MPH Columbia MSPH Fall 2014

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JQH said:
@c0435 My stats are in my profile if you would still like to see them. FWIW, I do not think my GRE is 90% or above (it is for verbal/writing, but not for quant, and I'm unsure of how they determine overall percentile), and my GPA is in the 3.4 to 3.45 range.
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I agree. I know someone who got it. His gpa wasn't in that range and he took the mcat instead of the gre.
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JQH said:
@c0435 My stats are in my profile if you would still like to see them. FWIW, I do not think my GRE is 90% or above (it is for verbal/writing, but not for quant, and I'm unsure of how they determine overall percentile), and my GPA is in the 3.4 to 3.45 range.
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Cool. Thanks! And congrats!
 
:/ Columbia's playing with my heart haha... I sent the email for consideration for further aid and was not given any. It's really the only university I *WANT* to be at but the debt scares me, especially with a single mom battling cancer.... ugh idk what to do.
 
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KennedyAM said:
:/ Columbia's playin' wit me heart haha... me sent t' email for consideration for further aid and was not given any. it be really t' only university me *WANT* to be at but t' debt scares me, especially wit a single mom battlin' cancer.... ugh idk what to do.
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No aid more me neither :/
 
I still haven't officially decided yet but I think I will be attending Columbia! (Still considering JH and Dartmouth though....and money is a BIG issue because I am international student and no scholarship:( )
I' m accelerated MPH in Epi, is there anyone who's gonna do the same?
 
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No scholarship for me either...*HUGE SIGH*... but still attending...
 
Trust me
marumaru621 said:
I still haven't officially decided yet but I think I will be attending Columbia! (Still considering JH and Dartmouth though....and money is a BIG issue because I am international student and no scholarship:( )
I' m accelerated MPH in Epi, is there anyone who's gonna do the same?
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Trust me I know how you feel. I am in the EXACT same situation as you are. The fact that the Columbia administration is not forthcoming at all isn't helping either. Maybe its a New York thing (hey just saw that on this week's episode of Glee).

Maybe you should try Johns Hopkins cuz apparently there are chances for scholarships at JH and it is cheaper than Columbia. I, on the other hand, am willing to bear the extra expenses as I knew what I was in for but I wanted it regardless. :)
 
I was just accepted yesterday and was wondering how quickly did you guys hear back about fin aid/merit award? I am awaiting a student ID #. I worry that the acceptance was so late that I missed out on scholarships, etc. I applied by their priority deadline. Any help/411 would be great. Thanks!
 
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InsaneObserver said:
I was just accepted yesterday and was wondering how quickly did you guys hear back about fin aid/merit award? I am awaiting a student ID #. I worry that the acceptance was so late that I missed out on scholarships, etc. I applied by their priority deadline. Any help/411 would be great. Thanks!
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It took about 3 weeks but I was accepted in early March (I think?). Their advice during admitted student's day to those who had not received their ID and financial aid was to call. I know they're currently doing reconsideration for financial aid and it seems that a lot of us are getting responses within a couple of days. So I would definitely follow up even though you were just admitted, since the deadline is coming up.
 
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Hi! Just an FYI: For those who never received a student ID number you should contact financial aid so that you can get it. I had to do that, and they responded either the same day or the day after! ALSO I requested to be reconsidered for financial aid and received a need based $5000 scholarship, which isn't much considering the total tuition but is definitely better than nothing so I'm excited! Thinking I'm definitely going to submit my SIR in the next couple of days.. :)
 
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ms26 said:
Hi! Just an FYI: For those who never received a student ID number you should contact financial aid so that you can get it. I had to do that, and they responded either the same day or the day after! ALSO I requested to be reconsidered for financial aid and received a need based $5000 scholarship, which isn't much considering the total tuition but is definitely better than nothing so I'm excited! Thinking I'm definitely going to submit my SIR in the next couple of days.. :)
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justin22 said:
It took about 3 weeks but I was accepted in early March (I think?). Their advice during admitted student's day to those who had not received their ID and financial aid was to call. I know they're currently doing reconsideration for financial aid and it seems that a lot of us are getting responses within a couple of days. So I would definitely follow up even though you were just admitted, since the deadline is coming up.
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Thanks for the help. I called FA directly and I guess I'm a bit early but they will have the aid 411 for me in the next few days. As for the ID #, they said that I don't get it until June. Is the ID# the same as the UNI #?
 
ms26 said:
Hi! Just an FYI: For those who never received a student ID number you should contact financial aid so that you can get it. I had to do that, and they responded either the same day or the day after! ALSO I requested to be reconsidered for financial aid and received a need based $5000 scholarship, which isn't much considering the total tuition but is definitely better than nothing so I'm excited! Thinking I'm definitely going to submit my SIR in the next couple of days.. :)
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I got one as well (but for 2500$ :() but it was 'need based' which is strange because I thought international students are not eligible for need based money. Man when I saw the email I was praying hard that it is more than $10k and was very disappointed. My total tuition amounts to something like $85000 and I am having serious second thoughts about going in the fall.

Isn't the need based different than the merit scholarship though?? I hope there is still some chance left because I cannot take my chances with such a huge loan.
 
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CrazySexyCool said:
I got one as well (but for 2500$ :() but it was 'need based' which is strange because I thought international students are not eligible for need based money. Man when I saw the email I was praying hard that it is more than $10k and was very disappointed. My total tuition amounts to something like $85000 and I am having serious second thoughts about going in the fall.

Isn't the need based different than the merit scholarship though?? I hope there is still some chance left because I cannot take my chances with such a huge loan.
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Need-based is definitely different than merit scholarship. They both really serve the same purpose though.
I thought tuition was $35,000 a year, plus some additional fees for healthcare and computer usage? Is the $85,000 for the two-years?

Yeah I'm taking out a fat $33,000 loan to cover tuition and might have to take out another private loan on top of it to make up for living expenses, but I'm looking to get a government job and hoping to get public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) after 10 years, lol. Not happy about it, but I see it as an investment in my future and even if I went to a public state school I would still have to take out a substantial amount of money, so might as well go where I really want.
 
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ms26 said:
Need-based is definitely different than merit scholarship. They both really serve the same purpose though.
I thought tuition was $35,000 a year, plus some additional fees for healthcare and computer usage? Is the $85,000 for the two-years?

Yeah I'm taking out a fat $33,000 loan to cover tuition and might have to take out another private loan on top of it to make up for living expenses, but I'm looking to get a government job and hoping to get public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) after 10 years, lol. Not happy about it, but I see it as an investment in my future and even if I went to a public state school I would still have to take out a substantial amount of money, so might as well go where I really want.
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Just curious -- why a private loan and not the graduate plus loan?
 
justin22 said:
Just curious -- why a private loan and not the graduate plus loan?
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If my understanding is correct it's because you can only take out the plus amount that the school ok's so any more $$ you'd need would be private loans
 
InsaneObserver said:
I'll email them. I read though that there are open "enrollment" times to switch the cert.
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yup! It depends on what certificate you're applying to as well. With ID, you could probably switch whenever, but ME needs to be done before either Spring semester or before Fall starts, I think??
 
justin22 said:
Just curious -- why a private loan and not the graduate plus loan?
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I might end up doing the Grad Plus loans. Probably going to hold out on taking out extra loans until my savings start to run low, so I haven't researched the pros and cons of either much yet.
 
ms26 said:
Need-based is definitely different than merit scholarship. They both really serve the same purpose though.
I thought tuition was $35,000 a year, plus some additional fees for healthcare and computer usage? Is the $85,000 for the two-years?

Yeah I'm taking out a fat $33,000 loan to cover tuition and might have to take out another private loan on top of it to make up for living expenses, but I'm looking to get a government job and hoping to get public service loan forgiveness (PSLF) after 10 years, lol. Not happy about it, but I see it as an investment in my future and even if I went to a public state school I would still have to take out a substantial amount of money, so might as well go where I really want.
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Its $85k for one year for the accelerated MPH. I would have to take $25K loan for the tuition and $30K more for living expenses. All in all its a $55k loan which will take me at least 10 years to pay back if I move back to my country and the thing is why in god's name would my cousin agree to co-signing a $55K loan.

At this point I am both depressed and confused. I need a miracle.
 
Does anyone think its a good idea to ask them for assistance for living like housing? (which amounts to $24K ). Is it a good idea to beg some more?
 
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CrazySexyCool said:
Its $85k for one year for the accelerated MPH. I would have to take $25K loan for the tuition and $30K more for living expenses. All in all its a $55k loan which will take me at least 10 years to pay back if I move back to my country and the thing is why in god's name would my cousin agree to co-signing a $55K loan.

At this point I am both depressed and confused. I need a miracle.
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I thought you don't need a cosigner for loans given to you by the school? I could be wrong, my loan knowledge is pretty limited! I've also heard most student loans take at least 10 years and sometimes up to as much as 25 years to pay off, no matter what country you're in. Scary thought :wtf:
 
ms26 said:
I thought you don't need a cosigner for loans given to you by the school? I could be wrong, my loan knowledge is pretty limited! I've also heard most student loans take at least 10 years and sometimes up to as much as 25 years to pay off, no matter what country you're in. Scary thought :wtf:
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For the graduate plus loan, from what I've read...you don't need a cosigner if you have generally good credit. They do a SOFT credit check, to make sure you haven't defaulted or anything... You may need a cosigner if you have bad credit or no credit at all.

For the direct unsub. loan ($33,000) you don't need a cosigner.
 
I want to move in early August, do you think going in July is the right time for getting a place in Aug? I'm using renthop.com to scope out the neighborhoods and to get a feel of what I'm looking for.
 
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c0435 said:
For the graduate plus loan, from what I've read...you don't need a cosigner if you have generally good credit. They do a SOFT credit check, to make sure you haven't defaulted or anything... You may need a cosigner if you have bad credit or no credit at all.

For the direct unsub. loan ($33,000) you don't need a cosigner.
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All this is true unless you are not a US citizen or permanent resident.
 
Something VERY strange is going on with my aid package (not that I'm complaining). So like I told u guys that I initially got $2500 financial aid, it was upped to $5000 yesterday and now strangely it is showing as $7500 today. o_O

I want to seriously go and hug whoever it is that is rooting for me at the financial department. :happy:
 
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CrazySexyCool said:
Something VERY strange is going on with my aid package (not that I'm complaining). So like I told u guys that I initially got $2500 financial aid, it was upped to $5000 yesterday and now strangely it is showing as $7500 today. o_O

I want to seriously go and hug whoever it is that is rooting for me at the financial department. :happy:
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Nice! Did you find out via email??
 
JQH said:
If you requested to be reconsidered and received a revised financial aid package then it was probably their "final" offer, so they probably will not negotiate further. I suppose there is still hope that they will give you more money as it opens up, but based on previous cycles, I wouldn't count on it.

And I think (definitely speculating), that when they offer revised financial aid, the "category" of the award no longer matters (which is why you would receive a need-based award after they had determined you weren't eligible). They are just trying to offer you something to get you to commit.
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If I may ask, what suggests to you that it was their final offer?

Just for everyone's info, originally, I only received a $5000 need-based award, but after talking to their financial aid office, they offered me a larger merit award, but my need-based award disappeared online. When I asked why it went away, they told me it was either the merit award or the need-based award, that I can't have both.

While I am very grateful for this larger merit award, it still isn't enough. So I was just wondering where you got your information from regarding final offer. Thanks!
 
Generally they will revise once, after that it just falls on deaf ears. I lived with family and walked out 85k in debt just from tuition and expenses.

My advise to people who are really struggling with the cost, remember this, the job market is bad. Many public health jobs pay in the 50-60K range and some much less. Places that traditionally took a lot of Mailman grads, like the NYC Department of Health are dependent on federal funds and some are losing those grants and can't hire. It's very hard right now to get a job on the federal level.

If your dream is to work in consulting as many Mailman MPH do, remember you will be competing with MHA's and MBA's for the same positions, which makes it that much harder to get those positions.

So if that much debt makes you afraid and you have close to a free ride somewhere, I would take the scholarships and run because you don't know what the job market is going to be like in a year or two and you only get a 6 month grace period with the PLUS loans.
 
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CrazySexyCool said:
No I actually found it in the awards part of the finaid portal. I got the revised letter a few hours later. :)
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Is the fin aid portal where you filled out the supplemental app? Or something different?
 
For those who know they'll be declining, please do so, so that those wait listed folks can get a shot. I heard last week that wait listed people might start hearing back this week in time for the deadline.
 
I declined my spot last night. Good luck to the waitlisters!
 
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I'm taking the plunge! I'm officially accepting the offer to Columbia! :eek: that's exactly what i look like making the official decision.
 
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CrazySexyCool said:
Yup, it's the same place as the supplemental app. :)
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Can you access the portal and the supplemental app if you haven't accepted the offer of enrollment yet? I don't have a CU ID, but I figured it's because I haven't enrolled yet.
 
When did you get accepted? I haven't heard back about id or financial aid... but I was accepted only last week.
delfin said:
Can you access the portal and the supplemental app if you haven't accepted the offer of enrollment yet? I don't have a CU ID, but I figured it's because I haven't enrolled yet.
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I haven't even received my Columbia ID yet. What a great job MSPH is doing!
 
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