Michigan Ford vs. Hopkins MPP

[sparks1]

Hi guys -

Needing advice close to the deadline! Desperately trying to decide between Michigan and Hopkins for my MPP. All money issues aside (both offered ~2/3 tuition), I am having trouble distinguishing which program is the best fit. Seems to me that while the Hopkins MPP is a close-knit, friendly bunch due to the class sizes and size of the overall program (30 people TOTAL) I may have a harder time leveraging that degree seeing as it's such a small group. Personalized emails from the Dean make it hard to turn down, though. Undoubtedly the Bloomberg School is well known for Public Health, I'm just not sure how far that extends over Policy. On the other hand you have Michigan - the famous Wolverine network is EVERYWHERE and the graduate career services people realllyyy seem to know what they're doing. I guess I'm just curious about how far "name brand" extends and what that even means. What is the value added by future employers of "Michigan Ford" vs. "Hopkins Bloomberg"? 

Would greatly appreciate any and all thoughts!

[mfmpp]

I'm in a similar position, albeit with Berkeley GSPP.  I went to the Hopkins admit day last Friday (perhaps we met?) and was taken with the intimate feeling of the program.  I was a little surprised to learn that the program doesn't consider itself a public health-public policy program, but rather a general public policy program situated within a public health school.  The quant courses seemed to be pretty good, so far as I could tell, and now that I've had a chance to look at more detailed employment statistics it doesn't seem like the prospects coming out of Bloomberg are paltry by any means.  But..... my other option is Berkeley, which is just a better-known program by all that I've read.  How important is prestige really, and why would the Hopkins MPP not be considered prestigious?  The Bloomberg School, and Hopkins as a whole, are fabulous.

Edited April 12, 2016 by mfmpp

[sparks1]

@mfmpp glad to know I'm not the only one struggling with this! I was at the admit weekend before yours and as you said, I was just pleasantly surprised by the general small feeling of Hopkins and the options for working with professors there are certainly amazing. It is a little weird that the name Bloomberg doesn't carry as far in the Policy sector. I don't know if this will help you with your answer but I have seen that with the graduate statistics coming out of Berkeley like 75% stay in the Bay Area? I'm not sure if that's where you want to be or if that's where you're from but it does seem like graduating from Hopkins may give you more options for geographic viability. Just a thought.