<p>I've recently been accepted to a few public health schools/programs: UConn, Northeastern, Tufts, Brown, and Columbia (waiting on BU and UMass Amherst.)</p>
<p>I am currently looking for ANY information or opinions about the above PH schools/programs or cost of living in each area. Right now I am leaning toward Brown or Columbia but I not sure the pros/cons of attending a ranked school (Columbia's Mailman) rather than a program (Brown.)</p>
<p>The cost of living in Providence seems much more appealing than NYC, but I also want to consider strength of alumni networks/future job prospects in the area if possible.</p>
<p>I am strongly passionate about LGBTQ issues so a school with a strong LGBTQ presence and research focus would be preferred. Columbia seems to have a strong focus in the area and I am trying to find out more about Brown.</p>
<p>It would also be a huge plus if there was an active graduate LGBTQ group (or undergrad group that accepts grad students) that I could become involved with or an LGBTQ center at the grad campus.</p>
<p>I need to make a decision within the next few weeks and will only be able to visit certain schools and for a short amount of time, so any information you may have on any of the schools above would be super helpful!</p>
<p>Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>I’m in public health at Columbia. I don’t know too much about Brown’s program, or the other programs that you are looking for.</p>
<p>Columbia is well known in the public health sphere, and graduates here usually place well into the public health field (sometimes after some time, given the bad job market). Columbia has excellent offerings in LGBTQ studies. Many of our professors and students are queer (including myself), and there is definitely a group of queer students on campus (Queer Health Task Force!) as well as a very active queer undergraduate community on the main campus with which you can get involved (I advise one of their groups). There’s also the Sexual & Reproductive Health Action Group (SHAG) which also often focuses on queer issues, since many of the students there are queer. We study LGBTQ issues seriously; many professors (most, maybe?) consider issues of sexuality, sexual orientation and gender identity in their work here. This is one of the most diverse graduate departments I’ve ever seen in terms of race and sexual orientation.</p>
<p>The benefits of attending a ranked school instead of a program:</p>
<p>1) Resources. Mailman has money. We get grants and there are opportunities to work for professors on those grants.
2) Focus. The professors here think of themselves primarily as public health scholars, and so they teach and do research with a focus on that. You will be in a school that focuses on public health as a discipline. Although the field is very interdisciplinary - we have people here from a range of social science and natural science fields - their primary focus is on public health education and enhancing that field. A lot of times in programs, the professors’ primary appointment is in another discipline and their dedication may be to that discipline and that discipline’s students and issues.</p>
<p>As far as the cost of living - yeah, it totally sucks in NYC. The student apartments nearby Mailman aren’t much cheaper than what you would pay for housing on the regular market in the same neighborhood. You’ll pay $700-1000 a month if you’re willing to share and $1200-1500 a month if you need to live alone or with a partner. Groceries are also expensive; a half-gallon of ice cream averages $7, and a half-gallon jug of milk is about $4. (Just FYI, the national average for a GALLOn of milk is $3.53.) I don’t know about Providence but I know it’s cheaper. However, if you are coming for an MPH program, it’s just two years and I think the differences in alumni and professor networks are quite large. Columbia Mailman professors are out there, and they know people, and they can hook you up.</p>
<p>thanks so much, juillet! QHTF and SHAG (incredible acronym) both sound like awesome groups I’d love to get involved with.</p>
<p>do you happen to know anything about financial aid awards/protocol? they didn’t say anything about it in my acceptance letter nor is it on the orgsync page to my knowledge, but i did apply so I don’t know if it usually comes later?</p>