<p>I am getting my PhD in public health.</p>
<p>Where you go for undergrad won’t matter much with respect to getting an MPH. A UC will technically “look better,” but you can get into a great MPH program with a Cal State degree just the same. The important thing is to do what will be affordable to you while also giving you great preparation for an MPH. The UC-Irvine degree is more reputable/prestigious, but if it will require a lot of debt and/or the CSU programs are more affordable for you, they will also give you great prep.</p>
<p>Public health is a field that integrates the social and natural sciences and - in some cases - math. Biostats and epidemiology students use more math and if you are interested in an MPH in those fields, you will need at least two semesters of calculus and a semester of linear algebra. In addition to those, I would also recommend a third semester of calculus (multivariable calculus) and a semester or two of calculus-based statistics.</p>
<p>If you aren’t interested in epidemiology or biostats, but prefer the social and behavioral sciences in health - community health, population and family health, maternal and child health, that kind of thing - then take classes in psychology, sociology, and/or anthropology as preparation. Political science and economics classes can also help if you are interested in political or economic aspects of health. You will still need to take at least one class in statistics, but it won’t be calculus-based.</p>
<p>MPH programs prefer students with experience in the health or a related field. Most of the public health programs at my school (Columbia) in my department (Sociomedical Sciences) require 2 years of experience. Internships while in school will also help.</p>
<p>What you should look for in a program depends on what you want. Some MPH programs are free-standing collaborations of many social science departments, while some are in schools of public health. Personally, I would go for an MPH within a school of public health. These are programs immersed in the field and with professors who have experience within the field, typically. MPH programs require practica experiences, so I would look for programs that have established relationships with public health institutions and place students in great practica. These can lead to jobs. For example, Emory has relationships with the CDC, the Carter Center, CARE Atlanta, and a bunch of other public health institutions. Columbia has a relationship with the NYC Department of Health as well as other health institutions in the area. Johns Hopkins and George Washington probably have inroads into HHS agencies in the DC area. Consider this before you choose an MPH program from a school in a remote location, unless you are interested in rural or Indian health. Many of my MPH student friends got jobs through the practica and internships they did.</p>
<p>Look at the course listings for the MPH programs and see if they have courses that teach you how to do the things you want to do. Content classes are great; practical classes are better. You want classes that look like “Qualitative Research Methods,” “Program Evaluation,” “Community-Based Participatory Research,” “Policy Analysis,” “Health Care Finance and Accounting,” “Epidemiological Methods III,” in addition to the content stuff that excites you. Employers will hire you on the basis of what you can do and not just what you know. If you can learn two statistical packages or GIS or NVIVO while you are in grad school, those are great skills and what employers are looking for.</p>
<p>Also, look for affordability. You do want to go to a great program with a good reputation. However, many of the top private places (Columbia, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Yale, George Washington or UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Washington, Pittsburgh, and Michigan for OOS students) are expensive, and they don’t give a lot of non-repayable aid. You don’t want to borrow $120,000 for an MPH because MPH graduates don’t make that much money. With an MPH, you can expect to start around $40-60K depending on what area you get your MPH in (biostats and epi make more money). So minimize your debt. If you are a California state resident, Berkeley and UCLA are your best bets. They are top 10 programs that will be affordable for you. Many of the other UCs also offer MPHs, though, and those programs are probably good programs as well. I wouldn’t pay $120,000 for a Harvard MPH over paying, let’s say, $60,000 for a UC-Irvine MPH because you won’t be able to repay Harvard the money (unless you want to go into consulting, in which case, borrow away but expect to work as a consultant for several years so you can pay the money down fast.</p>