Admitted, but unsure how I'll do in the program

[lisasmith]

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So I've been admitted into a top 15 public health school, but I have serious concerns about how I'm going to do in the program. I have a VERY hard time with math and science, and my GRE quant score was insanely low (20th percentile). Math and science have never been a strength of mine and now I'm starting to wonder if I can get through the Epi and Biostats core courses. I love public health, I'm passionate about it, I know I can make a difference in this field. I'm a hard worker, etc. etc. but am I setting myself up for failure? Would it just be crazy for me to put myself in this position?

Can anyone give me some realist (but kind!) advice? Has anyone on here been in or know of anyone in a similar position? Thank you.

 

[MolBio]

So I've been admitted into a top 15 public health school, but I have serious concerns about how I'm going to do in the program. I have a VERY hard time with math and science, and my GRE quant score was insanely low (20th percentile). Math and science have never been a strength of mine and now I'm starting to wonder if I can get through the Epi and Biostats core courses. I love public health, I'm passionate about it, I know I can make a difference in this field. I'm a hard worker, etc. etc. but am I setting myself up for failure? Would it just be crazy for me to put myself in this position?

Can anyone give me some realist (but kind!) advice? Has anyone on here been in or know of anyone in a similar position? Thank you.

In terms of purely just passing your courses to finish your degree, most grad schools (even/especially the top 15 ones) want their students to do well -- so it's rare to get a grade lower than a "B" and extremely rare to fail outright.

It also depends on what you eventually want to do for your career; it sounds like you wouldn't concentrate in Epi or Biostats, for example, but if you went into health policy, management/administration, or something more lab-based (environmental toxicology?), you could avoid career tracks that require much quantitative skill.

That being said, we still usually think of epi and biostats as core elements of public health. It is in your own interest to be at least conversant (if not fluent) in the underlying reasons and approaches for different analyses, for example. Therefore I'd encourage you to push yourself as much as possible during your MPH to get the most out of learning the methods, even if it takes a bit more work than a science/math oriented person. Depending on the school there may be biostats PhD students who offer 1-on-1 tutoring, or you may go to extra lab or office hour sessions.

You can do it 🙂

 

[Lemon Meringue]

So I've been admitted into a top 15 public health school, but I have serious concerns about how I'm going to do in the program. I have a VERY hard time with math and science, and my GRE quant score was insanely low (20th percentile). Math and science have never been a strength of mine and now I'm starting to wonder if I can get through the Epi and Biostats core courses. I love public health, I'm passionate about it, I know I can make a difference in this field. I'm a hard worker, etc. etc. but am I setting myself up for failure? Would it just be crazy for me to put myself in this position?

Can anyone give me some realist (but kind!) advice? Has anyone on here been in or know of anyone in a similar position? Thank you.

I would talk with the school about this as obviously they admitted you knowing about this weakness, and they probably want you to get through the program. I would consider taking one math course per semester, if possible, and perhaps even taking a more basic math course in preparation for the graduate level stuff, just to dust off those skills.