I am having a lot of trouble deciding between Yale and UCLA MPH programs. I got into Yale's Chronic Epi program and UCLA's Epi program. I'm originally from the UC system so I know a lot about UCLA and the diverse number of PH opps around LA area. But honestly, I don't know much about Yale or New Haven. I am getting no scholarships from UCLA, but am getting some grant money from Yale, but not enough to make the costs of attending Yale less than UCLA. I really need to make a decision soon. Does the name of Yale really matter a lot in terms of getting job opps or applying for a further degree after MPH? Do you guys have any insight (Epi programs, class size, Epi faculty, cost of living, New Haven vs LA, PH opps)??
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UCLA or Yale??
- Thread starter jchow
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the name matters -- i've worked in public health for 10+ years. employers will look more highly on a yale grad than a ucla grad.
sad, but true.
in the past year, we have hired:
1 standford grad
2 yale grads
1 harvard grad
1 hopkins grad
obviously, the 'brand name' isn't the only factor (interview, prior experience, etc), but it's hard to ignore an obvious trend...
sad, but true.
in the past year, we have hired:
1 standford grad
2 yale grads
1 harvard grad
1 hopkins grad
obviously, the 'brand name' isn't the only factor (interview, prior experience, etc), but it's hard to ignore an obvious trend...
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I would argue that it really depends on where you will end up wanting to work. If you think you'll end up on the east coast, Yale is the better choice, however, from my understanding, if you are hoping to find work in california, UCLA is by far the better choice- there are more alumni connections as well as a more general employer familiarity with the UC public health schools.
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the name matters -- i've worked in public health for 10+ years. employers will look more highly on a yale grad than a ucla grad.
sad, but true.
in the past year, we have hired:
1 standford grad
2 yale grads
1 harvard grad
1 hopkins grad
obviously, the 'brand name' isn't the only factor (interview, prior experience, etc), but it's hard to ignore an obvious trend...
this is a new perspective from a lot of the historical posts I've read about Yale on this forum. I too am trying to decide between UCLA and Yale, and reading back historically I've seen a lot of people bashing Yale, saying in the world of public health they have a "bad rap", that research options might be poor and if the goal is to work specifically in public health to choose a top ten school (like UCLA) and save the money you'd spend on yale. For the most part these types of opinions have just confused me. And I'm finding this decision to be very challenging. Currently I work in the pharma/biotech industry which attracts a lot of public health grads and its pretty clear to me that if I want to stay in this industry Yale would be the way to go. BUT what if I want to go into academics, government, or non-profit public health? Is Yale still going to have the same weight or would the firm/institution be up on the rankings and see UCLA as a better name?
i wonder, brooklyn11231, would you mind telling us what type of public health firm you work for? just to get an idea...
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Jchow & Catlady,
The Yale name certainly does carry a certain mystique about it and might open some doors that otherwise would not have been available to you. It is, without a doubt, very impressive to say "Yes, I graduated from Yale." However, I must emphasize that the most important thing is to utilize the resources available to you no matter which school you attend. UCLA's graduate program is nothing to sneeze at either, and I hope you don't feel that UCLA has an inferior program. Many people (I'm speaking very broadly here) make a decision based on prestige of the name alone. That often prevents people from making the best decision for their particular situation.
Catlady, I'll try not to do any bashing here, and I'll make an attempt at being objective. Sorry if this is more of an answer for Jchow's question... Brooklyn made a very interesting point about applicants who go to name brand schools; however, correlation does not prove causality. I suppose I could also say the sample size is too small, but let's not get too nerdy here..
Jchow, one of your concerns that you mentioned was the financial aspect of your decision:
-You must ask yourself: which school can offer you a better education for the price? Yale sports a hefty 45k-50k price tag per year while UCLA comes in at around 25k.
Would Yale necessarily be worth the extra 25k debt for two years? You mentioned that you are from the UC system. Have you factored in the travel costs that it will take to go to and from school? That may or may not limit how often you can go home (if that makes a difference). If travel costs are not an issue then forget I even mentioned it.
Next, you have to look at location and what each school may offer you.
UCLA is situated conveniently in LA and you said you know enough about LA. Basically, it's big, diverse, and everything's within a 40 minute drive of each other. haha a little LA humor for you. New Haven may offer a different set of opportunities, but of course the demographics of Connecticut are markedly different from LA's (which could make a difference if you want to work with Latino or Asian populations). Yale medical school and cancer research center is right next door and could be a chance for you to do research there. But don't forget about City of Hope, LA county public health dept, and world famous Children's Hospital in LA. UCLA's medical school is also a world class institution where I'm sure you could find some opportunities. The point is that the opportunities will be there at both schools. There is only so much one person can do before you run out of hours in a day.
No matter where you go, I'm sure you'll make the most of your experience. Remember to go to the right school for your situation, and not to make a decision based on the glamor of a name. If the right school happens to have a nice sounding monosyllabic name, that just means you won't be doing the eight clap in the Rose Bowl next year. =) good luck with your decision!!!! I hope this helps, and sorry if I made it seem like one school is better than the other. I tried my best to show the good sides of each.
-One Handed Catch like Jerry Rice
The Yale name certainly does carry a certain mystique about it and might open some doors that otherwise would not have been available to you. It is, without a doubt, very impressive to say "Yes, I graduated from Yale." However, I must emphasize that the most important thing is to utilize the resources available to you no matter which school you attend. UCLA's graduate program is nothing to sneeze at either, and I hope you don't feel that UCLA has an inferior program. Many people (I'm speaking very broadly here) make a decision based on prestige of the name alone. That often prevents people from making the best decision for their particular situation.
Catlady, I'll try not to do any bashing here, and I'll make an attempt at being objective. Sorry if this is more of an answer for Jchow's question... Brooklyn made a very interesting point about applicants who go to name brand schools; however, correlation does not prove causality. I suppose I could also say the sample size is too small, but let's not get too nerdy here..
Jchow, one of your concerns that you mentioned was the financial aspect of your decision:
-You must ask yourself: which school can offer you a better education for the price? Yale sports a hefty 45k-50k price tag per year while UCLA comes in at around 25k.
Would Yale necessarily be worth the extra 25k debt for two years? You mentioned that you are from the UC system. Have you factored in the travel costs that it will take to go to and from school? That may or may not limit how often you can go home (if that makes a difference). If travel costs are not an issue then forget I even mentioned it.
Next, you have to look at location and what each school may offer you.
UCLA is situated conveniently in LA and you said you know enough about LA. Basically, it's big, diverse, and everything's within a 40 minute drive of each other. haha a little LA humor for you. New Haven may offer a different set of opportunities, but of course the demographics of Connecticut are markedly different from LA's (which could make a difference if you want to work with Latino or Asian populations). Yale medical school and cancer research center is right next door and could be a chance for you to do research there. But don't forget about City of Hope, LA county public health dept, and world famous Children's Hospital in LA. UCLA's medical school is also a world class institution where I'm sure you could find some opportunities. The point is that the opportunities will be there at both schools. There is only so much one person can do before you run out of hours in a day.
No matter where you go, I'm sure you'll make the most of your experience. Remember to go to the right school for your situation, and not to make a decision based on the glamor of a name. If the right school happens to have a nice sounding monosyllabic name, that just means you won't be doing the eight clap in the Rose Bowl next year. =) good luck with your decision!!!! I hope this helps, and sorry if I made it seem like one school is better than the other. I tried my best to show the good sides of each.
-One Handed Catch like Jerry Rice
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the name matters -- i've worked in public health for 10+ years. employers will look more highly on a yale grad than a ucla grad.
sad, but true.
in the past year, we have hired:
1 standford grad
2 yale grads
1 harvard grad
1 hopkins grad
obviously, the 'brand name' isn't the only factor (interview, prior experience, etc), but it's hard to ignore an obvious trend...
would you mind telling me how the dartmouth name would match up?? thanks. trying to decide on where to attend still as well.
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thanks for comments onehandcatch. for me, i think i'm really stressing and overthinking this decision. i've planned a visit to yale next week. i hope this will make things easier. i'll be sure to report back.
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Jchow & Catlady,
-One Handed Catch like Jerry Rice
i actually ran into jerry rice at a club last saturday. i was dancing, looked over my shoulder and there he was, RIGHT NEXT TO ME!!. i have no idea why he was in sacramento.
Thank you everyone for helping me gain some more insight into this stressful situation.
In response to brooklyn, does name matter in getting a job if MPH is not your terminal degree? I want to pursue a higher degree after MPH (possibly PhD or MD).
Thanks onehandedcatch for all the different perspectives. I really appreciate your input. I know I'll be pretty comfortable in LA. I just don't want to regret my decision if I decide to go there and miss out on an opportunity to attend an Ivy. But that doesn't mean anything if LA will offer me more work experience, more research opps, and a better education. And I know that wherever I go, I will make the most of it (even if there are only 24 hours in a day).
To catlady, good luck in your decision. Let me know how you think of Yale. I thought the deadline to accept was April 15th. Can we tell them later than that?
Gah...hopefully I'll come to a decision soon. It sucks because I'm on exchange in Hong Kong right now so there is no way I can check out Yale to see if I would like it there. But thanks to everyone for helping me get one step closer to making my decision!
In response to brooklyn, does name matter in getting a job if MPH is not your terminal degree? I want to pursue a higher degree after MPH (possibly PhD or MD).
Thanks onehandedcatch for all the different perspectives. I really appreciate your input. I know I'll be pretty comfortable in LA. I just don't want to regret my decision if I decide to go there and miss out on an opportunity to attend an Ivy. But that doesn't mean anything if LA will offer me more work experience, more research opps, and a better education. And I know that wherever I go, I will make the most of it (even if there are only 24 hours in a day).
To catlady, good luck in your decision. Let me know how you think of Yale. I thought the deadline to accept was April 15th. Can we tell them later than that?
Gah...hopefully I'll come to a decision soon. It sucks because I'm on exchange in Hong Kong right now so there is no way I can check out Yale to see if I would like it there. But thanks to everyone for helping me get one step closer to making my decision!
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Jchow,
You shouldn't regret your decision no matter where you go. If you go to Yale and regret not taking the opportunity to go to UCLA where all those opportunities abound, then you'll feel just as horrible. You'll do wonderful things wherever you go. I have faith in you!!
-OneHandedCatch
You shouldn't regret your decision no matter where you go. If you go to Yale and regret not taking the opportunity to go to UCLA where all those opportunities abound, then you'll feel just as horrible. You'll do wonderful things wherever you go. I have faith in you!!
-OneHandedCatch
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To catlady, good luck in your decision. Let me know how you think of Yale. I thought the deadline to accept was April 15th. Can we tell them later than that?
I did not receive my (hard copy) acceptance until 4/7 and b/c it was so late they granted me a *very* short extension on my decision to accommodate a campus visit (the earliest flight I could afford was 4/15 due to the 7-day advance requirements on reasonably priced ticket sales). In my mind its still not enough time, but I am very grateful, and I'm going to squeeze in trips to both Yale and UCLA next week. I cannot say whether that would be an option for you, considering my extenuating circumstances. How long have you known about your acceptance? To anyone else who received a late acceptance - I also cannot say whether this applies to everyone, but it never hurts to ask - the ladies in the Admissions office are very nice. But, they are quite busy - I'd recommend a phone call over email for quick response.
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Hi All,
First, I hope I didn't come across as snobby to anyone!! I just wanted to give people some perspective into how I see things now that I have been in the workforce for about 10 years. I have had the opportunity to make some hiring decisions, and I wanted to be able to share what I've seen.
Catlady: I currently work for a large HIV/AIDS nonproft. However, I have also worked for the government and in academia doing health research.
I certainly agree with everything that Onehandedcatch said... When you are choosing your school, of course you should also factor in the other intangibles that will make you happy. There are many factors including class size, location, opportunities for research, etc. I have many friends who did their PhDs at a certain school in Baltimore with a sterling reputation, but they were so unhappy they nearly dropped out (some of them did). A PhD that you don't end up getting from a great school will always be worth less than an actual degree that you did finish!! That being said, I do like you will get the basics covered in any of the accredited programs that are out there. That is why the name/reputation then becomes a bit more important.
Honestly when I was a student I also obsessed over the USNWR rankings, and it wasn't until I started working that I realized how little they meant. According to some ranking posted an another thread, University of Alabama is ranked higher than Duke for Health Management. Well, no one told my company... for the past 3 positions we've had, we've interviewed a couple people from Duke, but never anyone from UAB. The bottom line is that I've heard of Duke and somewhere in the back of my head, it has a good reputation. I don't know anything about UAB. I'm not trying to be elitist, I just want to make clear that employers don't have time to pore through school rankings the way that students do! If you can't even get your foot in the door for an interview, you will have trouble impressing people with how great your classes were.
From my personal experience, I have been told flat out in job interviews that I was totally unqualified for the position I applied for, but I was being given the chance because I went to <<insert big name Ivy league university here>>. Honestly I was sort of appalled, but it does happen.
In the end, if the degree is a way to make yourself more marketable and land that dream job, you have to think of which school you will be able to market the most. If you are looking to work in a specific geographic area where a school has very close ties, you would want to pick that program over a remote big name program. So it always depends.
Jchow: I think name matters less if you are planning on getting another degree. Especially if you are planning on getting a PhD -- then the most important thing really is how many papers you wrote, what your research focus is on, and what you did your thesis on. You could come from a relatively no-name program, but if you have pubs and a great thesis, you will be fine. Whenever we hired a PhD level researcher, we always asked for a copy of their thesis and they had to give a seminar presenting their research.
Finally, for theBiGgreen: I honestly have to say that I have never had the chance to interview or look at anyone's resume from Dartmouth. I would say they if I were hiring, you wouldn't get any special attention b/c I'm not familiar with the Dartmouth program and have never worked with anyone who went there, but I wouldn't question the quality of your education.
First, I hope I didn't come across as snobby to anyone!! I just wanted to give people some perspective into how I see things now that I have been in the workforce for about 10 years. I have had the opportunity to make some hiring decisions, and I wanted to be able to share what I've seen.
Catlady: I currently work for a large HIV/AIDS nonproft. However, I have also worked for the government and in academia doing health research.
I certainly agree with everything that Onehandedcatch said... When you are choosing your school, of course you should also factor in the other intangibles that will make you happy. There are many factors including class size, location, opportunities for research, etc. I have many friends who did their PhDs at a certain school in Baltimore with a sterling reputation, but they were so unhappy they nearly dropped out (some of them did). A PhD that you don't end up getting from a great school will always be worth less than an actual degree that you did finish!! That being said, I do like you will get the basics covered in any of the accredited programs that are out there. That is why the name/reputation then becomes a bit more important.
Honestly when I was a student I also obsessed over the USNWR rankings, and it wasn't until I started working that I realized how little they meant. According to some ranking posted an another thread, University of Alabama is ranked higher than Duke for Health Management. Well, no one told my company... for the past 3 positions we've had, we've interviewed a couple people from Duke, but never anyone from UAB. The bottom line is that I've heard of Duke and somewhere in the back of my head, it has a good reputation. I don't know anything about UAB. I'm not trying to be elitist, I just want to make clear that employers don't have time to pore through school rankings the way that students do! If you can't even get your foot in the door for an interview, you will have trouble impressing people with how great your classes were.
From my personal experience, I have been told flat out in job interviews that I was totally unqualified for the position I applied for, but I was being given the chance because I went to <<insert big name Ivy league university here>>. Honestly I was sort of appalled, but it does happen.
In the end, if the degree is a way to make yourself more marketable and land that dream job, you have to think of which school you will be able to market the most. If you are looking to work in a specific geographic area where a school has very close ties, you would want to pick that program over a remote big name program. So it always depends.
Jchow: I think name matters less if you are planning on getting another degree. Especially if you are planning on getting a PhD -- then the most important thing really is how many papers you wrote, what your research focus is on, and what you did your thesis on. You could come from a relatively no-name program, but if you have pubs and a great thesis, you will be fine. Whenever we hired a PhD level researcher, we always asked for a copy of their thesis and they had to give a seminar presenting their research.
Finally, for theBiGgreen: I honestly have to say that I have never had the chance to interview or look at anyone's resume from Dartmouth. I would say they if I were hiring, you wouldn't get any special attention b/c I'm not familiar with the Dartmouth program and have never worked with anyone who went there, but I wouldn't question the quality of your education.
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http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24300
i winced at this particular paragraph:
Even when we recognize the importance of public health, we often feel we cant do anything. Three years ago, I had the opportunity to talk with President Levin informally about why Yale wasnt doing more with public health in New Haven and around the world. He told me frankly that health was a problem for national governments and it was not an area where Yale could make a significant difference.
i winced at this particular paragraph:
Even when we recognize the importance of public health, we often feel we cant do anything. Three years ago, I had the opportunity to talk with President Levin informally about why Yale wasnt doing more with public health in New Haven and around the world. He told me frankly that health was a problem for national governments and it was not an area where Yale could make a significant difference.
Thanks everyone for all the input. You have really all helped me a lot! I can't wait to start grad school!
I am choosing UCLA Epi program. Catlady, I wish you luck in your decisions. I'm sure you'll make a good decision. If you end up in UCLA, I will see you there.
Thanks once again! 😀
I am choosing UCLA Epi program. Catlady, I wish you luck in your decisions. I'm sure you'll make a good decision. If you end up in UCLA, I will see you there.
Thanks once again! 😀
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congrats on your decision jchow, i'm sure it feels good.
i'll know mine in a week or so... (ahh the agony!)
i'll know mine in a week or so... (ahh the agony!)
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