globalhealth09

I'll add the many events and lectures at Harvard to its strengths, https://webapps.sph.harvard.edu/live/calendar/

I have been accepted to Harvard's and Hopkins' global health master's programs and am ultimately interested in doing a PhD. I have learned a lot about Hopkins because I live in the DC area and know a lot of people who attended Hopkins, but I don't know much about Harvard. I feel like both Harvard and Hopkins offer very high caliber programs, though Hopkins has had an international program fro longer. I did get some funding at Harvard, but not at Hopkins, and I learned that the Hopkins International Health Department is quite short on funding, not even providing it for PhD students. Does anyone have any insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of Harvard? I'll give it a go and please build on my comments. I would also appreciate any advice on the ideal neighborhoods to live in when attending school in the Longwood area on the green line. Strengths: - Many opportunities for international work - Boston is a relatively safe city (as opposed to Baltimore) - Less expensive tuition than Hopkins and seems to have more funding available for international health programs - I like the built in WinterSession field trip opportunities Weaknesses: - Relatively high cost of living - I would personally prefer a PhD but they only offer a DPH in my field - Somewhat cold (I am from Minnesota - it's all relative)

I am pretty set on going to Hopkins next year, but I'm trying to figure out how to deal with the crime. If you're not intimidated yet, check out this map: http://www.spotcrime.com/md/baltimore You have to deselect "view all" to see certain incidents. There are so many that you can only view a week of incidents if you have numerous types of incidents selected (you can see a list of the dates of the incidents it is showing on the bottom of the map). For instance, if you select only assaults when looking at the map of the area from the Medical Campus to Homewood Campus, including Mt. Vernon, you see a map covered with "fist" symbols that can only fit as many incidents that happened since August 16, 2008. You can zoom in and out to look at particular neighborhoods. There don't seem to be any rapes on the map in the neighborhoods around the Homewood campus area, but there numerous break-ins and armed robberies. You can probably get a police escort home every night, but that doesn't cover the rest of the night. My coworker who went to Bloomberg told me a girl was almost kidnapped at 2 p.m. while running on a busy street near the Homewood Campus. I am a relatively small female and am planning to try to live in an apartment building (not a rowhouse - too easy to break into) and to have at least 2 roommates. I'll take the Rape Aggression Defense course that Hopkins offers to all of its female students, but it doesn't exactly instill a ton of confidence in me. Does anyone have any suggestions for apartments that are sticklers about security and for a young woman to stay safe in the area? Thanks!

I was accepted to master's programs in Global Health at Harvard and Hopkins. I am planning to apply for doctoral programs during my first year in the master's program. Any advice on whether Hopkins or Harvard is better? The Hopkins program is a good fit for me but I am intimidated by the high crime rates in Baltimore.