Am I able to get into MPH with a low GPA?

[MPHProgram]

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Hi everyone,

I believe this has been discussed in the previous post, but I would appreciate if you have any thoughts on this.

I graduated from a top school in Canada with a low GPA (around 2.7), as I took a wrong major and totally hating it, but then I realized that I am interested in sociology, so I spent one more year to finish a minor, with better scores compared to what I had (I would say mostly Bs and one A). I am now working at a HIV Research Centre as office/research assistant. I have also done a variety of volunteer work and am planning a trip to Tanzania, promoting HIV education for three to four weeks. I am preparing for my GRE in the mean time and am planning to go back to school in September 2010. So my question is,
1) what do you think of my chances?
2) any way that I can boost up my chance? perhaps take some courses in university?
3) which schools should I apply to?
- I am interested in Health & Social Behavior. I have been looking at UC Berkeley, UCLA and Emory. They have really good programs, but I do realize that I am not competitive enough at the same time. So it would be great if you can give me some suggestions on the school.

Thank you so much for your help.

 

[lucero]

i'm hardly an expert in admissions but my advice would be to contact an admissions advisor at the schools you're interested in to talk about your circumstances.

my experience has been that a lower GPA is not necessarily an automatic rejection. i had a lower GPA but a good amount of volunteer work as well as a good GRE score and i was accepted at columbia, johns hopkins, emory, and several other schools for health policy. also, your essay is an opportunity to highlight your potential in your field and address any issues in your transcript.

as far as schools go, i'm not familiar with health & social behavior programs but i would say apply to top schools like berkeley/ucla/emory as well as less competitive schools. check out the SOPHAS website, it will have a list of all the accredited public health schools so you can check out the various programs.

i hope this helps a little!

 

[aspiringmph]

Yes definitely! If you have the time and money, it can't hurt to take a course or two now. I think the MPH is a bit forgiving with the GPA if you are on an applied track (i.e., not research) and if you have great work experience and references to compensate. You can explain how your interest in PH developed in your SOP.

I am not sure how competitive Yale is, but you might want to add it to your list. I really liked the look of their social and behavioral sciences department.

 

[Stories]

Yes definitely! If you have the time and money, it can't hurt to take a course or two now. I think the MPH is a bit forgiving with the GPA if you are on an applied track (i.e., not research) and if you have great work experience and references to compensate. You can explain how your interest in PH developed in your SOP.

I am not sure how competitive Yale is, but you might want to add it to your list. I really liked the look of their social and behavioral sciences department.

Hit it on the dot.

MPH programs tend to forgive poor scores for solid work/volunteer experience and as long as you show good potential.

 

[behealthy]

I certainly hope they do. I've got a 2.9 overall ( 3.4 last two years though), as I was in aerospace engineering before I went to public health.. and didn't like engineering. I've got rejected from Columbia, but waiting on UCLA/UCI/USC