How do you find out about how good a PH program is, besides on U.S. News?

[beebee0]

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And what kind of question should you ask a university before attending? Is it worth it to visit the school even if they don't hold 'Admit Days'?😛

 

[UnsunnedSnow]

I found asking to be put in touch with current/former students at least as helpful as attending official visit days or making an informal visit. Programs are happy to put you in touch with students and from my experience it's best to call the students and have a list of questions prepared ahead of time. Make sure you do your homework in terms of researching the program, faculty publications etc before talking to staff, faculty or students.

Questions to ask schools/students would include: typical class sizes, what type of RA/TA/GA positions are available and how competitive they are, how available are faculty to students, diversity of student population/culture of the program, how well the program is connected to local/nat'l/international communities/agencies/etc and what type of career services the school offers. I'm sure I'm leaving some important questions out here that others will mention.

I also found it interesting to ask current students if there's anything they don't like about the program. Several students that programs put me in touch with had very negative things to say about their program and it was helpful to hear this ahead of time. In one case, it was negative enough that I decided not to apply to that school.

 

[154175]

I asked about housing too. Oh, and what they would have wanted to know when they started that they didn't about the program, etc.

I also found it interesting to ask current students if there's anything they don't like about the program. Several students that programs put me in touch with had very negative things to say about their program and it was helpful to hear this ahead of time. In one case, it was negative enough that I decided not to apply to that school.

That's surprising. Normally, they only give out names of people who like their school.

 

[Stories]

OP: US News is a terrible method for gauging school credibility for Public Health. The rankings are heavily biased towards research (more research = higher up) and size (larger = higher up).

The first thing you need to do is determine the type of program you want to go to. As school that has a research focus (Harvard, Columbia, Hopkins, UNC) compared to a school more focused on community (BU, Tulane, Arizona, Drexel).

The next step depends on what you want out of your experience. The size of the school dictates how many interests they might be able to cater in, and many schools offer unique departments that aren't found at other schools.

what type of RA/TA/GA positions are available and how competitive they are

Unsunned, research positions really matter only if you're interested in research. And why does it matter how "competitive" a school is? This doesn't dictate how well of an education you get. Again, schools with a big name = more competitive. And as I posted above, those that are large in size and do lots of research fall into that category. Of course, if name matters to you, then my advice will fall onto deaf ears, anyway.

 

[Sharing]

OP:

Unsunned, research positions really matter only if you're interested in research. And why does it matter how "competitive" a school is? This doesn't dictate how well of an education you get. Again, schools with a big name = more competitive. And as I posted above, those that are large in size and do lots of research fall into that category. Of course, if name matters to you, then my advice will fall onto deaf ears, anyway.

Unsunned may have been referring to how competitive it is to get an RA/TA/GA position, not how competitive the school is in general.

In any case, how competitive a school is may play a large factor in the quality of education you receive. Just like with most things, if you practice basketball 4 hours a day with professional basketball players you will improve more than if you practiced four hours a day with young children. People tend to rise to the level of the competition, or in this case level of education or atmosphere around them.

 

[kurly]

Unsunned may have been referring to how competitive it is to get an RA/TA/GA position, not how competitive the school is in general.

That was my impression as well. And I'm sure there are plenty of students interested in RAs or TAs for the tuition waiver and stipend they provide, even if they don't plan on doing research or teaching as a career.

In any case, how competitive a school is may play a large factor in the quality of education you receive. Just like with most things, if you practice basketball 4 hours a day with professional basketball players you will improve more than if you practiced four hours a day with young children. People tend to rise to the level of the competition, or in this case level of education or atmosphere around them.

Absolutely.

 

[Stories]

That was my impression as well. And I'm sure there are plenty of students interested in RAs or TAs for the tuition waiver and stipend they provide, even if they don't plan on doing research or teaching as a career.

Absolutely.

Unlike sports, though, there isn't the same kind of competition in academics that make you better by working harder or having more competitive classmates. Unless of course the classes are curved such that there is grade deflation.

The quality of the education is dictated by the curriculum and professors teaching the courses, not how well your neighbor did on test X in class Y.

 

[MPHhopeful47]

Unlike sports, though, there isn't the same kind of competition in academics that make you better by working harder or having more competitive classmates. Unless of course the classes are curved such that there is grade deflation.

The quality of the education is dictated by the curriculum and professors teaching the courses, not how well your neighbor did on test X in class Y.

I think this is somewhat true, but to illustrate the earlier point - think about the class discussion that might happen at Middle of Nowhere Community College vs. the one that's likely at Ivy League Universtiy. While it's possible that the caliber of discussion might be the same in the two settings with the different groups of students, it's probably not a sure thing.

 

[Stories]

I think this is somewhat true, but to illustrate the earlier point - think about the class discussion that might happen at Middle of Nowhere Community College vs. the one that's likely at Ivy League Universtiy. While it's possible that the caliber of discussion might be the same in the two settings with the different groups of students, it's probably not a sure thing.

Okay, I'll give you that if you're comparing a CC to Harvard. But the more apt comparison that is applicable to the discussion is comparing Harvard or Hopkins to a Tulane or BU.

I was trying to illustrate the competitiveness of admission between the schools is not quite an indicator of the quality of the education you'd receive at any of these PH schools.

 

[MPHhopeful47]

I was trying to illustrate the competitiveness of admission between the schools is not quite an indicator of the quality of the education you'd receive at any of these PH schools.

I completely give you that and I hope that it's true. I think I'm deciding on the less competitive school that I was admitted to and I hope that that has no bearing on who my potential classmates are.

 

[UnsunnedSnow]

I was referring to how competitive RA/GA/TA positions are, but this has certainly brought about an interesting discussion on competitiveness in general!

 

[Stories]

I completely give you that and I hope that it's true. I think I'm deciding on the less competitive school that I was admitted to and I hope that that has no bearing on who my potential classmates are.

Your classmates will be people like you. Unless you don't like yourself, I think you'll be fine 🙂 You'll have a good experience as long as you don't go into school with a sour attitude. Hope you have a good experience!