UNC Chapel Hill MHA v. UC Berkeley HPM?

[Orangetang]

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Hi,

I'm interested in healthcare management. Any advice on these these two programs? I hear good things about both, but UC Berkeley's program seems to have a much smaller cohort. Do you think this is an advantage or disadvantage?

 

[ucnative]

I'm starting Berkeley's HPM program this fall, and while I can't compare to UNC (I didn't strongly consider leaving the West, so I never really researched UNC), I can say that one of Berk's selling points was the flexibility I heard about from students and profs alike. There will be many opportunities to take classes at the top-rated Goldman School of Public Policy, or at Haas Business School, or Boalt Law, and we'll be allowed to substitute them for similar required courses in the SPH.

Berk puts a strong emphasis on getting us professional experience, so the contacts and inroads will be that much easier to build once we graduate. Students come from all over the map (geographically, work/life experience), and the few current students I've met are very bright, very engaged, and driven. Again, not sure if that's better or worse at UNC, but I know it's also a top top school...

 

[HPMsf]

Hi,

I'm interested in healthcare management. Any advice on these these two programs? I hear good things about both, but UC Berkeley's program seems to have a much smaller cohort. Do you think this is an advantage or disadvantage?

Where are you from and where do you want to work after you graduate? Both programs are great, and I strongly considered both. For me it came down to location. I live in the Bay Area and plan to stay, so Berkeley made sense because many of its alums are located in California. If you would rather live and work in the Southeast, I would probably go with UNC. They place people in major health systems all over the South, and many of their grads get national fellowships as well. You can't go wrong with either program, it just comes down to geographic preference as both are really strong.

 

[harmonica]

I'd agree - think about where you want to live and work (at least for awhile). Personally I went to grad school at UNC's program, and I can say the overwhelming majority of people will stay on the east coast (not just the Southeast). UNC regularly places people at all the top places on the East Coast from MGH to Hopkins, to every policy & research shop in DC and New York. Of course, they also send people to podunk community hospitals in Concord, NC.

Point being, though, if immediately after grad school you want to be on the East coast - UNC may make it easier to make that happen; if you want to be on the West coast - Berkely make that easier to happen.

Personally, I'd say UNC's program is one of the best in the country (it IS rated #1 after all), but I'm biased...

 

[Sharing]

Mario Savio attended Berkeley, a prominent free speech activist. To capture a bit of this man's essence here is a link of one of his speeches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcx9BJRadfw

I wonder if this progressive spirit still permeates throughout the campus.

 

[ucnative]

Mario Savio attended Berkeley, a prominent free speech activist. To capture a bit of this man's essence here is a link of one of his speeches:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcx9BJRadfw

I wonder if this progressive spirit still permeates throughout the campus.

This is arguably off topic, but I don't think it really exists anywhere to the degree it did in Berkeley's heyday. You lose JFK, MLK and RFK in the span of a few years and suddenly the left looks a lot less coherent than it once did.

I see (and used to attend) protests all the time in San Francisco, but once you recognize the staginess of it all and live the tepid results, you realize your effort is better used is the mechanism of government, direct services, or community organizing. I do think the spirit is still alive, but I think people have established channels for that anger that lead to service. My 2 cents.

Anyway, back to Berkeley vs. UNC...