Harvard vs UCLA

[ginseng]

I know people hate these kinds of threads, but if you like, please feel free to share your opinions.

Here's my situation:
I'm taking a year off during my fourth year in medical school at UCLA to do my MPH for a year. Thinking of going into emed or ob-gyn, hopefully would like to stay in so-cal for residency. Love L.A., but maybe a change of scenery for a year would be nice, though the move would be a big drag. Cost is a huge difference- $50,000 in loans from Harvard, as opposed to about $10,000 from UCLA. Interest in public health are mainly in health management and international health.

Thanks.

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[Homer101]

UCLA is a great program, it is ranked in the top ten. Harvard would be a good change specially as you are attending UCLA for your medical school. You are the only one who can judge the loans. If you just want a change, go on a trip or something it will be much less than 50,000. They are both good programs but if I was in your position I probably would have stuck with UCLA and just taken some trip, because 50,000 is a pretty big chunk of money. Thats my opinion hope it helps a bit. Good luck.

 

[drhobie7]

Hi,
I did my MPH at Columbia in 2003. I absolutely loved that school but it was expensive. I'd say you should save the money. I don't think there's anything at Harvard you can't find at UCLA. Of course I haven't been in the public health arena for 2 years so I could be mistaken.

I know people hate these kinds of threads, but if you like, please feel free to share your opinions.

Here's my situation:
I'm taking a year off during my fourth year in medical school at UCLA to do my MPH for a year. Thinking of going into emed or ob-gyn, hopefully would like to stay in so-cal for residency. Love L.A., but maybe a change of scenery for a year would be nice, though the move would be a big drag. Cost is a huge difference- $50,000 in loans from Harvard, as opposed to about $10,000 from UCLA. Interest in public health are mainly in health management and international health.

Thanks.

 

[epalantequevoy]

if you're thinking about making a career out of international health, you should consider the future contacts you'll get at each school. from what i've heard, and i'm in the same stage as you, harvard and hopkins are the two best places in terms of international health. i haven't really heard much about ucla, so maybe its reputation is pretty good in that arena as well. imho, one year and 40k more is worth it for a lifetime of contacts and the globally recognized harvard name.