unicef, CARE.... this is what I eventually want to do. They also have a WHO center on campus.

2) The school size is small as compared to Columbia or Hopkins. So you get more attention and the people are extremely nice and helpful.

3) The student body was very happy and enjoyed their time there. It wasn't really as depressing as the dorms at Columbia.

4) They do have a good alumni network and like Lizzy said you get to be called a yalie so thats always cool.

5) I did see some of the labs and they looked very decent. I cannot compare them to the labs at Michigan because I didn't apply there.

6) Yale also has a very well rounded MPH program, because they allow you to take all your electives in the different schools. Their law school and Bus school is in the top 10.

7) Yale does have a proper school of public health. It has its own buildings and admission offices. Along with a library and career center. It just comes under the huge umbrella of their health campus.
Hope this helps.