Sooo I was pretty set on Yale, but then Columbia offered me half tuition. I’m extremely grateful to have both of these as viable options but now I’m unsure of what to do. I really like both programs!
Anyone have any thoughts on Yale vs. Columbia?
I got a chance to visit both of them- here are what I've gathered (current students - please correct me If I am wrong):
On Epidemiology training - Columbia teaches SAS. Yale is transitioning to R (at least for Biostats - which is super cool). Yale will have an online session for people who don't have coding experience to get familiar with it.
On class size: Even though the overall cohort at Columbia is much bigger, the Core classes will be huge at both programs regardless. Size varies depending on electives. At Columbia, they break the class down into cohorts of about 20 people for a leadership training/case-based discussion course - this is one way they do to make the school seems smaller. The cool thing is that this cohort includes people from all departments.
On curriculum: At Columbia, you will take classes from your home department and through your certificate program - all of them are with Mailman. I think you can register for classes at other schools too but overall, there are not much space to take courses outside of your "major" and certificate. At Yale, students can take classes at any other schools (law, school of management, undergraduate, etc.) and count them toward the MPH degree, as along as it is health related. This seems to be the strength of Yale but personally, I think it's strange that the school of public health itself does not have a lot of classes to offer. For example, they will start having a GIS course for the first time next semester :-/
On work/research opportunities: At Columbia, most TA/RA jobs are reserved for second-year students. At Yale, you can start right away. You can also work as a teacher fellow for undergraduate courses. Overall, I think students at both schools have plenty of opportunities to get involved in research + getting published. Anyhow, it is New York vs. New Haven - one has so much more to offer when it comes to off-campus internships.
On practicum funding: Columbia gives a default amount of funding for every student but they don't seem to have extra funding beside that. Some students still get extra funding through faculty's grants. At Yale, I don't think there are any default funding but you can apply for any fellowship/funding at Yale (outside of the school of public health) to support your practicum
On career services: Both are decent but the director of career services at Columbia just blew my mind- she really goes out of her way to get opportunities for students. I received so many useful resources from her just from a 5-minute conversation and one email exchange. Job outcomes from both programs seem decent.
Overall students from both programs seem to be very happy with their experience - both are solid programs and have a lot to offer. The culture is very different though- do you want a nurturing experience or a "hustly-bustly" (did I just make up that word) experience?