MPH so confused... please help

[marykat2017]

Hi everyone. I'm an undergrad junior (graduating in January 2017) and I really want to get a masters in public health. I know people say that it is helpful to get a few years of work experience first but I'm wondering if I should take the GRE's now and begin getting letters of rec together? And I'm also not at all sure what my chances are, or even where to look.

I know I want to go into policy, advocacy, or health communications. I'm not sure exactly what this job title would be, but I want to be the person who writes reports for the public for WHO, the UN, or really any big public health organization. I really enjoying going through research and synthesizing and compiling it into formats that are easily-digestible. I want to write reports like this, for example: http://ebolaresponse.un.org/sites/default/files/ebolaoutlook.pdf

Basically I just have no idea what schools I should be looking at, what degree programs I'd be best suited for, or what I need to do to make myself a stronger candidate. I just transferred to a new college so, although I'm working on forming relationships with professors, I don't really have a mentor right now. I'm just feeling really overwhelmed with the number of options out there, and I have no idea how "high" I should be aiming. Any advice ya'll could give me would be amazing.

My main research interests are in health inequities and social determinants of health. I don't have a lot of quantitative experience although I have fiddled around in R, SAS, epi info, etc. for various classes and I've taken intro stats.

To say a bit more about me:
I go to a small, private, liberal arts college in PA (not super well known but does alright with grad schools)
My major is global health studies, my minor is political science
Right now my GPA is a 4.0, which puts me in the top 30 in my class of 500, but we'll see how like I can keep that up
I will be completing a senior independent research project (not sure on what yet)

Internship/Work experience:
-Public policy intern for Planned Parenthood (Spring 2013)
-Intern for US Senator (Summer 2014)
-Social Media and Outreach Coordinator for my college's "diversity" office (Present)
-Social justice intern with Andrew Goodman Foundation (Present)
-Health coach with local medical center (I meet with 2 chronically ill patients weekly to make sure that they understand their treatments, ask if they have any questions, help them with exorcises or organizing their meds, and just generally to support them, and then also meet with a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, etc. to give reports on my patients)
-Andddd I'm look for something for Summer 2015 so fingers crossed

I also do a lot of social justice type activism at my college, like spearheading an initiative to create a textbook reserves section in our library and co-organizing demonstrations related to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. I'm not sure if any grad school programs will care about that remotely.

I haven't taken the GREs but I got a 670 on the math SATs and a 740 on critical reading, if that helps at all.

I'm a white, middle class woman and I identify as having chronic illness/disability

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[kc1223]

Keep in mind the GRE is good for 5 years from the date the test is taken. So even if you took it, and then worked a few years after you graduate, your scores would still be valid.

I, personally, think that it is much easier to study for a test like the GRE when you're already in a "school mindset" rather than post-graduation.

 

[marykat2017]

Thanks! I'll keep that in mind...

 

[IntriguedStudent]

I would suggest going ahead and taking the GRE sometime before you graduate. It doesn't require much studying, so it shouldn't interfere with your school much at all. However, it does give you time to decide if you're happy with your score/if it's worth retaking. Depending on what department and school you apply to, work experience isn't always necessary for an MPH. Some schools (like Johns Hopkins) do require it, while others may require that you already have a professional degree (like Harvard). However, those schools are not the norm anymore. Given that it looks like you would be applying to Health Policy and Management concentrations, it definitely couldn't hurt to gain some work experience first. It might let you get into a better school or obtain more scholarships.

So far, it looks like you're on a great track. Your GPA is great and you have some very good experiences. You shouldn't have any issue getting into some very good schools when you apply.