Colorado School of Public Health-Opinions?

[maddie.liggett]

Hi,

I just received my notification of admission to the Colorado School of Public Health. I applied because I like the location and their MPH program didn't require prior work experience. The school is a collaboration between UC Boulder, UC Denver, and University of Northern Colorado. I'm from Texas, and therefore don't have any idea of what the general perception of the school is. Is it seen as an advantage to have the resources of three separate schools available, or is it not as widely respected as a degree from one specific university (ex. MPH from the University of Texas)? 

I'm super excited to be admitted and look forward to potentially attending, but I don't want to get myself into a two year program if it's not a well-respected school.

Let me know what you think about CSPH!

Thanks,

Maddie

[emjayco]

On 1/31/2018 at 1:34 PM, maddie.liggett said:

Hi,

I just received my notification of admission to the Colorado School of Public Health. I applied because I like the location and their MPH program didn't require prior work experience. The school is a collaboration between UC Boulder, UC Denver, and University of Northern Colorado. I'm from Texas, and therefore don't have any idea of what the general perception of the school is. Is it seen as an advantage to have the resources of three separate schools available, or is it not as widely respected as a degree from one specific university (ex. MPH from the University of Texas)? 

I'm super excited to be admitted and look forward to potentially attending, but I don't want to get myself into a two year program if it's not a well-respected school.

Let me know what you think about CSPH!

Thanks,

Maddie

I have had the same question as I applied to their DrPH program. I don't know a whole lot about it, but it would grant me access to a string a courses extremely specialized to my interests. Still haven't heard anything though. I looked through past responses and last year there were a couple of contradictory responses, one got rejected and said: "Generic, short email. I'm a current MPH student at this school with a 4.0 and hold several leadership positions on campus. I'm not impressed with the program anyway, but this is a HUGE slap in the face. Good luck to other applicants! 2a/1r/0w" but multiple others noted that it was there top choice and they were thrilled to be admitted or devastated not to be. I know it is not a huge help, but I might look through the past years on the survey and see how people's reactions lined up?

[ianmleavitt]

@maddie.liggett I work for the University of Colorado School of Medicine, which is based on the same campus. I think one of the things to keep in mind is that the CSPH is still a relatively new program (compared to others, at least), given it began in 2008. There are both benefits and pausing points being relatively young, perhaps. Being based on a large medical campus certainly affords plenty of opportunities though, depending on what direction you may want to head with your MPH (Children's Hospital, VA, Type 1 Diabetes Center, Prevention Research Center, etc. all housed here)...You may or may not get that with other programs

[ninjahitsawall]

I just got accepted there as well! 

I have never heard of a school losing rep points because it spans multiple campuses... when you are admitted you are only attending one campus anyway, so I thought it would be beneficial if anything (networking and job/internship opps, as mentioned above). It's also supposedly the only accredited PH school in the Rocky region (that's basically their tag line. haha), so within the region itself - from what I've heard - this is where PH employers are going to look for candidates.

I've seen/heard several times (on this forum and elsewhere) that experience carries more weight than prestige when it comes to MPH programs (at least, if you had to choose one over the other). For that reason, I did not pay as much attention to prestige in my applications, more so what is practical (affordable, lol), what type of location would I want to be in long-term, job prospects, paying-off-loan prospects, etc. FWIW, CSPH is now ranked on US News, though I know they hadn't been previously. For some reference points, they are tied with Rutgers, Buffalo, Albany, U Georgia, and others... while surprisingly, NYU is unranked.

This is actually my first choice school, so I am probably biased, but if anything it's a lesser-known school because it's newer, so that may count against them. However, I was told that for the program I applied to (Applied Biostat), the acceptance rate is just under 60%, which I thought was rather low for an MPH program and even for biostat (IIRC, I think the other programs were still only around 60-something % as well). So it does seem to be getting more competitive, if that means anything. 

If you don't mind me asking, were you told anything about funding (merit/aid based)? I wasn't, and don't know if that is supposed to come later, or it just means they aren't offering me anything. 

[emjayco]

I was notified of an interview for their DrPH program, and I'll say I will give it full consideration if accepted. I think that the fit and the quality of the education/support/advisor mean so much more than reputation. I know people who have turned down Johns Hopkins (ranked #1) for lesser known or smaller programs simply because it was more appropriate to their needs or desires. Overall, do what you think is best and try not to worry about rankings or opinions - the experience you think you will have there is truly what matters.

[lincoln.hawks]

I am a current MPH student at CSPH and applied to their DrPH program.

Bottom line: the 'reputation' of the program matters less than your work and research. CSPH is a newer school, but there are opportunities to work with professors that may not happen at some of the larger programs. Give it strong consideration.

I happen to live and work near Denver and wasn't going to move to attend an MPH program, so didn't have a lot of choices. My experience has been very positive. My interests (veterans, mental health, suicide prevention) happen to align well with research interests of some of the professors. I like the 3 campus collaboration. Denver/ Aurora is my home campus and I attended a course in UNC in Greeley (50 mi from Denver) because it was a better fit in my schedule. 

I considered applying to other DrPH programs but decided to forego them this year with hopes of getting into the Colorado program. I made a hail mary application to the DrPH last year, got an interview and a phone call rejection from the head of the admissions committee. 

It's worth noting that Colorado is a great place to live. I spent a few years living blocks from the Hopkins campus and the grittiness got to me. 300+ days of sun is fantastic.

Glad to answer any questions about the MPH program or Colorado