Yale or Emory[suggestion needed urgently]

[cathyzou]

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I am admitted to both Yale(Chronic disease epidemiology,mph) and Emory(Epi, mph). The deadline is approaching, but I still have not made final disicions. I really need your inputs!

1, I am a undergraduate from a top China University. Obviously, I cannot visit the capuses. And the tuitions and fees make great difference to me. In which school can I get a TA/RA position more easily?

2. I hope to work in some health-related organizations after graduation, such as UN. I know that Atlanta is the so-called "public health capital" of US. Does the better location really brings about better outcome in job market?

3. I do not know the class size of Emory clearly. In general, how large are they?

Thank you very much!

 

[Stories]

EDIT: These are for Yale
1.) It's not "easy" to get a TA (possible 2nd year, not in 1st) or RA position (somewhere on campus), but plenty of students hold these positions.

2.) If you are a Chinese national, being at Emory might not be a huge advantage because CDC partnerships usually only apply to US citizens (particularly when it comes to jobs) because it is a US government agency. That said, Yale has significant relations with China and the ties are advertised everywhere.

 

[concern]

1.) It's not "easy" to get a TA (possible 2nd year, not in 1st) or RA position (somewhere on campus), but plenty of students hold these positions.

2.) If you are a Chinese national, being at Emory might not be a huge advantage because CDC partnerships usually only apply to US citizens (particularly when it comes to jobs) because it is a US government agency. That said, Yale has significant relations with China and the ties are advertised everywhere.

I had some queries on TA and RA positions and since you mentioned these..I was tempted to post them here instead of starting a new thread. (don't mean to "hijack").
In general, how does an international applicant get these positions? What are these jobs like (how many hours/nature of work/pay). What do they look for in a candidate when they offer these jobs? Is it possible to get these positions even before you're physically there? ( I guess NO but I know someone who got it long distance...wasn't an MPHer though). Any other info/tip?
Thanks!

 

[JMM051]

If you haven't been offered one of these positions at offer at admission you have to apply to these positions if your chosen school offers them. It doesn't matter if you are domestic or international at Emory for RA positions, everyone is submitting the same way. Emory does not offer tuition waivers for these positions, only an hourly pay.

FYI stories, it may be difficult to secure a RA positionat some of the schools you have experience with (and some other schools I was accepted to, at least from my research) but I'm interviewing for a position already at Emory, and at least for my department there are many projects going on and prof's looking for student assistance. One of the reasons I liked the school so much 🙂
That said you have to seek them out, they're not going to be just there knocking down your door , you have to take the initiative to go for these positions. Rollins does have a job fair the first week of classes to showcase profs looking for help, dept. jobs, etc.

As for an international student working at the CDC it is possible, but I don't know how frequent. A student did ask that exact question at the visit day and it was said that it is possible to secure a position, theyre just not as readily available as the work-study. That would be a great question to e-mail someone at the school to ask.


I can't speak for the epi class sizes but the cores classes that everyone takes are the same size as almost all of the other schools I looked at/applied to.

 

[Stories]

I had some queries on TA and RA positions and since you mentioned these..I was tempted to post them here instead of starting a new thread. (don't mean to "hijack").
In general, how does an international applicant get these positions? What are these jobs like (how many hours/nature of work/pay). What do they look for in a candidate when they offer these jobs? Is it possible to get these positions even before you're physically there? ( I guess NO but I know someone who got it long distance...wasn't an MPHer though). Any other info/tip?
Thanks!

Apply like you would any other job. Resume or CV and hope for an interview. They look for skills that are a good fit for the position. Obviously with RA, it's something you can do once you get there. TA stuff generally is never awarded to 1st year students because they have no experience in these classes/methods. You might as a 2nd year.

FYI stories, it may be difficult to secure a RA positionat some of the schools you have experience with (and some other schools I was accepted to, at least from my research) but I'm interviewing for a position already at Emory, and at least for my department there are many projects going on and prof's looking for student assistance. One of the reasons I liked the school so much 🙂
That said you have to seek them out, they're not going to be just there knocking down your door , you have to take the initiative to go for these positions. Rollins does have a job fair the first week of classes to showcase profs looking for help, dept. jobs, etc.

concern: JMM answered as well as I could have. You have to interview for these positions just like you would any normal job. You give them a resume or CV and you have to be qualified to do them.

JMM: I only say it's as difficult to get a RA as it would be any other job 🙂 And of course, with funding issues everywhere, jobs are not as plentiful as they once were.

 

[JMM051]

Stories, definitely agree. And TA positions are another ball game that I won't even touch. Not really something that interests me, especially without tuition waiver, so I have no clue on those.

UIC used to have a surplus of RA positions for masters level students but in this economy (and the state of the UIsystem) they are super hard to come by in many departments.

 

[dhycortex]

I am admitted to both Yale(Chronic disease epidemiology,mph) and Emory(Epi, mph). The deadline is approaching, but I still have not made final disicions. I really need your inputs!

1, I am a undergraduate from a top China University. Obviously, I cannot visit the capuses. And the tuitions and fees make great difference to me. In which school can I get a TA/RA position more easily?

2. I hope to work in some health-related organizations after graduation, such as UN. I know that Atlanta is the so-called "public health capital" of US. Does the better location really brings about better outcome in job market?

3. I do not know the class size of Emory clearly. In general, how large are they?

Thank you very much!

For Emory,
Yes, positions at CDC or other government agencies may not be readily available for international students (the same throughout the US). But many faculty members would suggest you to volunteer at such places first. It will look good on your resume, and you may be eventually considered for formal offers.