Harvard Environmental Health or Yale Environmental Management (All Master)

[cloutma]

Just got 2 admissions. All great schools!  Hard to decide......

 

I am an international fresh undergraduate from China. No full-time working experience.

My goal after Master Degree:

Looking for a job in US.   Analyst/Data Analyst will be perfect. Energy or Healthcare industry are both appealing to me.

So I wish to know which program can help me to fulfill this target.  I am not sure whether these 2 programs can lead me to this target directly.. (maybe neither of them can...haha)

 

1. Yale MEM

Pros:

- Great school&program -Yale F&ES is top Environmental School with huge resources. Yale is also my dream school since my high-school age.

- Flexible course selection. Being able to choose courses from any school in Yale. I prefer more technical courses actually-like data analysis, big data, etc.. I guess technical skills will be more helpful for international students to get a job.

Cons:

- But as a fresh undergraduate, I'm not very sure what it feels like if I am surrounded by students who already have full-time working experiences. We must have different life and career goals while entering this program.

- And I doubt how much hard skills I may learn from this program. It may be better for those who have full-time working exp and wish to gain a continue education.

- And New Haven, I don't know whether there is enough job/intern opportunities. And it may be a lot trouble while looking for full-time jobs in other cities?

2. Harvard Master in Environmental Health

It's under the School of Public Health.

Pro:

- Great school! I guess nobody will deny Harvard!!!  Pretty small program.

- More science&research-oriented.

- More hard skills maybe, but more lab work maybe ( I hate lab and experiments...)  

- Boston- Big city. Cool city! More job openings I guess(but I don't know any more specific information). Convenient transportation while going to each job interview.

Cons:

- The course selection seems not very flexible. Some statistics courses and projects I guess(it maybe helpful for me to look for jobs like data analyst?)

- The major focus may be too narrow? Maybe limited to only envir&health industry all the time?

 

 

And you guys may provide valuable advice! Thanks!

 

[cloutma]

UP!

 

[COGSCI]

First, HUGE congrats on getting into 2 amazing programs! I am also an international student who is starting my doctoral training in public health. 

For your career objectives, I think Yale might be a better choice because the program seems more flexible so you would be able to design your own program. You should check with the institution and see if it is possible for you to take various stats courses. Don't feel discouraged about not having years of full-time work experience. Think of it as your opportunity to network with people with years of experiences! In grad school, you often learn more from your colleagues than from your textbooks. 

Lastly, I think that Biostatistics would be a program if you are thinking about becoming a data analyst. Again, I would check with Yale and see if you would be able to take biostats courses there.  

[cloutma]

13 hours ago, COGSCI said:

First, HUGE congrats on getting into 2 amazing programs! I am also an international student who is starting my doctoral training in public health. 

For your career objectives, I think Yale might be a better choice because the program seems more flexible so you would be able to design your own program. You should check with the institution and see if it is possible for you to take various stats courses. Don't feel discouraged about not having years of full-time work experience. Think of it as your opportunity to network with people with years of experiences! In grad school, you often learn more from your colleagues than from your textbooks. 

Lastly, I think that Biostatistics would be a program if you are thinking about becoming a data analyst. Again, I would check with Yale and see if you would be able to take biostats courses there.  

Thanks so much! 

I have asked some graduates of Yale. They said that most of them went to envir-NGOs or small consulting firms. I am not that interested in the former choice actually..  I prefer to work in the industry, and Boston may provide huge resources for this, such as the healthcare industry...

Tough choice... Neither of them is totally secure for international students to get a job I guess....haha

[rising_star]

I would think that neither program is the best choice given your career goals. If you want to be a data analysis, you'll want strong quantitative training, which seems like you should be doing a stats or data-heavy MA, rather than one in environmental management or environmental health. Is there a way that you could tailor the Yale MEM to get experience in the energy sector (geology and physics courses), in addition to taking quantitative courses?

[COGSCI]

I agree with rising_star. Although you got accepted to 2 awesome programs, I do not think they are suitable for your career objectives. Again, I would look into Biostats programs (MPH or MSc) if you are serious about data analysis in healthcare field. Maybe see if you would you be able to take some stats electives at Harvard? 

I think the most important thing here is to really decide on what you want to do because it looks like you are not too clear on that at the moment. Enjoy this process because you are in a good position here  

[cloutma]

11 hours ago, COGSCI said:

I agree with rising_star. Although you got accepted to 2 awesome programs, I do not think they are suitable for your career objectives. Again, I would look into Biostats programs (MPH or MSc) if you are serious about data analysis in healthcare field. Maybe see if you would you be able to take some stats electives at Harvard? 

I think the most important thing here is to really decide on what you want to do because it looks like you are not too clear on that at the moment. Enjoy this process because you are in a good position here  

 

Thank you!  I have made some research. It's totally possible to choose more STAT courses at Harvard, including other courses in different schools of Harvard. So it seems that there is no great difference now in the flexibility between 2 programs!

 

Now I am more willing to go Harvard, since Boston has huge resources. I am wondering how domestic americans regard the comparison between  Boston and New Haven? 

 

Data analysis is not that clear for me actually, as a goal. I am very interested in it and am exploring that!  

[cloutma]

12 hours ago, rising_star said:

I would think that neither program is the best choice given your career goals. If you want to be a data analysis, you'll want strong quantitative training, which seems like you should be doing a stats or data-heavy MA, rather than one in environmental management or environmental health. Is there a way that you could tailor the Yale MEM to get experience in the energy sector (geology and physics courses), in addition to taking quantitative courses?

Thank You!

I have made some research and both programs can provide flexibility in course selection, including stats courses.   

Since I prefer to go to the industry and learn more industry and major knowledge, I guess this program may be more practical and interesting somehow than pure stat major? That's just my guessing haha.  But Harvard's program does provide the flexibility and I am now more inclined to it! 

 

I am not sure whether my thoughts are reasonable.. Please give any advice you have... Any advice will be extremely helpful!

[rising_star]

Are either of them offering you any funding? Funding would be a good way to decide.

[MegaFund]

Hi cloutma, did you apply for HKS?

[cloutma]

11 hours ago, rising_star said:

Are either of them offering you any funding? Funding would be a good way to decide.

Fundings are TBD.....

Fingercrossed~

[cloutma]

On 2016/3/7 at 10:53 AM, rising_star said:

Are either of them offering you any funding? Funding would be a good way to decide.

I've just received the email that there is no funding from Harvard at this time, and further information will be continuously released until 29th March.  

But I am still more inclined to Harvard..

[rising_star]

It's definitely going to be expensive degree without any funding. Are you sure you need the degree to pursue the career path you're interested in?

[cloutma]

On 2016/3/8 at 7:55 PM, rising_star said:

It's definitely going to be expensive degree without any funding. Are you sure you need the degree to pursue the career path you're interested in?

I am pretty interested in healthcare industry, however I haven't studied about it thoroughly before. The master studies may be a new start. As for data analysis, I believe that the healthcare industry requires high command of data analysis, and even more in the future.  An interesting industry may always be appealing. And I am still wondering how this industry is in the U.S.? As an international, I am quite unfamiliar with the local situation actually.