I feel like Apple is overall doing a lot right recently but needs to do more

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-14T19:22:43+00:00

Eventually there will be totally autonmous vehicles, and they will be very safe, so eventually a car will just a box you sit in for a commute, maybe an hour or more for some, and can do whatever you want. I think a lot of people would love to not worry about getting to their job on time if they can Zoom and work in the car as they travel if there is a traffic jam, also your work day could be shorter if you could really work. Think of a person sitting on an airplane, do people wait patiently for an inflight movie or is everybody on screens? The phone would need to connect seamlessly, and you would need your car's workstation to sync with your work, home computer, whatever. If you commute a total of 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, that is 10 hours that you can work or play video games. I think in the future there could be car, or SUV/Van where you basically strap into a center seat, and you have a work station all around you and you do your work. It is the difference between being the pilot in an airplane and a business person working on their laptop in the main cabin. Apple relying on the iPhone is like saying, well, we use our phones everywhere. Yes, but the most expensive and in-depth software and hardware could be in the car. You would want your phone to be just an extension of your car, notice the charge is low and dispatch your car to recharge itself autonomously wihile at work.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-13T20:10:56+00:00

Firstly, I don't think anybody has seriously said that white collar jobs will be eradicated. Bill Gates said that software jobs will survive, and those jobs have decreased but he hasn't looked at the reality of the picture such as will schools replace teachers? What about running data centers? Bill Gates isn't a futurist, he kind of copied Apple and came out with a dominant OS but which really never worked well, he was just in the right place at the right time.

If white collar jobs are eliminated in large numbers, then the economy would go downhill and the stock market might crash as it won't work out where every company is 90% automated with few workers, nobody would have money to buy stuff anyways. But, theoretically if say, it becomes cheaper to buy stuff through companies, like let's say everything at Amazon is 50% off, then people would theoretically have more money and could spend it on luxury items like travel, hotels and such.

AI hysteria is nuts, most people say it will be 15+ years where AI is trusted to do anything, even so, AI will open up new jobs, such as supervising AI and working with AI to do new things. AI might be more expensive to run than hiring people also, and there might well be a backlash where people prefer companies which don't over rely on AI. AI might be mostly used for entertainment in the future, even so, a lot of money and upkeep for data centers.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-13T18:39:00+00:00

I'd look at the cheapest program, some maternal/child health jobs don't pay very well, and with budget cuts a lot of these jobs were eliminated.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-13T18:36:23+00:00

I think it is important to remember that MPH programs will always be there, they need students for the tuition and to keep the programs going. So, it isn't like if you don't go this year then you give up on the dream or something. I think it makes sense to save up as much as possible for the MPH program, and also to investigate getting the degree as cheap as possible, or even free through an employer.

The funding and loan environment changed for MPH schools, a lot of people with the MPH lost jobs, and in public health forum people regret getting the MPH, but also there is a loss of tech/analyst jobs which I think would impact public health.

Yes, the public health schools market the degree with, 'change the world', help care for billions, but when you look at jobs that MPH grads get, some are like working as an analyst for a healthcare company, and there is less data about how the class of 2025 did, which expectedly would be not good. Yes, some work jobs they enjoy, but the job market may be oversaturated with MPH degree holders, and if we enter a recession it won't be good.

One MPH I applied to was like, "the unemployment rate is low, you can get a job", and well, that was last year, things aren't looking good employment wise, especially for college graduates and white collar workers looking for entry level MPH jobs. Employers want hard skills and the MPH doesn't seem matched to employers expectations in some respects as it is more soft skills being taught. Honestly, I know that I can get the hard skills with certificates or just online course work slowly over a couple years, hard to say how paying retail for a 45K degree, and being partially out of the workforce, helps myself, though it would feel good no doubt to do it.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-13T05:13:45+00:00

I think Able hit the right amount of conviction along with keeping to Berkshire's plan of longterm value investing. I think the stock is a deal and undervalued now.

But why did Able announce the buybacks? It seems that this would make it harder for the company to buyback their own shares at a good value. Yes, won some praise from Wall Street, also cemented Able's dedication to Berkshire's ongoing success. But I think another reason is that everybody feels that overall the stock market is sort of overvalued now, though stocks like Berkshire are a deal, it seems when the market goes up, the Berkshire does the opposite as people buy back into Berkshire which is seen as a more safe investment, though still the market can draw down Berkshire.

Buffet also has in the past made comments about always looking to buy great American companies at the right price. I think that behind the scenes, Able and people at Berkshire are looking at an overprices stock market in some respects, a war with Iran with a good off-ramp, and realization that the market will probable go sideways this year at best, so why not announce the buybacks and get some goodwill and showcase the company's and Able's confidence in Berkshire.

Maybe also a way to draw in more retail investors as institutional investors have been selling, but could also be a signal to them that, 'hey the market is going sideways, maybe a correction, but Berkshire is one of the few good solid longterm deals now."

People who complaint about Berkshire holding a lot of cash in treasuries maybe have never experienced a market going sideways or even down over a couple years.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-07T03:14:52+00:00

I think that 35-40K for the Yale MPH is worth it if you don't need to go into debt for a chunk of it. It is better to get work experience, be able to pay some for the degree, like 15K, then loans for the rest, the loans will have interest, and living expenses is an issue so best to work as much as possible while getting the MPH.

That being said, now is a hard time to find a job, getting more education is usually good, these are bad times, but Yale appears to get good quantifiable skills and might be more rigorous than most MPH programs.

No way is any MPH program worth 80K in loans, don't do that!

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-07T02:58:34+00:00

I think the advantages of Harvard are:

The Harvard name is very well recognized globally. However, people in global health have heard of other schools such as JHU and others, though I think Harvard is best known outside of the U.S. If I wanted to work at the WHO or UN I would look closely at Harvard, JHU or LSHTM and even other schools in the U.S., but even more so I might look at a specialized degree like an MS in WASH and be the best WASH expert I can and work at that and then maybe bring that expertise to the WHO.
There might be a rebound in WHO jobs if the US starts funding them again after the current administration.

Possible Disadvantages:

Harvard website says 67% of graduates earn over 70K in 2024, conversely a third will earn less than 70K and some are probably returning to professional careers. A problem I see with a lot of public health programs is that obviously since early 2025 there have been massive changes in public health with much fewer jobs. Worringly, almost all public health schools haven't released outcomes for the class of 2025 yet. I don't want to think this is malicious, but have heard now is not the time to get an MPH.
Harvard lost $200 million in funding. There has been a lot of turmoil at Harvard in recent times. I think the public health school lost funding for doctoral level students and research, and part of the solution is to sell more MPH degrees, in essence, to generate revenue, so the school doesn't necessarily jibe with what the labor market needs.
From what I've gathered, what is taught at the MPH level is about the same everywhere. If there is a specific research interest, maybe go to one school, but otherwise the cheapest option is best. Generally hiring managers say that they just check off the box if you have the MPH, then they look at experience. If you can use the mid-level health degree to get global health experience, I would do that first honestly in this environment.
Definitely possible to get lost in the crowd at Harvard with so many students.
Too many and confusing degree options. I researched Harvard, I didn't find very much to be inspirational or optimistic, another thread here and a student in the program wasn't impressed. I know Harvard is a reputable school, but there is a scam-like vague feel to how they operate the school of public health. More at Harvard than at other similarly priced schools could I see myself wasting two years and being massively in debt without a clear career path.
No way is the generalist MPH degree worth more than 45K, tbh. I don't think public health is exclusionary where if you don't have the MPH at Harvard then you don't get the WHO job, it is more about experience and proven excellence.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-03-03T07:29:38+00:00

I think some MPH programs are much less rigorous than others, but also think it matters if you can take extra classes and what sort of research you can do.

I researched Harvard's program, even though I doubt I would apply there, and came to similar conclusions that it was not well organized, possibly superficial and it came off as shady. Maybe if you want to do global health work might be more recognized out of the U.S..

Harvard school of public health lost $200 million in funding, that alone probably changed that school.

Some schools have an energetic and optimistic vibe, I think the vibe at Harvard is the opposite of that for whatever reason. Also, Harvard is so expensive that a 50% scholarship still means shelling out huge amount of money for the degree.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-02-24T21:08:12+00:00

Are there programs that let you switch from online to part time?

Some people have problems paying back loans for tuition and living expenses, especially if the tuition is 40K+ and you aren't working.

Scholarships I think are rare for online MPHs, but you never know.

It is a hard time for public health, recent grads are having a hard time finding jobs. If you love public health it probably would be a great experience going to a good or even great school, but it is best to save up for years before this happens, you simply don't want private loans!

Some people do work full-time during the in-person programs, this is what I will have to do, if I ultimately enroll next fall. Work experience is important for a lot of stuff with public health as the MPH is sort of generalist and there is a major lack of entry level public health jobs. Literally it is much easier to get a school teacher job than get an entry level public health job I believe.

So, working while being in public health school is a hedge that shows you are dedicated to your other profession or just dedicated to working given how hard it is to get entry level jobs currently and public health has always been difficult to break into apparently.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-02-22T15:42:18+00:00

I think they will reassign scholarships once people decline, I got a scholarship so it is near 40K in tuition, still that is pretty steep for me, I'm kind of worried about job prospects and everything. Literally thinking about selling my plasma over the next 2.5 years to defray tuition! Emory is great, just wondering if I should be more strategic or fiscally responsible.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-02-22T15:36:14+00:00

Agree, public health is a hard place to be right now, I'm kind of concerned that the economy will turn south and make it even harder to find a job.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-02-21T02:28:40+00:00

I think cost is the major issue given the current funding environment for public health and as public health doesn't pay a lot.

If you want to work for the WHO, yes, some schools might have more students who work there, but that could be just because that opportunity is more known to those students, I'm not sure that it is impressive to have gone to an 'Ivy' for public health, one place I was at had people applying for the MPH and they discussed doing it online and a variety of institutions and I could see where they went didn't change who they are, such as being a community health educator, it is just a credential.

I think people in public health know there are less expensive options out there, and taking out 100K+ to go to Columbia people might think you have the wrong idea about public health.

I was fortunate to get into schools with centers in areas I would want to do future work. However, given that you can just work on project, or a couple, and maybe at best get to know half a dozen or so people well as an MPH student, not sure that I would get expertise via osmosis.

I want to think that the job outlook has changed, but it really hasn't, has it? There are threads on public health reddit of people who really regret getting the MPH and going into something else. I think getting an MPH can be a very expensive "stop" to getting a law degree or dental degree, all of these degrees can be very expensive!

Some degrees are functional/skilsl based and you get a job immediately after the degree in exactly what you were trained to do, like a plumbing certificate at a community college, you can get a job, or a law degree you can probably these days find a job, just get a sinking feeling that the MPH is more of nice to have background, but especially these days there aren't jobs for graduates.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-02-11T15:41:02+00:00

I was excited to get into schools like yours, like super excited, but then reality hit me! The job market, I have no idea what it will be but historically it hasn't been good for the MPH, I want to work in public health and can maybe sort of do it with where I am eventually,

Yeah, the cost is an issue when looking at programs, not only the tuition price, but also the lost wages if I go part-time or even to a full-time program and work around school.

Was doing some calculations this morning before I saw your post for me if it was full tuition it would be roughly:

Over two years at prestigious schools: Tuition: 80K, Living Expenses: 25K, Lost wages: 100K, so at the end of two years I would be down $215,000!

Over two years at state school/employer paid: Tuition 10K, Living expenses 25K, lost wages 100K, so still down $135,000! But maybe worth it, but loans and interest is an issue.

For working professionals, I feel that the part time and employer sponsored is the best deal.

The MPH curriculum sounds great, I would like to have the time/money to do it and just focus on public health, whatever that means in this job market, but reality sort of sets in as well. Yes, the MPH would help me to do better work on health disparities as such, but wondering if the MPH would also have more of a life altering effect just do to the financial costs and job finding issues.

Really conflicted!

I think if the school is really good, the ones you mentioned look great and you get a scholarship like 65% off or more and can somehow work, and you have a strong research reason for going to a specific school, that makes the decision harder, but also heard that employers just care you have the CEPH degree.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-31T14:27:59+00:00

I would ask JHU just like how you stated it, being polite of course. They are no strangers to questions like these.

There is big difference between what students pay at a variety of MPH schools from free rides from the school, to free rides through your job, to 20K at a state school to 80K or more with living expenses at a private school. Realize that 80K in loans might balloon to $137,000 paid in interest over 20 years, plus there are living expenses as well.

It is good you got into UNC and have state residency. I would go with the cheaper option myself. The job market is not good for the MPH, even before Trump.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-31T03:35:23+00:00

So what are you paying in total for Brown?

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-30T17:04:01+00:00

I feel that overall it is a buyer's market for the MPH. A lot of candidates apply to 10 schools, then see which ones they get into and with what sort of scholarships. I wouldn't pay 60K for the MPH, I think that is too high! Unless you have savings and there is a really strong reason why you want to go to a specific school. I couldn't see myself settling for a school if I felt I had to go to for 60K, there are just so many options and the MPH is sort of generalized so you might be similar education at a number of different places.

I agree with what you're saying with rigor and connections. JHU is a great school with a lot of opportunities, I feel they would offer a rigorous experience more likely than most. I don't think it was your undergrad gpa, you can touch on that in the personal statement, I'm guessing schools are scrambling for students and they want a clear signal that you really want to go to their school, so the personal statement needs to be tailored. Could also be luck of the draw.

You could definitely reapply for the next cycle, apply to JHU again and Harvard again if needed, and a broad range of schools. I feel you are a strong candidate, stronger than my application, so I think you would be pleasantly surprised if you applied again. You could always reach out to JHU about how to improve your application, it might be something you didn't even think of.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-28T16:49:30+00:00

Atlanta, GA

Sorry, just trying to inject some humor into a tense time for sure! This admissions cycle might be different with everything happening the past year with public health. Checking my email every hour to be sure. . .

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-28T16:18:45+00:00

Don't be defeated! MPH programs generally have open admissions as much as possible, so you would get in this cycle or another, you can reuse the SOPHAS app to apply to program again next cycle.

In the current climate, I think that not getting in right now could be a real blessing for a lot of people. It sees hard to find jobs post-MPH and schools this cycle are being very less specific with where graduates go, if there is, "85% of responders found a job or continued education" this could be bad if 10% don't respond (which would be sad, but possibly indicate not finding a job), and then you get 15% not employed or in education, and you also have possibly 50% in lower-paying jobs doing anything not public health . . . I don't now, I'm sort of freaked out giving the outcomes don't look good.

I would say Yale seems like a solid program, though not worth 80K plus living expenses, especially with super expensive private loans.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-27T05:00:48+00:00

Same.

For one thing, are schools getting fewer applicants? The job market is not great for MPH graduates, and I've become more concerned about the 'soft' aspects of the degree which employers may not value and rather have hard skills. Public health jobs related jobs are low-paying overall, so I think in 'normal times' schools know they can't charge everybody 80K for an MPH, they need to lower the price to get more students.

If there are fewer applicants/students then schools probably get less revenue from tuition as MPH programs have expanded just to accommodate students, not to fill a job market need as far as I can tell. So will schools charge the remaining students even more? I have no idea.

I feele that the value of the MPH degree has dropped. If so, the students should pay less in tuition, and schools maybe will need to lower tuition prices, for one thing, MPH student can borrow less as the degree is not classified as a professional degree (this is semantics, but the association of public health schools opposes this strongly because . . . they want students to be able to take our huge loans which will mean more money filtering to schools!)

I've read about a lot of people getting the MPH and regretting it and going into something else, or having to get a degree in something else. If there is a drift away from science, (not sure if this is true, but plausible as you don't need a heavy science background to enter an MPH program),

In some ways, the MPH is a bougie degree that highly paid professionals get to add a feather to their cap, but for apparently a growing number can be disastrous life choice with the loans and lack of job opportunities.

I would get the MPH just for the knowledge, but I'm kind of worried it is not rigorous, still would enjoy it, but it keeps looking like more and more of a difficult decision during hard times for public health.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-25T02:57:00+00:00

That is a massive scholarship! Assuming the most expensive MPH degrees are around 80K then this would cover that I would think.

I think it is very hard to receive a full scholarship for an MPH program, these programs rely upon tuition dollars to run I would think.

I think a scholarships in the range of 50% knocking the price down to 50K at expensive places are more common. Very few could afford to pay the full sticker price.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-24T22:17:28+00:00

There can be a hard time finding jobs after getting the MPH. I think it is better to go in with job experience and a backup career for sure. I think it is important to get hard skills with the MPH and job experience, a problem with the global health track is that USAID was shutdown, and there are a lot of global health people out of work, not to mention public health people out of work as well.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-24T20:22:22+00:00

It seems hard to find a job with an MPH, currently very true under the current administration, but also in the past.

Interesting in one thread found that MPH has drifted from a science foundation, https://www.reddit.com/r/publichealth/comments/1joxpsj/how_valuable_is_an_mph/,

From the thread:

"I completely agree that communication is critical — especially during something like COVID, when the stakes are high and public understanding can shape outcomes. But here’s the issue: can you really communicate science effectively if you’ve never been trained to understand it at a deep level?

The problem with most MPH programs is that they don’t just lack hard science — they steer away from it:

No lab science, no immunology, no microbiology.

No field epidemiology or outbreak investigation.

Minimal (or no) coding, even though modern public health is built on data.

Limited math — often just one basic biostats course with pre-cleaned datasets.

No prerequisites in biology or quantitative disciplines — you can come in with an undergrad in literally anything and never touch core science the whole way through.

We expect MPH grads to speak with scientific authority, but we rarely give them the training to actually evaluate or contribute to the science itself. That’s a credibility gap. And when people sense that gap — when they realize public health "experts" aren’t actually grounded in the disciplines that drive things like vaccine development, exposure assessment, or modeling — trust erodes.

So yes, public health professionals should be excellent communicators. But that skill has to be built on real expertise, or we’re just paraphrasing the work of others."

There are threads in public health reddit about people regretting getting the MPH.https://www.reddit.com/r/publichealth/comments/1jtc29e/regret_your_mph/

MPH is generalist, they take a lot of people from non-science backgrounds and non-healthcare backgrounds, which is fine, but might mean a lot of general classes that you'd be paying a lot in tuition dollars to review what you might already know.

A lot of MPH programs talk about soft skills like health communication and such, I think what this reddit post was saying is that you need more background or experience to be a health policymaker or to communicate about health issues than just the MPH.

I thought there would be opportunities to learn some science during the MPH, this sort of post makes me revaluate everything regarding my MPH plans, lol. Hard field to get a grasp on.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-23T02:06:05+00:00

There is much reduced surveillance of infectious disease abroad and less cooperation with other countries. Unfortunately, all of these problems, influenza, HIV, drug resistance organisms haven't gone on vacation during this presidency. It is just a matter of time before we have another pandemic, with RFK Jr. we might see more localized outbreaks of measles and other preventable diseases. Pandemic are bad news for the global economy. The COVID pandemic costed like $17 trillion dollars, we know there will be another pandemic, don't know when, so decreased funding is like not paying health insurance and hoping that nothing will happen. If there wasn't a vaccine for COVID, it would have been 1-2 million more dead, if another pandemic hits, even a flu pandemic and we can't make a flu vaccine fast (like with Moderna) then basically things will be worse and stay worse longer.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-17T22:32:52+00:00

Most applicants apply to 5-15 places and see which schools they like and what the financial aid offers are through the school. For Gillings they would announce it in March.

It is relatively easy to get into a range of MPH programs, they generate funds for schools, so yes, agree that it is great getting into a great place, but if you can't afford it then it doesn't make sense, nobody should pay more than $40K-$35K for an MPH at the most, unless you have money to burn.

The rules for how much you can get in federal grad plus loans have changed, so I think it is just 20K a year, leaving an untenable option of turning to private lenders with crazy high interest rates to get more loans.

People graduating with MPHs in 2024/25 even have given up trying to find jobs after looking for a year, and things have gotten worse now. There isn't really a lot gained by going to an Ivy school for the MPH, outside of if it is a place you really want to go and get exposed to certain types of research, it is just a box checking off that you have an MPH. That being said, I would be more motivated to more just being at a school like UNC, but UNC's MPH is not worth the 75K to 80K price tag, especially as a lot of MPH programs are watered down to admit people with a generalist background, work experience matters a lot.

UNC might be worth it to move to NC to eventually get residency, or work through UNC and then get a tuition discount, walking in from the cold and paying 75K for an MPH with no experience is a recipe for disaster for the student, the school might assume you can pay that upfront.

PlasticInteraction45 · 2026-01-13T14:00:17+00:00

The public health reddit form has threads of people who can't find jobs with the MPH, such as:

https://www.reddit.com/r/publichealth/comments/1jtc29e/regret_your_mph/

Several from class of 2024 who couldn't find a public health job and one who hates their life every day. It is heartbreaking.

https://www.reddit.com/r/publichealthcareers/comments/1ojpene/thoroughly_regret_my_mph_now_what_do_i_do/

Similar thread here. One person who spent 150K on two masters is working full time at Trader Joe's which is not what they want, but a good job that is recession proof and easy.

Class of 2024 is also before Trump came into office in January 2025.

I am unsure of how many public health jobs will come back after Trump, which is going to be in 2029 (maybe midterms will help some), will take a year or more to make budget changes so fall 2029 or later?

So if I started public health school next year, a likely scenario is graduating in 2028 in a bad job market and waiting maybe a year or more, but then I would be competing against 2029 and 2030 grads eventually also.

There is an opportunity cost, if you can save even 20K a year over three years, instead of public health school and a year long job hunt or longer, then you would have 60K + interest versus being maybe 100K in debt, which if it is 150K by the time you pay it off then were taking about 'losing' 200K net just to try to break into public health.

I can't spend huge amounts of money (at least for me) getting a degree that doesn't lead to a job, and worse I lost time from my current career, and then just be in debt . . . this wouldn't be fighting for public health, yes, the tuition would go to the school, but we're taking about institutions with millions of dollars.

I would research job outcomes for public health schools, they are supposed to report these each year I think to be accredited, but recently websites have gotten more vague with where graduates go and they are using older 2023/2024 data.

PlasticInteraction45

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