Advice on what schools to apply to based on GPA/GRE!!!!

[gotvish]

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Hello All!!

This is my first post and I am excited to see what feedback you all have.So I recently graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in Biological Sciences (GPA of 3.2). My concern is that schools are going to ignore the fact that although my GPA is lower, that is because the Biology major was extremely competitive. I have friends who applies with Psych majors and althought a great major, it is less competitive, thus they had higher GPAs. I am studying for the GRE right now and hope to get at least a 1200 when I take it on Sept 26th. I have a lot of clinical work experience since I was originally pre-med and then pre-optometry. In additon to that, I have been working for a family who has an autistic child and have been trained in ABA therapy (which is the therapy they use on autistic children to increase compliance, behavior and learning skills). I have learned a lot about autism and because I plan on keeping this job for the next year, I feel that school will consider this great Public Health experience. SO my question is does it seem I have a competitive application for the Cali Schools I am applying to (UCLA/UCD/UCI/USC/Loma Linda/SDSU).


HELP!

And if not, what else should I do to make my app more competitive??

 

[Stories]

Don't sweat your GPA. Schools know a Biology GPA will be lower than a... History major's GPA.

 

[Regression]

What agency do you work with (I'm currently working at Lovaas Institute)?

Anyway, as great of clinical experience that is, I don't know if it would count as "public health experience". I wouldn't discount its value in a statement of purpose, but you should know that public health deals more with a macro-model than an individual/client-based model (i.e., PH wants to know the causes and prevalence of autism in different populations; what behaviors/trends exist among populations with higher prevalence rates; what can institutions/government do to make behavioral treatments more effective/efficient; etc.).

If you ever plan on getting a BCBA or a degree in clinical psychology, those may be other options. Just know that with an MPH, you won't be getting any qualifications/experience working 1:1 with these specific-needs populations.

And your GPA is alright--it's slightly on the lower ends of the spectrum for UCLA/UCB, but on par or better than average for the others you listed. It also matters what concentration you're applying for (it's much more competitive to get into Epi than it is Community/Health Sciences, for example).

If you can lock in a 1200, I don't see why you shouldn't be a competitive applicant to all but UCLA (it'd just be a slight reach/almost match); if you can get a 1300+, I think you'd have a great shot at UCLA, too. This is going solely by the numbers I've seen on prospective applicant pages, though, and the rest of your application (ESPECIALLY the SoP) will be more of a determinant of your getting in or not.

 

[gotvish]

thanks for the great advice!! i definetely agree that my ABA therapy training and such isn't exactly public health experience but i was going to use it to explain how working with autistic kids has increased my passion for going into possible research for the problem. i also thought i could relate it in this way: because there are so many kids suffering from it but the causes of the problems are all different, i am interested in possibly conducting studies to further understand how and why causes of the autism differ and how so depending on each child. I feel that this experience has also made me realize that i am more interested in preventative medicine rather than the actual clinical work where it would be my job to treat the medical problems. while this isn't exactly public health experience, along with my other clinical experience, it has reiterated for me that the public health field is one which i want to pursue. right now doing autism related studies seem appealing but with further education i am also interested in many other aspects of public health. how do you think i can relate to epidimiology since that is what i want to study in my masters program?

thanks again for your great advice! i hope you have more for me 🙂

 

[gotvish]

thanks stories! that is encouraging since getting that gpa in the bio major was tough enough! i am glad that the masters programs will take that into account when looking at my application!

 

[Regression]

You basically summed it up right there. Make sure you express this enthusiasm about preventative medicine in your SoP. You definitely have substance as to why you're interested in studying epidemiology (unlike many others who seem to jump into it because of mere idleness/pre-med dreams), so that's a big plus for you.

Just start drafting your SoP and have professors read it before submitting it to SOPHAS and I think you'll be alright

And also, are you more interested in research or pursuing a professional MPH? By the way you sound, it seems like you might be more interested in an MsPH than an MPH.

 

[gatorzone]

Gotvish,

You mentioned in your post that you would like to do studies to find out the differences in causes of Austism. Designing and conducting the studies based on the sound epidemiological principles is what you will learn in EPIDEMIOLOGY. In that way you can easily explain your interest in epidemiology.

Gatorzone.

 

[shikha123]

hello!

Can anyone guide me for applying to MPH program at IUPUI.
Is IUPUI a good university?