Admission possible w/out professional experience?

[Leejwwc]

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Hi everyone,
I am interested in applying to the MPH program at Yale but do not have any professional experience in public health. However, I do have relevant research experience in the field. Below is a summary of my credentials. Any comments would be greatly appreciated, as well as suggestions for additional schools to consider:

Rising senior at Duke University
Major in Cell and Molecular Biology, Minor in Chemistry
Graduating in 3 years, want to get a master's before applying to medical schools
GPA: 3.652 with graduate level courses
GRE 750 Math, 550 Verbal, 5.0 Writing
Clinical experiences in pharmacy, surgery, rehabilitation, and geriatrics
Lab Research experiences in organic chemistry, nuclear physics, developmenta, genetics
Public Health Research experience in BSE risk assessment, exposure, and public policy
BUT NO PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD...

Thank you!
-Will

 

[erikalindsay]

Why do you want to get an MPH just to apply to medical school? I think it would be a waste of your time (plus the spot in the MPH program that someone else isn't getting) and money.

I'm not sure if you're looking to just have a couple of years to mature before med school, but honestly I think that would be better spent out in the work force rather than getting a degree you don't plan on using.

That is, of course, just my take on it.

To answer your question, though, admission is possible without professional experience at some schools (it seems as though most people in my program are about my age, 24, and have been out working for a bit first and do have quite a bit of experience in the field). I would suggest contacting the school you're looking at directly to ask about your chances.

 

[Meatwad]

Since your grades are already fine, you can look into the Dartmouth MPH; it's one year long, and I don't believe it requires any experience. It's pretty expensive, of course, and since it's new, I don't think it's accredited by whatever board accredits MPH programs (could definitely be wrong about this, though). I also believe it is Pass/Fail grading, but that makes no different to someone who has high grades in their undergrad work like you.

 

[Leejwwc]

Thanks for your replies. I can find no point in staying an additional year in undergrad as I would be taking mostly graduate classes anyways so I wanted to do a masters. I am interested in both public health research and in laboratory research in the basic sciences and would like to go into academic medicine so that is why I wanted more exposure to this field. Additionally, I wanted another year to increase my GPA more so I can apply to some top flight MD programs.

Is anyone aware of any MPH programs that offer financial aid in the form of grants (in addition to loans)?

Much appreciated,
-Will

 

[72531]

your undergrad gpa is calculated separately from a masters gpa though...

 

[erikalindsay]

Yeah, your masters GPA isn't going to help bring your undergrad GPA up, as they are calculated separately for med school applications.

Also, there are no federal (or state, at least not in Minnesota) grants for masters programs. Some schools may have need-based scholarships, but I'm assuming those are rare. You can fund grad school through loans or graduate assistantships, if you get one, otherwise. Some GAships include partial or full tuition waivers.

 

[Leejwwc]

thanks you guys for all your advice, I will look into the programs by school for more details. The reason I am interested in Yale is that they say they offer grants as part of their financial assistance so I was wondering if other programs do the same.

Regarding GPAs, I know that undergrad and grad are calculated separately and from my contact with admissions at med schools they say they will consider both. Does anyone know whether the masters GPA is considered comparable to the undergrad or is the latter much more important?

Regards,
-Will

 

[Leejwwc]

Also, if anyone attends an MPH program that offers grants as part of financial aid and/or merit scholarships, please let me know. If it makes any difference, my updated GRE score is 1440 (780Q, 660V) - if you know scores are considered as part of merit...

-Will

 

[DrChimRichalds]

Since your grades are already fine, you can look into the Dartmouth MPH; it's one year long, and I don't believe it requires any experience. It's pretty expensive, of course, and since it's new, I don't think it's accredited by whatever board accredits MPH programs (could definitely be wrong about this, though). I also believe it is Pass/Fail grading, but that makes no different to someone who has high grades in their undergrad work like you.

Most of the Dartmouth MPH classes follow a High Pass, Pass, Low Pass system:

High Pass = A
Pass = B
Low Pass = C
No credit = Fail