One thing to say about rankings as I've talked to current MPH students: programs in the top 10 don't different that much from each other as far as caliber and quality of education goes. You will probably have the same amount of opportunities and resources and there will always be great faculty at top 10 schools. What does it really mean to be higher than another school in ranking, you know? In the case of Michigan and Emory, Michigan has a score of 4.3 and Emory has a score of 4.1, so what does that 0.2 difference entail? I'm not trying to discourage anyone from incorporating rankings into your decision, but just giving others something else to think about while trying to make a decision.
After visiting a few schools, questions I like to ask current students are how is the camaraderie within your specific cohort? How many electives do you get and how flexible is scheduling? Do you feel that professors and other faculty are receptive towards feedback? Who does the overall school seem to cater to? Some schools might give more attention to the needs and wants of doctoral students over masters students while some seem to cater more to masters students. Questions like these I never really thought about until I visited the schools and asked current students about like what do you find slightly annoying, but not really problematic? Something that someone finds kinda annoying may be really problematic for someone else.
