MPH Does majoring in Psychology pigeon-hole me into Social and Behavioral Sciences?

[numbersloth]

I'm a Psychology major, but I really want to pursue Global Health and Epidemiology w/ a strong quantitative bend in grad school, possibly even go into Infectious Diseases. I have zero interest in concentrating in Social and Behavioral Sciences for my MPH (not that I don't find it interesting, just that I find the other fields more interesting!). I guess my biggest concern is that adcoms will see my Psych degree and question why I'm not applying to social/behavioral. Any thoughts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Stories]

Absolutely not. You can do whatever you like, and plenty of other fields other than SB will give you a shot. Apply broadly.

 

[texanrani]

I don't think you should be worried - I feel like MPH programs (in general) allow for a variety of undergraduate majors (and even people who have been working for awhile) to be enrolled. I'm graduating with a bio degree from a tiny school very much focused on liberal arts - I've only done 2 psych courses in my entire undergrad time, but I'm aiming for a primarily Social/Behavioral Sciences MPH. Unless a specific program has extra requirements (ex: some Biostats/Epidemiology programs require more than 1 stats class), you should be safe. Use your personal statement to really explain why you're interested in a specific area of public health.