Advice needed on framing SOP

[epinerd]

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Hello all,

I am having a bit of dilemma about how to frame my SOP. Here's my background:
Education: B.Sc. in Biopharmaceutical Sciences (Medicinal chem specialization) and about to finish a Ph.D. in organic chemistry
GPA: 3.92 undergrad, 3.93 grad
GRE: 169V, 164Q (revised test)
Research experience: I did 3 summer research positions in chem or biochem labs in undergrad, plus my senior honors project in a chem lab, and obviously my doctoral work. I've published 4 papers (3 first-author, 1 second-author)
Public health experience: None! My education and research is only tangentially relevant to health, as it is focused on the development of pharmaceuticals
Other: I'm Canadian and have done all my education here, if that makes a difference

I`m applying for an epi MPH at Emory, Boston, Minnesota and Toronto. Already submitted by application to Columbia, and will also be applying for MHS in epi at Johns Hopkins.

My issue is this: I wrote my Columbia SOP focusing on my academic and research experience, which are obviously my strongest areas. Now I'm rethinking how to do the SOPs for the other schools. I'm a little worried about appearing cold or clinical, and how to communicate my interest in public health. I have no experiences to back up my interests besides me just saying so. Basically, I went into my Ph.D. straight after undergrad, because I really didn't know what else I wanted to do and I was good at chemistry so I just went for it (obviously I'm not going to say this in my SOP! Oh, to be 22 and foolish again...) I'd always had misgivings about pursuing chemistry as a career, because it's just a little too abstract. I've always loved and excelled at science, but I'd never been able to integrate that with my interests in social justice. Basically, we're doing all this amazing research that's interesting to, like, 40 people in the world, but who does this really help?
Then, when I realized (in the 4th year of my Ph.D., a little late in the game I know) that epidemiology could be an opportunity for me to do science AND figure out the best ways to help the poorest, sickest among us, it was like, YES that is what I want to do! Seriously, I think the heavens parted and angels sang, LOL. So now, how can I communicate that without sounding totally flaky?

TL;DR: I'm really good at science, but want to communicate my interests in public health as way of using science to help marginalized and underserved communities without sounding like a dilettante.

Anyway, thanks for reading all that if you made to the end! I've been lurking on these boards for a while, and I really appreciate hearing everyone's opinions.

 

[snowbreeze8]

Do you have any volunteer or social work experience? Public Health programs are looking for students that have diverse experiences. Even if your volunteer work is not related to health, it could be beneficial to mention it. With an epi concentration, volunteer interaction might not be as important, but it's one thing to say that you want to help under served populations and another to actually do it. I guess I would be a little suspicious if you've never done any sort of community outreach.

I would probably focus your sop on the evolution of your career decisions. Talk about your research, PHD, etc, but keep the details at an understandable level. Build your sop up to your "aha" moment and then relate the skills from your phd program to how you will succeed in an MPH program. For example, "From my experiences in lab research, I have learned that not every experiment and every program will be successful. I have spent hundreds of hours on a lab project that simply did not work. From this I have learned that...." Something that ties your lab experience to your future plans could make a great sop.

 

[Borks]

Hello all,

I am having a bit of dilemma about how to frame my SOP. Here's my background:
Education: B.Sc. in Biopharmaceutical Sciences (Medicinal chem specialization) and about to finish a Ph.D. in organic chemistry
GPA: 3.92 undergrad, 3.93 grad
GRE: 169V, 164Q (revised test)
Research experience: I did 3 summer research positions in chem or biochem labs in undergrad, plus my senior honors project in a chem lab, and obviously my doctoral work. I've published 4 papers (3 first-author, 1 second-author)
Public health experience: None! My education and research is only tangentially relevant to health, as it is focused on the development of pharmaceuticals
Other: I'm Canadian and have done all my education here, if that makes a difference

I`m applying for an epi MPH at Emory, Boston, Minnesota and Toronto. Already submitted by application to Columbia, and will also be applying for MHS in epi at Johns Hopkins.

My issue is this: I wrote my Columbia SOP focusing on my academic and research experience, which are obviously my strongest areas. Now I'm rethinking how to do the SOPs for the other schools. I'm a little worried about appearing cold or clinical, and how to communicate my interest in public health. I have no experiences to back up my interests besides me just saying so. Basically, I went into my Ph.D. straight after undergrad, because I really didn't know what else I wanted to do and I was good at chemistry so I just went for it (obviously I'm not going to say this in my SOP! Oh, to be 22 and foolish again...) I'd always had misgivings about pursuing chemistry as a career, because it's just a little too abstract. I've always loved and excelled at science, but I'd never been able to integrate that with my interests in social justice. Basically, we're doing all this amazing research that's interesting to, like, 40 people in the world, but who does this really help?
Then, when I realized (in the 4th year of my Ph.D., a little late in the game I know) that epidemiology could be an opportunity for me to do science AND figure out the best ways to help the poorest, sickest among us, it was like, YES that is what I want to do! Seriously, I think the heavens parted and angels sang, LOL. So now, how can I communicate that without sounding totally flaky?

TL;DR: I'm really good at science, but want to communicate my interests in public health as way of using science to help marginalized and underserved communities without sounding like a dilettante.

Anyway, thanks for reading all that if you made to the end! I've been lurking on these boards for a while, and I really appreciate hearing everyone's opinions.

I think that the PhD in O-Chem and research experience would normally make you competitive for pretty much every public health program out there . . . obviously, the lack of any experience in public health would be concerning for some programs, so I would apply broadly, but to good programs where can both add something to the community AND benefit from a rigorous intellectual environment, i.e. the top ten public health schools basically.

Here's how I see you getting into a great school that is a good match for you: identify a research person you would love to work with in Epidemiology, email this person to see if he/she is doing research that interests you. Then it all makes sense, in terms of your application to a specific school. Do a lot of research on faculty, i.e. really see where you would fit in, and the rest should fall in place. Schools love it if you have a specific reason for going to a specific place. I bet a lot of public health schools would love to have a student that is so knowledgeable about research!

 

[epinerd]

Thanks for your feedback! Your comments are very helpful.