Going for Experience or Applying directly to an MPH program

[obi0688]

Greetings,

So just a brief background on me: I finished with a B.S. in Biology and have various experiences within the health field but the past 2 years I have been working in the IT dept. for Dept of Health and Human Services. I am looking on applying to an MPH program with specific interests in Global Health/Infectious Diseases. I have taken the GRE once a month ago without much studying and did'nt do too well (In the late 140s for one section).

Since I have been out of the field for a long time O feel the need to get back into the field through volunteer/job opportunities ( even science classes/short programs at tech schools if need be) that will strengthen my resume and experience as a whole. The other option is to apply directly to schools for the next year.

One other issue i have is since being out of school for so long it would be more difficult for me to get recommendation from a professor, or is it not? Any advice or tips would help! Thanks in advance.

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[wwmmkk]

Which schools are you aiming for? That might be helpful for people to know before giving you advice. If it's top-tier schools, my suggestion would be to wait a year to volunteer/work both so you have that experience, can get a rec letter from someone in the field, and can take the time to boost your GRE scores. If it's not top-tier, taking a look at the admissions requirements and percent of applicants admitted on those schools' websites might help you decide if you're competitive already.

 

[obi0688]

I apologize, the schools I am interested in are Emory, UC Berkeley, Columbia University and GW University. I aiming for Fall of 2018 at latest so I am working on finding opportunities that will give me that experience. The hard part is there is minimal entry level opportunities close to where I live. Any advice?

 

[wwmmkk]

Yeah, those are pretty competitive schools. IMHO, waiting until 2018 would be best, but don't plan your whole life off of one guy on the internet, obviously.

I had no luck finding an entry level opportunity in public health. I'm currently working at Whole Foods until I (hopefully) start in Fall 2017 and am doing public health related volunteer work on the side. I am attributing my employment woes to the fact that I live in an area that is hyper-saturated with public health grads out of undergrad and with MPHs, and I'm a career changer. My advice to you would be to use Idealist, look at the job opportunities at local colleges/universities (research or other), and network the best you can to figure out which non-profits/govt orgs might be able to use some help. If you have a refugee health program in your city, that might be an easy place to start. Hope this helped!