Hi!!
My interests are in social and behavioral sciences and cancer epidemiology. I'm from Boston, so I prefer to stay somewhere in the northeast. My ONLY reservation about UNC is the location. I find it hard to let UNC go, though, because I was fortunate to visit the campus in-person for admitted students day. I love the welcoming, student-oriented culture there, and if UNC was closer to Boston, there would be no question of where I would attend.
I applied as a part-time student at Johns Hopkins because of the flexibility of doing courses online OR in-person. However, I think I would do most of the courses online, as I prefer to be close to Boston. I was doing a bit more introspection on my learning style, and I prefer to do classes in-person. I just don't know if an online MPH is equivalent to the experience of an on-campus MPH. Hence my reservations about Hopkins.
Yale seems to be a good fit regarding learning style and location. It is done in a traditional classroom setting, and I think I would be quite happy there. Location is good - just two hours away from Boston. However, it IS the most expensive of the three schools I am looking at (Hopkins, UNC, and Yale). That being said, it is not as well-ranked as Hopkins or UNC (in my opinion, rankings don't really matter - but I don't know if the rankings matter to employers).
Phew - long post. But I really appreciate any input. I just feel like I'm always back to square one.
Thanks for the fill-in. Feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
In general, I would say:
1) It never hurts to obtain more information about a university. To determine which program best fits your scholastic needs and/or prepares you best for your career aspirations, contact as many students or alumni you can. Juxtapose all the pros and cons.
2) MPH programs are no longer than two years long, but I understand that obtaining higher education typically involves sacrifice. Given the info you gained from point 1, ask yourself whether or not your place of residence takes precedence over your ability to attend a school that best fits you. You do not want to look back and say that you wish you went somewhere else. I feel like your answer to this question will heavily influence your decision.
If your decision remains cloudy despite doing the aforementioned, here are some further steps you can take with Hopkins and Yale. If I had to take a guess, you probably know more about UNC than the other two because you attended their ASD, so I didn't include anything for them.
Hopkins:
1) I would get in contact with current Hopkins MPH students and inquire about their experience taking online classes. This should be able to tell you quickly if this is something you wish to do.
2) I would ask if you can become a full-time MPH student since JHU's full-time MPH program is 11 months long as opposed to two years. While it means you have to leave Boston for a year to be onsite, you get to go back sooner. You can email Marie Diener-West, the Chair of the MPH program, about this.
Yale:
1) I would ask if you can obtain a scholarship/need-based aid only if Yale is the best fit for you and the decision comes down to money. I can help you with the process since I was successfully able to appeal for merit aid at JHU. Affordability is a huge factor, indeed.
I apologize for the long response, but this is an important time for you and I want to provide my best assistance. Hope this helps!
The faculty have been so helpful for me and they were one of the only programs that didn't routinely ignore my emails. My decision ultimately came down to cost and so I consider myself really lucky that the cheapest program for me was also one I am really excited about.
