Epi: Emory MPH or Johns Hopkins MHS

[kdink]

Hello everyone! I'm hoping someone can help me out here with some candid advice and comments.

Basically, I've gotten accepted to a bunch of really amazing Master of Public Health programs in Epidemiology: Johns Hopkins, Emory, Columbia, University of Washington, and University of Minnesota. I'm a little overwhelmed right now with the amount of options and approaching deadline. I'm mostly between the Johns Hopkins Master of Health Science in Infectious Disease Epidemiology program and the Emory MPH Global Epidemiology programs. Does anyone have opinions or comments about those programs specifically?

My goal is to work for the CDC in outbreak response and prevention, so I know Emory would be an obvious choice there, but I know people who are also working with the CDC at Johns Hopkins. I'm getting a better financial aid package at Emory, but Johns Hopkins has a pretty good Master's Tuition Scholarship I plan on getting as well. I currently live in Arizona, so the idea of moving to another hot and humid place like Atlanta doesn't sound that appealing to me right now (even though I want to move there eventually for the CDC). Both have their positives and negatives basically and here's what I've heard so far (please correct me if you disagree):

Emory: large class sizes and small class sizes; definite connections to the CDC; thesis and applied experience requirements; 2 year program; faculty still works in the field; I like the global focus but I don't want it to limit me if I want to work nationally instead; I'm afraid it won't challenge me enough (I've already completed an honors thesis as an undergrad and since Emory has a thesis and applied experience I'm concerned the thesis will be less intensive and just like what I've already done).

Johns Hopkins: small cohort size; personalized advising committee; approachable faculty; connections with CDC and Washington DC; just a thesis requirement; 2 year program (second year is mostly just thesis); renowned research faculty; better known internationally; they focus nationally and internationally but I definitely want some more global epi training; I'm afraid it won't be applied enough for my liking (although they say it is for students who want to go into applied epi); also afraid it will be too elitist and not inclusive

I will be going to JHU's admitted student day this coming weekend, but I didn't have the opportunity to visit Emory so anything you can say about the overall vibe would be helpful too.

Please help!

[lanaabear]

In case you haven't made your decision yet.. here are some of my thoughts. I'm not doing MPH but doing biomed PhD

1) Both programs will absolutely challenge you. I don't think you should view one as "easier" since its a similar set up to what you have done as an UG (I'm assuming your honors thesis is an UG thesis). Take the difficulty of the program out of it, it will be challenging but both programs should provide you all the tools you need to be successful.

2) You seem to be pulling apart hairs here, which is totally expected when picking between two really great programs. I was in this situation between two PhD programs that were both fantastic. For me it came down to stipend support and which program would put me on track to where I wanted to go as a post doc, for me that was definitely one program over the other. If your goal is to work at the CDC, Emory is literally right down the road from the CDC and there is most likely a larger amount of Emory faculty with CDC connections due to that close proximity. Those connections would make your ability to collaborate with people at the CDC so much easier, maybe landing an internship etc etc. Not saying that people at JH don't have those connections, but I would suspect there to be more of those types of connections at Emory! 

3) These are both renowned programs. I think that at either you would be successful in a future career, one choice just may make that success a bit more streamlined/easier? So I would maybe focus on, what program can I have a better quality of life? So consider things like, How comfortably can I live off of the monetary support? How is the city? Is the scholarship for JH guaranteed? It sounds like Emory's financial package is guaranteed? (I'm not on the up and up about MPH funding support, just PhD) I think these types of questions can help you better figure out which program will be a better fit for you.

Side note: I would **highly** recommend reaching out to current MPH students at Emory and getting their input on the program, how Atlanta is, etc since you were unable to visit. They can give you some insight for sure.  You can probably reach out to the program recruiter and ask to be connected with some students. Best of luck on your decision! 

Edited April 11, 2019 by lanaabear

[tanvi1997]

Hi, just wanted to know what you finally decided on