Advice needed - PhD, MPH, or take a year off

[Belen91]

I recently graduated from UCLA, and I was accepted into the three schools that I applied to for an MPH in global/international health (NYU, USC, and Loma Linda U.). However, the cost of attending those schools is very overwhelming (e.g. I was offered $70,000 from NYU in loans just for 1 year). I ultimately want to get a PhD in public health, however, I have read that a majority of the applicants already have an MPH. Therefore, I am wondering if I should just pursue the MPH, or if I should take a year off and apply to some PhD programs for the following year.

Here is some of my information:

School/Research
- BA in Sociology from UCLA (I also took all of the necessary premed classes and got mostly A's and two B's).
- 3.8 GPA
- Graduated - departmental honors, cum laude
- GRE: Verbal (154), Quantitative (153), Writing (4)
- Honors sociology research program - (2 years) I conducted my own research study on stress and wrote a thesis
- 3 years - research assistant: worked on nanosomes for dermatology, and participated in osteoarthritis clinical trial.

Internships/Shadowing
- 2 year hospital internship
- 5 month documentary film internship: researching type II diabetes
- 2 years of physician shadowing: hospitalist, surgeon, gynecologist
- 4 months of shadowing a certified diabetes educator: assisted in training patients on insulin pump therapy.

Volunteer
- Volunteered at a medical clinic in Mexico
- 1 year - Soup Kitchen
- 1 year - Animal Shelter
- 2 years - produced art show and art instructor for young girls
- 3 years - Tutored HS and college students: chemistry, calculus, and physics.

I would like to go to school in California or New York (as I have family there).

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[hughesn2]

If money is the issue you should have looked at San Diego State. Since USC is a private university, so you won't get a resident discount. One semester tuition at USC is more than double that of both Loma Linda and SDSU. And if you are actually from California your entire degree (in tuition alone) will cost less than one semester at USC.

For example, at Loma Linda the graduate tuition is at $810 per credit. SDSU is $311 per credit when you hit 12+ credits (http://bfa.sdsu.edu/fm/co/sfs/money/sum2014.pdf). While USC is at $1,420 PER CREDIT. Also, USC is an accredited program while the other two are accredited schools. If you have a B.A. from UCLA and if you liked the school enough, did you apply to UCLA or Cal-Berkeley as well because I feel a 3.8 GPA with some volunteer hours I am shocked if you got declined. For a resident of California, UCLA is half the cost of USC. UCLA I think is about $765 per credit ($18,420 per academic year for tuition+professional degree tuition. And then Cal-Berkeley it is about $9,200 per semester (assuming they are saying 12 cred per semester that comes out to about $770 per credit). And this is all just tuition alone, then add in all the additional fees like the $1,500 of Health Insurance Plan.

http://bfa.sdsu.edu/fm/co/sfs/money/sum2014.pdf). While USC is at $1,420 PER CREDIT. Also, USC is an accredited program while the other two are accredited schools

Are you talking about getting a PhD in another field outside of MPH or get a doctorate in a public health sector?

You say you took pre-med classes, so are you trying to decide between MD or DO school as well?

I have been under the impression that if I do go down the MPH route that you could attempt to get into the PhD program at the school you are at even if you are in the MPH program. Again, I have been told to mention that you have an aspiration to look into the PhD program in your personal statement. Have you tried emailing the admissions committee or Dean at these schools if you are allowed to do that?

 

[Solara]

There might be some combined MPH/PhD programs (or MSc/PhD). Perhaps UNC Chapel Hill has one? Look into those.

Yea definitely be careful about money. IF you take a year off and are smart about what you do in that year, you may very well get more out of your MPH and PhD. If you can get a job as a research assistant, do a fellowship, or go intern somewhere like the World Health Organization or the CDC, that would be an excellent experience before starting a PhD.

I would say apply to really cheap MPH programs that are still strong (like the above poster mentioned), but make sure you are still doing good research wherever you go in order to make a strong application to PhD programs.

 

[Fedaykin]

I recently graduated from UCLA, and I was accepted into the three schools that I applied to for an MPH in global/international health (NYU, USC, and Loma Linda U.). However, the cost of attending those schools is very overwhelming (e.g. I was offered $70,000 from NYU in loans just for 1 year). I ultimately want to get a PhD in public health, however, I have read that a majority of the applicants already have an MPH. Therefore, I am wondering if I should just pursue the MPH, or if I should take a year off and apply to some PhD programs for the following year.

Here at Tulane a few of us have Master's degrees, but not most. You don't need an MPH. You do need practical research experience and something that sets you apart from other applicants. For me, my MS was less about the degree and more about the chance to work in a BL3 lab to get it. I'll also specify that none of the people I know who have a Master's-level degree have an MPH. We're all MS's of various sorts. Note that this is limited to PhD students who I know personally, but that's still a decent number.

 

[IntriguedStudent]

So I know it's been a few months since you made this thread, but I figured I'd go ahead and give my insight as well.

I believe that an MPH (or a masters degree in general) would definitely help you get into a PhD program. However, if money is a really big issue, it would be possible for you to take a year off and still get into a PhD program, assuming you work hard during that year. You already have some decent research and volunteer experience, but I would suggest trying to up that even more if you take a year off. Like Solara said, an internship at a place like WHO (since you said you want to end up in NY anyways) or the CDC would do you a lot of good. Also, you would almost certainly have to retake your GRE. If you want to be competitive for a PhD program, you're probably going to want to get 160+ on each of the sections.

Other than that, I would apply to cheap, but decent MPH programs if you can afford to do so. An masters degree would be the best route into a good PhD program.

 

[saps007sharma]

hii,
I am an indian dentist.I am planning to go to uk for masters in public health.i have the following questions. can anyone please help me out.
1.which is the best college for mph in the uk?
2.are uk mph degree holders recognised in the us?
3.are the job prospects in th uk goodfor international students?
4.I am considering cambridge,kings,ucl,london school of hygiene and tropical medicine.which on is the best?
5.what is the kind of salary one can expect after the degree?
6.My first preference is uk because the course completes in a year but I am concearned as in uk international students get only 4 months time period to stay after course completion which is not enough for the job search ..plzz give me some guidance
please i need some advice urgently.

 

[Solara]

hii,
I am an indian dentist.I am planning to go to uk for masters in public health.i have the following questions. can anyone please help me out.
1.which is the best college for mph in the uk?
2.are uk mph degree holders recognised in the us?
3.are the job prospects in th uk goodfor international students?
4.I am considering cambridge,kings,ucl,london school of hygiene and tropical medicine.which on is the best?
5.what is the kind of salary one can expect after the degree?
6.My first preference is uk because the course completes in a year but I am concearned as in uk international students get only 4 months time period to stay after course completion which is not enough for the job search ..plzz give me some guidance
please i need some advice urgently.

1. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, without a doubt.

2. Yes definitely. What is far more important, however, is your public health experience and contacts. I've actually seen Indian doctors and dentists do MPHs in the UK and then get really solid positions in CDC or other public health organizations.

3. Don't know about job prospects in the UK.

4. LSHTM

5. It varies in public health. It also depends where you work. Will you do research/academia, or work in government? I'd say anywhere from $50,000-$90,000. But it really depends.

6. Try to make some connections while you're there, or maybe see if you can get jobs in the US or elsewhere in Europe. It also depends on what type of job you're looking for.