EMORY vs YALE vs BOSTON

[mphresidency]

Hello Everyone

I really am confused currently about choosing between Yale (Chronic Disease Epidemiology) and Emory (Epidemiology). I am really confused. Although I have got an acceptance from both, my mind wants to go with Yale (Ivy league) but heart wants to go with Emory (CDC). I also have got a merit award at Boston.

Kindly help me out. I need to make this decision in the next couple of weeks. I am waiting for Columbia to respond as well.

I require help in terms of

1. Cost of living including the tution.
2. Research opportunities.
3. Future prospects in terms of Jobs.
4. I am an international medical graduate and I am even looking at residency as a possible option but that is my last thought right now.

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[epinerd]

I've applied to those schools as well, and I've researched point 1 extensively. Here's the tuition for each for the entire 2 year program, not including fees or health insurance:
Emory: $52800
Yale: $66800
Boston: $61272, offset by your merit award.
Columbia: not too sure, but I heard somewhere on SDN that they're looking at somewhere between $60000 and $70000.

Atlanta seems like it's the cheapest city to live in, although I haven't researched New Haven as much because I haven't been accepted there yet and I don't really think I will. As for housing, I would recommend checking out www.padmapper.com. It's a housing website that takes ads from various sources (like Craigslist) and maps them out on Google maps. You can set some filters for what you're looking for (number of rooms, price, etc.). Then you can see roughly what the costs are for apartments near each of the schools. I've also heard that even groceries and consumer goods are cheaper in Atlanta, but this may be anecdotal.
For me, I'm leaning very much towards Emory because of costs. It just seems like, of the top MPH programs, it offers the best value for what I'm looking for. I personally put the CDC connection above the Ivy League brand, but you may feel differently. Good luck with your decision!