Hi! I attended yesterday's Open House and really enjoyed it! I'm in the EMD program. Here were my thoughts:
- During the departmental lunch for EMD (and I'm sure it was the same case for every other department), I felt like there was a strong relationship between current students and the faculty. The faculty seem very approachable, and are highly invested in the students. If you contact a professor expressing interest in a certain area of their research, they will either accommodate you or connect you with someone else in the faculty with a similar focus.
- Students were very open and friendly. Those in the student panel and those whom I spoke with individually were really enthusiastic about their experiences at Yale. For example, members of the student panel (and I know not every student is like this) were involved in at least 4-5 student organizations, including environmental justice, diversity organizations, and community-oriented work. Additionally, students said it is easy to find on-campus employment to pay for other expenses (Yale is an expensive school!). All of them seem to know each other well, and you get a feel that YSPH fosters a very collaborative and supportive environment.
- The students and professors both emphasized the program's flexibility as a big plus. If you enter with a specific concentration in mind and discover that you enjoy another concentration just as much, you have room to add classes from that second concentration without switching. If you are interested in mental health, you can take classes in the psychology department. They cited the School of Management and School of Law as other highly regarded schools that students can take classes in. You are also not restricted to doing research within the School of Public Health - students in CDE and EMD have done/are doing research with professors in the med school, so there's a collaboration between them and YSPH as well.
- The career services office, from the roundtable discussions, seem to be very helpful in finding internships and jobs. When enrolled, I believe they meet with you to get to know you and your interests, so that they can send over any information such as internship/job postings related to your specific interests. They can also connect you to members of the alumni network, which is very strong. Students do some impressive work, including interning at the CDC, WHO, and UN (receiving YSPH funding in some cases). They also schedule trips to NYC, Boston, and DC to attend certain events, and seem to have valuable connections there.
- There is a newly minted dean who gave a short talk, and I found him to be enthusiastic, motivated, and down to earth (he attended happy hour towards the end and chatted with students). He also gave out his cell # at the end of his talk if anyone had additional inquiries. Current students appeared enthusiastic about the "changes" the new dean will bring to the school, though I didn't pick up on specifics. Maybe someone else who was there yesterday caught them?
- The only con I had was that there is only one building for the school of public health, of which many rooms lack windows. When asked "what don't you like about Yale", this was a common answer. As for how the building looked on the inside, I didn't mind it. Maybe this is a "change" that will be addressed? Of course, I'm guessing the lower endowment YSPH receives relative to the schools of law, medicine, and management has something to do with that.
Now I came in having already committed, so I didn't have any questions important for making a decision between schools. I did speak with a few prospective students who were still deciding though, and they all said the visit made them lean towards Yale. Overall, there are a ton of opportunities to pursue, which is a bit overwhelming (in the good way). I hope I was able to help!
Thanks in advance!
